The folk art, crafts, dress and lifestyles of the various peoples and tribes who inhabited the vast expanse of territory in the former USSR are portrayed on the two floors of this unusual museum.

The mosque, on of the largest in Europe, was built in 1920 and is similar to the Samarkand mausoleum.

Russia's first boarding school for noble young ladies, the Smolny Institute was the headquarters of the first Soviet government in 1917. Today it is the seat of the City Government. It also houses Lenin Memorial Museum.

A St. Petersburg signature, the two Egyptian sphinxes of Amenhotep III that grace the front of the Academy of Fine Arts Museum date to the 15th century B.C.

This spit of land is located on the edge of Vasilievsky Island overlooking the Peter and Paul Fortress and the Winter Palace.

The superb repertoire of classical operas and ballets as well as the opulent interior of this theater make it well worth a visit.

Two pairs of mythological cast-iron griffons guard each end of this narrow footbridge, which incorporates some of the best artistic and architectural features of 19th-century bridges.

The beloved ruler, whose reign is called the "golden age" of Russia, is memorialized in this statue of Catherine with carvings of dignitaries at her feet.

The largest memorial park in St. Petersburg features the Monument to Revolutionary Fighters, a commemoration of the Red Army victims of the revolution and civil war.

The very first house in St. Petersburg is a small, wooden cabin that Peter the Great inhabited for five years, and is now filled with some of his original belongings.

A vision in yellow, this majestic palace - now housing Russian cultural artifacts - once belonged to Alexander Menshikov, ruler of Russia for two years until accused of treason and exiled to Siberia.