Gem of the North; City Center Home to the Best Attractions

Byline: Jean Nowak, SPECIAL TO THE WASHINGTON TIMES

St. Petersburg, Russia's second-largest city, is easy for sightseeing and enjoyment. The major must-sees are concentrated in the central city - the Hermitage, Peter and Paul Fortress, St. Isaac's Cathedral, Yusapov Palace - excepting the royal summer palaces an hour or less from the city.

The best hotels, restaurants, theaters, nightclubs, department stores and shopping boutiques are also in the center, as are many museums, churches and residences built by nobles who came from Moscow at the request of Peter the Great. Many of these buildings are now occupied by educational and cultural entities.

Here are the highlights of the major must-sees:

HERMITAGE

The Hermitage, arguably second only to the Louvre in Paris in importance, began life in a small building erected next to the Winter Palace to house Catherine the Great's art collection and has expanded to nearly fill all the palace buildings. The invaluable collection contains more than 3 million sculptures, paintings, drawings, prints and artifacts and more than 1 million coins and medals. Just a small fraction of the items are on view at any one time.

Works by French …

Questia, a part of Gale, Cengage Learning. www.questia.com
Publication information: Article title: Gem of the North; City Center Home to the Best Attractions. Contributors: Not available. Newspaper title: The Washington Times (Washington, DC). Publication date: December 27, 2003. Page number: D01. © 2009 The Washington Times LLC. COPYRIGHT 2003 Gale Group.

This material is protected by copyright and, with the exception of fair use, may not be further copied, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means.