Daniel Brook

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  1. Petersburg General Staff Building II

    Classical sculpture atop General Staff Building

  2. Petersburg General Staff Building III

    Archway, General Staff Building

  3. Petersburg Industrial III Red Banner

    Constructivist Red Banner Factory by Bauhaus architect Erich Mendelsohn

  4. Petersburg Kunstkamera

    Kunstkamera science museum founded by Peter the Great

  5. Petersburg Singer Building from blog

    Singer Sewing Machine Building, Nevsky Prospect (Credit: Ruth Dear)

  6. Petersburg Cityscape I Cathedral

    The Christ on the Blood Cathedral breaking out of the city's frame

  7. Petersburg Cityscape III

    Perfectly proportioned Petersburg cityscape by Carlo Rossi

  8. Petersburg Constructivism I

    Constructivist architecture in the Strike Avenue neighborhood

  9. Petersburg General Staff Building I

    Neoclassical General Staff Building by Carlo Rossi

  10. Petersburg Okhta Centre

    Architect's rendering of proposed Gazprom skyscraper

St. Petersburg

Built in imitation of Amsterdam by Tsar Peter the Great, St. Petersburg has been Russia’s “Window on the West” for three centuries. Its cosmopolitan mix of foreign and indigenous culture—and the unlimited ambitions and budgets of its leaders—has produced one of the most stunning cities on earth, a gracious metropolis of canals, grand avenues, and spectacular architecture in styles ranging from Russian Baroque to Constructivist.

The modernization scheme for which the city stands made Russia a great power on the global stage but it has also brought on tremendous instability and revolutionary violence.