Founded by Peter the Great in 1703, St Petersburg was deliberately created in the European style. The impressive palace facades around the centre of the city provide ample evidence of Russia's Tsarist past.
St Petersburg was the heart of the original Communist takeover of power in the 1917 Russian Revolution. The cruiser Aurora fired the first shot of the Revolution to signal the storming of the Winter Palace.
The food was certainly an experience for many. Broccoli for breakfast was not most people's idea of the menu! A real hit was the Russian Pie Shops in St Petersburg with such delicacies as rabbit pie!
The siege of Leningrad (St Petersburg) during the Second World War produced a high casualty rate in the city. The Piskariovskoye Cemetery has over 500,000 people buried in mass graves. The heroism of the Russian defenders is commemorated in numerous memorials.
St Petersburg's main street, Nevsky Prospekt, contains numerous old noble palaces from the Tsarist era and the Kazan Cathedral. During the Communist era this was turned into a museum for atheism!
The Tsarist legacy is clearly present with numerous palaces in and around St Petersburg. The Catherine Palace at Tsarskoye Selo is the most lavish of all. Its overwhelming frontage and glittering interior serve to impress - as one boy said "I now see why they had a Revolution!"
The Amber Room (stolen by the Germans in the Second World War) was underwhelming for some, but the overall impact was immense - and this was just one of half a dozen royal palaces around St Petersburg.
