Saint Petersburg

From the St. Petersburg entry in Wikipedia:

Saint Petersburg is Russia's second-largest city after Moscow, with five million inhabitants in 2012, and an important Russian port on the Baltic Sea. It is politically incorporated as a federal subject (a federal city). Situated on the Neva River, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea, it was founded by Tsar Peter the Great on May 27, 1703. In 1914, the name was changed from Saint Petersburg to Petrograd, in 1924 to Leningrad, and in 1991 back to Saint Petersburg. Between 1713 and 1728 and in 1732–1918, Saint Petersburg was the capital of imperial Russia. In 1918, the central government bodies moved to Moscow.

Saint Petersburg is one of the modern cities of Russia, as well as its cultural capital. Historic Centre of Saint Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments are a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Saint Petersburg is home to The Hermitage, one of the largest art museums in the world. Many foreign consulates, international corporations, banks, and businesses have offices in Saint Petersburg.

All pictures are © Dr. Günther Eichhorn, unless otherwise noted.

Saint Petersburg

Two golden winged griffins holding the suspension cables of a small footbridge over one of the canals in St. Petersburg. (328k)

Monument of Czar Nicholas I. (150k)

The Bronze Horseman, one of the best known monuments of Czar Peter the Great. (234k)

Monument of Catherine the Great. (222k)

Admiralty in St. Petersburg. (373k)

St. Isaac's Cathedral in St. Petersburg with a monument of Czar Peter the Great. (218k)

Closeup of St. Isaac's Cathedral in St. Petersburg. (258k)

Sun over St. Isaac's Cathedral from across the Neva. (182k)

Sunrise on the Church of the Resurrection of Christ, the most beautiful church in St. Petersburg. (246k)

Sunrise on the Church of the Resurrection of Christ. (314k)

Church of the Resurrection of Christ in the snow. (240k)

Kazansky sobor (Kazan Cathedral) at sunrise, built in 1801-11. (153k)

The Summer Palace. (317k)

Children in the Summer Garden, playing in the snow. Russian children are always running it seems. (435k)

Playing in the snow in the Summer Garden. (233k)

Statues in the snow in the Summer Garden. (411k)

Statue in the Summer Garden, draped with snow. (290k)

Mars Field (Marsovo pole) with the eternal flame. (216k)

Restoration on one of the houses in St. Petersburg. This was on a Sunday! (272k)

Restoration scaffolding on church in St. Petersburg. (247k)

The Hermitage in Saint Petersburg

From the Hermitage Museum entry in Wikipedia:

The State Hermitage Museum is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It was founded in 1764 when Empress Catherine the Great acquired an impressive collection of paintings from the Berlin merchant Johann Ernst Gotzkowsky. The museum celebrates the anniversary of its founding each year on 7 December, Saint Catherine's Day. It has been open to the public since 1852.

Its collections, of which only a small part is on permanent display, comprise over three million items (the numismatic collection accounts for about one third of them), including the largest collection of paintings in the world. The collections occupy a large complex of six historic buildings along Palace Embankment, including the Winter Palace, a former residence of Russian emperors. Apart from them, the Menshikov Palace, Museum of Porcelain, Storage Facility at Staraya Derevnya and the eastern wing of the General Staff Building are also part of the museum. The museum has several exhibition centers abroad. The Hermitage is a federal state property. Since July 1992, the director of the museum has been Mikhail Piotrovsky.