From the pre-revolutionary grandeur of the Hermitage and the Mariinskiy Theatre to the ubiquitous reminders of the country’s Soviet period, St Petersburg is a city where eras, and architectural styles, collide. Blessed with some of the world’s most magnificent skylines, the city has been the inspiration for many of Russia’s greatest writers, from Gogol to Dostoevsky. Known throughout the country as “The Venice of the North”, Russia’s second city is a place of wonder and enigma, of “White Nights” and long, freezing winters.