St. Petersburg prepares for its 300th birthday bash

ST. PETERSBURG, Russia -- Swathed in snow and scaffolding, this former imperial capital of Russia is preparing for a 300th birthday bash in May that is expected to attract more than 40 heads of state and thousands of tourists.

Just about every other building along the city's main thoroughfare, Nevsky Prospekt, and every third church are being rebuilt.

In the pale light of a northern winter day, cars and pedestrians patiently pass around the construction sites, waiting for the city's rebirth in the spring.

"St. Petersburg needs this action to raise its renown and significance around the world," said Yuri Rudenko, a deputy head of St. Petersburg's 300th Jubilee Committee. "We also hope it will become an economic push for investment and the development of tourism."

St. Petersburg was founded by Czar Peter the Great in 1703. Built on a swamp at the price of thousands of Russian workers' lives, it sprang out of nothing to open a so-called "window to Europe" and supplant Moscow as the center of Russian political life for two centuries.

Like Venice, St. Petersburg's monuments throw glimmering reflections onto the river and canals that cut through it.