Aug
13
Cruising to St Petersburg
Filed Under Travel
Situated with the Baltic sea as a backdrop, St. Petersburg was founded by the great conqueror Peter the Great, and was the capital of Imperial Russia from 1712 to 1914. It remains the most beautiful of Russia’s cities, and is Russia’s cultural capital, with residents including luminaries such as Pushkin, Dostoyevsky, Tchaikovsky and Tolstoy. The city itself is like a living museum, with such classical and beautiful architecture, and art is a key attraction. With a collection that dwarfs that of the Louvre or the Guggenheim, the Hermitage, which was started to house Catherine the great’s art collection, is probably the definitive art museum, and an attraction every bit as engaging as the balleriinas in the Bolshoi theatre in Moscow.
Disembarking from your cruise ship, you’re likely to receive all sorts of warnings from ship personnel about pickpockets and black marketeers. The stern-faced customs officials at the pier don’t help to dispel any impression of the staid image of the city. But, once in the city, you will find St. Petersburg a wonderful place, little different from any other northern european city.This was the beautiful city Peter the Great founded in 1703, built on what was originally swampland, and is now home to some unbelievably sumptuous palaces, Orthodox cathedrals and the lovely Neva River, along which romantic twilight cruises glide. Peter the Great was inspired by London, Paris and Vienna and most of the original city design remains till today.
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