St Petersburg
From Wikinfo
- Alternate meaning: Saint Petersburg, Florida
St. Peterburg's main boulevard
Saint Petersburg (Санкт-Петербург, Sankt Peterburg in Russian; formerly Петроград, Petrograd from September 1, 1914 until January 24, 1924, then Ленинград, Leningrad until 1991) is a city located in Northwestern Russia on the Baltic Sea. It is a major cultural center of Europe. With over four million inhabitants, it is Russia's second largest city and a major Russian port.
The city was founded on May 27, 1703 by Tsar Peter the Great after reconquering the Ingrian land from Sweden, and named after the apostle St. Peter. It was built largely with forced peasant labor in the location of the Swedish fortress of Nyen and later [[N�teborg]], in the marshlands where the river Neva drains into the Gulf of Finland. It was founded to become the new capital of Russia, ensuring Russia's connections with the West.
During World War I, the name Saint Petersburg was seen to be too German and the city was renamed Petrograd. In 1917, the Bolshevik Revolution broke out in Petrograd. The nearby German armies forced a move of the capital to Moscow on March 5, 1918, which has been the capital of Russia ever since. In 1924, the city was renamed Leningrad, in honour of recently deceased Bolshevik leader Vladimir Lenin. During World War II, it was besieged by the German army from September 8, 1941 until January 27, 1944 (though a land link to the rest of Russia was established on January 18, 1943). Some 800,000 of the city's three million inhabitants are estimated to have perished.
The original name - Saint Petersburg - was restored on September 6, 1991. However, the name of the Oblast (administrative province) of which the city is the capital remains Leningrad Oblast.
Famous landmarks in Saint Petersburg are the Hermitage Museum displaying some of the most valuable paintings in the world, which includes the Tsars' Winter Palace, as well as the Cathedral of Saint Isaac, the Alexander Column and Tikhvin Cemetery at the Alexander Nevsky Lavra (monastery) where many members of the Russian royal family received their education.
Saint Petersburg is also known as the Venice of the North as it has many canals that connect the city with the Neva River. Each year the White Nights Festival is held in May and June when the sun hardly sets at night due to the northern location of the city. Many historic buidlings in the city have been restored in preparation of the three hundred anniversary of its founding by Peter the Great which began on May 27, 2003 (NS).
Industry and transport
The city is a major center of machine building, including power equipment, machinery, shipyards, instrument manufacture, ferrous and nonferrous metallurgy (production of aluminum alloys), chemicals and printing.
The city is a major transport hub. It is the centre of the local road and railway system, and has a seaport (in the Finland Gulf of Baltic sea) and river ports (in the delta of Neva). It is the terminus of the Volgo-Baltic waterway which links the Baltic with the Black sea. The city is served by Pulkovo airport, which carries both domestic and international flights. The city's Metro (underground railway) system began operation in 1955.
External link
- The text below is from Russian Wikipedia. It needs to be properly merged with the main article
Revolution of 1905-07, February revolution of 1917, October Revolution of 1917 all initiated in the city. During the years of World War II the city withstood the 29 months long siege by German troops. The majestic appearance of St.-Petersburg is determined by architectural ensembles, strict straight streets, vast spaces, gardens and parks, river and numerous channels, embankments, bridges, figured fences, monumental and decorative sculptures. Architectural ensembles of 18-19 centuries include: Petropavlovsk fortress, Alexandro-Nevsky monastery , Smolny institute, Palace square with the Winter palace, Nevsky Prospekt, the building of stock exchange on Vasilyevskiy island, Dekabristov square with the monument of Peter I (erected 1782), Rossi street and the Ostrovskiy square, square of Arts. In 1950-80 there were erected new residential areas, administrative and public buildings, the memorial complex on Piskarevsky cemetery was created (1960).The historical center of St.-Peterburg is included in the UNESCO list of world heritage.
References
- Adapted from the Wikipedia article, "St Petersburg" http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Petersburg September 20, 2003
