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Peter the Great, the founder of St Petersburg, conceived the city as Russia’s “Window on the West”. His new capital, built from scratch at the mouth of the Neva, was intended to replace Moscow with a new modern capital for his Russian EmpireNathan NorthThe irony is that after the 1917 revolution Moscow was reinstated as the capital, and has remained so ever since. And while Muscovy has since burgeoned into a vast bustling metropolis and into the undisputed political and economic heart of the country, St Petersburg has been somewhat more anchored to the past, with Peter the Great’s monumental architecture seeming to act as an impediment to it developing into a modern business-oriented city.Until, perhaps now. With the announcement that the city authorities have given the go-ahead to start construction work on the 403m Okhta Tower super-skys