St Petersburg tourist information
First archaeological findings on the territory of the modern Leningrad Region date back to 9 – 8 thousand years B.C. In the 5th century A.C. the territory was already inhabited with Finno-Ugric tribes. Three centuries later the first Slavonic tribes appeared there. In the year 750 the oldest Russian north-western settlement – Ladoga – was founded. Since then it has become an important political and economical centre of Russia for two hundred years. In the 12th century some territories of the region belonged to the Novgorod Republic. During the next few centuries Livons and Swedes often attacked the land. In the 17th century the King of Sweden conquered the north-western territories of Russia and thus cut the country off the Baltic Sea.
In 1700 Peter the Great started the Northern war that finished only in 1721, in order to return the territory to Russia. To secure the won back entrance to the Baltic Sea, Peter the Great founded a fortress in the mouth of Neva on Zayachiy (Hare) Island. The fortress was named Petropavlovskaya after the apostles Peter and Paul. The Fortress has a shape of an oblong hexagon with six bastions. Peter the Great himself and his closest associates supervised the building of the fortress. This fact is reflected in the names of its bastions: Gosudarev (Tsar’s), Naryshkin, Trubetskoy, Zotov, Golovkin, and Menshikov. The fortress was originally wooden; it was rebuilt in a brick construction in1706, and faced with granite in 1779 – 1786 period. The first civil settlement appeared on Birch Island (later Town Island, now – Petrograd Island) opposite the Petropavlovskaya fortress that was protecting the first city centre. 16 (27) May 1703 is the birthday of the Petropavlovskaya (Peter and Paul) Fortress and of St. Petersburg. The construction of a new town was thought by Peter the Great as a means of reconstruction of the Russian economy, as well as the establishment of close economical, cultural and technical contacts with more developed European countries.
St. Petersburg immediately became the main Russian port. Shipbuilding dockyard founded in 1704 was the first state industry in St. Petersburg. First ships were launched in 1706. More than 250 ships were built there by 1825.
In 1712 St. Petersburg became the capital of Russia. The city played a unique role of an industrial, political, transport, and scientific and cultural centre at the same time. The abrogation of serfdom and the reforms of 1860-70 facilitated the turning of St. Petersburg into an industrially powerful capitalist city. New communist (bol’shevik) government took the power after the October Socialist revolution in 1917 that burst out in the capital. St. Petersburg was renamed to Petrograd in 1914 (at the beginning of the World War I), and a few years later under the Soviet government in 1924 – to Leningrad (to commemorate Lenin’s death). On September 1991 all-town referendum returned the original name to the city – St. Petersburg.
At the beginning of 1918 the Civil War (1918-1921) broke out and the revolutionary soldiers and workers of Petrograd became the core of the Red Guard, which later turned into the Red Army. In 1918 the German troops were so close to Petrograd that the Bolshevik government of Vladimir Lenin decided to move the capital to Moscow, which was still far from the front. Hence, Petrograd was left to be just a regional center.
On June 22 1941 Great Patriotic War started, on July 18 first German bombs fell on the buildings and streets of Leningrad. On September 8 1941 Leningrad was entirely blockaded by the fascist troops, lake Ladoga and airways remained the only communication means to the city. Leningrad blockade that took hundreds of thousands of people lives lasted for 900 days, but Leningrad withstood and overcame the blockade. Leningrad is awarded the title of Hero-city for the exploit of its people during the war.
It is probably impossible to name all places of interest in St. Petersburg. The city built by Peter the Great used to be the capital of the Russian Empire and is now 300 year old. Russian Northern capital is completely different from Moscow that keeps the track of all events that have been taking place there for almost thousand years and can’t avoid being the mixture of various architectural styles. St. Petersburg reminds greatly European cities in its style and architecture. The city’s relatively short history allows it to save its original imperial look, stylish and austere. For tourists, St. Petersburg offers a huge abundance of beautiful views: palaces, churches, squares, memorials, bridges and riverside sights. It’s an ideal place for those interested in Russian art, history and culture since the number of art galleries, museums and historical places is enormous. Moreover, the city is a museum itself, so many great architects and sculptors, Russian and foreign have, been working there to create this enigmatic city.
Architectural and park ensembles of the suburbs complement those of St. Petersburg. The suburbs compose together with the capital the whole image of the Russian north -west pearl. Many ensembles were built in different historical periods, so each of them has its own distinct features.
Since the times of Peter the Great and till the 18th century, palaces and regular parks were built in a Russian baroque style. Park and palace ensembles in Tsarskoe Selo, Peterhof, Strelna, Oranienbaum (now the city of Lomonosov) were built in that period. In the sixties of the 18th century new artistic trend – Russian classicism – became widespread. Landscape parks that resemble natural landscapes are typical for the period. Palaces and landscape parks in Gatchina, Tsarskoe Selo, Pavlovsk and Peterhof were created in that period. In the second half of the 19th century the former tsar’s residence estates were considerably reconstructed.
Brilliant architects, sculptors and artists were invited to create of suburban palaces and parks. Among them were Cameron, Brenna, Quarneghi, Rossi, Rastrelli, Prokofyev, Martos, Gonzaga, Rinaldi, Voronihin, and many others.
The suburbs suffered very much during World War II, many masterpieces were partly or completely destroyed or stolen. Extensive and diligent restoration work that is still on at some spots has been carried out to return the unique cultural heritage to the world.
by Russia-IC
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