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Saint Petersburg
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Санкт-Петербург
Saint Petersburg
The English Embankment with Saint Isaac's Cathedral
The English Embankment with Saint Isaac's Cathedral
Official flag of Санкт-ПетербургSaint Petersburg Official seal of Санкт-ПетербургSaint Petersburg
Flag Coat of arms
Nickname
"Piter"
Location
Position of Saint Petersburg in Europe
Position of Saint Petersburg in Europe
Government
Country
District
Subdivision Russia
North West Russia
Federal City
Governor Valentina Matviyenko
Geographical characteristics
Area
- City
606 km²
Population
- City (2002)
- Density
- Metro area
4,661,219 (2002 Census)
3330/km²
6 million
Coordinates [show location on an interactive map] 59°56′0″N, 30°20′0″E
Elevation 3 to 175 m
Time zone
- Summer (DST) MSK (UTC+3)
MSD (UTC+4)
Other Information
Postal Code 190000–199406
Dialing Code +7 812
License plate 78, 98
Website: www.gov.spb.ru
Saint Petersburg (Russian: Санкт-Петербу́рг (help·info), tr.: Sankt-Peterburg, IPA: [sankt pʲɪtʲɪˈrburk]) is a city and a federal subject located in Northwestern Federal District of Russia on the Neva River at the east end of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. St. Petersburg's informal name, Piter (Питер), is based on how Peter the Great was called by foreigners. The city's other names were Petrograd (Петрогра́д, 1914–1924) and Leningrad (Ленингра́д, 1924–1991)[1]
Founded by Tsar Peter the Great on May 27, 1703 as a "window to Europe"[2], it was capital of the Russian Empire for more than two hundred years (1712-1728, 1732-1918). St. Petersburg ceased being the capital in 1918 after the Russian Revolution of 1917.[3] Russia's second largest and Europe's third largest city (by city limit) after Moscow and London. 4.6 million people live in the city, and over 6 million people in the city with its vicinity. Saint Petersburg is a major European cultural center, and important Russian port on the Baltic Sea. The city, as federal subject, has a total area of 1439 square km.
St. Petersburg enjoys the image of being the most European city of Russia. [4]Among cities of the world with over one million people, Saint Petersburg is the northernmost. The historic center of St. Petersburg is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Russia's political and cultural center for 200 years, the city is impressive, and is sometimes referred to in Russia as "the Northern Capital" (северная столица, severnaya stolitsa).
Contents
[hide]
* 1 History
o 1.1 The new capital
o 1.2 Revolutions
o 1.3 Siege of Leningrad
o 1.4 After the war
* 2 Geography
o 2.1 Climate
* 3 Cityscape
* 4 Demographics
* 5 Government
o 5.1 Crime
* 6 Economy
* 7 Transport
* 8 Built environment and landmarks
o 8.1 Canals and Bridges
o 8.2 Palaces of the Tsars
o 8.3 Cathedrals and temples
o 8.4 Museums and popular sites
o 8.5 Monuments and sculptures
o 8.6 Suburban parks and palaces
* 9 Society and Culture
o 9.1 Music in St. Petersburg
o 9.2 St. Petersburg in the movies
o 9.3 St. Petersburg in literature
o 9.4 Sport
o 9.5 Notable people
* 10 Education and Science
* 11 Sister cities
* 12 See also
* 13 Sources
* 14 References
* 15 Further reading
* 16 External links
[edit] History
Further information: History of Saint Petersburg
[edit] The new capital
The Bronze Horseman, monument to Peter the Great
The Bronze Horseman, monument to Peter the Great
The Peter and Paul Cathedral in Peter and Paul Fortress
The Peter and Paul Cathedral in Peter and Paul Fortress
Peter the Great's Palace, built in 1714-1725 in Peterhof
Peter the Great's Palace, built in 1714-1725 in Peterhof
The Amber Room was presented to Peter the Great by Friedrich Wilhelm I in 1716
The Amber Room was presented to Peter the Great by Friedrich Wilhelm I in 1716
Menshikov Palace, the seat of the first Governor
Menshikov Palace, the seat of the first Governor
Narva Triumphal Gate at the Stachek Square.
Narva Triumphal Gate at the Stachek Square.
The Winter Palace was stormed by Bolshevik communists at night in October 1917
The Winter Palace was stormed by Bolshevik communists at night in October 1917
On May 1, 1703, Peter the Great took the Swedish fortress of Nyenskans and the city Nyen, on the Neva river. Tsar Peter the Great founded the city on May 27, 1703 (May 16, Old Style) after reconquering the Ingrian land from Sweden in the Great Northern War. He named the city after his patron saint, the apostle Saint Peter. The original name Sankt Pieterburg (pronounced Sankt Piterburh) was borrowed from Dutch (Modern Dutch Sint Petersburg), because Peter had lived and studied in the Netherlands; he also spent three months in Britain, and was also influenced by his experience in the rest of Europe.[5]
The city was built under adverse weather and geographical conditions. High mortality rate required a constant supply of workers. Peter ordered a yearly conscription of 40,000 serfs, one conscript for every nine to sixteen households. Conscripts had to provide their own tools and food for the journey of hundreds of kilometers, on foot, in gangs, often escorted by military guards and shackled to prevent desertion, yet many escaped, others died from disease and exposure under the harsh conditions.[6]
The new city's first building was the Peter and Paul Fortress, it originally also bore the name of Sankt Pieterburg. It was laid down on Zaiachiy (Hare's) Island, just off the right bank of the Neva, three miles inland from the Gulf. The marshland was drained and the city spread outward from the fortress under the supervision of German and Dutch engineers whom Peter had invited to Russia. Peter restricted the construction of stone buildings in all of Russia outside of St Petersburg, so that all stonemasons would come to help build the new city.[7]
At the same time Peter hired a large number of engineers, architects, shipbuilders, scientists and businessmen from all countries of Europe. Substantial immigration of educated professionals eventually turned St. Petersburg into a much more cosmopolitan city than Moscow and the rest of Russia. Peter's efforts to push for modernisation in Moscow and the rest of Russia were completely misunderstood by the old-fashioned Russian Nobility, and eventually failed, causing him much trouble with opposition, including several attempts on the Tsar's life and the treason involving his own son.[8]
Peter moved the capital from Moscow to Saint Petersburg in 1712, 9 years before the Treaty of Nystad. Called the "window to Europe", it was a seaport and also a base for Peter's navy, protected by the fortress of Kronstadt. The first person to build a home in Saint Petersburg was Cornelis Cruys, commander of the Baltic Fleet. Inspired by Venice and Amsterdam, Peter the Great proposed boats and coracles as means of transport in his city of canals. Initially there were only 12 permanent bridges over smaller waterways, while the Bolshaya Neva was crossed by boats in the summertime and by foot or horse carriages during winter. A pontoon bridge over Neva was built every summer.
Peter was impressed by Versailles and other palaces in Europe. His official palace of a comparable importance in Peterhof was the first suburban palace permanently used by the Tsar as the primary official residence and the place for official receptions and state balls. The waterfront palace, Monplaisir, and the Great Peterhof Palace were built between 1714 and 1725.[9] In 1716, Prussia's King presented a gift to Tsar Peter: the Amber Room.[10]
Aleksandr Danilovich Menshikov, Peter's best friend, was the first Governor General of Saint Petersburg Governorate in 1703-1727. In 1724 St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences was established in the city. After the death of Peter the Great, Menshikov was arrested and exiled to Siberia. In 1728 Peter II of Russia moved the capital back to Moscow, but 4 years later, in 1732, St. Petersburg again became the capital of Russia and remained the seat of the government for about two centuries.
St. Petersburg prospered under the rule of two most powerful women in Russian history. Peter's daughter, Empress Elizabeth, reigned from 1740 to 1762, without a single execution in 22 years. She cut taxes, downsized government, and was known for masqerades and festivities, amassing a wardrobe of about 12 thousand dressess, most of them now preserved as museum art pieces. She supported the Russian Academy of Sciences and completed both the Winter Palace and the Summer Palace, which then became residencies of Empress Catherine the Great, who reigned for 34 years, from 1762 to 1796. Under her rule, which exemplified that of an enlightened despot, more palaces were built in St. Petersburg than in any other capital in the world.[11]
[edit] Revolutions
The Church of the Savior on Blood commemorates the spot where Tsar Alexander II was assassinated
The Church of the Savior on Blood commemorates the spot where Tsar Alexander II was assassinated
The battleship Aurora, symbol of the October Revolution, now a museum
The battleship Aurora, symbol of the October Revolution, now a museum
Lenin's mug shot 1895
Lenin's mug shot 1895
1911 photo by the Levitsky Company of the last Russian Royal Family. Clockwise from top: the Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna, the Grand Duchess Anastasia, the Tsarevich Alexei, the Grand Duchess Tatiana, Tsar Nicholas II, the Grand Duchess Olga, and the Grand Duchess Maria
1911 photo by the Levitsky Company of the last Russian Royal Family. Clockwise from top: the Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna, the Grand Duchess Anastasia, the Tsarevich Alexei, the Grand Duchess Tatiana, Tsar Nicholas II, the Grand Duchess Olga, and the Grand Duchess Maria
The monument to Sergey Kirov on Kirov Square of Saint Petersburg
The monument to Sergey Kirov on Kirov Square of Saint Petersburg
Several revolutions, uprisings, assassinations of Tsars, and power takeovers in St. Peterburg had shaped the course of history in Russia and influenced the world. In 1801, after the assassination of the Emperor Paul I, his son became the Emperor Alexander I. Alexander I ruled Russia during the Napoleonic Wars and expanded his Empire by acqisitions of Finland and part of Poland. His mysterious death in 1825 was marked by the Decembrist revolt, which was suppressed by the Emperor Nicholas I, who ordered execution of leaders and exiled hundreds of their followers to Siberia. Nicholas I then pushed for Russian nationalism by suppressing non-Russian nationalities and religions.[12]
Cultural revolution that followed after the Napoleonic wars, had further opened St. Petersburg up, in spite of repressions. The city's wealth and rapid growth had always attracted prominent intellectuals, scientists, writers and artists. St. Petersburg eventually gained international recognition as a gateway for trade and business, as well as a cosmopolitan cultural hub. The works of Aleksandr Pushkin, Nikolai Gogol, Ivan Turgenev, Fyodor Dostoyevsky and numerous others brought Russian literature to the world. Music, theatre and ballet became firmly established and gained international stature.
The son of Tsar Nicholas I, Tsar Alexander II implemented the most challenging reforms[13] undertaken in Russia since the reign of Peter the Great. The emancipation of the serfs (1861) caused the influx of large numbers of poor into the capital. Tenements were erected on the outskirts, and nascent industry sprang up, surpassing Moscow in population and industrial growth. By 1900, St. Petersburg had grown into one of the largest industrial hubs in Europe, an important international center of power, business and politics, and the 4th largest city in Europe.
With the growth of industry, radical movements were also astir. Socialist organizations were responsible for the assassinations of many public figures, government officials, members of the royal family, and the Tsar himself. Tsar Alexander II was killed by a suicide bomber Ignacy Hryniewiecki in 1881, in a plot with connections to the family of Lenin and other revolutionaries. The Revolution of 1905 initiated here and spread rapidly into the provinces. During World War I, the name Sankt Peterburg was seen to be too German, so the city was renamed Petrograd.[14]
1917 saw next stages of the Russian Revolution[15], and re-emergence of the Communist party led by Lenin, who declared "Guns give us the power" and "All power to the Soviets!"[16] After the February Revolution, the Tsar Nicholas II was arrested and the Tsar's government was replaced by two opposing centers of political power: the "pro-democracy" Provisional government and the "pro-communist" Petrograd Soviet.[17] Then the Provisional government was overthrown by the communists in the October Revolution[18], causing the Russian Civil War.
The city's proximity to anti-Soviet armies, forced communist leader Vladimir Lenin to move his government to Moscow on March 5, 1918. The move was disguised as temporary, but Moscow has remained the capital ever since. On January 24, 1924, three days after Lenin's death, Petrograd was renamed Leningrad. The Communist party's reason for renaming the city again was that Lenin had led the revolution. Deeper reasons existed at the level of political propaganda: Saint Petersburg had stood as the symbol of capitalist culture and the Tsarist empire, but the Soviet empire needed to destroy that.[19] After the Civil War, and murder of the Tsar Nicholas II and his family, as well as millions of anti-Soviet people, the renaming to Leningrad was designed to destroy last hopes among the resistance, and show strong dictatorship of Lenin's communist party and the Soviet regime. [20] [21]
St. Petersburg was devastated by Lenin's Red Terror[22] then by Stalin's Great Purge[23] in addition to crime and vandalism in the series of revolutions and wars. Between 1917 and 1930s, about two million people fled the city, including hundreds of thousands of educated intellectuals and aristocracy, who emigrated to Europe and America. At the same time many political, social and paramilitary groups had followed the communist government in their move to Moscow, as the benefits of capital status had left the city. In 1931 Leningrad administratively separated from Leningrad Oblast.
In 1934 the popular governor of Leningrad, Kirov, was assassinated, because Stalin apparently became increasingly paranoid about Kirov's growth[24]. The death of Kirov was used to ignite the Great Purge[25] where supporters of Trotsky and other suspected "enemies of the Soviet state" were arrested. Then a series of "criminal" cases, known as the Leningrad Centre and Leningrad Affair[26], were fabricated and resulted in death sentences for many top leaders of Leningrad, and severe repressions of thousands of top officials and intellectuals.
[edit] Siege of Leningrad
Main article: Siege of Leningrad
Civilians struggled to survive during the Nazi siege of Leningrad
Civilians struggled to survive during the Nazi siege of Leningrad
Survivors of the Nazi bombings of Leningrad in WWII
Survivors of the Nazi bombings of Leningrad in WWII
Bombings of the Nevsky prospekt. Nazi bombings killed thousands of civilians in Leningrad
Bombings of the Nevsky prospekt. Nazi bombings killed thousands of civilians in Leningrad
People starved and froze to death in Leningrad under the Nazi siege
People starved and froze to death in Leningrad under the Nazi siege
During World War II, Leningrad was surrounded and besieged by the German Wehrmacht from September 8, 1941 to January 27, 1944, a total of 29 months. By Hitler's order the Wehrmacht constantly shelled and bombed the city and systematically isolated it from any supplies, causing death of more than 1 million civilians in 3 years; 650 thousand died in 1942 alone [27]The secret instruction from 23 September 1941 said: "the Führer is determined to eliminate the city of Petersburg from the face of earth. There is no reason whatsoever for subsequent existence of this large-scale city after the neutralization of the Soviet Russia." Starting in early 1942, the Ingermanland region was included into the Generalplan Ost annexation plans as the "German settlement area". This implied the genocide of 3 million Leningrad residents, who had no place in Hitler's "New East European Order".
Hitler ordered preparations for victory celebrations at the Tsar's Palaces. The Nazis looted art from museums and palaces, as well as from private homes. All looted treasures, such as the Amber Room, gold statues of Peterhof, paintings and other valuable art were taken to Germany. Hitler also prepared a party to celebrate his victory at the hotel Astoria. A printed invitation to Hitler's reception ball at the Hotel Astoria is now on display at the City Museum of St. Petersburg.
During the Nazi siege of 1941 - 1944, the only ways to supply the city, and suburbs, inhabited by several millions, were by aircraft or by cars crossing the frozen Lake Ladoga. The Nazis systematically shelled this route, called the Road of Life, so thousands of cars with people and food supplies had sank in the lake. The situation in the city was especially horrible in the winter of 1941 - 1942. The German bombing raids destroyed most of the food reserves. Daily food ration was cut in October to 400 grams of bread for a worker and 200 grams for a woman or child. On 20 November 1941, the rations were reduced to 250 and 125 grams respectively. Those grams of bread were the bulk of a daily meal for a person in the city. The water supply was destroyed. The situation further worsened in winter due to lack of heating fuel. In December 1941 alone some 53,000 people in Leningrad died of starvation, many corpses were scattered in the streets all over the city.
"Savichevs died. Everyone died. Only Tanya is left," wrote 11-year-old Leningrad girl Tanya Savicheva in her diary. This diary became one of the symbols of the blockade tragedy and was shown as one of many documents at the Nuremberg trials.
The city suffered severe destruction - the Wehrmacht fired about 150,000 shells at Leningrad and the Luftwaffe dropped about 100,000 air bombs. Many houses, schools, hospitals and other buildings were leveled, and those in the occupied territory were plundered by German troops.
As a result of the Nazi siege, about 1,2 million of 3 million Leningrad civilians lost their lives because of bombardment, starvation, infections and stress. Hundreds of thousands of unregistered civilians, who lived in Leningrad prior to WWII, had perished in the Nazi siege without any record at all. About 1 million civilians escaped with evacuation, mainly by foot. After two years of the siege, Leningrad became an empty "ghost-city" with thousands of ruined and abandoned homes.
Historians speak about the Nazi genocide of the Leningrad residents in terms of the "racially motivated starvation policy" which became the integral part of the unprecedented German war of extermination against the civilian population of the Soviet Union. [28]
For the heroic resistance of the city and tenacity of the survivors of the Nazi Siege, Leningrad was the first city in the former USSR awarded the title Hero City in 1945.
[edit] After the war
Saint Petersburg TV Tower (315 m high)
Saint Petersburg TV Tower (315 m high)
Kirov Stadium
Kirov Stadium
Hotel Pribaltiyskaya
Hotel Pribaltiyskaya
The war damaged the city and killed many old Petersburgers who had not fled after the revolution and did not perish in the mass purges before the war. Nonetheless, Leningrad and many of its suburbs were rebuilt over the post-war decades, partially according to the pre-war plans. In 1950 the Kirov Stadium was opened and soon set a record when 110,000 fans attended a football match. In 1955 the Leningrad Metro, the second underground rapid transit system in the country, was opened with its first six stations decorated with marble and bronze.
However, during the late 1940s and 1950s, the entire political and cultural elite of Leningrad suffered from more harsh repressions under dictatorship of Stalin[29], hundreds were executed and thousands were imprisoned in repressions known as the Leningrad Affair.[30]Independent thinkers, writers, artists and other intellectuals were attacked, magazines "Zvezda" and "Leningrad" were banned, Akhmatova and Zoshchenko were repressed[31], and tens of thousands Leningraders were exiled to Siberia. More crackdowns on the Leningrad's intellectual elite, known as the "Second Leningrad affair", were part of unfair economic policies of the Soviet state. Leningrad's economy was producing about 6% of the USSR GNP, having less than 2% of the country's population, but such economic efficiency was negated by the Soviet Communist Party which diverted the earned income from people of Leningrad to other Soviet places and programs. As a result during the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, the city of Leningrad was seriously underfunded in favor of Moscow. Leningrad suffered from the unfair distribution of wealth, because the Soviet leadership drained the city's resources to subsidise higher standards of living in Moscow and some underperforming parts of the Soviet Union and beyond. Such unfair redistribution of wealth caused struggle within the Soviet government and communist party, which lead to their fragmentation and played a role in the eventual collapse of the USSR.
On June 12, 1991, the day of the first Russian presidential election, in a referendum 54% of voters chose to restore "the original name, Saint Petersburg, on September 6, 1991. In the same election Anatoly Sobchak became the first democratically elected mayor of the city.[32] Among the first initiatives of Sobchak was his efforts to minimise the federal control by Moscow to keep the income from St. Petersburg's economy in the city.
Original names returned to 39 streets, six bridges, three Saint Petersburg Metro stations and six parks. Older people sometimes use old names and old mailing addresses. The name Leningrad was heavily promoted in media, mainly in connection with the siege, so even authorities may call it "Hero city Leningrad." Young people may use Leningrad as a vague protest against some social and economic changes. A popular ska punk band from Saint Petersburg is called Leningrad
Leningrad Oblast retained its name after a popular vote. It is a separate federal subject of Russia of which the city of St. Petersburg is the capital.
In 1996, Vladimir Yakovlev was elected the head of the Saint Petersburg City Administration, and changed his title from "mayor" to "governor." In 2003, Yakovlev resigned a year before his second term expired. Valentina Matviyenko was elected governor. In 2006 she was reapproved as governor by the city legislature.
The Constitutional Court of Russia is scheduled to move to the former Senate and Synod buildings at the Decembrists Square in St. Petersburg by 2008. The move will partially restore Saint Petersburg's historic status, making the city the second judicial capital.
[edit] Geography
Further information: Geography of Saint Petersburg
Satellite picture of St. Peterburg
Satellite picture of St. Peterburg
Territory of the federal subject of St. Petersburg
Territory of the federal subject of St. Petersburg
Gulf of Finland at Zelenogorsk
Gulf of Finland at Zelenogorsk
The area of Saint Petersburg city proper is 605.8 km². The area of the federal subject is 1439 km², which contains the Saint Petersburg proper, and suburban towns (Kolpino, Krasnoye Selo, Kronstadt, Lomonosov, Pavlovsk, Peterhof, Pushkin, Sestroretsk and Zelenogorsk), all together over 20 municipalities and rural localities.
Saint Petersburg is situated on the middle taiga lowlands along the shores of the Neva Bay of the Gulf of Finland, and islands of the river delta. The largest are Vasilyevsky island (besides the artificial island between Obvodny canal and Fontanka, and Kotlin in the Neva Bay), Petrogradsky, Dekabristov and Krestovsky. The latter together with Yelagin and Kamenny island are covered mostly by parks.
The Karelian Isthmus, north of the city, is a popular resort area. In the south Saint Petersburg crosses the Baltic-Ladoga Klint and meets the Izhora Heights.
The elevation of Saint Petersburg ranges from the sea level to its highest point of 175.9 m (577') at the Orekhovaya hill in the Duderhof Heights in the south. Part of the city's territory west of Liteyny Prospekt, is no higher than 4 m above sea level, and has suffered from numerous floods. Floods in Saint Petersburg are triggered by a long wave in the Baltic Sea, caused by meteorological conditions, winds and shallowness of the Neva Bay. The most disastrous floods occurred in 1824 (421 cm above sea-level[33]), 1924 (380 cm), 1777 (321cm), 1955 (293 cm) and 1975 (281 cm). To prevent floods, the Saint Petersburg Dam has been under construction since 1979.[34]
Since the 18th century the terrain in the city has been raised artificially, at some places by more than 4 m, making mergers of several islands, and changing the hydrology of the city.
Besides Neva and its distributaries, other important rivers of the federal subject of Saint Petersburg are Sestra, Okhta and Izhora. The largest lake is Sestroretsky Razliv in the north, followed by Lakhtinsky Razliv, Suzdal Lakes and other smaller lakes.
St. Petersburg's position on the latitude of ca. 60° N, causes variation in day length across seasons, ranging from 5:53 to 18:50. Twilight may last all night in early summer, from June to mid-July, the celebrated phenomenon known as the white nights.
[edit] Climate
Hotel Astoria in winter
Hotel Astoria in winter
Saint Petersburg experiences a humid continental climate of the cool summer subtype (Köppen: Dfb), due to the distinct moderating influence of the Baltic Sea cyclons. Summers are typically cool, humid and quite short, while winters are long, cold, but with frequent warm spells. The average daily temperature in July is 22C (72 F), summer maximum is about 34C (94F), winter minimum is about -27°C (-17°F), the record low temperature is -35.9°C (-33°F), recorded in 1883. The average wholeyear temperature is +4°C (39°F). The River Neva within the city limits usually freezes up in November-December, break-up occurs in April. From December to March there are 123 days average with snow cover, which reaches the average of 24 cm (9.5") by February. The frost-free period in the city lasts on average for about 135 days. The city has a climate slightly warmer than its suburbs. Weather conditions are quite variable all year round.[35]
Average annual precipitation varies across the city, averaging 600 mm per year and reaching maximum in late summer. Soil moisture is almost always high because of lower evapotranspiration due to the cool climate. air humidity is 78% on average, overcast is 165 days a year on average.
[hide]Weather averages for Saint Petersburg
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 8.6 (47) 10.2 (50) 14.9 (59) 25.3 (78) 30.9 (88) 34.6 (94) 34.3 (94) 33.5 (92) 30.4 (87) 21.0 (70) 12.3 (54) 10.9 (52) 34.6 (94)
Average high °C (°F) -4.8 (23) -4.6 (24) 0.0 (32) 7.4 (45) 14.7 (58) 19.4 (67) 22.0 (72) 20.1 (68) 14.5 (58) 7.7 (46) 1.6 (35) -2.5 (28) 8.1 (47)
Average low °C (°F) -10.5 (13) -10.6 (13) -6.9 (20) -0.2 (32) 5.7 (42) 10.8 (51) 13.9 (57) 12.5 (55) 7.9 (46) 2.8 (37) -2.4 (28) -7.3 (19) 1.4 (35)
Record low °C (°F) -35.9 (-33) -35.2 (-31) -29.9 (-22) -21.8 (-7) -6.6 (20) 0.1 (32) 4.9 (41) 1.3 (34) -3.1 (26) -12.9 (9) -22.2 (-8) -34.4 (-30) -35.9 (-33)
Precipitation mm (inch) 37 (1.5) 30 (1.2) 34 (1.3) 33 (1.3) 37 (1.5) 57 (2.2) 77 (3) 80 (3.1) 69 (2.7) 66 (2.6) 55 (2.2) 50 (2) 625 (24.6)
Source: Pogoda.ru.net[36] 29.07.2007
[edit] Cityscape
View of Hermitage Museum complex, St. Petersburg, Russia, from across the Neva river. The Winter Palace is to the right.
View of Hermitage Museum complex, St. Petersburg, Russia, from across the Neva river. The Winter Palace is to the right.
[edit] Demographics
Further information: Demographics of Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg is the second largest city in Russia. 2002 census recorded population of the federal subject 4,661,219, or 3.21% of the total population of Russia. The 2002 census recorded twenty-two ethnic groups of more than two thousand persons each. The ethnic composition was: Russian 84.72% • Ukrainian 1.87% • Belarusians 1.17% • Jewish 0.78% • Tatar 0.76% • Armenian 0.41% • Azeri 0.36% • Georgian 0.22% • Chuvash 0.13% • Polish 0.10% and many other smaller ethnic groups. 7.89% of the inhabitants declined to state their ethnicity.[37]
The 20th century saw hectic ups and downs in population. From 2.4 million in 1916 it had dropped to less than 740 thousand by 1920 during the Russian Revolution of 1917 and Russian Civil War. The sizeable minorities of Germans, Poles, Finns, Estonians and Latvians were almost completely expelled from Leningrad by the Soviet government.[38] From 1941 to the end of 1943, population dropped from 3 million to less than 700 thousand, as people died in battles, starved to death during the Siege of Leningrad, or were evacuated. After the siege, some of the evacuees returned, but most influx was due to migration from other parts of the Soviet Union. The city absorbed 3 million people in the 1950s and grew over 5 million in the 1980s. From 1991 to 2006 the city's population decreased to current 4,6 million, while the suburban population increased due to privatisation of land and massive move to suburbs.[39][40] Birth rate remains lower than death rate, people over 65 make more than 20% of population, and the median age is about 40 years.[41]
People in urban Saint Petersburg live mostly in apartments. Between 1918 and 1990s, the Soviets nationalised housing and forced residents to share communal apartments (kommunalkas). With 68% living in shared flats in the 1930s, Leningrad was the largest city in the USSR by the number of kommunalkas. Resettling residents of kommunalkas is now on the way, albeit shared apartments are still not uncommon. As new boroughs were built on the outskirts in the 1950s-1980s, over half a million low income families eventually received free apartments, and additional hundred thousand condos were purchased by the middle class. While economic and social activity is concentrated in the historic city centre, the richest part of Saint Petersburg, most people live in the commuter areas.
[edit] Government
Further information: Government in Saint Petersburg
Quarenghi's original design for the Smolny Institute, the office of the Governor
Quarenghi's original design for the Smolny Institute, the office of the Governor
Mariinsky Palace, the seat of the Assembly
Mariinsky Palace, the seat of the Assembly
Saint Petersburg is a federal subject of Russia[42]. The political life of Saint Petersburg is regulated by the city charter adopted by the city legislature in 1998.[43]
The superior executive body is the Saint Petersburg City Administration, led by the governor (mayor before 1996). Saint Petersburg has a single-chamber legislature, the Saint Petersburg Legislative Assembly.
According to the federal law passed in 2004, heads of federal subjects, including the governor of Saint Petersburg, are nominated by the President of Russia and approved by local legislatures. If the legislature disapproves the nominee, it is dissolved. The current governor, Valentina Matviyenko was approved according to the new system in December 2006.
Saint Petersburg city is currently divided into eighteen districts.
Saint Petersburg is also the administrative center of Leningrad Oblast, and of the Northwestern Federal District[44].
Saint Petersburg and Leningrad Oblast, being two different federal subjects, share a number of local departments of federal executive agencies and courts, such as court of arbitration, police, FSB, postal service, drug enforcement administration, penitentiary service, federal registration service, and other federal services.
[edit] Crime
A typical older house backyard with shared slums
A typical older house backyard with shared slums
As in other large Russian cities, Saint Petersburg experiences fairly high levels of Street crime and bribery. In addition, in recent years there has been a noticeable increase in racially motivated violence. On the other hand, unlike in Moscow, there have been no major terrorist attacks in St. Petersburg in recent years.[45] In the end of the 1980s – beginning of the 1990s Leningrad became home to a number of gangs, such as Tambov Gang, Malyshev Gang, Kazan Gang and ethnic criminal groups, engaged in a racket, extortion and violent clashes with each other.[45]
The Kresty prison
The Kresty prison
After the sensational assassinations of City Property Committee Chairman Mikhail Manevich (1997), State Duma deputy Galina Starovoytova (1998), acting City Legislature Speaker Viktor Novosyolov (1999) and a number of prominent businesspeople, Saint Petersburg was dubbed capital of crime in the Russian press.[46][47]
[edit] Economy
Further information: Economy of Saint Petersburg
Former Saint Petersburg Bourse
Former Saint Petersburg Bourse
The busy St Petersburg docks at dawn
The busy St Petersburg docks at dawn
St. Petersburg is a major trade gateway, financial and industrial center of Russia specialising in oil and gas trade, shipbuilding yards, aerospace industry, radio and electronics, software and computers; machine building, heavy machinery and transport, including tanks and other military equipment, mining, instrument manufacture, ferrous and nonferrous metallurgy (production of aluminium alloys), chemicals, pharmaceuticals, medical equipment, publishing and printing, food and catering, wholesale and retail, textile and apparel industries, and many other businesses.
10% of the world's power turbines are made here at the LMZ, which built over two thousand turbines for power plants across the world. Major local industries are Admiralty Shipyard, Baltic Shipyard, LOMO, Kirov Plant, Elektrosila, Izhorsky Zavod; also registered in St. Petersburg are Gazprom Neft[citation needed], Sovkomflot, Petersburg Fuel Company and SIBUR among other major Russian and international companies.
St. Petersburg has three large cargo seaports: Bolshoi Port St. Petersburg, Kronstadt, and Lomonosov. International cruise liners are served at the passenger port at Morskoy Vokzal on the west end of the Vasilevsky Island. A complex system of riverports on both banks of the Neva river are interconnected with the system of seaports, thus making St. Petersburg the main link between the Baltic sea and the rest of Russia through the Volga-Baltic Waterway.
The Saint Petersburg Mint (Monetny Dvor), founded in 1724, is one of the largest mints in the world, it mints Russian coins, medals and badges. St. Petersburg is also home to the oldest and largest Russian foundry, Monumentskulptura, which made thousands of sculptures and statues that are now gracing public parks of St. Petersburg, as well as many other cties. Monuments and bronze statues of the Tsars, as well as other important historic figures and dignitaries, and other world famous monuments, such as the sculptures by Peter Clodt von Jürgensburg, Paolo Troubetzkoy, Pavel Antokolsky, and others, were made here.
Toyota is building a plant in Shuishary, one of the suburbs; General Motors and Nissan have signed deals with the Russian government too. Automotive and parts industry is on the rise here during the last decade. Saint Petersburg is known as a "beer capital" of Russia, due to the supply and quality of local water, contributing over 30% of the domestic production of beer with its five large-scale breweries including Europe's second largest brewery Baltika, Vena (both operated by BBH), Heineken Brewery, Stepan Razin (both by Heineken) and Tinkoff brewery (SUN-InBev). St. Petersburg has the second largest construction industry in Russia, including commercial, housing and road construction.
In 2006 Saint-Petersburg's city budget was 179,9 billion rubles,[48] and is planned to double by 2012. The federal subject's gross regional product as of 2005 was 667,905.4 million Russian rubles, ranked 4th in Russia, after Moscow, Tyumen Oblast, and Moscow Oblast[49], or 145,503.3 rubles per capita, ranked 12th among Russia's federal subjects[50], contributed mostly by wholesale and retail trade and repair services (24.7%) as well as processing industry (20.9%) and transportation and telecommunications (15.1%).[51]
[edit] Transport
The exquisite decoration of Saint Petersburg Metro
The exquisite decoration of Saint Petersburg Metro
A tram in Saint Petersburg
A tram in Saint Petersburg
The city is a major transport hub. In 1837 the first Russian railroad was built here. Today St. Petersburg is the final destination of Trans-Siberian railroad, and a web of intercity and suburban railways, served by five different railway terminals (Baltiysky, Finlyandsky, Ladozhsky, Moskovsky and Vitebsky)[52], as well as dozens of non-terminal railway stations within the federal subject. Saint Petersburg has international railway connections to Helsinki, Finland, Berlin, Germany, and all former republics of the USSR. Helsinki railroad was built in 1870, 443 km, commutes 3 times a day, about 5.5 h. The railroad Saint Petersburg-Moscow opened in 1851, 651 km, commute to Moscow is 4.5-9 h.[53] Saint Petersburg is also served by the Pulkovo International Airport,[54] and three smaller commercial and cargo airports in the suburbs. There is a regular 24/7 rapid bus transit connection between Pulkovo airport and the city center.
The city is also served by the passenger and cargo seaports in the Neva Bay of the Gulf of Finland, Baltic Sea, the river port higher up Neva, and tens of smaller passenger stations on both banks of the Neva river. It is a terminus of the Volga-Baltic and White Sea-Baltic waterways. In 2004 the first high bridge that doesn't need to be drawn, a 2824 m long Big Obukhovsky Bridge, was opened. Meteor hydrofoils link the city centre to the coastal towns of Kronstadt, Lomonosov, Peterhof, Sestroretsk and Zelenogorsk from May through October.
Saint Petersburg has an extensive city-funded network of public transportation (buses, trams, trolleybuses) and several hundred routes served by marshrutkas. Trams in Saint Petersburg used to be the main transportation; in the 1980s, Leningrad had the largest tramway network in the world, but many tramway rail tracks were dismantled in the 2000s. Buses carry up to 3 million passengers daily, serving over 250 urban and a number of suburban bas routes. Saint Petersburg Metro underground rapid transit system was opened in 1955; it now has 4 lines with 60 stations, connecting all five railway terminals, and carrying 2,8 million passengers daily. Metro stations are decorated in marble and bronze. The 5th metro line is scheduled to open in 2008.
Traffic jams are common in the city, because of narrow streets, parking sites along their edges, high daily traffic volumes between the commuter boroughs and the city center, intercity traffic, and at times excessive snowing in winter. Five segments of the Saint Petersburg Ring Road were opened between 2002 and 2006, and full ring is planned to open in 2012.
Saint Petersburg is part of the important transport corridor linking Scandinavia to Russia and Eastern Europe. The city is a node of the international European routes E18 towards Helsinki, E20 towards Tallinn, E95 towards Pskov, Kiev and Odessa and E105 towards Petrozavodsk, Murmansk and Kirkenes (north) and towards Moscow and Kharkiv (south).
[edit] Built environment and landmarks
Further information: Landmarks of Saint Petersburg
Kazan Cathedral at night 2006
Kazan Cathedral at night 2006
The majestic appearance of St. Petersburg is achieved through a variety of architectural details including long, straight boulevards, vast spaces, gardens and parks, decorative wrought-iron fences, monuments and decorative sculptures. The Neva River itself, together with its many canals and their granite embankments and bridges gives the city a unique and striking ambience. These bodies of water led to St. Petersburg being given the name of "Venice of the North".
St. Petersburg's position below the Arctic Circle, on the same latitude as nearby Helsinki, Stockholm, Aberdeen and Oslo (60° N), causes twilight to last all night in May, June and July. This celebrated phenomenon is known as the "white nights". The white nights are closely linked to another attraction — the eight drawbridges spanning the Neva. Tourists flock to see the bridges drawn and lowered again at night to allow shipping to pass up and down the river. Bridges open from May to late October according to a special schedule between approximately 2 a.m. and 4:30 a.m.
The historical center of St. Petersburg, sometimes called the outdoor museum of Architecture[citation needed], was the first Russian patrimony inscribed on the UNESCO list of World Heritage Sites.
[edit] Canals and Bridges
Main article: List of bridges in Saint Petersburg
Liteyny Bridge at night
Liteyny Bridge at night
The Trinity Bridge
The Trinity Bridge
Griboyedov Canal
Griboyedov Canal
Peter the Great's bridge (former Bolsheokhtinsky)
Peter the Great's bridge (former Bolsheokhtinsky)
Saint Petersburg is built on what originally were more than 100 islands created by a maze of rivers, creeks, canals, gulfs, lakes and ponds and other bodies of water that flow into the Baltic Sea at the mouth of the Neva river.
Peter the Great was designing the city as another Amsterdam and Venice, with canals instead of streets and citizens skillful in sailing. Initially, there were only about ten bridges constructed in the city, mainly across ditches and minor creeks. By Peter's plans, in the summer months, the citizens were supposed to move around in boats, and in the winter months when the water froze to move in sledges. However, after Peter's death, new bridges were built, as it was a much easier way of transportation. Temporary pontoon bridges were built across Neva in the summertime. The largest temporary bridge across the Bolshaya Neva was in operation from 1727 to 1850.
The first permanent bridge of bricks and stones across the main waters of Bolshaya Neva river was the Lieutenant Schmidt Bridge, built from 1843 to 1850, and opened in 1850. A familiar view of St. Petersburg is a drawbridge across the Neva. Every night during the navigation period from April to November, 22 bridges across Neva and main canals are drawn to let ships pass in and out of the Baltic Sea.[55]
Today, there are 342 bridges over canals and rivers of various sizes, styles and constructions, built at different periods. Over 800 smaller bridges over smaller ponds and streams are gracing public parks and gardens, the popular places for entertainment and leisure.
Thanks to the intricate web of canals, St. Petersburg is often called the "Venice of the North" which is a popular poetic name for the northern capital.
[edit] Palaces of the Tsars
Catherine Palace is one of three Summer Palaces
Catherine Palace is one of three Summer Palaces
Kunstkamera, Palace Bridge, a rostral column and the spire of Peter and Paul Cathedral
Kunstkamera, Palace Bridge, a rostral column and the spire of Peter and Paul Cathedral
Peter's Summer Palace in the Summer Garden
Peter's Summer Palace in the Summer Garden
Winter Palace
Winter Palace
St. Michael's Castle
St. Michael's Castle
Façade of the Larger Marble Palace. For a night view see here.
Façade of the Larger Marble Palace. For a night view see here.
Saint Petersburg is known as the city of palaces. One of the earliest of these is the Summer Palace, a modest house built for Peter I in the Summer Garden (1710–1714). Much more imposing are the baroque residences of his associates, such as the Kikin Hall and the Menshikov Palace on the Neva Embankment, constructed from designs by Domenico Trezzini over the years 1710 to 1716. A residence adjacent to the Menshikov palace was redesigned for Peter II and now houses the State University.
Probably the most illustrious of imperial palaces is the baroque Winter Palace (1754–1762), a vast stately building with over 600 rooms and dazzlingly luxurious interiors, now housing the Hermitage Museum.[56] The same architect, Bartolomeo Rastrelli, was also responsible for three residences in the vicinity of the Nevsky Prospekt: the Stroganov palace (1752–1754, is now a branch of the State Russian Museum, the Vorontsov palace (1749–1757, now a military school), and the Anichkov Palace (1741–1750, many times rebuilt, now a palace for children). Other baroque palaces include the Sheremetev house on the Fontanka embankment (also called the Fountain House), and the Beloselsky-Belozersky Palace (1846–1848) on the Nevsky Prospekt, formerly a residence of the Grand Duke Sergey Aleksandrovich.
Of Neoclassical palaces, the foremost is St Michael's (or Engineers') Castle[57] , constructed for Emperor Paul in 1797–1801 to replace the earlier Summer Palace. The Tauride Palace of Prince Potemkin (1783–1789), situated near the Smolny Institute, used to be a seat of the first Russian parliament, and now the Assembly of Independent States. Just two blocks from the Hermitage buildings is the Marble Palace, commissioned by Count Orlov and built in 1768–1785 from 44 various sorts of marble to a Neoclassical design by Antonio Rinaldi, it is now part of the State Russian Museum. The Michael Palace (1819–1825), famed for its opulent interiors and named after its first lodger, Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich, now houses the main collections of the Russian Museum.[58] Also designed in the Neoclassical style is the Yusupov's Moyka palace (built in the 1790s), where Rasputin was killed by Prince Yusupov. Other treasured palaces are the Razumovsky palace (1762–1766); the Shuvalov palace (1830–1838); and the Yelagin Palace (1818–1822), a sumptuous summer dacha of the imperial family, situated on the Yelagin Island. The last Royal residences were built for Nicholas I's children: the Mariinsky Palace (1839–1844), located just opposite St Isaac's Cathedral, is now housing the St. Petersburg City Legislature and Offices of Representatives, the Nicholas Palace (1853–61), and the New Michael Palace (1857-1861). All major palaces are now housing numerous state and private museums and various branches of the government.
[edit] Cathedrals and temples
Saint Isaac's Cathedral
Saint Isaac's Cathedral
Our Lady of Kazan Cathedral
Our Lady of Kazan Cathedral
Magnificent Saint Petersburg Mosque (opened in 1913)
Magnificent Saint Petersburg Mosque (opened in 1913)
While many cathedrals and buildings formerly owned by churches and monasteries still belong to the Russian government, since their seizure in 1917, some were eventually returned to congregations. The largest cathedral in the city is St Isaac's Cathedral (1818–1858), it is the biggest gold-plated dome in the world. It was constructed over 40 years under supervision of architects Auguste de Montferrand and Vasily Stasov. The Kazan Cathedral on the Nevsky Prospekt is a national landmark in the Empire style, modeled after St Peter's, Vatican. The Church of the Savior on Blood (1883–1907), is a monument in the old Russian style which marks the spot of Alexander II's assassination. The Peter and Paul Cathedral (1712–1732), a long-time symbol of the city, contains the sepulchers of Peter the Great and other Russian emperors. The St. Nicholas Cathedral and the Great Choral Synagogue are near the Mariinsky Opera Theatre. Most cathedrals and temples operate today as places of worship as well as museums, and there are numerous other places of worship in all major religions.
Of baroque structures, the grandest is the white-and-blue Smolny Convent (1748–1764), later the Smolny Institute, a striking design by Bartolomeo Rastrelli, but never completed. It is followed by the Naval Cathedral of St Nicholas (1753–1762), a lofty structure dedicated to the Russian Navy, the outside being covered with plaques to sailors lost at sea. The church of Sts. Simeon and Anna (1731–1734), St. Sampson Cathedral (1728–1740), St. Pantaleon church (1735–1739), and St. Andrew's Cathedral (1764–1780) are all worth mentioning.
The Neoclassical churches are numerous. Many of them are intended to dominate vast squares, like St. Vladimir's Cathedral (1769–1789), not to be confused with the church of Our Lady of Vladimir (1761–1783). The Transfiguration Cathedral (1827–29) and the Trinity Cathedral (1828–1835, fire-damaged) were both designed by Vasily Stasov. Smaller churches include the Konyushennaya (1816–1823), also by Stasov, the "Easter Cake" church (1785–1787), noted for its droll appearance, St Catherine church on the Vasilievsky Island (1768–1771), and numerous non-Orthodox churches on the Nevsky Prospekt.
The Alexander Nevsky Monastery, intended to house the relics of St. Alexander Nevsky, is graced by two cathedrals and five smaller churches in various styles. The monastery is also one of three main centers of Christian education in Russia, having the Russian Orthodox Academy and Seminary and the residence of the St. Petersburg Patriarch. It is also remarkable for the Tikhvin Cemetery, with graves of such dignitaries as writers Fyodor Dostoyevsky and Ivan Krylov, composers Pyotr Ilyich Tchaykovsky and Modest Mussorgsky, pianist Anton Rubinstein, director Georgy Tovstonogov, actors Fyodor Stravinsky, Vera Komissarzhevskaya, Nikolay Simonov, mayor Anatoly Sobchak and many other notable Russians.
The Grand Choral Synagogue of St. Petersburg is the second largest in Europe. It was opened in 1893, with the building permit obtained in 1869 from the Tsar Alexander II. The Small Synagogue was opened in 1886. On 5 Tamuz 5761 (June 26, 2001), the greater hall ("Bolshoi Zal" in Russian) was reopened after reconstruction.
Two small churches in the early Gothic Revival style, both designed by Yuri Felten, are the St John the Baptist (1776–1781) and the Chesmenskaya (1777–1780). The late 19th century and early 20th century temples are designed in the Russian Revival or Byzantine Revival styles. Saint Petersburg Mosque (1909–1920), once the largest in Europe, is modeled after the Gur-e Amir Mosque in Samarkand.
St Petersburg Buddhist temple was the first in Europe. Construction was funded by subscriptions of the Dalai Lama and Russian and Mongolian Buddhists; the structure was inaugurated in the presence of Itigilov in 1914 and served as a valuable resource to transient Buryats, Kalmyks and other Buddists during World War I. It did not function from 1935 to 1991, when the lamas passed into gulags, and temple and its grounds were used for secular purposes. In 1991 the St. Petersburg datsan was reopened for worship.
[edit] Museums and popular sites
Palace Square with the Alexander Column, view from the Winter Palace
Palace Square with the Alexander Column, view from the Winter Palace
Spire of the Russian Admiralty
Spire of the Russian Admiralty
The State Russian Museum, former Mikhailovsky Palace
The State Russian Museum, former Mikhailovsky Palace
Arch of the New Holland Island
Arch of the New Holland Island
Peter and Paul Fortress
Peter and Paul Fortress
Former Singer's House (now a popular bookstore "House of Books")
Former Singer's House (now a popular bookstore "House of Books")
Nevsky Prospekt at night
Nevsky Prospekt at night
Alexandrine Theatre is the oldest Russian Drama theatre, named after Pushkin
Alexandrine Theatre is the oldest Russian Drama theatre, named after Pushkin
The ensemble of Peter and Paul Fortress with the Peter and Paul Cathedral takes dominant position on the right bank of the Neva river, across the Winter Palace in the center of the city. A boardwalk was built along a portion of the fortress wall, giving visitors a clear view of the city across the river to the south. On the other bank of the Neva, the spit (Strelka) of the Vasilievsky Island is graced by the former Bourse building (1805–1810), an important lanmark in the style of the Greek Revival, is now home of the Museum of Navy. The spit of the Vasilievsky Island is designed as a classic lawn-park on the waterfront, and is highlighted by two tall and colorful Rostral Columns, decorated with statues and prows of battleships. This is a traditional place for music festivals and public events, such as the White Nights festival.
The most famous of St. Petersburg's museums is the Hermitage, one of the world's largest and richest collections of Western European art. Its vast holdings were originally exhibited in the Greek Revival building (1838–1852) by Leo von Klenze, now called the New Hermitage. But the first Russian museum was established by Peter the Great in the Kunstkammer, erected in 1718–1734 on the opposite bank of the Neva River and formerly a home to the Russian Academy of Sciences. Other popular tourist destinations include the State Russian Museum and the Summer Garden, the Ethnography Museum (1900–1911), Stieglitz Museum of Applied Arts]] (1885–1895), the Suvorov Museum of Military History (1901–1904), and the Political History Museum (1904–06).
The imperial government institutions were housed in stately buildings, such as the General Staff building on the Palace Square (1820–1827), with a huge triumphal arch in the centre, the Senate and Synod buildings on the Senate Square (1827–1843), the Imperial Cabinet (1803–1805) and the City Duma (1784-87) on the Nevsky Prospekt, the Assignation Bank (1783–1790), the Customs Office (1829–1832), and the masterpiece of Russian architecture: the Admiralty (1806–1823), one of the city's most conspicuous landmarks. Most of Imperial palaces and state buildings were designed by reputable architects invited by the Russian Tsar's from European capitals, such as Domenico Trezzini, Giacomo Quarenghi, Thomas de Thomon, Bartholomeo Rastrelli, Carlo Rossi and other foreign architects who settled in St. Petersburg and worked on numerous large-scale projects. Next came the generation of Russian-born architects and engineers, such as Zakharov, Stasov, Voronikhin, Starov, and other Russians who studied abroad and returned to work in St. Petersburg.
The former imperial capital is rich in science and educational institutions. Saint Petersburg State University is based on Vasilievsky Island and in Peterhof. The university's spacious baroque edifice of Twelve Collegia (1722–1744) was designed by Domenico Trezzini. The Academy of Arts (1764–1788), an exceedingly handsome structure, overlooks a quayside adorned with genuine Egyptian griffins and sphinxes. The Smolny Institute (1806–1808), originally the first school for Russian women, was Lenin's headquarters during the Russian Revolution of 1917, is now the office of the Governor. The Catherine's Institute (1804–1807), also designed by Quarenghi, is now the Russian National Library. Another Neoclassical building by Quarenghi, a roomy Horse Guards Riding School (1804–1807), is now the Central Exhibition Hall.
Some historic shops and storehouses are landmarks in their own righ, such as the monumental New Holland Arch (1779–1787) and adjacent walls of the New Holland isle. The Merchant Court on the Nevsky Prospekt (1761–1785), also designed by Jean-Baptiste Vallin de la Mothe, houses the largest extant 18th-century shopping mall and supermarket in the world, now rebuilt and updated with several coffee bars and a metro station. Nearby are the Circular Market, erected in 1785–1790, and the Passage, one of the great covered arcades of the mid-19th century.
Nevsky Prospekt is the main avenue of St. Petersburg connecting the Winter Palace with the ancient monastery at Alexander Nevsky Lavra. Nevsky is the busiest shopping destination and the prime center of entertainment and nighlife. Shopping malls, department stores, business centers, built in a variety of styles, include the Eliseev emporium, the House of Books, The Passage, and more.
St Petersburg is a home to more than 50 theatres. The oldest is the Hermitage Theatre, a private palatial theatre of Catherine the Great, still preserving the complex stage machinery of the 18th-century. The Alexandrine Theatre, built in 1828–1832 by Carlo Rossi, was named after the wife of Nicholas I. Most famous outside Russia is the Mariinsky Theatre (former Kirov Theatre of Opera and Ballet), which has been styled the capital of the world ballet. The Ciniselli Circus is one of the oldest circus buildings in the world. The Opera House at Saint Petersburg Conservatory, the first in Russia, was founded in 1861 by Anton Rubinstein and bears the name of Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov; its alumni include Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev, and Shostakovich who also taught here.
[edit] Monuments and sculptures
A horse tamer on the Anichkov Bridge by Peter Clodt von Jürgensburg
A horse tamer on the Anichkov Bridge by Peter Clodt von Jürgensburg
A horse tamer on the Anichkov Bridge, designed by Peter Clodt von Jürgensburg, near the Beloselsky-Belozersky Palace
A horse tamer on the Anichkov Bridge, designed by Peter Clodt von Jürgensburg, near the Beloselsky-Belozersky Palace
Probably the most familiar symbol of St Petersburg is the equestrian statue of Peter the Great, known as the Bronze Horseman and installed in 1782 on the Senate Square. Considered the greatest masterpiece of the French-born Etienne Maurice Falconet, Aleksandr Pushkin's poem about the statue figures prominently in the Russian literature under the name of The Bronze Horseman.
The Palace Square is dominated by the unique Alexander Column(1830–1834), the tallest of its kind in the world and so nicely set that no attachment to the base is needed. A striking monument to Generalissimo Suvorov, represented as a youthful god of war, was erected in 1801 on the Field of Mars, formerly used for military parades and popular festivities. Saint Isaac's Square is graced by the Monument to Nicholas I (1856–1859), which was spared by Bolshevik authorities from destruction as the first equestrian statue in the world with merely two support points (the rear feet of the horse).
The public monuments of St Petersburg also include Mikeshin's circular statue of Catherine II on the Nevsky Avenue, fine horse statues on the Anichkov Bridge, a Rodin-like equestrian statue of Alexander III by Paolo Troubetzkoy, and the Tercentenary monument presented by France in 2003 and installed on the Sennaya Square.
Some of the most important events in the city's history are represented by particular monuments. The Russian victory over Napoleon, for example, was commemorated by the Narva Triumphal Gate (1827–1834), and the victory in the Russo-Turkish War, 1828-1829 — by the Moscow Triumphal Gates (1834–1838). Following this tradition, the Piskarevskoye Cemetery was opened in 1960 as a monument to the victims of the 900-Day Siege.
[edit] Suburban parks and palaces
Peterhof: the Samson Fountain and Sea Channel
Peterhof: the Samson Fountain and Sea Channel
Samson and the Lion fountain in Peterhof
Samson and the Lion fountain in Peterhof
St. Petersburg is surrounded by imperial residences, some of which are inscribed in the World Heritage list. These include: Peterhof, with the Grand Peterhof Palace and glorious fountain cascades; Tsarskoe Selo, with the baroque Catherine Palace and the neoclassical Alexander Palace; and Pavlovsk, which contains a domed palace of Emperor Paul (1782–1786) and one of the largest English-style parks in Europe.
Much of Peterhof and Tsarskoe Selo had to be restored after being dynamited by the retreating Germans in 1944. Other imperial residences have yet to be revived to their former glory. Gatchina, lying 45 km southwest of St Petersburg, retains a royal castle with 600 rooms surrounded by a park. Oranienbaum, founded by Prince Menshikov, features his spacious baroque residence and the sumptuously decorated Chinese palace. Strelna has a hunting lodge of Peter the Great and the reconstructed Constantine Palace, used for official summits of the Russian president with foreign leaders.
Other notable suburbs are Shlisselburg, with a medieval fortress, and Kronstadt, with its 19th-century fortifications and naval monuments. Catherinehof, originally intended as a garden suburb, was engulfed by the city in the 19th century.
[edit] Society and Culture
Further information: Society and culture in Saint Petersburg
[edit] Music in St. Petersburg
The Mariinsky Theatre of St. Petersburg, Russia
The Mariinsky Theatre of St. Petersburg, Russia
St. Petersburg has always been known for its high-quality cultural life. Among the city's more than fifty theaters is the world-famous Mariinsky Theater (also known as the Kirov Theater in the USSR ), home to the Mariinsky Ballet company and opera. Leading ballet dancers, such as Vaslav Nijinsky, Anna Pavlova, Rudolph Nureyev, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Galina Ulanova and Natalia Makarova, were principal stars of the Mariinsky ballet.
Dmitri Shostakovich was born and brought up in St. Petersburg, and dedicated his Seventh Symphony to the city, calling it the "Leningrad Symphony." He wrote the symphony while in Leningrad during the Nazi siege. The 7th symphony was premiered in 1942; its performance in the besieged Leningrad at the Bolshoy Philharmonic Hall under the baton of conductor Karl Eliasberg was heard over the radio and lifted the spirits of the survivors[59]; each musician received 125 grams of bread after the premiere. In 1992 a reunion performance of the 7th Symphony by the (then) 14 survivors was played in the same hall as they done half a century ago.[60] The Leningrad Philharmonic Orchestra remained one of the best known symphony orchestras in the world under the leadership of conductors Yevgeny Mravinsky and Yuri Temirkanov.
Choral music has a great tradition here. The Imperial Choral Capella was founded and modeled after the royal courts of other European capitals. The Male Choir of St Petersberg moved to the City of St Petersberg in the 18th century from Moscow. At the end of the 19th Century the choir numbered 90. 40 adults and 50 boys (women were not admitted). Of the 22 basses, 7 were profundi capable of reaching bottom G easily. These unique voices are produced on Russian soil to this day.[61]
St. Petersburg has been home to the newest movements in popular music. The first jazz band in the Soviet Union was founded here by Leonid Utyosov in the 1920s, under the patronage of Isaak Dunayevsky. The first jazz club in the Soviet Union was founded here in the 1950s, and later was named jazz club Kvadrat. In 1956 the popular ensemble Druzhba was founded by Aleksandr Bronevitsky and Edita Piekha, becoming the first popular band in the 1950s USSR. In the 1960s student rock-groups Argonavty, Kochevniki and others pioneered a series of unofficial and underground rock concerts and festivals. In 1972 Leningrad University student Boris Grebenshchikov founded the band Aquarium, that later grew to huge popularity. Since then the "Piter's rock" music style was formed.
In the 1970s many bands came out from "underground" and eventually founded the Leningrad rock club which has been providing stage to such bands as Piknik, DDT, Kino, headed by the legendary Viktor Tsoi, Igry, Mify, Zemlyane, Alisa and many other popular groups. The first Russian-style happening show Pop mekhanika, mixing over 300 people and animals on stage, was directed by the multi-talented Sergey Kuryokhin in the 1980s.
Today's St. Petersburg boasts many notable musicians of various genres, from popular Leningrad's Sergei Shnurov and Tequilajazzz, to rock veterans Yuri Shevchuk, Vyacheslav Butusov and Mikhail Boyarsky. The Palace Square was stage for Paul McCartney, Rolling Stones, Scorpions and other stars.
The White Nights Festival in St. Petersburg is famous for spectacular fireworks and massive show celebrating the end of school year: "Scarlet Sails" celebration in St. Petersburg
[edit] St. Petersburg in the movies
The stage of the Mariinsky Theatre was filming location for Nutcracker, Swan Lake and other movies
The stage of the Mariinsky Theatre was filming location for Nutcracker, Swan Lake and other movies
Over 250 international and Russian movies were filmed in St. Peterburg. [62] Well over a thousand feature films about tsars, revolution, people and stories set in St. Petersburg were produced worldwide, but were not filmed in the city. First film studios were founded in St. Petersburg in the 1900s, and since the 1920s Lenfilm has been the largest film studio based in St. Petersburg. Earliest films that became known internationally were often based on famous literary works set in St. Petersburg, such as Fyodor Dostoevsky's The Idiot and a few versions of Anna Karenina (a Russian and a French film, each of 1911). The first foreign feature movie filmed entirely in St. Petersburg was the 1997 production of Tolstoy's Anna Karenina, starring Sophie Marceau and Sean Bean, and made by international team of British, American, French and Russian filmmakers. The filming was made at such locations as Palace Embankment, The Winter Palace, Yusupov Palace, Catherine Palace, Peterhof, Pavlovsk Palace, Mariinsky Theatre and other famous landmarks and streets of St. Petersburg.
The original Tsar's Box of the Mariinsky Theatre was filming location for Anna Karenina and other movies
The original Tsar's Box of the Mariinsky Theatre was filming location for Anna Karenina and other movies
Soviet-made films, such as the trilogy of "Maksim" by director Grigori Kozintsev may show the complex history of St. Petersburg with some propagandistic tone. Many foreign films, such as Nicholas and Alexandra, Rasputin, Anastasia, are focused on the story of the Tsars. Film Noi vivi, based on the novel We the Living by Ayn Rand, comments on Italian politics by way of featuring the October Revolution. The story of Anastasia is best known by the 1956 version starring Ingrid Bergman and the 1997 cartoon. The Russian Ark, filmed entirely in Hermitage, shows the life of the Tsars and their entourage in the original interiors of the Winter Palace. Der Untergang was also filmed in Petersburg because several buildings on Shkapina Street resembled the center of Berlin of 1945. Leningrad about the Siege of Leningrad was released in 2007, and Giuseppe Tornatore's film on the same theme is currently in production and planned for release in 2008.
St. Petersburg is a set for Interdevochka (also Интердевочка or Intergirl), featuring impressive shots of the city. The cult comedy Irony of Fate (also Ирония судьбы, или С лёгким паром!) is set in St. Petersburg and pokes fun at Soviet city planning. Other movies include GoldenEye (1995), Midnight in St. Petersburg (UK, 1996). Onegin (1999 featuring Ralph Fiennes, Liv Tyler and Lena Heady) is based on the Pushkin poem and showcases many tourist attractions. The Stroll (2003) by Aleksei Uchitel featured many attractions of the city with Irina Pegova playing the role of a mysterious, well endowed and enchanting Russian beauty. Two Brothers and A Bride (2002), originally titled A Foreign Affair and starring David Arquette, is a comedy about brothers seeking a mail order bride in St. Petersburg and end up finding much more. The popular TV series Master and Margarita was filmed partly in St. Petersburg. Several international film festivals are held annually, such as the International Film Festival in Saint Petersburg, since its inauguration in 1993 during the White Nights.[citation needed]
[edit] St. Petersburg in literature
Dostoyevsky museum
Dostoyevsky museum
St. Petersburg has a longstanding and world famous tradition in literature. Dostoyevsky called it “The most deliberate city in the world," emphasizing its artificiality, but it was also a symbol of modern disorder in a changing Russia. It frequently appeared to Russian writers as a menacing and inhuman mechanism. The grotesque and often nightmarish image of the city is featured in Pushkin's last poems, the Petersburg stories of Gogol, the novels of Dostoyevsky, the verse of Alexander Blok and Osip Mandelshtam, and in the symbolist novel Petersburg by Andrey Bely. According to Lotman in his chapter, 'The Symbolism of St. Petersburg' in Universe and the Mind, these writers were inspired from symbolism from within the city itself. The themes of water and the conflict between water and stone, interpreted as the conflict between nature and the artificial, and also the theme of theatricality, in which St. Petersburg's building facades and massive boulevards create a stage designed for spectators became important themes for these writers. The effect of life in St. Petersburg on the plight of the poor clerk in a society obsessed with hierarchy and status also became an important theme for authors such as Pushkin, Gogol, and Dostoyevsky. Another important feature of early St. Petersburg literature is its mythical element, which incorporates urban legends and popular ghost stories, as the stories of Pushkin and Gogol included ghosts returning to St. Petersburg to haunt other characters as well as other fantastical elements, creating a surreal and abstract image of St. Petersburg.
Twentieth century writers from St. Petersburg, such as Vladimir Nabokov, Andrey Bely, Yevgeny Zamyatin with his apprentices Serapion Brothers created entire new styles in literature and contributed new insights in the understanding of society through their experience in this city. Anna Akhmatova became important leader for Russian poetry. Her poem Requiem, focuses on the tragedies of living during the time of the Stalinist terror. Another notable 20th century writer from St. Petersburg is Joseph Brodsky, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature (1987). While living in the United States, his writings in English reflected on life in St. Petersburg from the unique perspective of being both an insider and an outsider to the city in essays such as “A Guide to a Renamed City” and the nostalgic, "In a Room and a Half" [63].
[edit] Sport
Further information: Sport in Saint Petersburg
FC Zenith's home Petrovsky stadium
FC Zenith's home Petrovsky stadium
St. Petersburg hosted part of the football (soccer) tournament during the 1980 Summer Olympics. The 1994 Goodwill Games were held here.
The first competition here was the 1703 rowing event initiated by Peter the Great, after the victory over the Swedish fleet. Yachting events were held by the Russian Navy since the foundation of the city. Equestrianism has been a long tradition, popular among the Tsars and aristocracy, as well as part of the military training. Several historic sports arenas were built for Equestrianism since the 18th century, to maintain training all year round, such as the Zimny Stadion and Konnogvardeisky Manezh among others.
Chess tradition was highlighted by the 1914 international tournament, in which the title "Grandmaster" was first formally conferred by Russian Tsar Nicholas II to five players: Lasker, Capablanca, Alekhine, Tarrasch and Marshall, and which the Tsar had partially funded.
Kirov Stadium (now demolished) was one of the largest stadiums anywhere in the world, and the home to FC Zenit Saint Petersburg in 1950-1989 and 1992. In 1951 the attendance of 110,000 set the record for the Soviet football. Zenit now plays their home games at Petrovsky stadium
[edit] Notable people
Main article: List of People in St. Petersburg
Aleksandr Pushkin, bronse monument by Mikhail Anikushin
Aleksandr Pushkin, bronse monument by Mikhail Anikushin
Many important Russian and international figures, politicians, businessmen, artists, writers and scientists were born and/or have lived in Saint Petersburg. These include many of the Russian emperors; the historic figures Grigori Rasputin, Felix Yusupov, Aleksandr Menshikov, Grigori Alexandrovich Potemkin, Aleksandr Suvorov, Mikhail Kutuzov, Eugene Botkin, Peter Carl Fabergé, and the Stroganovs; the writers Aleksandr Pushkin, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Nikolay Gogol, Mikhail Saltykov-Shchedrin, Nikolai Leskov, Ayn Rand, Yevgeni Zamyatin, Vladimir Nabokov, Osip Mandelstam, Nikolai Gumilyov, Anna Akhmatova, Ivan Efremov, and Joseph Brodsky; the composers Anton Rubinstein, Aleksandr Borodin, Mikhail Glinka, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Modest Mussorgsky, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Igor Stravinsky, Sergei Prokofiev, Dmitri Shostakovich, and Andrei Petrov; the painters Ilya Repin, Ivan Aivazovsky, Arkhip Kuindzhi, Ivan Shishkin, Ivan Kramskoy, Valentin Serov, Mikhail Vrubel, Aleksandr Benois, Kazimir Malevich, Leon Bakst, and Marc Chagal; the scientists Dmitri Mendeleev, Nikolay Semyonov, Pyotr Kapitsa, Yakov Frenkel, Zhores Alferov, Leonid Kantorovich, Mikhail Lomonosov, Ivan Pavlov, Ivan Sechenov, Heinrich Schliemann, Abram Ioffe, and Boris Piotrovsky; businessmen Alfred Nobel, Ludvig Nobel, Emanuel Nobel, Robert Nobel, Nikolai Putilov, and brothers Eliseev; the cosmonauts Georgi Grechko and Sergei Krikalyov; the ballet dancers Vaslav Nijinsky, Marius Petipa, Anna Pavlova, Tamara Karsavina, Matilda Kshesinskaya, Agrippina Vaganova, George Balanchine, Galina Ulanova, Natalia Dudinskaya, Natalia Makarova, Mikhail Baryshnikov, and Rudolf Nureyev; the entertainers Sergei Diaghilev, Ivan Vsevolozhsky, Fedor Shalyapin, Grigori Kozintsev, Nikolai Cherkasov, Boris Babochkin, Innokenty Smoktunovsky, Georgy Zhzhyonov, Georgy Tovstonogov, Kirill Lavrov, and Alisa Freindlikh, the conductors Eduard Napravnik, Aleksandr Gauk, Evgeny Mravinsky, Yuri Temirkanov, and Valery Gergiev; the mathematicians Sofia Kovalevskaya, Pafnuti Chebyshev, Leonhard Euler, and Grigori Perelman; and the politicians Vladimir Lenin, Piotr Stolypin, Aleksandr Kerensky, Sergey Kirov, Carl Gustaf Emil Mannerheim, Anatoly Sobchak, and Vladimir Putin.
[edit] Education and Science
Original headquarters of the Russian Academy of Sciences - the Kunstkamera in St. Petersburg
Original headquarters of the Russian Academy of Sciences - the Kunstkamera in St. Petersburg
The building of the Mining Academy (1811) is a Neoclassical masterpiece by Andrey Voronikhin.
The building of the Mining Academy (1811) is a Neoclassical masterpiece by Andrey Voronikhin.
The Twelve Collegia building of St. Petersburg State University
The Twelve Collegia building of St. Petersburg State University
ThePulkovo Observatory
ThePulkovo Observatory
Saint Petersburg has long been a leading center of science and education in Russia.
* Russian Academy of Sciences (1724)
* Saint Petersburg State University (founded 1724)
* Saint Petersburg Naval Academy (founded 1700s)
* Imperial Academy of Arts (founded 1757)
* Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet
* Saint Petersburg Medical-Surgical Academy (founded 1798)
* Saint Petersburg Mining Institute (Горный институт) (founded 1773)
* Saint Petersburg State Institute of Technology (1828)
* Pulkovo Observatory (1839)
* Ivan Pavlov's Medical Academy and research center. (founded 1880s)
* Saint Petersburg Conservatory (1862)
* Alexander Military Law Academy (founded 1867)
* Saint Petersburg Electrical Engineering University (1886)
* Saint Petersburg Polytechnical University (1899)
* State Marine Technical University (Корабелка) (1899)
* Saint Petersburg State University of Information Technologies, Mechanics and Optics (1900)
* Saint Petersburg State University of Engineering and Economics (1906)
* St. Petersburg State Medical Academy (1907)
* Saint Petersburg State Technical University of Telecommunications
* Saint Petersburg Pharmaceutical Academy
* Saint Petersburg Academy of Pediatrics and Maternity (founded 1900)
* Saint Petersburg Theatre Academy (former Tenishev's College) (1899)
* Saint Petersburg Academy of Film and Television
* Russian State University of Pedagogy (Herzen University) (1800s)
* St. Petersburg State University of Culture and Arts (1918)
* Saint Petersburg State University of Economics and Finance (Финэк) (1930)
* Baltic State Technical University ("ВОЕНМЕХ") (1932)
* St. Petersburg Aerospace University (Mozhaysky University)
* Smolny College (1999)
[edit] Sister cities
Further information: List of Sister Cities to Saint Petersburg
[edit] See also
* Treaty of Saint-Petersburg, a list of the treaties concluded in Saint-Petersburg.
* City directory of Ves Petersburg
[edit] Sources
1. ^ Governor of Sankt Petersburg: [1]
2. ^ Peter the Great: His Life and World (Knopf, 1980) by Robert K. Massie, ISBN 0-394-50032-6
3. ^ Nicholas and Alexandra: An Intimate Account of the Last of the Romanovs and the Fall of Imperial Russia (Athenum, 1967) by Robert K. Massie, ASIN B000CGP8M2 (also, Ballantine Books, 2000, ISBN 0-345-43831-0 and Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, 2005, ISBN 1-57912-433-X)
4. ^ V. Morozov. The Discourses of St. Petersburg and the Shaping of a Wider Europe. Copenhagen Peace Research institute. 2002. [2]
5. ^ Peter the Great: His Life and World (Knopf, 1980) by Robert K. Massie, ISBN 0-394-50032-6 (also Wings Books, 1991, ISBN 0-517-06483-9)
6. ^ Peter the Great: His Life and World (Knopf, 1980) by Robert K. Massie, ISBN 0-394-50032-6 (also Wings Books, 1991, ISBN 0-517-06483-9)
7. ^ The St. Petersburg of Peter the Great [3]
8. ^ Matthew S. Anderson, Peter the Great (London: Thames and Hudson, 1978)
9. ^ St. Petersburg: Architecture of the Tsars. 360 pages. Abbeville Press, 1996. ISBN-10: 0789202174
10. ^ Peter the Great's amber room reborn. [4]
11. ^ St. Petersburg:Architecture of the Tsars. 360 pages. Abbeville Press, 1996. ISBN-10: 0789202174
12. ^ Edvard Radzinsky. Alexander II: The Last Great Tsar. New York: The Free Press, 2005. ISBN-10: 074327332X
13. ^ Edvard Radzinsky. Alexander II: The Last Great Tsar. New York: The Free Press, 2005. ISBN-10: 074327332X
14. ^ The Romanovs: The Final Chapter (Random House, 1995) by Robert K. Massie, ISBN 0-394-58048-6 and ISBN 0-679-43572-7
15. ^ Rex A. Wade The Russian Revolution, 1917 2005 Cambridge University Press ISBN 0521841550
16. ^ Tony Cliff "Lenin: All power to the Soviets" Lenin: All Power to the Soviets 1976 Pluto Press
17. ^ Pipes, Richard. The Russian Revolution (New York, 1990)
18. ^ Reed, John. Ten Days that Shook the World. 1919, 1st Edition, published by BONI & Liveright, Inc. for International Publishers. Transcribed and marked by David Walters for John Reed Internet Archive. Penguin Books; 1st edition. June 1, 1980. ISBN 0-14-018293-4
19. ^ Russian source: Factbook on the history of the Communist Party and the Soviet Union. Справочник по истории Коммунистической партии и Советского Союза 1898 - 1991 [5]
20. ^ Leon Trotsky. Memoir and Critique. New York, 1989.
21. ^ Felix Yusupov. Memoirs, Lost Splendor, New York, 1953.
22. ^ Lenin, Stalin, and Hitler: The Age of Social Catastrophe. By Robert Gellately, 2007, Random House, 720 pages. ISBN 1400040051
23. ^ Stalin's Terror: High Politics and Mass Repression in the Soviet Union by Barry McLoughlin and Kevin McDermott (eds). Palgrave Macmillan, 2002, p. 6
24. ^ Dmitri Volkogonov. Stalin: Triumph and Tragedy, 1996, ISBN-10: 0761507183
25. ^ Great Purges: Great Purges Spartacus Educational
26. ^ Stalin and the Betrayal of Leningrad by John Barber[6]
27. ^ The siege of Leningrad September 8, 1941 - January 27, 1944. [7]
28. ^ Joerg Ganzenmueller, Das belagerte Leningrad, pp.13-82, quotation p. 17 und 20.
29. ^ Dmitri Volkogonov. Stalin: Triumph and Tragedy, 1996, ISBN-10: 0761507183
30. ^ Russian publication: Ленинградское дело – надо ли ставить кавычки?: [8]
31. ^ Russian publication: Маленков против Жданова. Игры сталинских фаворитов. [9]
32. ^ Jack F. Matlock, Jr., Autopsy on an Empire: The American Ambassador's Account of the Collapse of the Soviet Union, Random House, 1995, ISBN 0679413766
33. ^ The level of flooding is measured near Saint Petersburg Mining Institute, which is normally 11 cm a.s.l.
34. ^ Нежиховский Р. А. Река Нева и Невская губа, Leningrad: Гидрометеоиздат, 1981.
35. ^ See Historical weather records for Saint Petersburg (since 1932) and Historical weather in Saint Petersburg for further information.
36. ^ Pogoda.ru.net (Russian). Retrieved on July 29, 2007.
37. ^ (2002). "National Composition of Population for Regions of the Russian Federation" (XLS). 2002 Russian All-Population Census. Retrieved on 2006-07-20.
38. ^ Martin, Terry (1998). The Origins of Soviet Ethnic Cleansing. The Journal of Modern History 70.4, 813-861.
39. ^ Чистякова Н. Третье сокращение численности населения… и последнее? Демоскоп Weekly 163 – 164, August 1-15, 2004.
40. ^ Russian source: "Encyclopedia of St. Petersburg" Чистяков А. Ю. Население (обзорная статья). Энциклопедия Санкт-Петербурга
41. ^ Russian statisticsОсновные показатели социально-демографической ситуации в Санкт-Петербурге
42. ^ The Constitution of the Russian federation: [10]
43. ^ Russian source: Charter of St. Petersburg City.[11]
44. ^ Offivial site of the Northwestern Federal District (Russian): [12]
45. ^ a b Russia 2007 Crime & Safety Report: St. Petersburg
46. ^ Trumbull, Nathaniel S. (2003) The impacts of globalization on St. Petersburg: A secondary world city in from the cold? The Annals of Regional Science 37:533–546
47. ^ Powell, Bill & Brian Whitmore. The Capital Of Crime.(St. Petersburg, Russia). Newsweek International, May 15, 2000.
48. ^ Budget of St. Petersburg (Russian document): [13]
49. ^ Валовой региональный продукт по субъектам Российской Федерации в 1998-2005гг. (в текущих основных ценах; млн.рублей)
50. ^ Валовой региональный продукт на душу населения (в текущих основных ценах; рублей)
51. ^ Отраслевая структура ВРП по видам экономической деятельности (по ОКВЭД) за 2005 год
52. ^ Until 2001, the Varshavsky Rail Terminal served as a major station, it is now converted into a railway museum.Reconstruction of the Warsaw Railway Station
53. ^ http://www.russianrail.com/
54. ^ Rossiya (Pulkovo): Pulkovo Aviation Enterprise
55. ^ Schedule for main drawbridges across the Neva river (Official Russian scedule): [14]
56. ^ St. Petersburg:Architecture of the Tsars. 360 pages. Abbeville Press, 1996. ISBN-10: 0789202174
57. ^ St. Petersburg:Architecture of the Tsars. 360 pages. Abbeville Press, 1996. ISBN-10: 0789202174
58. ^ St. Petersburg:Architecture of the Tsars. 360 pages. Abbeville Press, 1996. ISBN-10: 0789202174
59. ^ Where a symphony silenced guns: [http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2005/oct/16/classicalmusicandopera.russia.stpetersburg}
60. ^ Orchestral manoeuvres (part one): [15]
61. ^ EMI Classics - The Male Choir of St. Petersburg CD Booklet - Vadim Afanasiev
62. ^ International Movie Database: [16]
63. ^ Joseph Brodsky. Less Than One: Selected Essays, 1986
[edit] References
* Нежиховский Р. А. Река Нева и Невская губа, Leningrad, Гидрометеоиздат, 1981.
* Oleg Kobtzeff, "Espaces et cultures du Bassin de la Neva: représentations mythiques et réalités géopolitiques", in-Saint-Petersbourg: 1703-2003, Actes du Colloque international, Université de Nantes, Mai 2003, ouvrage coordonné par Walter Zidaric, CRINI, Nantes, 2004. ISBN 2-9521752-0-9
* Dmitri Volkogonov Stalin: Triumph and Tragedy, 1996, ISBN-10: 0761507183
* Edvard Radzinsky Stalin: The First In-depth Biography Based on Explosive New Documents from Russia's Secret Archives, 1997, ISBN-10: 0385479549
* Stalin and the Betrayal of Leningrad by John Barber: [17]
* Acton, Edward, Vladimir Cherniaev, and William G. Rosenberg, eds. A Critical Companion to the Russian Revolution, 1914-1921 (Bloomington, 1997)
* Edward Acton Rethinking the Russian Revolution 1990 Oxford University Press ISBN 0713165308
* Voline The Unknown Revolution Black Rose Books
* Pipes, Richard. The Russian Revolution (New York, 1990)
* Figes, Orlando. A People's Tragedy: The Russian Revolution 1891-1924, : ISBN 0-14-024364
* Reed, John. Ten Days that Shook the World. 1919, 1st Edition, published by BONI & Liveright, Inc. for International Publishers. Transcribed and marked by David Walters for John Reed Internet Archive. Penguin Books; 1st edition. June 1, 1980. ISBN 0-14-018293-4.
* This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
[edit] Further reading
* Amery, Colin, Brian Curran & Yuri Molodkovets. St. Petersburg. London: Frances Lincoln, 2006. ISBN 0711224927.
* Bater, James H. St. Petersburg: Industrialization and Change. Montreal: McGuill-Queen’s University Press, 1976. ISBN 0773502661.
* Berelowitch, Wladimir & Olga Medvedkova. Histoire de Saint-Pétersbourg. Paris: Fayard, 1996. ISBN 2213596018.
* George, Arthur L. & Elena George. St. Petersburg: Russia's Window to the Future, The First Three Centuries. Lanham: Taylor Trade Publishing, 2003. ISBN 1589790170.
* Glantz, David M. The Battle for Leningrad, 1941-1944. Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2002. ISBN 0700612084.
* Hellberg-Hirn, Elena. Imperial Imprints: Post-Soviet St. Petersburg. Helsinki: SKS Finnish Literature Society, 2003. ISBN 9517464916.
* Knopf Guide: St. Petersburg. New York: Knopf, 1995. ISBN 0679762027.
* Eyewitness Guide: St. Petersburg.
* Lincoln, W. Bruce. Sunlight at Midnight: St. Petersburg and the Rise of Modern Russia. New York: Basic Books, 2000. ISBN 0465083234.
* Orttung, Robert W. From Leningrad to St. Petersburg: Democratization in a Russian City. New York: St. Martin’s, 1995. ISBN 0312175612.
* Ruble, Blair A. Leningrad: Shaping a Soviet City. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1990. ISBN 0877723478.
* Shvidkovsky, Dmitry O. & Alexander Orloff. St. Petersburg: Architecture of the Tsars. New York: Abbeville Press, 1996. ISBN 0789202174.
* Volkov, Solomon. St. Petersburg: A Cultural History. New York: Free Press, 1995. ISBN 0028740521.
* St. Petersburg:Architecture of the Tsars. 360 pages. Abbeville Press, 1996. ISBN-10: 0789202174
* Saint Petersburg: Museums, Palaces, and Historic Collections: A Guide to the Lesser Known Treasures of St. Petersburg. 2003. ISBN 1593730004
[edit] External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
Saint Petersburg
* WikiSatellite view of Saint Petersburg at WikiMapia
* Official website of St. Petersburg City Administration
* Key Tourist Sights on Google Map linked to Official websites and/or wiki pages.
* Historical maps (Russian)
* PetersburgCity.com
* Many pages about St.Petersburg's architecture and history with hundreds of images
* Photo-site about life in Saint-Petersburg.
* Saint Petersburg in 1900 - a photographic travelogue
* Encyclopaedia of Saint Petersburg
* St. Petersburg in Architecture, from University of Michigan
* Satellite photo, via Google Maps
* Vintage postcards of St. Petersburg
* History and photos of the St. Petersburg bridges
* Saint Petersburg (Russia) travel guide from Wikitravel
Coordinates: [show location on an interactive map] 59°56′N, 30°20′E
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