In 2014 Russia celebrates 300-years since the young Russian navy – the favorite child of emperor Peter the Great celebrated its first victory.

On 27 July of 1714, in the midst of the Great Northern War, which was the long prepared effort by the young reformist emperor Peter to regain the Russian lands around Gulf of Finland, freshly built Russian Navy, consisting mostly of small row galleys, inflicted decisive defeat to a Swedish navy squadron. That was the first victory on seas by Russia, which, before Peter, had been mostly landlocked nation. The new naval power was born.

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Renowned as one of the world’s architectural masterpieces and the cultural capital of Russia, St.Petersburg offers its visitors a wealth of individual tourist attractions that can hardly be outnumbered by any other world’s tourist centre. Many Russians and foreigners can only dream of coming here and seeing fantastic museums, palaces and other points of interest that dot the city. Despite the evident shortage of places to stay the number of city’s guests is steadily growing, traditionally reaching its peak in summer.

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It’s during winter when the two annual world famous art festivals, recently revived, with the best ballet stars casting – “Art Square” Musical Festival and The International Ballet Festival at the Mariinsky Theatre- are traditionally held in the city.

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The tours presented in this section aim to acquaint customers with unique beauty and culture of the country’s area stretching between the southern coast of the White Sea and the Ladoga Lake. The environment of this part of Russia is stern, but not as scanty as it is beyond the Polar Circle. The snowy winter, amazing white nights in summer, and the pale palette of the northern landscape are among the main distinctions of the land inhabited by courageous people of strong character: fishermen, hunters and woodcutters, carpenters and poets.

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Whether you are a seasoned globetrotter or are on your first odyssey, this tour will cover all possible points and aspects of your interest to the Russian literature and the city that was the home and the source of inspiration for many Russian writers and poets. The design of the program gives a good opportunity to visit places the writers and their noted characters used to visit, to walk along the streets and canals of the city regarded not only as one of the world’s architectural masterpieces but as a “holy city” in the history of Russia as well.

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Located at a short distance of only 450 km. between them, St.Petersburg, the capital of Russia in 1712-1918 and its cultural capital up to now, and Helsinki, the capital of Finland from 1917, have very close links in both industrial and humanitarian fields of life. The two-way cultural influence is especially evident in the architecture of both cities, whether we speak about the northern modern-styled buildings in St.Petersburg or classically designed buildings on the Senate Square in Helsinki.

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The very name of the world’s largest country originates from Rus, which is Old Russian for ‘Russian land’. The state of Rus, with its capital in Kiev, was founded in the 9th century by the Eastern Slavs in the middle reaches of the Dnieper. Known also as Kiev Rus, it included several Russian lands and existed until the 12th century, when, as a result of intestine wars, it disintegrated into separate principalities.