The renown masterpieces of architecture, along with monuments to the city's heroic past and many museums, has made Saint-Petersburg into one of the world's top tourist destinations.
A city of contrasts, Petersburg is a modern city of more than five million that still retains the flavor of days gone by with its majestic palaces and residences that line the streets in the heart of the city. Its many canals and bridges and baroque architecture are the source of the city's nickname, "Venice of the North". Saint-Petersburg is divided by numerous canals and five rivers into more than 40 islands and actually has more bridges than Venice.
The city's center, also known as historic Petersburg, spans across the Neva
River and includes many historic landmarks as well as the shopping and business
districts. Most of the buildings in the town center were built before the
revolution and feature neo-classical or baroque architicture.
The Hermitage,
one of the world's largest and most famous museums, is on the
south site of the Neva. Just across from the Square of the Decembrists
is the Bronze Horseman, the statue of Peter the Great that has come to
symbolize Saint-Petersburg around the world.
Directly across the Neva is the Peter and Paul Fortres, which is the
center around which Saint-Petersburg has developed.