Wandering around the broad leafy avenues of St Petersburg, you cannot but feel that this is perhaps the most beautiful city in the world. I say this after having strolled extensively through the streets of Paris, Prague, Vienna, Esfahan, Madrid, Budapest and a host of other cities that preen themselves. I have sailed down the Danube, Thames, Voltava, Volga, Nile and the Rhine, but there is something uniquely enchanting about Neva on the banks of which the cathedral city of St Petersberg is perched. Its gilded domes, granite edifices, and gorgeous monuments are reflected most faithfully by a silent Neva throughout summer, but in winter, like a jealous mistress, a frozen Neva locks in the fetching reflections of the city from prying eyes. Do what you will but you cannot prise her grip open to steal a glimpse. So choose your season wisely, and go in summer.

A living museum

We were in the city just as it was experiencing its first snowfall in autumn. The flakes fluttered about like confetti, investing the promenades, parks and their exquisite statuary with a dreamy look. The whole city is a living, throbbing museum. Even the most utilitarian infrastructure like the metro is like an art gallery. The elegant arches, the ornate pillars, the chandeliers, the bejewelled ticket windows, the art work on the walls and roof simply take your breath away. The escalators seem to go on endlessly, into the very navel of the earth. This was built in 1955, an age when most commuters in the rest of the world still used horse-drawn carriages!

The Hermitage

Most people come to St Petersburg to visit the Hermitage, the gigantic museum housed in the Winter Palace of Catherine The Great. Its collections, of which only a small part is on permanent display, comprise nearly three million items, including the largest collection of paintings in the world. Raphael, Rembrandt, Renoir, Titian, Matisse, Derain, and hundreds of others lay out a parade; a visual feast! The collections which include the finest in Italian and Russian art occupy a large complex of six historic buildings and spill over to other buildings along the embankment. You can spend weeks and still not see everything there is to admire in this massive display. More than the Hermitage itself, the reflection of the semi-circular palace in the pool in front is truly a sight to behold.

Smolny Cathedral on the banks of Neva

St Petersburg is essentially a city of churches and cathedrals, unparalleled in beauty and grace. My first glimpse of the gorgeous Smolny Cathedral on the banks of the Neva was around midnight. The dazzling cupolas and the bleach-blue facade are festooned with snowflakes. The crystal blue designs enhance the sense of tranquility. The scene is sublime, solemn, and almost surreal. Designed and executed by Italian architect Bartolomeo Rastrelli, Smolny was commissioned by Peter the Great. Perhaps it was the emperor's way of rewarding Rastrelli for the splendid Winter Palace that the latter had built in Tsarskoe Selo, 25 kilometres from St Petersburg. Smolny suffered neglect after the Russian Revolution. In 1922, all its valuables were looted, and in 1923 the cathedral was closed. For many years, the building was not even heated, had no electricity, or water, and it slowly decayed. In 1972, the cathedral's iconostasis was taken out. Soon after, the cathedral became a museum for the city, and hosted exhibitions.

It was later converted into a concert hall.

I was disappointed when I entered the cathedral. Through the darkness, I could make out the outlines of a welter of scaffolding that covers every inch of the interiors. My companion, an Indian resident in St. Petersburg and our unofficial guide to this beautiful city, whisked me inside and spoke in Russian to the caretaker, persuading him to let me climb to the top of the belfry. I almost gave up midway, but eventually reached the top and was rewarded with the most stunning view of Neva and the jewel-like lights of St Petersburg, shimmering through a haze of snow.

Not far from Smolny is a fairytale church which looks more like the gingerbread house that Hansel and Gretel (of Grimms fairy tales fame) stumbled upon in the forest. This is the Church of Saviour on the Spilt Blood. It marks the spot where Tsar Alexander II was fatally wounded in an assassination on March 1, 1881. His son and heir, Alexander III, built this church in his father's memory. Its architecture draws heavily from St Basil's Cathedral in Moscow and Vladimir Cathedral in Kiev. This church has stunning mosaics - extending over 7,500 square metres and depicting scenes from Russian history. Recently, when I was in Junagadh, I saw an Islamic version of this Church in the town’s Maqbara, although the latter is much less beautiful.

The soaring golden steeples of St Peter and Paul Church beckon from across the Neva. This church is intimately linked to the Romanovs, the Russian royals whose tombs are located within its premises. Completed in 1733, this church is considered a radical departure from traditional Russian style churches. With a rectangular bell tower and landmark needle, the style is more Baroque than Russian. The bell-tower has a tragic history. As the tallest structure for many miles, it was often the victim of lightning, and in fact burned down on the night of April 29-30, 1756, in a particularly severe fire. Although the bells were destroyed, the iconostasis was removed from the cathedral in the nick of time. In 1766, Catherine the Great ordered the bell tower to be re-built exactly as it had been, and the new tower was unveiled in 1776.

St Isaac’s Cathedral

The impressive gilded dome of St Isaac's Cathedral, the biggest church in all of Russia, is just a few hundred yards away from the Hermitage and is visible from most parts of the city. Commissioned by Peter the Great, the church was designed by a French architect, and built over 40 years from 1818-1858. The church is supported by red granite columns, each carved out of a single rock. The interior is adorned with incredibly detailed mosaic icons, paintings and columns made of semi-precious stones. There are 382 coloured mosaics, statues and painted murals with 43 types of marble and stone arranged in captivating patterns. A large, brightly coloured stained glass window of the ‘Resurrected Christ’ takes pride of place inside the main altar. A huge iconostasis altar screen holds three rows of Byzantine-style icons, supported by columns covered in malachite and lapis lazuli. The four exterior facades look like ancient temples, with 48 massive columns. Built close to the river, the 330,000-tonne building is supported by 11,000 wooden pilings. The church can accommodate 14,000 standing worshippers.

The Cathedral of Our Lady of Kazan, often referred to as Kazan Cathedral, is an impressive semicircular colonnaded monument in Nevsky Prospect, right in the heart of St Petersburg.

The cathedral was inspired by the Basilica of St Peter's in Rome. After the defeat of Napoleon in the war of 1812, this church became a monument to Russian victory, and houses the remains of the Russian Field Marshal Mikhail Kutuzov, who won the most important campaign of 1812.

The Bolsheviks closed the cathedral for services in 1929, and in an ironic twist of events, Kazan Cathedral came to house, from 1932, the collections of the Museum of the History of Religion and Atheism. In fact, the cathedral became the centre for anti-religious propaganda, although in the post-Soviet era, it has been restored to its religious status. We were at the church at dusk and had the privilege of witnessing the well-attended evensong prayers and rituals.

This city is gilded no doubt, but it is no cage. It is as expansive as it is exquisite. Do not go to St Petersburg if you are in a hurry. All this artistic and architectural over indulgence could give you visual indigestion if you rush through it. Go only when you have the time to linger and admire.