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St. Petersburg
The city of St. Petersburg is relatively young according to European
and Russian standards. Founded in 1703 it will celebrate only 300th
anniversary in year 2003. Though the city is rather young it has
rich and fascinating history. Since the days of Peter I's "Paradise"
and "North Venice" till nowadays St. Petersburg has been
living an interesting life.
 Since
its birth Petersburg was the city of myths and mystery. You can
hardly find such a young city wrapped in exciting stories, astonishing
myths and mysterious legends. The unique history of the city is
not only reflected in numerous rumors and still alive in destiny
of people gazing through time from old portraits. The whole sophisticated
development of St. Petersburg is materialized in its palaces and
temples, park ensembles, street labyrinths and multistoried houses.
Like any other large city St. Petersburg will tell his stories to
every attentive and interested observer. Outstanding personalities
of culture and history - military leaders, courtiers, tsars and
princes, artists and poets, writers and travelers lived and walked
here. Come here to adore this "North Venice" of Peter
the Great and his magnificent daughter Elizabeth; the city made
the Russian Empire great power; where Lomonosov, Derzhavin, Pushkin,
Gogol and Dostoevsky wrote their masterpieces. Come to get to know
the history of St. Petersburg, White Nights of mysterious North
Palmira and to see the spires of the Admiralty and Peter and Paul
Fortress.
Moscow
Moscow, the capital of the Russian Federation, was founded in 1147
by prince Yuri Dolgoruky as a fortress on the bank of the Moskva
river. Within over 850 years of its history Moscow has developed
into the one of the largest cities of the world with a territory
of almost  1000
sq. km and a population of about 9 million. It is the economic,
political and cultural center of Russia and the seat of the Russian
government. There are a lot of inland and foreign companies, educational
and cultural institutions in the city. Moscow is famous for its
architectural and cultural monuments of world significance: the
Kremlin (15-17th centuries) - the former residence of the Russian
tzars is considered to be one of the most beautiful architectural
ensembles in the world, the St.Basil`s Cathedral (1551-1561) - the
masterpiece of Russian architecture is located on the Red Square.
Moscow is well-known thanks to its theatres and museums. The Bolshoy
Theatre (1776) - one of the leading opera and ballet theatres in
the world, the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, the Tretyakov Gallery,
the Historical Museum, the ancient estate Kolomenskoye (14th century)
- one of the residences of the Russian princes and tsars, the Kuskovo
estate (18th century) are among them. The Moscow metro is one of
the most beautiful in the world.
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