Saint-Petersburg owes its famous White nights to its northern geographical location (the same latitude as Greenland, Alaska and Chukotka). The sun sets only 9 degrees below the horizon and the faint twilight gradually turns into the dawn. If there are no clouds you can easily read without turning on any light. This period of time Saint-Petersburg is often compared with a beauty bearing her veil.

Saint-Petersburg is not the only city in the world to have the White Nights but nowhere this period is so romantic as in the Venice of the North as the city is often called because of its numerous canals and rivers with more than 300 bridges connecting their banks.

The main waterway of the city is the River Neva flowing out of the largest lake in Europe-Lake Ladoga - into the Gulf of Finland. The river is navigable but the bridges are so low that represent a serious obstacle for transport ships. But it is the low bridges being raised every night in summer to let the ships pass by that have given such an unusual romantic atmosphere to the Saint-Petersburg's White Nights. The view of the draw bridges slowly raising their "wings" up one by one attracts not only tourists but also the citizens of Saint-Petersburg gathering around along the banks of the Neva to enjoy the draw bridges rising.