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St. Petersburg:
In Anna Karenina's time, St. Petersburg was the capital of Russia. It was the most important and most beautiful of all Russian cities in the 19th century. Peter the Great founded the city in 1704 as a "gateway to Europe". The city is situated on the coast of the Gulf of Finland, which provides easy access by ship to the countries of northern Europe. Peter the Great and his allies built huge palaces, which still stand today, for themselves. Ornate and beautiful churches were built here and there among the houses and government buildings.
Peter the Great was inspired by the cities of Amsterdam and Venice, when he decided to build granite embankments to contain the waters of the Neva River which now flows through the city through many canals. Peter the Great imagined that the citizens could get around by boat and forbade the construction of any permanent bridges, and none were built until 1850.
The city became the jewel of Russia, and Anna, Tolstoy's heroine, became the jewel of St. Petersburg. It is appropriate that Anna be cast as living in St. Petersburg. Her husband, the ambitious high government official would of course pursue his career in the Russia's capital city. Also, St. Petersburg is the home to the finest in Russian society — with all the operas, balls, and high society of Russia. No other city would be quite as perfect as St. Petersburg for the setting of Anna Karenina.
在安娜·卡列尼娜生活的时代，圣彼得堡是俄国的首都。它是19世纪俄国最重要也是最美丽的城市。1704年彼得大帝建立这座城市的时候，就把它看作是“通向欧洲的门户”。这座城市坐落在海岸线上，毗临的芬兰湾提供了经海路直达北欧各国的方便的通道。彼得大帝和他的支持者们在城中建造的规模宏大的宫殿屹立至今。装饰华丽、外形美观的教堂错落于民宅和政府建筑之间。
当年彼得大帝受到了阿姆斯特丹和威尼斯的启发，决定建造花岗岩堤坝来阻挡今天通过多条运河流经圣彼得堡的涅瓦河。彼得大帝想象中认为市民们可以乘船出行，于是禁止建造任何永久性的桥梁。因此1850年前城中都没有桥梁。
这座城市渐渐成为了俄国的瑰宝，而托尔斯泰笔下的女主人公安娜则成了这座城市的瑰宝。安娜这个人物被安排生活在圣彼得堡是合乎常理的。她的丈夫，那位野心勃勃的政府高官，当然要在俄国的首都追求他的职业梦想。圣彼得堡还是俄国社会精英的家园——歌剧、舞会和俄国上流社会齐聚于此。再也找不出比圣彼得堡更适合作为《安娜·卡列尼娜》一书背景的城市了。