The Golden domes of Catherine's palace at Tsarskoe Selo are seen at left. Roll your mouse over the picture and you will see the famous Church of the blood in nearby St. Petersburg.

St. Petersburg at one time was the capital of Russia. It still seems to be the cultural capital of Russia. One of the world's finest art museums, the Hermitage, is in St. Petersburg. The Hermitage, several palace buildings on the Neva River, was also the home of the Czars and Czarinas. St. Petersburg was called Leningrad during the Soviet years. The city was initially named after Peter the Great, who was instrumental in its development. It was a great accomplishment, considering it was built in a swampy area off the Gulf of Finland.

St. Petersburg suffered greatly during WWII, 1941-44 during the "Seige of Leningrad". Hundreds of thousands of Russians were killed or died from starvation. Another sad epoch in the history of St. Petersburg was the Bolshevik-ordered murder of the entire Romanov family (the last of the Romanovs) Czar Nicholas. You can find more information about this on the Russian Links page (see below).

St. Isaac's Cathedral (actually a museum), Peter the Great's estate at Peterhof, the Peter and Paul Fortress on an island in the Neva (across from the Hermitage) and nearby Tsarskoe Selo were huge highlights for me. Take a whole day for the Hermitage, especially if you love art history. The Hermitage now houses one of the world's greatest collections of art, much of it obtained during the reign of Catherine the Great.

And the beautiful palace buildings and gardens of Tsarskoe Selo (Tsar's Garden), shown left, (it is actually a whole village) deserve at least a day. It's about 25 miles southeast of Moscow.