Saint-Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), is the second-largest city in Russia. It is situated on the Neva River, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea, with a population of roughly 5.4 million residents, the most populous city on the Baltic Sea, As Russia’s Imperial capital, and a historically strategic port, it is governed as a federal city.

St. Petersburg is a mecca of cultural, historical, and architectural landmarks. Founded by Tsar Peter I (the Great) as Russia’s “window on Europe,” it bears the unofficial status of Russia’s cultural capital and most European city, a distinction that it strives to retain in its perennial competition with Moscow.