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Location
St. Petersburg is located at the mouth of the Neva River, and across the islands of its delta on the coast of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea. Its nearest suburbs are situated on the lowland adjacent to the Neva River, and along the Gulf.
In spite of the general lowland nature of the site, the relief of the suburbs shows diversity. Izhora eminence is to the South of the city, and hilly Karelia Isthmus with Vuoksa lake land is located to the North. 
From May 25-26 and till July 16-17 you can enjoy magnificent White Nights on the bank of the Neva River, that last over 50 days June 21-22 are the longest days (18 hours 53 minutes). The sun hardly hides behind the horizon, and you can not find even the brightest stars in the night sky.
The city is situated on 60° of the northern latitude that passes roughly across the South of Alaska and Greenland.
Stockholm, Oslo and Helsinki can boast of being at the same latitude. Warm Gulfstreem seriously influences all these cities.
There are no large cities at this latitude, as well as the latitudes close to it in the Western Hemisphere. Pulkovo Meridian (31° eastern longitude) passes through St.Petersburg as well as through Istanbul, but none of these cities can be compared to St.Petersburg in climate or nature.
Saint-Petersburg History ![]()
The history of Saint-Petersburg is a short but densely packed one. Saint-Petersburg exists a little bit more than 300 years but became known not only in Russia but all over the world!
Saint-Petersburg is said to owe its foundation to the desire of one only man, Russian tzar Peter the Great, who really was a great statesman. One of his main ideas was to turn Russia into a contemporary Western state and show to everyone in Western Europe that Russia is a great power! To do this it was necessary to put an end to the conservative traditions of Moscow. And there was taken a decision to build a new capital that would have nothing in common with any other ancient Russian city.
To found his new capital, Saint-Petersburg, Peter needed a proper place. The best location one could find for the city-key from the symbolic door to the West was in the delta of the river Neva flowing into the Baltic Sea. It was a part of the ancient water way from the North to the South. There was one only problem with the place, at the beginning of the 17th century the territory had been annexed by Sweden. But it couldn't prevent the tzar from fulfilling his dreams and he started the Northern War in 1700. It lasted more than 21 years, but after the first victories of the Russian Army, in 1703, Saint-Petersburg was founded.
The history of Saint-Petersburg started with the foundation of a fortress on one of the numerous islands of the river Neva. Till now the golden spire of the Peter&Paul's cathedral of the fortress remains one of the symbols of Saint-Petersburg.
It was not an easy task to construct a kind of Paradise on the Earth (so Peter called his rapidly growing capital). Under the severe climatic conditions typical for the region there started a real struggle between the human will and the nature. Peter dreamed his new capital to have stone buildings and strait wide streets. Thousand of serves were transferred from all over the country to build Saint-Petersburg; hundreds of foreign masters were called to give the city a really European air. One can hardly find any other city to be constructed that period of time in accordance with a general plan in such a short period.
The location of Saint-Petersburg was really good for economic and political purposes, but not for living here. Nobody wanted to abandon his cosy place to find himself in an unfriendly cold city with its yearly floods, cruelly destroying wonderful mansions, its long windy winter nights, its low gray sky and permanent rainy weather. But the imperial capital was here. Saint-Petersburg couldn't remain deserted. Its first citizens came here by Peter's order but the more years were passing by the more attractive for people it was becoming. A lot of eminent Russian figures: musicians, writer, scientists, architects etc. lived and worked in Sain-Petersburg. It is impossible to name all them, but mentioning Dostoyevsky and Tcsaikovsky is quite enough.
Saint-Petersburg was not only the imperial capital but also the city of Revolution, where a new kind of political system was born. Now the Revolution could be differently regarded but undoubtedly it was one of the most significant events of the 20th century that affected greatly the political situation all over the world.
Saint-Petersburg has been always regarded as a mysterious city. There was always a great variety of predictions and myths concerning the city. Saint-Petersburg was often said to be born in order to be deserted and destroyed. And there were moments in its history when it seemed that the city was so close to this especially during the 20th century with all its Revolutions and Wars. But Saint-Petersburg survived the bloody and lean years of the Revolutions, the horrific 900 days of the Siege during the 2nd World War when it lost more than a half of its population, the difficult 90ies full of social and political earthquake.
And now Saint-Petersburg remains one of the most important and interesting cities of Russia, its Northern capital, Northern Venice, one of the most significant scientific, economic and cultural centres: the city of large squares, long straight streets, numerous canals and bridges, the city of ballet, classical and jazz music and many other attractions.
Russian holidays
Nobody loves New Year's Eve like the Russians do - it's the most exciting holiday of the year, with parties, presents, and champagne toasts.
On December 31 each family prepares a lot of delicious specialties: the Holiday table is full of different kinds of salads, cold bark pork, smoked salmon and sturgeon, caviar, vodka, champagne, fruit and sweets. The New Year Holiday tastes like tangerines that are eaten in large quantities at this time.
Christmas holidays in Russia are quite long – from January 1st till January 10th.
It’s a family holiday with a rich festive table, champagne and tangerines. The New Year party starts with “seeing the old year off”, sharing all the positive things that the passing year has brought into people’s lives. At midnight The Kremlin Tower clock strikes 12 times and the New Year celebration begins and lasts all night long. A lot of people after midnight are crowding the beautifully illuminated streets to continue the festival there with snowballs, dancing and of course with fireworks that you can hear throughout the whole night.
Orthodox Christmas takes place in Russia on January 7 according to the Orthodox traditions. It is a religious holiday with liturgies that last all night in all Orthodox cathedrals and churches around the city.
Many people also celebrate a strange holiday called “Old New Year”, which is in fact the Orthodox New Year celebrated according to the old Julian calendar on the night January 13/14.
The schoolchildren have vacations from December 28 until January 10. This is the season for many public festivals called "Yolka" (New Year Tree). These are concerts, shows, competitions where everything revolves around the New Year Tree, Ded Moroz, Snegurochka and other persons from Russian fairy tales.
If you want to understand St Petersburg properly, you should visit it in winter. Saint-Petersburg is amazing in winter. The city never looks more beautiful than when the sun finally rises on streets covered with fresh snow. Peter’s the Great city is fascinating under a thick blanket of snow, showing its new beauty.
The Neva River and canals of St. Petersburg are completely frozen. It is possible to walk across the frozen Neva from the Hermitage to the St. Peter and Paul Fortress.
Advantage of this season is that you can get better prices for accommodation and tour guide’s service and don’t forget about winter sports! The locals go skiing or skating, kids have fun going down the ice slides, making snowmen and playing snowballs. If you travel a little bit far from the city you may find troikas or horse-drawn sledges.
The Neva and Saint-Petersburg rivers and canals are frozen. It is possible to walk on the ice and here and there you get to see fishermen sitting on it.
Restaurants, cafes and night clubs have special New Year shows with live music, lots of singing and dancing.
For a “fun night-life scene,” head to Purga (Fontanka Embankment 11, where, according to Mr. Dougherty’s article, every evening at midnight, “New Year’s Eve” is celebrated with bells, sparklers and free drinks.
The cultural life of the city is also going at full pace, with plenty of premieres and parties.
Different art and music festivals are performed in the city at that time. On these dates it is also a delight to see the magic ballet "The Nutcracker" that is traditionally performed in the main theatres of St. Petersburg.
The streets of St. Petersburg are decorated with festive lights, garlands and New Year toys. In all the squares and in every flat you can find beautiful natural Christmas trees, filled with ornaments, toys and colored lights.
In some squares and streets of our city you can see beautiful ice sculptures created by professional designers. You can come across Christmas markets and kiosks (outdoors stores) serving hot blini (Russia pancakes).
On these days Russian Santa Claus – Father the Frost visits the families and gives a lot of gifts to the small kids. He is the fairy tale person - tall and strong, with long white beard wearing fur hat, blue or red heel-long coat trimmed with white fur and Russian traditional high boots (valenki) and with a big bag full of presents. Father the Frost (Ded Moroz) is accompanied by Snow Maiden (Snegurochka) his granddaughter. To get presents from Ded Moroz the kids have to dance around the Christmas tree, sing a song or recite a poem. Ded Moroz drives Russian traditional three-horse sledge (troyka).
We will be glad to give you a new experience and taste all the things mentioned before.
According to your wishes we organize group and individual programs for all your stay here in Saint-Petersburg.
Welcome to Russia & Saint-Petersburg
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