This stately building stands between Fontanka Canal and Mikhailovsky Gardens on the South Bank of Neva River in St. Petersburg.

St. Petersburg is a handsome city created by Tsar Peter the Great as his window on the west in 1703. It became the capital of Russia in 1712. Fontanka Canal is one of the many canals in the city dug in the early days to drain the marshes on which the city is founded.

I was travelling in Russia with 3 others. For our 8 days in St. Petersburg, we stayed in an apartment just a short walking distance away ... (more)