Essays and galleries :: Vacations in the fatherland. St. Petersburg, Russia. August 13-19, 2004.

Click on a thumbnail to enlarge the picture

Vacations in the fatherland. St. Petersburg, Russia. August 13-19, 2004.

I had several free days before departure to Vladivostok and I decided to spend them in St. Petersburg. This city was the capital of Russian Empire for more than two hundred years. It was founded by Peter I The Great in the beginning of the XVIIIth century and was planned as the capital from the very beginning. St. Petersburg never was similar to typical medieval cities of those times, full of narrow streets and with Town Hall and Market Square in the center. On the contrary, they laid wide avenues built enormous palaces, cathedral, many churches and smaller mansions for aristocracy in the future capital. The majority of them are still here, serving of good examples of the architecture of imperial period of Russian history.

After October Revolution in 1917, Moscow became political capital of emerging USSR and then of the Russian Federation. Despite this fact, we often call St. Petersburg our "cultural capital" or "northern capital" in Russia. It underlines the great importance of this city in the history and culture of our country. There are many museums, theatres, libraries, academies, monuments, research institutes, churches and places connected with historical events or famous people in the St. Petersburg. It is big city also, but it is completely different from Moscow. Majority of Russians consider St. Petersburg as the most beautiful city of our country.