History of the city

St. Petersburg is one of the world's most beautiful cities, and has the honour of being a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Despite the city's relatively short history - slightly more than 300 years, its history is rich with significant events.

St. Petersburg was founded on 16 May 1703 by order of the Russian Emperor, Peter the Great. For the first ten years of its history the city was developed as fortress and sea port, but active trading soon turned the city into a centre of economic prosperity, industry and craftsmanship. It was during this time that the famous Alexander Nevsky Monastery was founded and the city on the banks of the Neva became known as a religious centre. In 1710 The Tsarist family decided to move from Moscow bringing the Tsarist palace, and government offices with them, and making St. Petersburg the capital of the Russian Empire.

For a short time during Peter II rule (1727-1730) the capital was once again moved to Moscow, but three years later St. Petersburg regained it status as Russia's most important city.

Elizabeth I, Peter the Great's youngest daughter continued her fathers work. During her rule great numbers of wooden structures were torn down and replaced with stone ones. It was Elizabeth that made the realization of Bartholomew Rastrelli's work possible, which in turn turned St. Petersburg into a city of stunning palaces and cathedrals that even today, two and a half centuries on, rank among St.Petersburg's largest-scale and most spectacular architectural works. The Winter palace, the dual-palaces of Tsarskoe Selo, and the Smolny Cathedral and Convent all came about during this time. The Tzarina was a patron of both science and the arts - two leading universities were founded under her auspices - Moscow University, and the Academy of the Arts. In fact, Mikhail Lomonosov, the great scientist, writer and polymath, owes much of his success to Elizabeth I.

During Ekaterina II's reign (1729-1796) people began calling the city ‘Magnificent Petersburg,' as the Winter Palace, the Admiralty, Nevsky Prospect, the granite river and canal embankments, and the famous statue of Peter the Great - the Bronze Horseman were all built during her rule.

The boom in St. Petersburg city-planning suffered as a result of the Patriotic War in 1812. Nonetheless during this period Mikhailovsky Palace, the Aleksandrinsky Drama Theatre and the Senate and Synod building were built, the construction of Palace Square was completed, and construction on St. Isaac's Cathedral was begun.

Even before the beginning of the 20th century St. Petersburg had become a truly European city - a centre of industry and culture.

In 1914 St. Petersburg was renamed Petrograd, in part due to WWI and the general anti-German feelings of the time.

Three years later Petrograd became the scene for the dramatic events of 1917, and in 1918 with the beginning of the period of "Red Terror" the city looses its capital status to Moscow. Yet during 1918 and 1919 Petrograd saw many changes including the creation of the film studio now know as Lenfilm, the opening of the famous "Dom Knigi" book shop, and the creation of the publisher ‘Vsemirnaya Literatura.' In 1924 after Lenin's death the city was renamed to honor the revolutionary leader and became known as Leningrad.

1941-1944 marked the terrible period of the Leningrad Blockade - 900-days during which the city was cut off from the rest of the world.

However the city not only stood, but survived. The reconstruction of Leningrad from the ruins which were left after the constant bombing was a feat entirely comparable to the city's miraculous initial construction in the first part of the 18th century. In 1944 at the end of the blockade there was not one significant monument untouched by shells or fire, and the rural palace estates lay in ruins. Yet by the middle of the 1950s, a mere 10 years after the destruction, Leningrad had been restored and regained its status as a pearl of world architecture and culture.

The city reverted to its original name - St. Petersburg in 1991.

Today St. Petersburg is Russia's second most important economic, scientific and cultural centre, after Moscow, and one of the most beautiful cities in the world.