The city of Saint Petersburg lies on the flat and marshy shores of the Neva River at the place where it flows into the Gulf of Finland over a delta of 42 islands. Saint Petersburg possesses the largest number of rivers, islands and bridges in the world. Saint Petersburg is often called a museum of bridges for there are more than 300 of them in the city. 

  In the Neva delta on the small Zayachiy island in 1703 Peter the Great founded a new Russian fortress. It was named Saint Petersburkh. The year 1704 saw the beginning of the construction of fortifications. Peter the Great and the first governor of St.Petersburg, A.Menshikov decided to turn St. Petersburg into the new capital of Russia, which would not be inferior to no European capital in the respect of splendor and importance. 

  In May of 1703 in the Zayachiy island under the direct supervision of D.Trezzini the St.Peter and Paul Fortress foundations were laid. Together the contours of the Fortress constitute an elongated hexagon with six protruding bastions which allowed to lead a massive artillery fire on the approaches to the city. In the center of the Fortress rises the St.Peter and Paul Cathedral. The Cathedral's gilded steeple is crowned with a golden angel. The height of the Cathedral is 122,5 meters.

  The first architect of the city, D.Trezzini developed the city's center plan and with his projects the Summer Palace of Peter the Great, the Building of the Twelve Colleges as well as the Alexander Nevskiy Monastery were built. The architects Trezzini, Korobov and Eropkin worked out the general plan of Saint-Petersburg. They laid the foundations of the city's planning with its triaxial structure of the main prospekts meeting at the Admiralty, geometrical design of the Vasilevskiy island planning, frontal building development of the Neva River embankments. B.Rastrelli, G.Quarenghi, C.Rossi, A.Voronikhin, O.Monferrand et al created the magnificent ensemble of central squares, embankments, prospekts and streets. Boulevards and parks of the city were beautified with majestic palaces, granite and marble sculptures, finely wrought latticework of the railings. They created one of the most wonderful cites of the world. 

The historical center of the city is the Palace Square, where the Winter Palace, the General Staff Building and the building of the ministries. The Winter Palace served as the tsarist residence. Several rooms of the Palace which had been used for the location of unique objets d'art later received the designation of the Hermitage. Then the growing collections found the new accommodations : the buildings of the Small Hermitage, Old Hermitage, the Hermitage Theater and New Hermitage. Nowadays all these buildings belong to the State Hermitage - the largest artistic, historical and cultural museum. It exhibits the paintings of Rubens, Rembrandt, Leonardo da Vinci, Titian and works of many other masters, relics of the past culture of many countries of the world. 

The Summer Garden occupies an area of over 11 ha. On the northern side it is bounded by the Palace embankment , on the eastern side - by the Fontanka River, on the western side - by the Lebyazhaya gutter. The layout of the Garden was supervised by D.Trezzini. In 1771 the Summer Garden was separated from the granite embankment with a beautiful wrought-iron latticed railing designed by Yu.Felten. Its wrought-iron sections are connected between them with the granite columns crowned with decorative vases and urns. The design pattern of the railings is austere and graphic. In the Summer Garden is located the Log Cabin of Peter the Great. The Summer Garden was created to serve as a place of an official residence as well as for the organizations of festive assemblies and other court celebrations. In the alleys of the Summer Garden there are numerous sculptural groups, statues and busts.

The famous Statue of Peter the Great known as "The Bronze Horseman" was erected in 1782 in the Senate Square. The statue was created by E.Falconet, the head was designed by Collot.

St. Isaac's Cathedral had been built according to the project of O.Monferrand for 40 years. The Cathedral astounds with its dimensions: its length is 115,5 m; width - 97,6 m; height - 101,8 m; 562 steps lead to the top of the Cathedral. The Cathedral can accommodate up to 13000 visitors at a time. It is decorated with 382 works of art : sculpture, painting, mosaic.

Until the early XIX century the Admiralty served as a shipyard and a fortress. In 1806 - 1823s upon the project of architect Zakharov a stone building in the form of a triumphal structure was erected celebrating Russia's gaining an outlet to the sea. It accommodated the Ministry of Naval Forces. The building is 409 m long. At the height of 72,5 m the spire is crowned with a caravel-shaped figure which is also one of St. Petersburg's symbols. 

There used to be a sea port at the place of the Spit of the Vasilevskiy island, dividing the Neva River into two branches : the Big Neva River and the Small Neva River. In 1807 - 1810 at the Spit the building of the Stock Exchange in the form of the ancient temple was constructed upon the project of Thomas de Thomon and with the participation of the architect A.D.Zakharov. In the building business transactions and stockholders' meetings took place. It is decorated with sculptures, symbolizing the purpose of this trading and port structure.

The Kazan Cathedral was built by architect Voronikhin in 1801 - 1811. It has the form of an elongated cross with a height of 71,6 m. The Kazan Cathedral is a monument to the Russian victory over Napoleon in the Patriotic War of 1812. The Cathedral is the burial place of the Russian commander M.I.Kutuzov. In 1837 in front of the Cathedral the monuments were erected to M.I.Kutuzov and M.B.Barclay de Tolly. In the niches of the Cathedral there are four-meter-high statues of princes Vladimir and Alexander Nevskiy and St. John the Baptist and Apostle Andrew the First Called.

The Russian Museum, the Theater of Opera & Ballet n.a. Musorgskiy, the Theater of Musical Comedy, the Philharmonic, the Russian Museum of Ethnography are situated in the Art Square. In 1819 - 1825 upon the project of architect Rossi the palace for Alexander I 's brother, Mikhael Pavlovich was built. At the present time the palace houses the Russian Museum, which contains exhibitions of the Russian fine art : ancient icon-painting, masterpieces of Kiprensky, Shchedrin, Venetsianov, Bryullov, Kramskoi, Repin, Sourikov, Serov, Vroubel, paintings by Nikitin, Rokotov, Argounov, Levitsky, Borovikovsky. The Russian Museum is the largest museum of Russia. In the Art's Square stands a statue of A.S.Pushkin by Anikoushine.

The St. Nicholas Cathedral is situated on the embankment of the Kryukov's channel joining the Moyka and the Fontanka Rivers. The Cathedral was built upon the project of S.I.Chevakinskiy in 1760 by order of empress Elisaveta Petrovna. To the west of the Cathedral a bell tower is located. The St. Nicholas and Bogoyavlensky Cathedral is often called the Cathedral of St. Nicholas-the Sailor's cathedral for St. Nicholas is considered to be a patron saint of sailors and a rescuer of drowning seamen. The Memorial Plaque commemorating the death of the sailors from the submarine "Komsomolets" is placed in this Cathedral.

The Resurrection Smolnyy Cathedral was designed by Rastrelli by order of empress Elisaveta Petrovna. The cathedral was started in 1748 and finished in 1835 on the behest of tsar Nicholas I by architect Stasov. Upon the ukase of tsar Nicholas I the cathedral was designated as the Cathedral of all educational institutions. In 1922 the cathedral was closed. After 1972 the cathedral housed the exposition "Leningrad now and tomorrow". In recent years the cathedral was converted into a concert hall where spiritual religious music is performed. 

In the city's center is situated Nevskiy Prospekt which is Saint Petersburg's main thoroughfare. In the building in Nevskiy Prospect, 30 is the representation office of Golden Telecom company offering the whole range of telecommunication services, including the Russian Internet provider - Russia-On-Line. The building was built in the middle of the XVIII century by architect Rastrelli, then reconstructed by Jacquot. At the time it was owned by Pushkin's friend, Engelhardt. In the concert hall of this house concerts, musical evening parties with the participation of Liszt, Berlioz, Wagner, Strauss and Rubinstein were held. Scenes from Lermontov's "Masquerade" were set here. In the second half of the XIX century the building housed a bank. From 1949 it accommodated St.Petersburg Philharmonic Malyy Hall n.a. Glinka. The building also houses a metro station and a business center.