Only renamed St. Petersburg from Leningrad six years before our school trip to Russia, the secondl largest city is impressive and an incredible blend of styles. Originally founded by Swedes in 1611 and called Nyenskans, it was captured by Peter the Great and became one of Russia’s most vital sea ports.

Winter Palace

For two hundred years, the Winter Palace was the home of the Russian Emperor. It now houses the Hermitage Museum

Palace Square

With the Winter Palace being the most famous building and the one to give this square its name, it can be easy to overlook it as a unique sight. In the centre, the Alexander Column, built in 1830, stands tall and proud.

Peterhof Palace

Commissioned as a direct response to the building of the Palace of Versaille, the Peterhof Palace has both magnificent buildings and magnificent gardens to rival anything the French constructed.

Hermitage Museum

Five of the six musuems of the Hermitage are open to the public, the Winter Palace, Small Hermitage, Old Hermitage, New Hermitage, and Hermitage Theatre. It is one of the finest art museums in the world, and it is impossible to tour it in any depth in a single day.

We ended up running, room to room, to try and take in as much as we could.

Peterhof Palace Gardens

Grand Cascade and Samson Fountain

The Grand Cascade is modelled after one of Louis XIV’s and in the centre of the two stories is an artificial grotto. The Samson Fountain stands proud with Samson tearing open the jaws of a lion, representing a Russian victory over Sweden.

Lower Gardens

Stretching between the bluff and the shore, the lower gardens of Peterhof are styled in the 17th Century French Formal Style. The fountains scattered throughout the landscape show creativity