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This year the city of St. Petersburg celebrated its 300 year anniversary. St. Petersburg was founded as the capital of the Russian Empire by the tsar Peter the Great in 1703 as a "window to Europe". Today the city has become one of the Russia's largest industrial, scientific and cultural centers with almost 5 million population. From architectural point of view the city is a unique monument to the world and Russian architecture and the whole ensemble with beautiful palaces, temples. Streets and prospects of the city on the Neva enable to feel ideal harmony and strict perfection of architecture of different epochs and various architectural styles. Our city is sometimes cold "the symphony of stone". Many islands, rivers and canals make the city particularly original.
 St. Petersburg – “The Northern Capital’ - was built and decorated by prominent European and Russian architects and sculptors. The Northern Capital is known to be one of the greatest and most beautiful cities in the world; its historical and cultural importance is as big as that of Paris, London or Rome. "Northern Paris", "Northern Venice"... most poetic names have been given to our city. The founder of St. Petersburg Peter the Great laid the first stone of St. Peter and Paul's Fortress on Hare Island on May 16, 1703, thus inaugurating the new city. In 1712 St. Petersburg became the Capital of the Russian Empire, the centre of its political and cultural life. Saint Petersburg was officially recognized by UNESCO as an open-air museum, city - monument. The best architects, sculptors and artists were invited here and created the city unique look. Wonderful broad squares, wide avenues, including the main street - Nevsky Avenue, rich palaces of Russian aristocrats, majestic cathedrals and government buildings sprang up everywhere. It is ornamented with brilliant sculptures of Russia's statesmen - the famous Bronze Horseman - the monument of Peter the Great, the monument of Catherine II and many others. Here brilliant composers such as Tchaikovsky, Rimsky-Korsakov, Glinka and others created their music; illustrious poets and painters worked here. St. Petersburg palaces are its gems - the grand summer residences of Russians Tzars, such as Peterhoff, Tzarskoye Selo, Pavlovsk and Lomonosov. Aurora cruiser, Smolny Institute and the Field of Mars tell about three Russian revolutions.
Every year about 3 million foreign and about 1 million Russian visitors arrive to the city. Our city is convenient for travel, science, sports, communications, for entertainment and has necessary infrastructure for high quality range of services for conducting international business. Guests frequently visit St. Petersburg to get to know the city, with its remarkable history and culture.
And there is one more reason for you to come to our beautiful city. This year St. Petersburg celebrated its 300 anniversary. Both the citizens of Petersburg and many guests from other cities and countries participated in this glorious celebration. Many important persons from the whole world visited St. Petersburg in the time of the celebration. President Putin hosted the leaders of many different countries including George Bush, G. Schroeder, J.Chirac. Many exciting events marked this celebration: concerts, fancy - dress balls, art- and cultural events and many more.
You can get further acquainted with the remarkable city of St. Petersburg by browsing through many web sites dedicated to its beauty. The link here takes you to one of these sites -
http://stpetersburg-guide.com/history/general.shtml . But of course there is nothing better then to actually visit the city on Neva in person. Come and experience first hand this cultural and architectural jewel.
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