Known as RussiaB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址淲indow on Europe,B次元官网网址� St. Petersburg is a city like no other.

Imperial palaces line its network of canals, its stadium looks like a spaceship and some days the sun never sets. St. Petersburg is so far north that the last three weeks of June are B次元官网网址淲hite Nights,B次元官网网址� with the sky remaining light 24 hours a day.

HereB次元官网网址檚 what you need to know about one of the 11 World Cup host cities in Russia:

THE STADIUM

The vast St. Petersburg Stadium was a headache for the Russian government, taking a decade to build as costs soared to 43 billion rubles ($670 million). Worker deaths and corruption scandals marred the project.

The result is Zenit St. PetersburgB次元官网网址檚 new 67,000-seat home, which resembles a spaceship parked on the shore of the Baltic Sea. Fans should leave plenty of time to get there, since itB次元官网网址檚 a 25-minute walk from the nearest subway station.

WHAT TO KNOW

St. PetersburgB次元官网网址檚 grandeur is all down to the vision of one man.

Obsessed with trying to modernize his country, the 18th-century Czar Peter the Great decreed a new capital would be built from scratch in a swamp by the Baltic Sea. The idea was to create a metropolis as a centre for European technology and ideas to enter Russia, to force the Russian nobility to adopt European traditions, and to display the glory of PeterB次元官网网址檚 empire.

Soviet revolutionaries later moved the capital back to Moscow, but locals still see St. Petersburg as RussiaB次元官网网址檚 cultural capital.

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WHAT TO DO

The grand avenue of Nevsky Prospekt is St. PetersburgB次元官网网址檚 heart, running past parks, theatres and shops to the opulent Palace Square. ThatB次元官网网址檚 where Bolshevik revolutionaries took power in 1917 by seizing the Winter Palace.

Visitors can drink in the cityB次元官网网址檚 beauty with a boat trip through the canals, or see some of the worldB次元官网网址檚 most celebrated art in the famous Hermitage Museum.

St. Petersburg is a city of restaurants and bars, offering everything from fine dining to some of RussiaB次元官网网址檚 best craft beer. At night, the bridges between the cityB次元官网网址檚 islands lift to allow ships to pass B次元官网网址� something to bear in mind to avoid being stranded on a night out.

WHAT TO WATCH

St. Petersburg will host seven World Cup games, starting with the Group B game between Morocco and Iran on June 15.

RussiaB次元官网网址檚 World Cup hopes could be dashed by Mohamed Salah and Egypt in the Group A game on June 19.

Brazil plays Costa Rica in Group E on June 22, followed by Argentina taking on Nigeria in Group D on June 26.

In the knockout stages, St. Petersburg hosts one game in the round of 16, as well as a semifinal and the third-place playoff.

The World Cup kicks off June 14 and runs until July 15.

James Ellingworth, The Associated Press

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