Classical sculpture atop General Staff Building
Archway, General Staff Building
Constructivist Red Banner Factory by Bauhaus architect Erich Mendelsohn
Kunstkamera science museum founded by Peter the Great
Singer Sewing Machine Building, Nevsky Prospect (Credit: Ruth Dear)
The Christ on the Blood Cathedral breaking out of the city's frame
Perfectly proportioned Petersburg cityscape by Carlo Rossi
Constructivist architecture in the Strike Avenue neighborhood
Neoclassical General Staff Building by Carlo Rossi
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.
