It is not for nothing that St. Petersburg is called an open-air museum; here you can simply walk along the streets to touch the history and art. But for those who want to properly spend their holidays, broaden their horizons and learn a lot of new things, there are many places in St. Petersburg.
One cannot ignore the Hermitage, the third largest art museum in the world and the first in Russia. One day to get acquainted with the entire collection of the museum will not be enough, because there are more than three million exhibits. The Hermitage can rightfully be proud of the fact that it possesses one of the world's finest collections of Flemish art - the paintings of the "Little Dutchmen" are located in the famous tent hall of the museum, and the collection of Rembrandt's works is one of the most complete in the world. The Hermitage also houses two works by Leonardo da Vinci, two by Raphael and even one sculpture by Michelangelo. The Russian Museum contains genuine treasures of Russian art, from icons to abstract art. Here you can get acquainted with the best examples of Russian painting - in the collection of works by Serov, Repin, Bryullov, Aivazovsky, Shishkin, Kuindzhi and others. You should definitely visit the country palaces-residences. The magnificent and majestic Catherine Palace with the famous Amber Room is beautiful at any time of the year. Do not forget about Peterhof, the main highlight of which is, of course, a unique ensemble of fountains with a central figure of Samson with a lion. Visit secluded Pavlovsk, famous for its magnificent landscape park around. The famous St. Petersburg churches will also be interesting to visit, especially St. Isaac's Cathedral, from the colonnade of which offers a beautiful view of the entire city. Also visit the Kazan Cathedral, which houses the tomb of Marshal Kutuzov, and the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood, which is located nearby. This is a unique cathedral, installed on the site of the death of Emperor Alexander II, which can be called a real museum of mosaics, because the mosaic area in it is more than 7000 square meters. If you want to find yourself in the very heart of the city, visit the Peter and Paul Fortress, where the museum of the history of the city is located and the imperial tomb. In St. Petersburg there are also new, but very interesting museums, for example, the toy museum, the gramophone museum and the water museum. The latter is located in the former water tower and the reservoir room of the main water pumping station.
