Sun never sets in a St Petersburg summer
WORLD CUP 2018 The greatest show on Earth is just a month away. For the first time in the history of Fifa, Russia will be hosting the tournament. The matches will be held in 11 cities, and St Petersburg is one of them. Here’s a low-down on the city which will host seven games. St Petersburg is also known as Russia’s ‘Window to Europe.’
MOSCOW: Known as Russia’s “Window to Europe,” St Petersburg is a city like no other. Imperial palaces line its network of canals, its stadium looks like a spaceship and some days the Sun never sets. St Petersburg is so far north that the last three weeks of June are “White Nights,” with the sky remaining light 24 hours a day.
THE STADIUM
The vast St Petersburg Stadium was a headache for the Russian gover nment, taking a decade to build as costs soared to 43 billion rubles ($670 billion). Worker deaths and corruption scandals marred the project. The result is Zenit St Petersburg’s new 67,000-seat home, which resembles a spaceship parked on the shore of the Baltic Sea. Fans should take plenty of time to get there, since it’s a 25-minute walk from the nearest subway station.
WHAT TO KNOW
St Petersburg’s grandeur is all down to the vision of one man. Obsessed with trying to modernise his country, the 18th- century Czar Peter the Great decreed a new capital would be built from scratch in a swamp by the Baltic Sea. The idea was to create a metropolis as a center for European technology and ideas to enter Russia, to force the Russian nobility to adopt European traditions, and to display the glory of Peter’s empire. Soviet revolutionaries later moved the capital to Moscow, but locals still see St Petersburg as Russia’s cultural capital.
WHAT TO DO
The grand avenue of Nevsky Prospekt is St Petersburg’s heart, running past parks, theaters and shops to opulent Palace Square. Visitors can drink in the city’s beauty with a boat trip through the canals, or see some of the world’s most celebrated art in the Hermitage Museum. St Petersburg is a city of restaurants and bars. At night, the bridges between the city’s islands lift to allow ships to pass.
WHAT TO WATCH
St Petersburg will host seven games, starting with the Group B game between Morocco and Iran on June 15. In the knockout stages, St Petersburg hosts one game in the round of 16, as well as a semifinal and the third-place playoff.