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1. The Hermitage
The collection of the State Hermitage includes more than three million works of art and artefacts of the world culture. The most important architectural ensemble of the Hermitage located in the centre of St Petersburg consists of the coldness Palace, the former state residence of the Russian emperors, the buildings of the Small, Old (Great) and New Hermitages, the Hermitage Theater and the Auxiliary House. The museum complex also includes the Menshikov Palace and the Eastern Wing of the General Staff building, the Staraya Derevnya Restoration and Storage Centre and the Museum of the Imperial Porcelain Factory.
2. Tsarskoe Selo
Tsarskoye Selo (known as Detskoye Selo between 1918 and 1937, Pushkin thereafter) is an outskirts of St. Petersburg best known for its imperial palaces and its lyceum. The town was recognized in 1708 on the site of a conquered Finnish village, not long after the founding of St. Petersburg. The first railroad in Russia, opened in 1837, connected Tsarskoye Selo to the capital, about twenty-five kilometers (fourteen miles) away. In 1887 Tsarskoye Selo also became the first European town to be illuminated by electricity. Celebrated as the Russian Versailles, the town's layout and culture payable much to the admiration that the Emperor Peter the Great and his successors felt for the French original and other European models. Initially, between 1708 and 1724, Tsarskoye Selo served as the residence of Peter's wife, the Empress Catherine I. The original Catherine Palace, named after her, was constructed at that time. Substantial rebuilding of the complex was undertaken during the reign of the Empress Elizabeth (1741 - 1762), with many famed architects and artists taking part in the project. The most famous example is the architect Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli work on the imperial palace.
3. The Kremlin (Kreml')
Kremlin is the Russian word for "fortress", "citadel" or "castle" and refers to any major fortified central complex found in historic Russian cities. This statement is often used to refer to the famous one, the Moscow Kremlin, to the government that is base there. Outside Russia, the name "Kremlin" is sometimes wrongly thought of as being Saint Basil's Cathedral because of its distinct atmosphere, although this is not a part of the Moscow Kremlin. The name Kremlin has been allotted to different Soviet Navy vessels during manufacture. In each case, the name was changed prior to commissioning. Vessels which have briefly carried this name included Admiral Kuznetsov and Ulyanovsk. Russia's presidential administration is situated in the Moscow Kremlin. During the Soviet era, the government of the USSR was placed in that Kremlin, but now the Russian governments occupy a building outside it.
4. Novosibirsk Zoo
The city's leading tourist Places for families, Novosibirsk Zoo enjoy a natural forest setting and is an excellent zoo, being highly regarded throughout the world. Home to more than 11,000 exotic animals and creatures, covering almost 4,000 different animal species, the zoo is visited each year by around one million tourists and is more or less 131 acres / 53 hectares in size. The zoo is especially well-known for its big cats, which include rare white tigers, along with Siberian tigers, important relatives of the African Cape lion and a number of endangered species. Recently, one of the Bengalese tigers at Novosibirsk Zoo was in the news, after giving birth to a tiger-lion cub, known as a 'liger'.
5. Red Square
This is possibly the most well-known central square in the world. It is a humbling sight both day and night; beautiful in winter when it is covered a pristine blanket of snow. Regally dramatic all the year round. Originally an expanse of nothing more than mud, and populated by a ragged collection of hawkers, beggars and outcasts, Red Square acquired its present size and stature gradually. The square and its surroundings exude the drama of Russian past and present. The walls of the Kremlin loom on one side, their blood-red height belittling the pale GUM department store opposite. At the southern end of the square towers, is the onion-domed exuberance of St. Basil's Cathedral .Get yourself an English-speaking tour guide - its well worth it. Very few sights have English signs, and as a foreigner, you'll wait unnecessarily in line much longer than if you have a local guide to expedite.
6. Peter and Paul Fortress
"There is a myth that Peter borrowed the musket of one of his armed forces and with the spike cut two strips of sod from the Land of Hare Island. Laying them in the form of a cross, he said, 'Here shall be a town.' His soldiers dug a ditch in which Peter placed a box containing relics of the Apostle Andrew, Russia's patron saint. At this moment so the story goes, an eagle dished in flight over Peter's head and alighted on top of two birch trees which had been tied together to form an arch. This arch became the position of the formal East of Peter Gateway of the future fortress. The Peter and Paul Fortress have a beautiful history start in the early 1700's. Under the commands of Peter the Great, the Peter and Paul Fortress were started during the Northern War against Sweden, to help regain lands on the Neva banks and the Baltic shore. The work on the fortress proceeded quickly because Peter the Great likely an attack from the Swedish Navy from the Gulf of Finland. However, the Swedes were beaten before the fortress was finished. The date for the fort was started, May 27, 1703, became known in history as the day St. Petersburg was founded. The Peter and Paul Fortress was the first most important building in the city of St. Petersburg. It forms the historical core of Petersburg and is "initially the nucleus of the city".
7. St Isaac's Cathedral
St. Isaac's Cathedral was initially the city's most important church and the biggest cathedral in Russia. It was built between 1818 and 1858, by the French-born architect Auguste Montferrand, to be one of the most inspiring landmarks of the Russian Imperial capital. One hundred and eighty years later on the gilded dome of St. Isaac's still dominates the skyline of St. Petersburg. Although the cathedral is considerably lesser than the newly rebuilt Church of Christ the Savior in Moscow, it boasts much more extraordinary fades and interiors. The cathedral's facades are decorated with sculptures and massive granite, while the interior is decorated with unbelievably detailed mosaic icons, paintings and columns made of malachite and lapis lazuli. A large, brightly colored stained glass window of the "Resurrected Christ" takes pride of place inside the main altar. The church, designed to accommodate 14,000 standing worshipers, was closed in the early 1930s and reopened as a museum. Today, church services are held here only on major ecclesiastical occasions.
8. Peterhof
Peterhof is an extremely luxurious royal estate, lying on the shore of the Gulf of Finland (Baltic Sea), a combination of several palaces and parks, the "capital of Russian fountains" and "the Russian Versailles". The estate was founded by Peter the Great and shortly after 1710 the tzar had an attractive park with several palaces build. The focal point of both the Lower Park and the Upper Garden is the wonderful Grand Palace with the Grand fall in front of it. The unique palace was built for Peter the Great in 1714-25 and in 1745-55 was remodeled to its present baroque glory by Bartolomeo Rastrelli, the architect of the Winter Palace in downtown St. Petersburg. Despite all the damage done to the Grand Palace during WWII, its interiors has been carefully restored and are truly breathtaking.
9. Church of the Saviour on the Blood
The church is highly located along the Griboedov Canal. The section of street where the murder took place was enclosed within the walls of the church, and part of the canal filled to permit the street to pass around the building. Architecturally, the church is not in that place in St. Petersburg. The city's structural design is predominantly Baroque and Neoclassical, but the Savior on Blood is more in line with medieval Russian architecture. It intentionally resembles the famous St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow.
10. Yusupov Palace
The Yusupov Palace in St. Petersburg provides an attractive look at the lives of the aristocracy of the 19th and early 20th century. The palace has foreign rooms such as the Moorish room with its good-looking mosaics and a pool room with a top secret compartment under the table. The palace has a fantastic Rococo theater, which seats 180 and is still used for concerts. However, Yusupov Palace is best known as the site of the murder of Grigory Rasputin, the "mad monk" who was killed in December 1916 by Prince Yusupov and others loyal to Nicholas II. They thought Rasputin had a mystical hold over the Empress Alexandra that was damaging the imperial family. Rasputin was not simple to kill. Prince Yusupov first tried poison, and then shot him. He escaped, was pursued by the assassins and shot three more times before being battered and thrown in the Neva River. Rasputin's body was found in the freezing river three days later and an autopsy showed he had drowned. Perhaps he did have mystical powers!
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