The church domes and spires

St Petersburg - day 2

---

July 4th 2011
Today we briefly drove through St Petersburg and headed for the countryside town of Pushkin. We visited the magnificent Catherine's Palace (also called the Summer Palace) named after Catherine the Great, restored over the last 40 years to its original splendor. We saw ceilings decorated with paintings by Italian artists of the 17th and 18th centuries. We saw many decorative plates and vases ... read more

Europe » Russia » Northwest » Saint Petersburg » Pushkin

---

Founded in the 12th century, the Principality of Muscovy, was able to emerge from over 200 years of Mongol domination (13th-15th centuries) and to gradually conquer and absorb surrounding principalities. In the early 17th century, a new Romanov Dynas... ... read more