Saint Petersburg is a city located in northwestern Russia on the delta of the river Neva. The city has a population of about 4.8 million and is considered Russia's second largest city. This is also the most important Russian port on the Baltic. Founded by Tsar Peter the Great in the year 1703 as a "window to Europe," it served as the capital of the Russian Empire for over two hundred years.
The Summer House was designed by Domenico Trezzini in the Baroque style for Tsar Peter the Great. One of the oldest structures in the city, this masonry palace is surprisingly modest by Russian Imperial standards and contains just 14 main rooms. The mansion was designed as an entertainment center and was used for warm weather. Peter moved into the partially completed palace in 1712 and spent most of his summers here until he died in 1725. He occupied the lower level and his wife preferred the upper rooms. The palace is now a museum and both the house and the adjacent Summer Garden are open to the public.
Located between the bank of the Neva River and the Palace Square, is the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, which was built between 1754 and 1762. Designed by Bartolomeo Rastrelli, the Baroque-style, green-and-white palace has about 1,786 doors and 1,945 windows. Catherine the Great was its first royal occupant in the palace. The palace is now part of a group of magnificent buildings that is called the State Hermitage Museum which holds one of the world's greatest collections of art. As part of the Museum, many of the Winter Palace's 1,057 halls and rooms are open to the public for viewing