St. Petersburg is known as a new Babylon and the Palmyra of the North; it is compared to Rome and Venice. But no comparison or description can convey the essence of its unfathomable and changeable image. The architectural appearance, tragic fate and mystic aura of St. Petersburg amaze all those who are familiarizing themselves with the city.
Founded in 1703 it soon became the brilliant capital of the Russian Empire and the arena of crucial events influencing the destiny of the country and its people.
The three past centuries seem to have been compressed tightly in the historical centre of the city on The Neva. The fanciful Baroque, majestic Classicism, the elegant northern Art Nouveau and severe «Stalin’s Empire» - the city’s streets may well serve as a veritable reference book of architecture. St. Petersburg to this day has retained fabulously rich royal residences and grand ducal palaces, luxurious mansions of the nobility and graceful churches.
