St. Petersburg

St. Petersburg ranks among the top tourist destinations in Europe with 318 calls and 394,644 passengers in 2008. The cruise terminal for large vessels is located within 20 minutes drive from the city centre; smaller ships dock only 10 minutes walk from the city centre.

The city is young, but its history is overwhelming. The land it occupied once belonged to the Slavs and it was the starting point of the Great Varangian-Greek Trade Way which linked the Baltic to the Black Sea via the territories of the old Russian state. However, this land was seized by Sweden in the 17th century. On 27 May 1703, Peter the Great, after the recovery of lands along the Neva in the course of the Northern War, founded the city St. Petersburg. He had conceived the city as a gate to Europe, connecting Russia to the European world.