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Saint Petersburg is the biggest among the northern cities and the most northern among the big ones. It occupies the territory exceeding 600 sq. km. with about 4.5 mln inhabitants.
Created by Peter the Great in 1703 to be his "window on Europe", St Petersburg combines its fascinating Russian heritage with a distinctly European outlook. A city of infinite charm with its majestic palaces, churches and cathedrals, river embankments, beautiful parks and innumerable bridges has a relatively short but outstanding history. For almost two centuries it was the capital of the Russian Empire. No longer a capital city now it still preserves its imperial grandeur.
Today St. Petersburg is a treasure house of architecture: the Winter Palace, a pearl of the Russian baroque architecture, the Palace Square, Peter and Paul Fortress, St. Isaac's Cathedral, and summer residences of the Russian Czars. One huge palace after another, imposing architectural ensembles and austere granite embankments bear testimony to a magnificent kingly past of the city.
Considered the cultural heart of modern-day Russia, St Petersburg is rapidly regaining its reputation as one of the great cities in the world. Within easy reach of the capitals of Europe, St Petersburg now offers to its visitors luxury accommodation, expert destination-management and international travel services.
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