The beautiful Russian City of St Petersburg claims to have more green space than that of Paris, but for most of the year its ice and snow. But when they are green they are truly beautiful and some of the best gardens in the world. The city boasts about 200 parks and gardens plus thousands of tree lined streets, it is estimated there is about 56 square meters of plant life for every one of the city’s 4.5 million residents. Alexander Gardens is one of the most spectacular, its located opposite the Hermitage and is home to a beautiful illuminated musical fountain and Russia’s oldest Zoo. Once a swamp it is today one of St Petersburg’s favorite places to relax. St Petersburg is also home to Russia’s only botanical gardens and features over 12000 species of plant life including the unique Queen of the Night which blooms every may for only one night. Read the rest of this entry »
What is a “Horizontal Lift” you may ask? Well it a unique subway station design only found in St Petersburg, Russia. St Peterburg’s subway system was built in the late 1950’s when the city was known as Leningrad and Soviet Russia was in the middle of the Cold War. The cities subway system is not only one of the most beautiful in the world but also one of the deepest with 53 of its stations being deep level. At the time of building, Leningrad pioneered the use of platform screen doors, but with a design known as the “Horizontal Lift”. Basically the station’s platform looks like a large room with lots of lift doors in it, the first time you are aware of a train being on the other side is once the large steal doors open up reveling the insides of the train. While the design has some good ideas, it was not popular and only about 10 stations were built like this. Today platform screen doors made of glass are becoming more and more popular around the world, so check out the video above to see how the original “Horizontal Lift” works. Read the rest of this entry »
