St. Petersburg is justly considered one of the most beautiful cities in the world and cultural capital of Russia. It was built by Peter the Great in order to make Russia a more European country: St. Petersburg is located on Russian western border. Thus St. Petersburg was always more Europe-oriented city than any other city, even Moscow. In 1713 St. Petersburg became Russian Empire’s capital, and even now while Moscow is the capital of Russia once again, St. Petersburg is often called “Cultural Capital” or “Northern Capital”.

City of white nights and drawbridges, splendid sights, rich history and unpredictable weather, it attracts tourists with its cultural and historical gorgeousness.

One of the doubtless merits of St. Petersburg is its architectural appearance, its places of interest .

Now St. Petersburg is the city of architectural harmony and European elegance, combination of different architectural epochs and styles. St. Petersburg offers over 170 museum to its visitors.

One of the most famous and biggest museums in the world – the Hermitage – is located here. The museum complex includes seven buildings, with its collections consisting of over three million articles displayed in 400 rooms. In order to see the overall collection one will definitely need more than a day’s visit.

The largest collection of Russian fine arts is exhibited in the State Russian Museum. Its collection has over 400 thousand exhibits. It includes all the main schools of Russian fine art, all of its types and genres from X to XX century.

There is also one of the biggest cathedrals in the world, former main cathedral of Russia – Isaakievsky Cathedral. The cathedral was built in 40 years. Ten thousand people can fit inside it. 400 kilograms of gold and 16 tons of malachite were used in its construction.

St. Petersburg will leave an unforgettable impression. It will definitely make you come back here once again.

Top 5 Dishes to Try in the St. Petersburg

Arriving

Many airlines offer direct flights to St. Petersburg. Besides, you can choose to fly through Moscow, or fly over to Moscow and then go to St. Petersburg by train.

In St. Petersburg there is one airport with two terminals – for domestic and for foreign flights: Pulkovo 1 and 2, respectively.

There are five railway terminals in St. Petersburg: Moscovsky, Baltiysky, Vitebsky, Finlandsky, and Ladozhsky terminals. Three of them are international: Vitebsky, Finlandsky, and Ladozhsky ones.

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Travelling by train is the most economic and safe way of travelling, but it is also the most lengthy one. And there is one other problem: in summer time Russian railway system is overloaded with passenger traffic. So it is better to buy tickets to and from St. Petersburg in advance.

Weather

Climate in St. Petersburg is moderate warm damp in summer and moderate cold in winter. It is greatly affected by the proximity of the Gulf of Finland.

Average annual temperature is 5,3 °C (41,5 °F)

Average temperature in July is 18,1 °C (64,6 °F)

Average temperature in January is –6,3 °C (20,7 °F)

The favourite time of year of all people living and visiting St. Peterasburg is the “White Nights” (25-26 of May – 16-17 of July) when the sun disappears only for a little while and nights are almost as bright as days.

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