Top Ten Places to Visit on a Trip to Saint Petersburg, Russia

As a Russian native, people often ask me what they simply must see when they visit Russia. Given that Russia is vastly larger than the United States, that's quite a question! It's also an unfair one. The answer depends on how much time you have to spend, when you are going to visit and your interests. As it would be almost impossible to compile a decent top ten list for a nation the size of Russia, I have compiled a list for those wishing to make the most of a visit to Saint Petersburg.

Russian Museum
Housing one of the world's greatest collections of art, the Russian Museum was opened in 1898. It is housed in the Mikhailovsky Palace. It was the great wish of Tsar Alexander III to create a public museum, a dream that became reality under his son, Tsar Nicholas II. During the Soviet period, art from palaces, churches and private collections was taken by the government and moved to the museum.
The building itself is a work of art and is one of Carlo Rossi's finest Neo-Classical creations. The Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich commissioned it in 1819. Work on the palace was completed in 1825.
The collections include art from the 11th century to the modern day. Much of the older art was commissioned by the church and has a very somber tone to it. The modern art is characterized by a more lively interpretation of life in general. Special collections are routinely on loan to the museum from around the world.