MOSCOW -- St. Petersburg, the former capital of Russia, has turned 300. Founded in a Baltic swamp at a frightening cost by the only outstanding Romanov reformer, Czar Peter the Great, it remains the architectural wonder of the nation. The "Venice of the North," as St. Petersburg was labeled in the 18th century by awe-struck foreign visitors, proudly commands the shores of the Neva and its channels. It is a magic jewel set in the darkness of the northern night.

In a way, St. Petersburg created modern Russia. Inspired by the conquest of the Baltic coast where he placed his city, Czar Peter proclaimed Russia an empire -- and it has been staking out its claim ever since. The old capital, Moscow -- a believer in miracles, insane prophets and arcane rituals -- had been unable to provide Russia with a secular culture; St. Petersburg gave it one. The molder of the Russian language, Alexander Pushkin, and the chronicler of the Russian spirit, Fyodor Dostoevski, both belonged to St. Petersburg. Even rebellious Leo Tolstoy, who made Moscow and its environs his very special domain, set the core of his two masterpieces, "War and Peace" and "Anna Karenina," in the cold splendor of St. Petersburg.

The city also provided Russia with an aura of abundance and tragedy. The Romanov court became the most opulent in Europe; even Queen Victoria was envious of its luster. All consequential Russian historical dramas unfolded there, too. The "holy devil" Grigory Rasputin, facilitated the downfall of the Romanovs with his outrageous debauchery and witchcraft in the imperial capital. Vladimir Lenin masterminded a communist revolution there.