The first thing that strikes me as I drive through the city after landing, apart from the biting chill, is the kaleidoscope of colours that adorn its buildings. Shades of pistachio green, porcelain blue, salmon pink, and glints of gold leaf brighten the sombre grey skies. St. Petersburg, Russia’s cultural capital, and often called the “Venice of the North,” was founded three centuries ago by Peter the Great, on a cluster of islands built upon swampy land, all interlaced by rivers and canals linked by over 500 bridges.
Once known as Leningrad, it endured a brutal three-year siege during World War II that left it in ruins and claimed over a million civilian lives. It was the capital of Russia for over 200 years before Moscow took over in 1918.
Amid the golden leaves of Ostrovsky Square, stands a statue of the Catherine II, poised, regal, and timeless, who helped Russia thrive in a golden age. Her monument rises above a circle of poets, generals, and statesmen who were rumoured to be her lovers.
In St. Petersburg, history doesn’t sit quietly behind velvet ropes; it breathes through every gilded hall and cracked marble stair. Step into the famous Hermitage Museum housed over six buildings with more than 300 rooms, and you are swallowed by a sea of green and gold, where chandeliers shimmer like captured sunlight, gargantuan jasper and malachite vases tower over rooms, and Rembrandts hang where Catherine the Great once walked. The Winter Palace was home to the Tsars for over two hundred years. The sheer scale leaves one awe-struck, each wing more beautiful than the last.
It’s a place that can easily consume an entire day, or two, or even nine years as our local guide Maria Zotova, reminds us. And as you stand before a painting or admire a sculpture, you realise you are not just observing history, you are experiencing it, up close. You half expect to see Catherine the Great in her royal robes turning a corner, her footsteps echoing between the columns. Outside, the icy Neva river glints, and the pastel façades along Palace Embankment look as if they have been dipped in northern light.
The golden spires of the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood, with over 7,000 square metres of mosaics, glitter against the skyline, its ornate domes a riot of candy colours, marking the spot where Alexander II was fatally wounded in an assassination. Every corner of this city contains a fragment of history, from the Kazan Cathedral inspired by the Vatical Basilica of St. Peter, to the intricate baroque beauty of St. Isaac’s Cathedral. And while the buildings tell tales of a bygone era, there’s a sense that St. Petersburg is constantly evolving, as though it straddles both past and future.
The green parks of St. Petersburg, lined with linden and oak trees bathed in autumn shades of yellow and orange, form a delicate balance between grandeur and tranquillity, offering calm amid imperial architecture and bustling canals. The Field of Mars stretches as a vast open expanse at the city’s heart, once the site of military parades and revolutionary gatherings. In contrast, the nearby Summer Garden embodies refinement and romance. Established by Peter the Great in the early 18th century, it remains a masterpiece of landscape design, with ornamental fountains and manicured gardens.
A short drive from the city’s heart, Catherine Palace in Tsarskoye Selo, gifted by Peter the Great to his wife Catherine I, awaits. Known for its dazzling amber room, the palace was once the lavish summer residence of Russian royalty. The frescoes, gilded rooms with doors of lapiz lazuli, Chinese silk and damask covered walls, and mirror-like gardens were enough to make me feel like royalty, if only for a moment. The careful restoration continues to breathe new life into this stunning building after extensive wartime damage.
Our home away from home, Hotel Indigo, with luxurious rooms and a glass atrium, is housed in a 19th century mansion situated on the aristocratic Tchaikovsky Street. Standing gracefully on St. Isaac’s Square, the Hotel Astoria has been one of St. Petersburg’s icons for over a century. Opened in 1912 and designed by architect Fyodor Lidval, it blends Art Nouveau elegance with neoclassical grandeur. From the moment it opened, the Astoria became a meeting place for the world’s elite - Isadora Duncan, Charlie Chaplin, and Queen Elizabeth II have all stayed beneath its ornate ceilings.
Yet St. Petersburg isn’t content to rest on history. The revival of the red-bricked New Holland Island is one of its most exciting transformations, where a once-forgotten part of the city has become a creative hub, a seamless blend of old and new. The island, once a naval yard used to store ship timber, now reinvented with art galleries, design studios, and trendy cafés set amid 18th-century warehouses. The Manege Central Exhibition Hall nearby, once the Horse Guards’ riding hall, now hosts exhibitions and shows.
For a glimpse of imperial indulgence I visit Eliseyev Emporium, on the city’s main drag called Nevsky Prospect. In the Art Nouveau food hall decorated with coloured glass windows, gilded stucco ceilings and glitzy chandeliers, are racks of French patisserie, charcuterie, smoked salmon, caviar, wines, spirits, tea and coffee. Later, at Katyusha, a cozy Russian restaurant decorated with flowered wallpaper and Matryoshka nesting dolls, I linger over plates of steaming dumplings, rich borscht beet soup along with glasses of fruity kompot, and warm hospitality that feels like home, in a city of palaces.
For the ultimate cultural immersion, a ballet at the opulent Mikhailovsky Theatre founded in 1833, is a must. The moment the curtains rise, I am transported to another world. The ballet Notre Dame de Paris, based on Victor Hugo’s classic, tells the story of a poor gypsy girl desired by three men. The dancers, in colourful attire, move with a grace that seems to defy physics, while the music by the live orchestra, rich and evocative, fills the historic theatre with energy I can still feel. The anticipation before the performance, the collective breath of the audience, and the skill of the dancers merge into something unforgettable.
Whether you are marvelling at the grandeur of St. Isaac’s Cathedral, exploring the iconic Faberge Museum, or savouring a ballet at the Mikhailovsky Theatre, St. Petersburg never stops impressing. The city pulls you into its story, wrapping you in its history and its future. It’s a place where the past lives on in its buildings, its art, and its culture, while the present and future are shaped by a new generation of creatives.