Restoring Piter

A current joke in St. Petersburg has it that there is just one street off Nevsky Prospekt that is not torn up by reconstruction work. But its name is being carefully guarded to protect the street from jackhammers and bulldozers.

All of St. Petersburg seems to be na remonte (under repair). Scaffolding hangs from hundreds of prominent buildings and there is a city-wide race to complete all restoration work before St. Petersburg’s tercentennial in May 2003.