St. Petersburg

They may swim into town only once a year, but the koryushka fish is more than just a strangely scented St Petersburg delicacy – it may be the reason the city survived World War Two.

Lured by a food from her childhood, a woman returns to a country that no longer exists to confront her family’s secret past.

The former capital of the tsars and tsarinas is one of the world’s most expensive, yet its grace, glamour and 300-year history attracts residents from around the globe.

Take a visual tour through St Petersburg, a city of great culture and great conflict, a city looking out to the future and a city rooted in the past.

Between May and June the sun never fully sets in the northern Russian city, and locals gladly take this opportunity to revel in the day’s heat and the light-washed nights.

Peter the Great’s city has canals that reflect a spellbinding collection of cultural palaces, and the environment inspired many great artists and musical maestros.

During the summer months, Russia's 24-hour daylight sets the stage for nightlong revelry.