the
state of "rus" emerged in the 9th century; its centre was
first town novgorod and then, from about 1450 onwards,
moskva. russia became a powerful country - yet it did not
have a seaport towards europe. however, in the 'great
nordic war' tsar peter the great captured a swedish fort
at the river neva, and thereby access to the baltic sea.
in 1703 he founded saint petersburg (named after apostle
peter), and in 1712 he moved the russian capital from
moscow to here. for almost 200 years, grand architecture
florished. saint petersburg stayed as the imperial capital
until 1917, when vladimir lenin's bolsheviks stormed the
winter palace and ended the russian monarchy. since 1918
moscow is reinstated as the capital of the russian
federation.
saint petersburg was renamed "leningrad" in 1924, after
lenin's death; in 1991, its original name was
restored. saint petersburg it is russia's second
largest city with 5 million inhabitants. it is a major
european cultural center. the historic area constitute a
unesco world heritage site.
a gallery presenting the countless imposing buildings is
in preparation. this includes palaces, governmental
centres, bridges, railway stations, statues, and even
historic ships. saint petersburg is also home to the
"hermitage", one of the largest art museums in the world.
by the way, beside architecture and art, there are myriads
of excellent cafes, bistros, restaurants and of course
pubs ...
below are a dozen photos, to give a elementary idea of
this amazing city.
a special gallery with selected churches in saint
petersburg follows further down.
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