Saint Peterburg – a unique treasure-house of world culture, architecture and history is located on the coast of the Gulf of Finland at the mouth of the Neva River. Situated at the intersection of sea, river and overland routes, St Petersburg is Russia’s “Gateway to Europe”. St Petersburg is the 2nd largest Russian megapolis with 4,8 million people living here. It is the largest northern city on the planet.

Saint Petersburg was founded in 1703 by the first and the most famous Russian Emperor, Peter the Great, and for 214 years it had been the capital of the Russian Empire. All 13 Russian Emperors of the Romanov dynasty are now buried in the burial-vault of the Peter-and-Paul Fortress.

Saint Petersburg was built as an architectural state of the art city by famous European architects, especially Italian and French, who built on the picturesque banks of the Neva River a brilliant constellation of palaces, cathedrals, parks and splendid buildings in baroque, rococo, and classical styles.

In the beginning of the XX century Saint Peterburg became the arena of the turbulent political upheavals. In October 1917 a blank shot fired from the famous cruiser “Aurora” signalled the storming of the Winter Palace and the beginning of the Bolshevik October revolution.