175. Christmas lights in St. Petersburg

I've never seen as many public displays of Christmas lights anywhere in the United States as I have in St. Petersburg. To be fair: many people in the USA go all out when decorating their own houses, sometimes in conjunction with other neighbors on their block. Usually, the main government building and the main street in most towns have some sort of holiday light displays, and many institutions (zoos, botanic gardens, et cetera) decorate their grounds to bring in more visitors in November and December. But I have not seen any city other than St. Petersburg where seemingly every public building, landmark, square, boulevard, and even the rivers - for kilometers in every direction - are resplendent with lights, garlands, and decorated with large trees and sculptures.

The decorations started going up throughout the city in late November, just as they do in the United States. What's surprising with that timeline is that Russia does not celebrate Thanksgiving, normally the milestone that kicks off the American Christmas season in late November. Nor does Russia celebrate Christmas at the end of December; the Russian Orthodox Church celebrates Christmas on January 7 every year. So it seems that the Christmas season lasts a bit longer in Russia than it does in the United States.

The pictures below show various areas throughout the city center from the end of November through late December. It was certainly easy to get into the holiday spirit seeing these displays every day for over a month - especially with 18+ hours of darkness every day, which means even more holiday light spectacle to enjoy. Merry Christmas!