St Petersburg New Years Eve 2012 Fireworks Live Stream, Party, Events NYE Feed

St Petersburg New Years Eve 2012 Fireworks Live Stream, Party, Events NYE Feed

New Year is one of the most important and anticipated holidays in Russia. While in the whole world the biggest celebration events usually take place not on the New Year but on Christmas but still Russians continue to give their preferences to celebrations of the New Year. New Year in St. Petersburg means taking a dive into the fantastic atmosphere of the city, walking around its snowy streets, admiring fairy decoration and illumination of the palaces, visiting Christmas markets where you will have the possibility to buy Russian mittens and socks, to try traditional food and drinks and also take a sledge ride with legendary Troika.

On New Years Eve in Russia when the entire country from Vladivostok to Kaliningrad throws caution to the wind and engages in one enormous, wild and immensely enjoyable party. Nowhere is this more true than in St Petersburg, a city that has a reputation in Russia as the centre of everything sensuous, luxurious and debauched. Around midnight itself Palace Square is probably the best place to be, although almost everywhere there will be people to celebrate with and something to watch. The ubiquitous fireworks will light up the sky as the moment approaches.

Palace Square, connecting Nevsky Prospekt with Palace Bridge leading to Vasilievsky Island, is the central city square of St Petersburg and of the former Russian Empire. It was the setting of many events of worldwide significance, including the Bloody Sunday (1905) and the October Revolution of 1917. The earliest and most celebrated building on the square is the baroque white-and-azure Winter Palace of Russian tsars (1754-62), which gave the square its name. Although the adjacent buildings are designed in the Neoclassical style, they perfectly match the palace in their scale, rhythm, and monumentality. The opposite, southern side of the square was designed in the shape of an arc by George von Velten in the late 18th century. These plans were executed half a century later, when Alexander I of Russia envisaged the square as a vast monument to the Russian victory over Napoleon and commissioned Carlo Rossi to design the bow-shaped Empire-style Building of the General Staff (1819-29), which centers on a double triumphal arch crowned with a Roman quadriga. The centre of the square is marked with the Alexander Column.