by Marta Allison

Created on: October 05, 2008   Last Updated: October 21, 2008

Visiting Russia? Opulent palaces, stately parks, historic museums, breathtaking architecture, canals, lakes, rivers, ports, commemorative monuments, incredible sculptures, impressive musical and cultural venues, exquisite fashion, delectable, world-wide cuisine...and we're just talking about one city, St. Petersburg.

This city possesses an incredible magic. Rich in history, and a veritable wonderland for those who love Royalty. St. Petersburg has a riveting, wildly dramatic legacy in terms of their Royalty. This awe inspiring city has been home to many Hollywood productions focusing on the history and fantasy of emperors, tsars and most especially, the Romanov family. Within the intricate tapestry of wealth, privelege and power, run noticeable threads of political struggles, the pain and suffering of the common folk, military confrontations, the lives of the unknown and notorious alike. Inside this city you experience an intense excitement, much like that felt by a kid in a candy store. Everywhere you look is a showcase of baroque, imperial, and neoclassical treasures of design and architecture. This eternally grand city on the gulf of Finland is adorned by crystalline squares and palaces and mazes of quaint canals.

The Palace Square was designed to mimic the great Imperial squares of Moscow. It was the sight of the tragic massacre during political unrest during Tsar Nicolas reign, where hundreds, possibly thousands of men, women and children were ruthlessly slain, in an effort to remove Nicholas from favor with his subjects. It's difficult to fathom, amidst all this beauty, (that far exceeds fantasy) , that horrors like that existed. Situated next to the Winter Palace, it embodies the architectural monument to Russian victory in the Napoleonic War of 1812.

St. Petersburg boasts the world's second largest museum of arts and history safeguarded by the Hermitage Museum, which is Russia's largest repository of treasures. Fourteen million exhibits, art and history collections live in this elegant, beyond belief palace.

The Hermitage was the vision of Catherine the Great after she had purchased a collection of 255 prized paintings in Berlin. Now hang 2.7 million exhibits of art; visited by over 3.2 million admirers per year. Five buildings comprise the Hermitage, all edged by the Neva River. Distributed throughout, don't be surprised to find Egyptian, Greek, Oriental, and Western European Art and applied arts, as well. A grand entrance will greet you with ornately detailed,

• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• 5
• Next Page >>