Saint Petersburg is Russia's Window to the World.
When Peter the Great founded Saint Petersburg at the banks of the Neva River in 1703, he created a distinctly Russian city that rivaled those in Europe. Three hundred years later, Saint Petersburg remains the cultural center of Russia. Having only regained its original name in 1991, Saint Petersburg has faced difficulty in finding a strong, unwavering identity. In a rapidly growing world where information crosses oceans and continents in seconds, Saint Petersburg has the potential to reclaim its original prominence and become Russia's voice to the world.