ST PETERSBURG - THE CIRCLET OF RUSSIA (preview)

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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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