ST. PETERSBURG

Peter the Great wanted to create a window to Europe when, in 1703, he laid the foundation stone for the new capital city of his Russian empire. He sent 50,000 serfs into the swampy delta of the Neva to pound the harbor city out of the ground. Later, under Katharina the Great, St. Petersburg finally became the thriving metropolis that Peter had dreamed of: a "Venice of the North," a city of the arts, sciences, and literature. Many artists, craftsmen, scientists and philosophers from Europe responded to the Tsarina’s summons to come east. They brought with them new ideas, which they then blended with the old Eastern traditions. An unparalleled cultural center emerged, quite different from any in the west.