Saint Petersburg, the romantic Venice of the North
It’s the Always the season to talk about Saint Petersburg...
I love Saint Petersburg, and as a European woman, I admit that it’s one of the most fascinating and beautiful cities I have seen.
The city is surrounded by water canals, which gives it a very romantic atmosphere, and the contrast between the old aristocratic palace and the modern city is beautiful.
As you walk among the streets, you feel as if you are traveling through the past, and all steps are imbued with the souls of artists that lived, dreamed, and created here.
You can everywhere perceive the torments of the Second World War’s Leningrad, these crying walls of the hidden backyards, where citizens were closed from the rest of the world for more than 900 days and was the city of death and famine.
Spring always leads us to June, and with the White Nights, the city seems to breathe fresh life again and wake up after these long months of winter.
When September comes, the leaves fall little by little, coloring the city with their golden light, and the drops of water, with the help of the daily soft wind, take them away to say hello to the first snowflakes.
Saint Petersburg is a city with its own rhythm. This city has something magical. no matter the weather, It shows its beauty in a thousand contrasts, and each month brings a certain kind of joy.
I will write a later post about the frozen winter and the white nights because they are undoubtedly atypical.
But for now, let’s take a look at the roots of this city living between water and time.
Saint-Petersburg was founded by Tsar Peter the Great in 1703 after his conquest of Sweden and was the capital until the Russian Revolution of 1918.
The city is constructed on a swamp, around the rest of the Swedish Fortress, and surrounded by the Neva River (known as the Peter and Paul Fortress).
Peter’s dream was to create a northern capital, Russia’s ‘Window to the West."For that, he hired numerous engineers, architects, shipbuilders, scientists, and businessmen from all countries of Europe, mainly Italians. They built fantastic palaces and awe-inspiring churches with the help of stonemasons.
The city attracted the most famous writers, painters, and artists, and you can find them at each corner :
To quote some : Fyodor Dostoevsky, Nikolai Gogol, Alexander Pushkin, Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Ilya Repin, Anna Pavlova, Marius Petipa …
Here is a list of the most special (must-see) places to visit when you come to Saint Petersburg. I am not going to enter into details because it will be too long, but it is supposed to give a first idea.
the most historical place to visit
The Hermitage Museum (Palace square) and The Russian Museum (Theater Square)
Church Of Spill Blood, Kazan Cathedral, Saint Isaac Cathedral (+ if you have time, The smolny Cathedral and Saint Nicholas
Nevsky Pospect
Peter and Paul Forteress
The Mariinsky Theater
The Faberge Museum, and Yusupov Palace
Alexander Pushkin Museum and memorial
Parc of the 300 Hundreds years with Football Olympic Stadium
the Summer Garden and Palace of Peter I, The Botanical Garden
Outside Saint Petersburg city :
Catherine Palace
Peterhof
the coolest places to walk or enjoy time
Park Elagin
Vasilievsky Island with Sevkabel Port and Erarta museum (modern art)
New Holland island
Pavlovsk Parc
Cinema Aurora
Galleria Big Mall
my favorite cafés and restaurants in SPB
“the Astoria” Cafe (отель астория) and oldest “Sever”(Север) for Traditional atmosphere and desserts.
“schastye”(счастье) on saint Isaac’s Square
for Unusual desserts “Mickey&Monkeys”
For chill cafe and tasty food , Coffee 22
For tasty Bakery, Cafe “Paradnaya”(парадная) and “Sloy”(Слой)
Food hall on vasilievsky island named “vasilievsky Rinok”(василеостровский рынок)
Tasty burgers, Meat and the best dessert “Napoleon” in town, “MooMoo Burger” (close by Galleria Mall)
Best Georgian Restaurant , “Phali xhinkali”(пхали Хинкали)
Traditional russian Kitchen Restaurant “The idiot”(идиот) and “Gogol”(гоголь)
Best Restaurant-Terrace with a rooftop view, “Terrasse” or “mansard”(терасса или мансарда)
Culinary Asian experience “Duo Asia” and Tasty Rolls “Subzero”
Streetfood (shaverma(шаверма на литейном простпекте 64/78), and “Pita’s”
Saint Petersburg is a fascinating city of light and darkness, created by the history of its illuminated and dreadful years.
Very beautiful for all the poetic and sensible souls, and welcoming for people with alternative or creative minds.
You can’t get bored in this city. As the image of its multiple layers of clouds racing in the sky shows, it’s a city always in soft and light motion.
Please come and visit !
I have no doubt that you will be mesmerized, and, like me, you will lose yourself between the river and the clouds.
