2009 IEEE Multi-conference on Systems and Control

Saint Petersburg (the former capital of Russia) with about 5 millions inhabitants is often called "The Venice of the North" and recognized as one of the most beautiful cities in the world.

Saint Petersburg is known not only for its palaces and museums. It is a historical scientific center of Russia, where the first Russian University and RAS were founded in 1724. Among first professors of Saint Petersburg University were Leonhard Euler (who lived in Saint Petersburg for 30 years and wrote about 500 of his 865 papers there) and Daniil Bernoulli. Visitors have a unique possibility to see houses where L. Euler, P. Chebyshev, A.M. Lyapunov, A.A. Markov, S. Kovalevskaya lived and worked, as well as L. Euler's tomb.

Various individual guided tours over Saint Petersburg and suburbs including visits to Tsars' palaces and museums will be available during both the Conference days and the weekend. You will never get tired of admiring the unique architecture of regular and landscape gardens and parks, suburban palaces of Pushkin (Tsarskoye Selo), Pavlovsk, Peterhof, Gatchina, and Lomonosov (Oranienbaum).

The following tours for MSC'09 participants will be organized:

During the sightseeing tour you will get acquainted to the past and present of the history and culture of Saint Petersburg and see its main architectural ensembles and monuments. A city tour usually starts with a panoramic view of the center of Saint Petersburg from the place called the Strelka (Spit). Here the Neva-river is 200 meters wide and splits into two broad streams. You'll see the magnificent facade of the Winter Palace. Dvortcovy (Palace) Bridge separates the Winter Palace from the Admiralty built in the classic style. On the left bank of the Neva-river there is the Peter and Paul Fortress with the sparkling gilded spire of the cathedral where all Russian emperors were buried. During the tour you will see the former Stock Exchange buildings, the Academy of Science, the State University, Menshikov Palace and the Academy of Arts, the monument to Peter the Great called Bronze Horseman and the Saint-Isaac's Cathedral, the main street of Saint-Petersburg Nevsky Prospect full of history and modern life. You'll see the Mikhailovsky Garden and the Russian State Museum, the Michael's Castle, enjoy the view of the Field of Mars and the beautiful Church of the Savior-on-the-Blood, the Palace Square with the Winter palace, building of the General Staff and Alexander Column.

Tsarskoye Selo is a former Russian residence of the Imperial Family. During the excursion you visit Catherine Palace with its famous Amber Room and have an opportunity to walk around parks.

Catherine (Grand) Palace is a surprising masterpiece of Russian Baroque of the middle of XVIII century. Its Amber Room is an entire room covered with panels of amber. It was considered to be the Eighth Wonder of the World. The Catherine Palace is surrounded by Catherine Park which is a wonderful work of the Russian art of gardening from the 18th and 19th centuries, which combines the masterpieces of architecture with the beauty of the transforming nature of the north. In its landscaping one can find the features of different garden styles.

One of Saint Petersburg's most famous and popular visitor attractions, the palace and park at Peterhof (also known as Petrodvorets) are often referred to as "the Russian Versaille", although many visitors conclude that the comparison does a disservice to the grandeur and scope of this majestic estate. Versailles was, however, the inspiration for Peter the Great's desire to build an Imperial Palace in the suburbs of his new city and, after an aborted attempt at Strelna, Peterhof - which means "Peter's Court" in German - became the site for the Tsar's Monplaisir Palace, and then of the original Grand Palace. The estate was equally popular with Peter's granddaughter, Empress Elizabeth, who ordered the expansion of the Grand Palace and greatly extended the park and the famous system of fountains, including the truly spectacular Grand Cascade.

The State Hermitage is one of the oldest and largest museums in the world. The collection occupies more than 350 halls in 5 different buildings including the Winter Palace, the former residence of the Russian tsars. The buildings of the Museum alone are by themselves valuable architectural monuments.
The museum collection has over 3 million exhibits from prehistoric to modern times. Especially important are the collections of prehistoric exhibits, Egyptian art, Roman and Greek art, Scythian gold and Western European paintings and sculptures.
The collection of Western European art is regarded as one of the finest in the world, and forms the nucleus of the Hermitage display. It occupies 120 rooms in the four museum buildings, and reflects all the stages in the development of art from the Middle Ages to the present day. The collection includes numerous works by outstanding masters from Italy, Spain, Holland, Flanders, France, England, Germany, and other Western European countries.

Tours and Events

MSC 2009 Social Program includes: