The History of St. Petersburg

In the 9th and 10th centuries, the land where St. Petersburg now stands belonged to Novgorod. In 1478, villages in this area belonging to the Novgorod Feudal Republic were included in the Russian centralized state.

At the beginning of the 17th century the Swedes seized the banks of the River Neva and built the Nienschanz Fortress (also known as the Kanzi Fortress) near the mouth of the Okhta. During the Great Northern War (1700-1721) Russian troops captured this fortress. In 1703, Peter the Great built the St. Petersburg Fortress (later known as the Peter and Paul Fortress) further down the Neva, on Zayachy Island. That same year, a port, a stock exchange, a shopping street and a house for Peter the Great were built on Berezovy (Petrogradsky) Island. In 1703-1704 Kronshlot Fortress (known since 1723 as Kronshtadt Fortress) was built on Kotlin Island, and the Admiralty Fortress was built on the left bank of the Neva.

The founding of St. Petersburg provided Russia with “a window on Europe.” It also provided Russia with access to the Baltic Sea, which it had sought for many centuries, seeing it as crucial to the city’s economic and political development.

The city rapidly developed as an industrial center. By the end of the 18th century it had over 160 industrial enterprises.

In 1712, St. Petersburg became the capital of Russia. The Tzar’s Court, Collegiums, the Senate and other government institutions, as well as Guards regiments were situated there. At the same time, St. Petersburg was a leading scientific and cultural center.

It was during the reign of Catherine the Great that St. Petersburg and the whole of Russia began to flourish. Stone buildings appeared in St. Petersburg, and some of the city’s main tourist attractions date from this period: Palace Square; the Kamennoostrovsky and Yelagin Palaces; the famous monument to Peter the Great, the Bronze Horesman; and the Aleksander Nevsky Laura.

After the reforms of 1861-1865, a lot of old factories in the city were expanded and modernized, and many new enterprises were opened. The railroads that had been built before the reform (St. Petersburg - Tsarskoye Selo and St. Petersburg - Moscow) were supplemented with new lines that connected the capital with the country’s main economic centers (the Varshavskaya, Severnaya, Baltiiskaya and Finlyandskaya railroads).

Until the mid 19th century cabs were the main means of transportation in the city. In 1847, public coaches appeared that ran along fixed routes, while others provided links between the city and the suburbs. In 1848, steamships began to carry passengers along the Neva. In 1905-1907, the first tramline was built. In 1907 the first buses appeared. In the second half of the 19th century, telephone and telegraph lines were installed. The city’s population kept growing: in 1853 it was about half a million residents, in 1900 about 1.5 million, and by 1917 it had reached 2.5 million.

When Russia joined World War I in 1914, St. Petersburg was renamed Petrograd.

On March 12, 1918, the Soviet government moved to Moscow and Petrograd ceased to be the capital of Russia.

The city was renamed Leningrad after Lenin’s death in 1924.

During the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 the people of Leningrad demonstrated tremendous courage and bravery. The siege and heroic defense of Leningrad lasted 872 days, during which starvation killed over 640,000 people, and bombs killed over 17,000. The work to restore the city began as soon as the siege was lifted. By 1947 most of the city had been restored to how it had been before the war.

On September 6, 1991, Leningrad regained its historic name, St. Petersburg.

According to UNESCO, St. Petersburg is one of the world’s top ten tourist destinations. A survey conducted by the World Tourist Organization showed that 30 million tourists would like to visit the city.

On May 27, 2003, St. Petersburg celebrated its 300th anniversary. Over 40 world leaders and representatives of international organizations attended the festivities.