DATES AND PLACE

The XVI World Taekwon-do ITF Championships will be held in the city of Saint-Petersburg, Russia on October 12-17, 2009. There will be a Technical, Umpires and Masters Seminars on October 11-13, 2009 before the Championships. The ITF Congress will take place on October 13, 2009.

THE CITY OF SAINT-PETERSBURG

Location:

St.Petersburg is located in the northwest of Russia at the mouth of the Neva River which flows into the Gulf of Finland. It lies across more than forty islands created by the Neva Delta and therefore has been named “The Venice of the North” with its multiple rivers, channels and bridges. Helsinki is 380 km to the northwest, Tallinn is 340 km to the west and Moscow is 640 km to the southeast.

Profile:

This is the second largest city in Russia after Moscow (Russia’s capital city) and home to around five million people. It is a major intellectual, cultural, financial, commercial and industrial centre of the Russian Federation. “The City of Peter” serves as a major transport centre as well as an educational, publishing, and research centre with more than 400 scientific research institutes. Its architecture, world masterpieces, “White nights” and drawbridges make the city perhaps the most exciting travel destination in Russia and attract millions of tourists every year.

Historical background:

St.Petersburg was founded by Tsar Peter the Great (the grandson of Mikhail Romanov, founder of the Romanov dynasty which had been ruling Russia from 1613 until 1917), who led Russian efforts to recapture from Sweden the area which is now northwest Russia and ordered that the capital be moved from Moscow to St. Petersburg, where it remained until the Bolsheviks returned it to Moscow in 1918. The city got its name in honour of St. Peter. The city’s name was changed to Leningrad shortly after Lenin’s death in 1924 and got its original name back in 1991. The city is rich in history: royal plots, the Decembrists’ uprising, three Revolutions. The remembrance of people’s courage in the World War II holds a special place in hearts of its population, especially the 872 days of the siege when over 700 000 city’s residents perished but did not give in after the city had been blockaded by the Gitler’s troops in an attempt to wipe Leningrad off the face of the earth.

Excursions:

PUSHKIN (THE TSAR’S VILLAGE)

THE STATE HERMITAGE

ST. ISAAC’S CATHEDRAL

CHURCH of RESURRECTION (Savior on the Spilled Blood)

THE YUSUPOV PALACE

How to get to St. Petersburg:

By plane: The city has two airports. The newly renovated Pulkovo-II Airport is located 17km south of the city centre and serves international flights. The other one is Pulkovo-I Airport, located slightly further to the south and mainly serves domestic flights.

By train: There are five railway stations in the city.

By boat: Tallink Silja and Viking Line have regular ferry service between Tallinn, Helsinki, Kiel and St.Petersburg.

By bus: There is a regular EUROLINES coach service between some European cities and St.Petersburg.

Customs:

You are required to complete the Migration Card on arrival.

Travelling in/out of Russia you are allowed to have with you up to 3,000 US dollars in cash (or the equivalent in another currency) without declaring it to Customs. Please complete the Customs declaration form if you have more. You should go through the Green channel if you have nothing to declare or Red channel if you declare something.

Travelling in/out of Russia an individual natural person, aged 17 or over is allowed to have the following items for his/her own use without paying tax or duty:
- 200 cigarettes and 100 cigarillos and 50 cigars and 250g of tobacco
(or items of one type only: 400 cigarettes; or 200 cigarillos; or 100 cigars; or 500g of
tobacco);
- not more than 250 g of sturgeon roe in factory cans;
- 2 litres of spirits (persons aged 21 or over)
You might want to find out more at: www.customs.ru/en