News

Dear participants of the ECNS 2019 conference.

This year is the International Year of the Periodic Table of Chemical Elements and the 150th anniversary of its opening. We invite you to visit Mendeleev Archive Museum in his service apartment at St. Petersburg State University.

The Archive funds include D.I. Mendeleev's personal belongings, memorial furniture from the scientist’s apartment, his portraits and photos. A special part of the museum fund is the collection of scientific instruments, most of them created by its original design.

There is no better way to gain an impression of Saint Petersburg, than to take part in a sightseeing tour with a professional guide who will show you our wonderful city, the most interesting and memorable places, its' secrets and mysteries. You will see all its main sights, learn how St. Petersburg had been created, how it had become the Imperial capital, will see the city, which was the "Cradle of revolution", and in our days became the cultural capital of Russia.

For two centuries the Tsarskoye Selo was a grand imperial summer residence. The Tsarskoye Selo palace and park ensemble is a superb monument of world-ranking architecture and garden-and-park design dating from the eighteenth to early twentieth centuries. The compositional centre of the ensemble is the Great Tsarskoye Selo or Catherine Palace – a splendid example of the Russian Baroque. Visitors are enraptured by the sumptuous décor of the Great Hall and the Golden Enfilade of state rooms that includes the world-famous Amber Room.

Since 2013 the lavish 18th century Shuvalov Palace, St. Petersburg has been the home of Museum Fabergé and holds the world’s largest collection of Fabergé eggs. Those in the collection were commissioned by the last Russian emperors Alexander III and Nicholas II. At the time European society considered Russia unparalleled in silver and gold decorative arts. The museum owes its existence to a staggering act of altruism by Viktor Vekselberg, who, in 2004 began The Link of Times Cultural and Historical Foundation with the idea of returning Russian culturally significant artefacts and artworks for public display to Russia. 

ECNS 2019 participants are lucky to be in St. Petersburg during summertime. It is the best time take a boat trip around the city’s rivers and numerous canals. It is known that St. Petersburg is called the Northern Venice. A city built over 42 islands, St. Petersburg is surrounded by water and interlaced with a complex web of rivers, canals and channels that seem to bind the city together, while also marking the borders of its different districts and neighborhoods. 

Delve into St Petersburg's vast history and culture with a tour through three of its most prominent cathedrals. You will start by visiting the 19th-century St Isaac's, easily recognizable by its massive main dome. 

Next stops will be  The Cathedral of Our Lady of Kazan, a Russian Orthodox church that resembles Rome's St Peter's Basilica. And after that the onion-domed Church on Spilled Blood―home to a lavish shrine commemorating the spot of Alexander II's assassination. 

Kronshtadt is a real pearl of war history of Russia. Founded by Peter the Great, Kronstadt once might have been a capital of the Russian Empire during the Great Northern War with Sweden. The first Russian navy base amazing defense system was founded in Kronshtadt – the naval Maginot Line.

At the times of The Red Revolution drama Kronshtadt was a centre of rebellions, and the first anti¬communist uprising in 1921 also happened here.

St. Petersburg is often referred to as Venice of the North. From the very outset the city was built on water, on numerous islands in delta of Neva River. The combination of the architecture and water in Saint Petersburg, as well as in Venice, has a special charm.

A new perspective on the city can be gained from water-level and the boat trip visit some areas of the city that might not be reached on ground.
There are 342 bridges in the city limits of Saint Petersburg. 
Peter the Great was designing the city as another Amsterdam and Venice, with canals instead of streets and citizens skillful in sailing. Initially, there were only about ten bridges constructed in the city, mainly across ditches and minor creeks.

Peterhof is one of the oldest summer residences in the vicinity of St.Petersburg. Peterhof means "Peter’s Court". It was founded in 1710, when the Peter and Paul Fortress lost its military significance, and Peter the Great started to build another fortress on Kotlin Island to protect St.Petersburg from the city.

Peterhof, a series of palaces and gardens in Russia's is known by some as the "Russian Versailles," and features the the Grand Cascade and Samson Fountain, and many other and very interesting and unique water fountains that require no pumps.