An unique new performance hall, office, and residential complex is planned for St Petersburg. The theater will be a primary venue for the popular songstress Alla Pugacheva. Land has been acquired for the proposed 100 meter building with construction expected to beign in 2010.

The architectural concept is ready: a concert hall seating 4.5 thousand viewers will be put next to a 100-meter sky-scraper in the shape of Russian letter «Ï» (just like the first letter of “Pugacheva”). The latter will house a business centre, studios, apartments for VIP guests and Alla Pugacheva herself, as well as a hotel for guest stars. (Russia IC)

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Beginning in late May and lasting to to early July the nights are bright in St Petersburg, with the brightest period, the White Nights, normally lasting from June 11th to July 2nd. The White Nights (Beliye Nochi) are a curious phenomenon caused by St. Petersburg’s very northerly geographical location - at 59 degrees 57? North (roughly on the same latitude as Oslo, Norway, the southern tip of Greenland and Seward, Alaska). St. Petersburg, the world’s most northern city with a population over 1 million stands at such a high latitude that the sun does not descend below the horizon enough for the sky to grow dark. During this period the sky is so bright that the city does not turn on the street lights at night.

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Pavlosk Palace was a summer residence near Saint Petersburg for the Russian  Royal Family.  If you are visiting Saint Petersburg it’s worth the short trip to visit. The Pavlovsk palace is probably the best preserved of Russian imperial residences outside the capital. The sumptuous neoclassical interior of the palace was faithfully restored after the great fire in 1803. The damage sustained by the palace during the German occupation in 1941–1943, though considerable, was not so devastating as in the case of Peterhof and Tsarskoye Selo.

For more photographs and history visit the Pavlovsk Palace site.

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The need for a visa all but eliminates spontaneous travel to Russia and often discourages those who plan well in advance. A recent change allows cruise passengers to dismbark in some Russian ports without a visa. According to Russia IC, this will also allow cruise passengers to stay in St. Petersburg:

Foreign residents visiting Russia on the board of cruise ships with tourist targets are allowed to stay in Russia without visa, but the duration of such a stay is not yet précised. The most probable schedule is forty-eight hours; so long the cruisers stay in St. Petersburg.

This measure is oriented to the tourists having a wish to visit Russia, but not only St. Petersburg. During these two days they could visit Moscow with excursion or maybe some other towns and places. The visa abolition agreement is supposed to increase the amount of foreign tourists choosing cruises with calling at Russian ports. (Russia IC)

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Russia Today’s Mark Ames heads to St.Petersburg this weekend, to show you what makes this city so special. In his own inimitable way, Ames gets to the root of things with a mixture of humor and insight.

This is the second part of his visit to the city and the focus this time is on cultural life.

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