Since it has a large number of palaces, Saint Petersburg is often called the city of palaces. Peter the Great built several palaces, churches and monuments in the city, inviting craftsmen, builders and architects from all over Europe. Successive rulers built new monuments, which today make Saint Petersburg a popular tourist destination.
Some of the popular tourist spots in Saint Petersburg are:
1. The Summer Palace or Peter the Great’s Cottage : the first residence of Peter the Great, a wooden cottage built in three days. The cottage was sealed off in a protective brick enclosure
2. Winter Palace - luxurious interiors, more than 600 rooms, it also houses the Hermitage Museum
3. Engineer’s Castle - a fortress residence surrounded by a moat.
4. St Isaac’s Cathedral - largest cathedral in the city , it is the biggest gold plated dome in the world.
5. Peter and Paul Cathedral - contains the sepulchers of Peter the Great and other Russian emperors.
Saint Petersburg is the second largest city in Russia and the fourth largest city in terms of area in Europe. It is located on the Neva River at the eastern end of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city was founded by Peter the Great in 1703 and was the capital of Russia for nearly two centuries, before the Russian revolution. The city was also called Petrograd between 1914-1924 and Leningrad between 1924 and 1991. With the fall of the communist Soviet Union, the city reverted to its original name.
With a population of about 5 million, St Petersburg is one of the largest cities close to the Artic Pole. The city is major port with goods weighing thousands of tonnes exported and imported. Since it is mostly flat, it was subject to floods, which lead to the modification of the design of the streets. The city is a major cultural center with palaces, cathedrals, temples, museums, monuments, sculptures and theaters.
The climate in Saint Petersburg is continental with cool short summers and high humidity due to the moderating influence of the sea. In winters, temperatures can fall to -27 Deg C. The river Neva within the city freezes in winter and melts in April
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