'Saint Petersburg' (,
tr.: ''Sankt-Peterburg'', ) 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 to be his "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] It is 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'').
History
The new capital
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.
[5]
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 (5 km) 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]
Revolutions
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
[12] 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.
Siege of Leningrad
Main articles: Siege of Leningrad
Civilians struggled to survive during the Nazi siege of Leningrad
Survivors of the Nazi bombings of Leningrad in WWII
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
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.
After the war
Kirov Stadium
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
[24], 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 the 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 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 imbalanced distribution of wealth because the Soviet leadership drained the city's resources to subsidise higher standards of living in Moscow as well as some underperforming parts of the Soviet Union and beyond. Such 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.
Geography
Satellite picture of St. Peterburg
Territory of the federal subject of St. Petersburg
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.
Climate
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.
Cityscape
Demographics
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.
Government
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.
Crime
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.
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]
Economy
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,
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]
Transport
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).
Built environment and landmarks
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, was the first Russian patrimony inscribed on the
UNESCO list of
World Heritage Sites.
Canals and Bridges
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.
Palaces of the Tsars
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 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.
[11] 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[11] , 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.
[11] 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.
Cathedrals and temples
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.
Museums and popular sites
Former
Singer's House (now a popular bookstore "House of Books")
Nevsky Prospekt at night
Alexandrine Theatre is the oldest Russian Drama theatre, named after
PushkinThe 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.
Monuments and sculptures
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.
Suburban parks and palaces
Peterhof: the Samson Fountain and Sea Channel
Samson and the Lion fountain in
PeterhofSt. 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.
Society and Culture
Music in St. Petersburg
The Mariinsky Theatre of St. Petersburg, RussiaSt. 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:
Sails" celebration in St. Petersburg
St. Petersburg in the 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
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.
St. Petersburg in literature
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</ 
العربية
中国
Français
Deutsch
Ελληνική
हिन्दी
Italiano
日本語
Português
Русский
Español
