"A window to Europe was what Peter the Great wanted to create when, in 1703, he laid the foundation stone for the new capital city of his Russian empire. He sent 50,000 serfs into the swampy delta of the Neva to pound the harbor city out of the ground. Under Catherine the Great, St. Petersburg finally became the thriving metropolis which Peter the Great had dreamed of: a 'Venice of the North, ' a city of the arts, the sciences and literature. Many artists, craftsmen, scientists and philosophers from Europe responded to the Tsarina's summons to come east. They brought with them new ideas, which they then blended with the old eastern traditions. A cultural center emerged, quite unparalleled in the west."--Container.
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