22 Facts about Why is St Petersburg unique
How much do you know about St Petersburg Russia?
Follow in the footsteps of our friendly local guide in St Petersburg to explore the unique pearls of Russia.
Your mission should you choose to accept it is: 600 km of rails, 800 bridges or 3-million Hermitage collection. Or take it all in on guided tours St Petersburg.
Enjoy!
1. St. Petersburg is the greenest of Russia’s major cities. The statistics are impressive: Over 200 parks and gardens, plus over a thousand tree-lined streets and more than 700 leafy squares; and more than 2,000 hectares of greenery in total — or more than 56 square meters for each of the city’s more than 4.5 million inhabitants.
2. St Petersburg has one of the longest and shortest streets of Russia. The longest street in St Petersburg is Obukhovskoy Oborony prospect (11 km) and the shortest one is Peskovsky lane (34 steps).
3. The oldest building in St Petersburg is Peter the Great’s house (history dates from 1703) and the oldest park is Summer Garden (history dates from 1704)
4. While St Petersburg can’t impress us with the tallest building — Lider Tower, 145 m high, 42 stories, it will easily beat almost any city in the world with its local feature — bridges.
5. St. Petersburg is a proud owner of 800 bridges, 13 of them are drawbridges..
6. Saint Petersburg is called the “Capital of Culture” for a reason. The whole historic center of Petersburg is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site with estimated 8000 landmarks. In comparison, There are only 2 World Heritage Sites in Moscow — Red Square and Kremlin.
7. On May 26, 2013 in honor of the 310th anniversary of the city the chorus of 4,335 people was singing on St. Isaac’s Square.
8. Leningrad — the former name of St Petersburg — is Hero City. During the World War II the city was encircled by Nazi troops for nearly 900 days without access to food and completely cut off from the rest of Russia. But the citizens did not let the enemy in. During this period of starvation, disease and the bombing in Leningrad approximately 1.5 million people died. Many places in the modern Petersburg are a remnant of this tragic and heroic time.
9. In the city full of history and culture, how about a drink in the oldest St Petersburg cafe Palkin? The first cafe was open in 1785, and celebrated its 230-year anniversary in 2015. Among the oldest are also Metropol Restaurant and Literary Cafe. St Petersburg food tour will take you to Literary Cafe, our favorite place in the city.
10. The architecture of St Petersburg is so unique and diverse that all four facades of the Mikhailovsky Castle and the Russian Museum are different. The castle was constructed in such a way to achieve harmony with the surrounding architectural environment. It was built in the time of Paul I, who was the father of the very concept and the first sketches of the castle.
11. There are as many reasons why St Isaac’s Cathedral is unique as you want. First off, it’s the highest observation platform of St Petersburg with the 360-degree panoramic views from the 43 store.
12. The main dome of St Isaac’s Cathedral is gilted with 100 kg of pure gold. During the WWII siege residents hid it beneath the layer of gray paint.
13. A couple of more interesting facts about St Isaac’s Cathedral: At St Isaac’s Square you can see a monument to Nicholas I, a unique equestrian sculpture on two points of support, the only one in the world. Nikolay sits on a horse facing the St. Isaac’s Cathedral. The fact that the rider turned away from the palace served as the formal reason for the daughter of Nicholas I to refuse staying in the palace, despite the fact that it was a present for her. Her wedding present.
14. Bridges are not the only specialty of The city. St. Petersburg is the world capital of trams. The length of the tram tracks in the city is more than 600 km. This fact is recorded in the Guinness Book of Records.
15. Petersburg’s symbol is White Nights, which are explained by high-latitude position of the city. White nights start on May 25–26, when the sun goes down by no more than 9 °, and evening twilight practically coincides with the morning. The total length of white nights is about than 50 days finishing on July 16–17. The maximum duration of the day falls on June 21–22 (18 hr. 53 min.).
16. And the #1 attraction in St Petersburg is, of course, the Hermitage. Hermitage collection has about 3 million items housed in 350 halls of five buildings. To view the entire collection, stopping at each exhibit only for 1 minute, you will have to spend 8 years of life and walk more than 20 kilometers.
Now, how about a 3-day tour of St Petersburg? ;)
Our local St Petersburg guide Valery collected some more fun facts about Spb for you.
Original source: https://friendlylocalguides.com/blog/why-is-st-petersburg-unique-city-in-russia
