After the maritime victory over the Swedish army, Peter I the Great decided that he was going to build a city on the small islands and lagoons of the mouth of the river Neva. The Russian, Italian and French masters dreamed wonderful Baroque and Classicist palaces to the banks of the canals. The Church of the Savior on Blood, the Saint Isaac's Cathedral, the Peter and Paul Fortress, the blue white and gold Smolny and the Winter Palace all make the city of white nights unforgettable. The Hermitage has one of the largest art collections of the world, but for those who find this less than enough, there is the Russian Museum, and the suburbs of Peterhof, Pushkin and Pavlovsk.
