This is a tour of two main cities and capitals of Russia. MOSCOW is an official capital and Saint-Petersburg is considered to be a northern or cultural capital of Russia. It is difficult for Westerners to comprehend what an important place Moscow holds in the Russian imagination as a symbol of both spiritual and political power. It has always been the heart of this vast country. Moscow has been the center of government ever since the Soviet power moved there in the spring of 1918. The city is more than a metropolis of over eleven million people, more than the administrative, legislative, educational, and cultural capital of Russia - it is the embodiment of the Russian Character and of Russian history. SAINT-PETERSBURG. Peter the Great build his own capital on the Baltic coast as a "window onto Europe". The city changed its name several times. It was know as Saint-Petersburg, Petrograd and Leningrad. Now it is called Saint-Petersburg. St. Petersburg is both West European and Russian. It has come from St. Petersburg much of what is known as Russian culture. It was from St. Petersburg that the Faberge craftsmen created splendid objects; that Pavlova, Nijinsky and Ulanova showed the world what ballet was about; that Dostoyevksy and Pushkin used the settings for their masterpieces. Saint Petersburg is a thriving city, the home of five million people, who often say that they consider their city superior to other cities - especially to Moscow.

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