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Guide to Russia


Guide to Russia

White Nights Travel is your guide to russia and one of its most beautiful cities St Petersburg. A trip to St. Petersburg is an experience that will stay with you the rest of your life. From the very first glimpse of the city, you will be spellbound. Your personal guide to russia, White Nights Travel is here to show you St. Petersburg from local’s vantage point. Our teams of professionals with vast experience in tour industry and passion for St Petersburg will ensure you have the best possible time in this wonderful city. We want to be not only your guide to russia, but also a local friend. We want you to experience St. Petersburg, not just look at it! We believe that a professional and friendly guide is a key to this. In the narration your guide st Petersburg history reveals itself. In the stories of your guide st Petersburg past and historical figures take shape. Only in the stories told by your guide st Petersburg the life of its citizens opens up. This is a lot more than any guide book can offer.

St Petersburg has many symbols.  However, St Petersburg citizens and Russians in general do not share the same opinion on what should be considered the main symbol of the city. Some people believe it is little sailing ship on top of the Admiralty Tower, others think it is Alexander’s Column  in the middle of the Palace Square, or the “the Bronze Horseman”, famous monument to Peter the Great. Here are some of the most popular St Petersburg sights and symbols

Nevsky Prospekt

The city’s main thoroughfare Nevsky Prospekt is one of the oldest and most beautiful streets in St Petersburg. Fashionable and elegant it is a heart of the city. A stroll along Nevsky Prospekt is a kind of a ritual for locals as well as for tourists. Magnificent buildings, theaters and museums, numerous cafes, restaurants and shops – all this makes Nevsky Prospekt the unmissable and one of the most recognizable attractions in St Petersburg.

Sailing Ship on top of the Admiralty

The building of the Admiralty (former Navy Headquarters) is a focal point in St Petersburg’s architecture. Three main streets (including Nevsky Prospekt) radiate from it.  The central part of the Admiralty is crowned with a tower and a spire. The spire is topped with a weather wane shaped like a little sailing ship, which is one of St Petersburg symbols. You can find this ship on local souvenirs, tickets etc.

The Rostral Columns
Guide to Russia

The main naval symbol of St Petersburg, The Rostral Columns were designed by the French architect Thomas de Thomon and put up in 1810. The columns are decorated with “rostra” (prows of ships), which symbolize naval victories. The base of every column is decorated with allegorical sculptures of the main rivers (in the European part of Russia) – Volga, Dnepr, Volkhov and Neva. The Rostral Columns used to serve as lighthouses for ships arriving to St Petersburg. Nowadays they are the main landmarks of the city. From this spot, at the Point of Vasilievsky Island, opens one of the best views of St Petersburg.


Two angels protecting the city

There are two angels that are believed to protect the city and be St Petersburg symbols as well. The first one is located on top of the bell tower’s spire of the Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul, located on the territory of Peter and Paul Fortress. Another angel crowns the Alexander’s Column in the middle of the Palace Square. The column was built to glorify Russian victory over Napoleon Bonaparte in the War of 1812.

Academy of Fine Arts

Academy of fine Arts is usually the first stop of the city tour for those , who come on cruises to St Petersburg.  Built on the order of Catherine the Great in the second half of the 18th century the academy is still active. The pier in front of the Academy is adorned by statues of two Egyptian sphinxes. They used to guard a temple of Pharaoh Amenhotep III in Thebes around 3500 years ago. The sphinxes were discovered by the French, but turned out to come to Russia instead of France thanks to “July Revolution” of 1830. Russia bought the statues, they were sent from Alexandria to St Petersburg by sea, and since 1834 the sphinxes have been guarding St Petersburg.

While choosing your trips st petersburg, we recommend you to consider several tour operators. Some of them may offer you expensive and cheap st petersburg packages. You should carefully look through the list of what is included into the trips st petersburg. The tour price greatly depends on that. Sometimes what seemed to be a cheap st petersburg tour may turn out to be much more expensive than you expected. And remember: you compare, you save!


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