Peter the Great's imperial city of canals and palaces
Founded by Peter the Great in 1703 on the marshy delta of the Neva, Saint Petersburg was built to look west, and its grand Baroque and Neoclassical avenues and canals still feel European. The Hermitage fills the Winter Palace and its neighbours with a collection spanning ancient Egypt to Matisse. The Church of the Saviour on Spilled Blood is covered inside with mosaics, and the gilded fountains of Peterhof line the Gulf of Finland. In June the white nights keep the sky light until almost dawn.