Central St. Petersburg, with its scores of palaces (including the Belozersky), has witnessed many crises in Russia's turbulent history. Scott S. Warren Landmarks (like the Mariinsky Theater, home ...

Stop by the area's Russian Museum ... including the St. Petersburg Conservatory, the Dostoyevsky House Museum and St. Isaac's Cathedral, the city's largest cathedral. Southwest of the Nevsky ...

Catherine the Great founded the Hermitage Museum in 1764 as a place to house her private art collection ... the main reason some travelers visit St. Petersburg in the first place.