Welcome to this virtual tour of Saint Petersburg, Russia's most European city. Founded in 1703 by Peter the Great as a window on the West, St. Petersburg flourished as the seat of Czarist Russia. During the Renaissance, the Venice of the North was built with 18th and 19th-century European pomp and orderliness by mainly European architects. The result is a city that remains one of Europe's most beautiful.   Katherine the Great and her court built imperial palaces on the banks of the Neva, the Hermitage remains one of the world's premiere art collections and the surrounding buildings a tribute to early urban design. Writers, poets, musicians and painters became intrigued by the mystery of the city, the streets of which possess unquestionable beauty. Despite wars and revolutions, the city preserved most of its artistic treasures. Prior to the 900-day siege of Leningrad during WWII, museum curators carefully shipped priceless works of art to safety in Siberia and hid marble statues in the park grounds of the former summer residences of the Imperial family in Tsarskoe Selo, Peterhof, Pavlovsk. After the war, they were returned to their original splendor. In the post-communist transformation, St-Petersburg has reestablished its role as artistic and cultural capital of Russia. The acclaimed Mariinsky Theatre still holds world-class performances, along with the Maly Theatre of Opera and Ballet, the Hermitage Theatre, the Yussupov Palace, and the Beloselsky-Belozelsky Palace. These halls and museums come alive during the White Nights festival. Today, Saint Petersburg is undergoing an about-face from the days of the Bolshevik revolution in order to march toward a more prosperous and vibrant period. A walk around St Petersburg Russia Pre-Revolutionary Photo Gallery Founded: 1703 Population: 4,672,000 U.S. Embassy Information:    Furshtadtskaya ul., 15    191028 St. Petersburg, Russia    Tel. (812) 331-2600    Fax: (812) 331-2852 Languages: Russian, other Currency: Ruble Dialing code: (7) Area Code: (812) Airport Names and Codes:    St. Petersburg Pulkovo Airport (LED) City name changes: 1703-1914 Saint-Petersburg 1914-1924 Petrograd 1924-1991 Leningrad 1991-present Saint-Petersburg