Saint Petersburg — top view

American photographer Amos Chapple visited St. Petersburg. Millions of people take pictures of the Northern Capital full of sights every year, but Amos chose a non-trivial way of shooting. He used a small drone to lift his camera high above the streets, canals and cathedrals of the city on Neva and make impressive shots from a height.

Church of the Savior on Blood on a windless autumn morning. The temple was built on the site of the murder of Alexander II. (Amos Chapple / Rex Features)

An angel on the Alexander Column. It was erected after the victory of Russia over the armies of Napoleon. The column is made of 600 tons of granite, and 2,000 soldiers took part in its installation. (Amos Chapple / Rex Features)

The Hermitage Pavilion in the morning fog. This small elegant pavilion, built in 1749-1754, was the venue for soirees, at which tables bursting with viands rose from under the floor directly to the assembled guests. (Amos Chapple / Rex Features)

Peter and Paul Fortress on the background of the frozen Neva. The fortress is located on Hare Island and is the historical core of Northern Palmyra. At the time of the construction of the fortress, only dilapidated fishing huts stood on the Nevsky islets. These places were considered "too wild, too raw and too unhealthy" for humans. (Amos Chapple / Rex Features)

Church of the Savior on The church was built as an epitaph to the murdered tsar, and it was not intended to be a place of public worship. A piece of the cobbled street where the murdered tsar lay is kept in the old temple, which is now open as a museum. (Amos Chapple / Rex Features)

Fallen leaves in the Summer Garden, the oldest park in St. Petersburg. (Amos Chapple / Rex Features)

Mikhailovsky Castle, built by order of Emperor Paul I, who was so afraid of assassination attempts that he created a fortified residence-fortress. Ironically, 40 days after moving to the castle in 1801, Pavel was murdered in his own bedroom. (Amos Chapple / Rex Features)

Peter and Paul Cathedral in Peterhof. The palace and gardens are in the background. Behind — the Gulf of Finland in the fog. During the Second World War, the German armies occupied Peterhof, almost completely destroying it during the retreat. (Amos Chapple / Rex Features)

The palace in Peterhof on a cliff overlooking the sea, 30 km from the center of St. Petersburg. In the last years of his life, Peter the Great organized his office in the palace, from which he could admire the spires of St. Petersburg in the distance and the island fortress of Kronstadt, which guarded his new capital. (Amos Chapple / Rex Features)

St. Isaac's Cathedral, partially under reconstruction. The construction of the cathedral took a long 40 years (1818-1858). A large number of Finnish workers took part in the construction, which led to the emergence of an idiom in the Finnish language: "To build in the Isaakian way", i.e. "longer than it should be". (Amos Chapple / Rex Features)

Smolny Monastery at sunset. In 1764, Catherine the Great established the Institute of Noble Maidens here, the first in Russian women's educational institution. The Smolny Institute accepted noble daughters and prepared them for court and social life. (Amos Chapple / Rex Features)

Peter and Paul Cathedral in the winter fog. (Amos Chapple / Rex Features)