Well advanced, this gallery will include images reflecting my impressions during travels accomplished in Russia. The first images published are those taken during a five weeks stay, summer 2006, in Saint-Petersburg. A selection among the 3000 shot photographs at the time of this trip will progressively enrich this gallery as the sorting advances. The visit of this gallery could be assimilated to "Strolls in Saint-Petersburg and its Surroundings".
Saint-Petersburg is by the edge of the Baltic, at the mouth of Neva. It is the second largest city of Russia after Moscow. The city was founded in 1703 by Tsar Peter the Great. In 1914 it changes name and is called Petrograd , then becomes Leningrad in 1924 before finding its name of origin (German), by referendum, in 1991. By its beautiful and elegant, harmonious, traditional and baroque architecture, Saint-Petersburg is one of the most distinguished cities of Europe . It is crossed by Neva , a very broad river with multiple ramifications. Because of its canal system, Saint-Petersburg is often compared to Venice or Amsterdam . The city has large suburbs made up of agglomerations of which some, such as Peterhof, Pavlovsk and Tsarskoïe Selo, are famous (old summer residences of the Tsars). Finally, Saint-Petersburg was the capital of Russia during two centuries, between 1712 and 1918.