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St. Petersburg was founded by Peter the Great. The exact date of foundation is considered to be May 16 (May 27, style) 1703. The history of the city is quite turbulent. Throughout its history, it was renamed three times. The city was renamed for the first time on August 18 (31 according to the old style) 1914, then it became known as Petrograd. Then on January 26, 1924, it was decided to change the name again, the city received the name Leningrad. It had this name until September 6, 1991, when it was decided to rename it again: this time it returned its original name. Currently, St. Petersburg is called the same as in the days of its foundation.
Despite the renaming, people still call the city very differently. Some still call it Leningrad because they are used to it: for many people, long before the love spell of 1991, St. Petersburg is called Leningrad, and this cannot be changed by any papers or decisions. Others call the city Petersburg or informally Peter.
St. Petersburg is the administrative center of the North-Western region. It is located on the banks of the Neva River, which flows into the Gulf of Finland. The city is home to important administrative institutions of Russia: the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, the Heraldic Council, as well as the Interparliamentary Assembly of the CIS countries. Since the city has access to the sea, the command of the country's naval military forces is also concentrated here.
The northern capital, as St. Petersburg is often called, has experienced three revolutions, all of which took place on the territory of this city. The first happened in 1905, then in 1917 two more revolutions happened: the February bourgeois-democratic and socialist.
The fate of St. Petersburg in the 20th century was extremely difficult. The Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 did not spare him. For almost 900 days it has been under blockade, during which the delivery of food was extremely difficult. Approximately one and a half million people died from famine. Despite the fact that St. Petersburg was seriously damaged during air attacks, the city has now been restored; it is no longer so easy to find traces of the end of the war on its streets. St. Petersburg is one of the hero cities of Russia. Around it there are three more cities that have earned heroic military glory: Kronstadt, Lomonosov and Kolpino.
During the war, the city's population decreased greatly, but currently St. Petersburg is one of the few cities in Russia whose population is only increasing. True, this happens, for the most part, at the expense of visitors. As of 2014, the population of St. Petersburg is approximately 5 million 131 thousand inhabitants.
Peter is a city on the Neva, which changed its name three times. Founded in 1703 by Peter I, it became St. Petersburg. The Russian emperor named it in honor of the Apostle Peter. There is another version: Peter I lived for some time in the Dutch Sint-Petersburg. He named his city after him.
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Peter - which was once a small fortress. In the 18th century, the construction of every settlement began with a citadel: it was necessary to create reliable fortifications against enemies. According to legend, the first stone was laid by Peter I himself in May 1703, on Hare Island, located near the Gulf of Finland. St. Petersburg is a city built on human bones. At least that's what many historians say.
Civilian workers were brought in to build the new city. They worked mainly on draining the swamps. Many foreign engineers arrived in Russia to supervise the construction of the structures. However, most of the work was carried out by masons from all over Russia. Peter I from time to time issued various decrees that contributed to the accelerated process of building the city. Thus, he banned the use of stone in the construction of any structures throughout the country. It is difficult for a modern person to imagine how hard the work of the workers of the 18th century was. Of course, there was no necessary equipment then, and Peter I sought to build a new city as quickly as possible.
First inhabitants
St. Petersburg is a city that in the first half of the 18th century was inhabited mainly by soldiers and sailors. They were necessary to protect the territory. Peasants and artisans from other regions were brought here forcibly. became the capital in 1712. Then the royal court settled here. The city on the Neva was the capital for two centuries. Until the revolution of 1918. Then quite important events for the entire history took place in St. Petersburg (St. Petersburg).
Attractions
We will talk about the Soviet period in the history of the city later. First, it is worth mentioning what was done in tsarist times. St. Petersburg is a city that is often called the cultural capital. And it’s no coincidence. There are a huge number of historical monuments and unique attractions here. St. Petersburg is a city that amazingly combines Russian and Western culture. The first palaces, which later became cultural property, began to appear already in the first half of the 18th century. That's when the famous palaces were built. These buildings were created according to the designs of I. Matarnovi, D. Trezin.
The history of the Hermitage begins in 1764. The name of the attraction has French roots. "Hermitage" translated from Walter's language means "hermit's hut". It has existed for more than 250 years. Over its long history, the Hermitage has become one of the most famous. Tourists from different parts of the world visit it every year.
In 1825, an event occurred on Senate Square in St. Petersburg that influenced the course of Russian history. The Decembrist uprising took place here, which served as the impetus for the abolition of serfdom. There are still many significant dates in the history of St. Petersburg. It is impossible to talk about all cultural and historical monuments in one article - many documentary works are devoted to this topic. Let's talk briefly about the impact the February Revolution had on the status of the city.
Petrograd
St. Petersburg lost its status as a capital after the revolution. However, it was renamed earlier. The First World War had a strong influence on the fate of the city. By 1914, anti-German sentiment was so strong that Nicholas I decided to rename the city. So the capital of the Russian Empire became Petrograd. In 1917, there were supply problems and lines appeared in grocery stores. In February, Nicholas II abdicated the throne. The formation of the Provisional Government began. Already in November 1917, power passed to the Bolsheviks. The Russian Soviet Republic was created.
Leningrad
St. Petersburg lost its capital status in March 1918. After Lenin's death it was renamed Leningrad. After the revolution, the city's population decreased significantly. In 1920, just over seven hundred thousand people lived here. Moreover, most of the population from workers' settlements moved closer to the center. In the twenties, housing construction began in Leningrad.
In the first decade of the existence of the Soviet region, Krestovsky and Elagin islands were developed. In 1930, construction of the Kirov Stadium began. And soon new administrative units were allocated. In 1937, a master plan for Leningrad was developed, which provided for its development in a southern direction. In 1932, Pulkovo Airport was opened.
St. Petersburg during the Second World War
More than a quarter of a century ago, the city returned its former name. However, what he had in Soviet times will never be forgotten. The most tragic pages in the history of St. Petersburg occurred during the period when it was called Leningrad.
The capture of the city on the Neva would allow the German command to achieve important strategic goals. Namely:
- Seize the economic base of the USSR.
- Capture the Baltic Navy.
- Consolidate dominance in the Baltic Sea.
The official beginning of the siege of Leningrad is September 8, 1941. It was on that day that the land connection with the city was interrupted. Residents of Leningrad could not leave it. The railway connection was also interrupted. In addition to the indigenous residents, about three hundred thousand refugees from the Baltic states and neighboring regions lived in the city. This significantly complicated the situation.
In October 1941, famine began in Leningrad. At first it manifested itself in cases of loss of consciousness on the street, then in the mass exhaustion of townspeople. Food supplies could only be delivered to the city by air. Movement across Lake Ladoga was carried out only when severe frosts set in. The blockade of Leningrad was completely broken in 1944. Many exhausted residents who were taken out of the city could not be saved.
Return of the historical name
St. Petersburg stopped being called Leningrad in official documents in 1991. Then a referendum was held, and it turned out that more than half of the residents believed that their hometown should return its historical name. In the nineties and early two thousand, many historical monuments were installed and restored in St. Petersburg. Including the Savior on Spilled Blood. In May 1991, the first church service for almost the entire Soviet period was held in the Kazan Cathedral.
Today, the cultural capital is home to more than five million people. It is the second largest city in the country and the fourth in Europe.
The enormous heroism and resilience of Leningraders was demonstrated during the Great Patriotic War. For almost 900 days and nights, under conditions of complete blockade of the city, the residents not only held the city, but also provided enormous assistance to the front. As a result of the counter offensive of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts on January 18, 1943, the blockade ring was broken, but only on January 27, 1944, the blockade of the city was completely lifted (for more details, see Siege of Leningrad).
The monuments of the glorious city and monuments, the names of streets, squares, embankments tell different stories and stories. Many of them are like scars left over from severe trials and bloody battles. The events of that time have moved away from us by decades, children born after the war have long since had children of their own, and a second generation is growing up, for whom the Leningrad blockade is represented by books, films, and the stories of their elders. Time, however, does not extinguish the living feeling of human gratitude to those who with their lives blocked the path to the city of the fascist hordes. Cutting through the sky, a tetrahedral obelisk rose at the entrance to the city, in its southern front gate, on the sides of which, like our contemporaries, our grandchildren and great-grandchildren, stood the bronze figures of the heroic participants in the legendary defense of Leningrad during the Great Patriotic War; hundreds of thousands of Soviet people, with their labor or their own resources, took part in its construction. It turned into a 220-kilometer belt of Glory, dressed in granite and concrete of monuments, memorials, a fiery, incompressible blockade ring: at Pulkovo and Yam-Izhora, at Kolpin, at the Pulkovo Heights, in the area of Ligov and the former Uritsk, along the borders of the Oranienbaum “patch”, on the Nevsky “patch” stood, like immortal sentries, in a guard of honor, obelisks, steles, memorial signs, sculptures, guns and combat vehicles placed on pedestals. Commemorative wayposts were lined along the Road of Life from Leningrad to the Ladoga shore. Eternal flames burn at the Piskarevskoye and Serafimovskoye cemeteries.
Hitler hated the name of the city on the Neva, the glorious traditions and patriotism of its inhabitants. Here is an excerpt from the secret directive of the German naval headquarters “On the future of St. Petersburg” dated September 22, 1941: “The Fuhrer decided to wipe the city of St. Petersburg from the face of the earth. After the defeat of Soviet Russia, there is no interest in the continued existence of this large population center. It was proposed to blockade the city and, through shelling from artillery of all calibers and continuous bombing from the air, raze it to the ground. On our part, there is no interest in preserving at least part of the population of this big city."
To carry out their barbaric plan, the Nazi command sent huge military forces to Leningrad - more than 40 selected divisions, more than 1,000 tanks and 1,500 aircraft. Together with the Germans, they attacked Leningrad: the army of the White Finns, the “Blue Division” from fascist Spain, legionnaires from the Netherlands, Holland, Belgium, Norway, recruited from fascist henchmen. The enemy troops outnumbered ours several times. To help the Soviet wars, a people's militia was formed in Leningrad. Workers, office workers, and students joined it.
In the occupied areas of the Leningrad region, underground groups and partisan detachments were created, where brave people went, ready to make any sacrifice in the name of the Motherland.
Hitler was going to immediately wipe the city off the face of the earth, but the professional military machine encountered fierce resistance from Leningraders. During the blockade of Leningrad, about 150 thousand shells were fired and 102,520 incendiary and 4,655 high-explosive bombs were dropped. 840 industrial enterprises and more than 10 thousand residential buildings were put out of action. During the blockade, over 640 thousand Leningraders died of hunger.
It took superhuman efforts not to give the city to the enemy. A people's militia army of 130 thousand people was created in Leningrad. Thousands of Leningraders joined partisan detachments. The construction of defensive lines unfolded on a front stretching 900 kilometers and was carried out near Pskov, Luga, Novgorod, Staraya Russa, and on the Karelian Isthmus. On the near approaches to Leningrad, a system of all-round defense was created, which consisted of several defensive belts. Over 500 thousand residents participated in the construction of defensive structures. More than 4 thousand pillboxes and bunkers were built in the city, 22 thousand firing points were equipped in buildings, and 35 kilometers of barricades and anti-tank obstacles were erected on the streets.
When the plan to quickly capture the city failed, the German leadership decided to bomb the city and weaken it through a blockade. From November 20, 1941, workers began to receive 250 grams of bread per day on food cards, all others - 125 grams. Despite such meager food and incessant bombing, the city stood until the end. During the blockade, workers manufactured and repaired 2 thousand tanks, one and a half thousand aircraft, thousands of naval and field guns, manufactured 225 thousand machine guns, 12 thousand mortars, over 10 million shells and mines.
The enemies hoped that severe hardships would awaken base, animal instincts in Leningraders and drown out all human feelings in them. They thought that starving, freezing people would quarrel among themselves over a piece of bread, over a log of firewood, would stop defending the city and, in the end, would surrender it.
On January 30, 1942, Hitler cynically declared: “We are not deliberately storming Leningrad. Leningrad will consume itself."
But the Nazis miscalculated. They knew the Soviet people poorly. Those who survived the blockade still remember the deep humanity of the Leningraders who suffered immensely, their trust and respect for each other.
The work of 39 schools in the besieged city was a challenge to the enemy. Even in the terrible conditions of besieged life, when there was not enough food, firewood, water, and warm clothing, many Leningrad children studied. Writer Alexander Fadeev said: “And the greatest feat of Leningrad schoolchildren was that they studied.”
The journey to school and back home was dangerous and difficult. After all, on the streets, as on the front line, shells often exploded, and we had to go through the cold and snow drifts.
It was so cold in the bomb shelters and basements of the buildings where classes were held that the ink froze. The potbelly stove standing in the center of the classroom could not heat it, and the students sat in coats with raised collars, hats and mittens. My hands became numb, and the chalk kept slipping out of my fingers.
The disciples were staggering from hunger. They all had a common disease - dystrophy. And scurvy was added to it. My gums were bleeding and my teeth were shaking. Students died not only at home, on the street on the way to school, but sometimes even right in the classroom.
“I will never forget Zinaida Pavlovna Shatunina, Honored Teacher of the RSFSR,” recalls the siege survivor, Olga Nikolaevna Tyuleva, “she was already over 60 years old. During this fierce time, she came to school in an ironed dark dress, a snow-white collar, and demanded the same smartness from us schoolchildren. I looked at her and thought: How furious the Nazis would be if they saw our teacher. By her example, she prepared us for an everyday small feat - to be able to remain human in inhuman conditions.”
In January 1944, through the heroic efforts of the troops of the Leningrad, Volkhov and 2nd Baltic fronts, in close cooperation with the Baltic Fleet, the Ladoga and Onega military flotillas, the blockade was lifted.
January 12. 9.30. Operation Iskra begins. Here it is, the minute we've been waiting for! Sky over the Neva cut through the fiery stripes of a volley of 14 divisions of guards mortars - “Katyushas”. Artillery burst out: from the right bank of the Neva about 1900 guns and large-caliber mortars - 144 per kilometer of breakthrough and 2100 from the Volkhov side - 160 per kilometer. There were stubborn battles. And only two weeks later, on the night of February 6, the first trains passed along the Shlisselburg-Polyany railway, built in record time. The Nazis were still looking through Sinyavinsky Heights corridor, broken through the blockade ring, violently, Literally every train traveling along the new road was frantically fired upon, but the land connection between the besieged city and the mainland had already been restored anyway.
| Decree dates | |
| 1. | 08.05.1965 |
Saint Petersburg(from August 18 (31), 1914 to January 26, 1924 - Petrograd; from January 26, 1924 to September 6, 1991 -) - a city of federal significance in the north-west of the Russian Federation, the most important economic, industrial, scientific and cultural center after Moscow, a major transport node The administrative center of the Leningrad Region and the North-Western Federal District and the center of the St. Petersburg urban agglomeration.
The city was founded on May 16 (27), 1703 by Peter I. This day dates back to the foundation of the Peter and Paul Fortress, the first building of the city, by the Tsar-Reformer at the mouth of the Neva River on Hare Island.
The new fortress with its guns was supposed to block the fairways along the two largest branches of the river delta - the Neva and Bolshaya Nevka. The following year, 1704, the Kronstadt fortress was founded on the island of Kotlin to protect Russia’s maritime borders.
Before the foundation of the Peter and Paul Fortress, on the territory of the modern city there were, for example, such settlements as Avtovo, Strelna and Nyenschanz. The latter was located at the confluence of the Okhta River with the Neva and was (along the right bank of the Neva) surrounded by settlements - settlements of people who served the needs of the fortress.
Peter I attached great strategic importance to the new city for ensuring a waterway from Russia to Western Europe. Here, on the spit of Vasilyevsky Island, opposite the Peter and Paul Fortress, the first commercial port of St. Petersburg was founded. From 1712 to 1918, the city was the capital of the Russian Empire (minus the reign of Peter II, when the status of the capital briefly returned to Moscow) and the residence of the Russian emperors.
In 1719, the first public museum in Russia, the Kunstkamera, was opened in St. Petersburg, in 1724 the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences was founded, the first Russian newspaper also began to be published here.
The December uprising of 1825 took place in St. Petersburg. In 1837, the first Russian railway was opened: St. Petersburg - Tsarskoye Selo (now the city of Pushkin). the revolution of 1905 - 07, the February and October revolutions of 1917 began.
During the Great Patriotic War, the city withstood a 900-day blockade by Nazi troops.
The military-political leadership of fascist Germany intended to wipe Leningrad off the face of the earth, exterminate the population and thereby liquidate the cradle of the proletarian revolution.
Fierce fighting on the outskirts of Leningrad began on July 10, 1941. The enemy had a superiority over Soviet troops in personnel by 2.4 times, guns by 4 times, mortars by 5.8 times, tanks by 1.2 times, and aircraft by 9 times. ,8 times, but he was unable to immediately break into Leningrad.
On September 8, 1941, the enemy captured Shlisselburg. Leningrad was cut off from the mainland. The blockade of the city on the Neva began.
Leningraders, like all Soviet people, together with the soldiers of the Red Army rose to defend their Motherland, their city: they created an army of people's militia numbering 130 thousand people. Thousands of Leningraders joined partisan detachments. Over 500 thousand residents erected defensive lines. Over 4 thousand pillboxes and bunkers were built in the city, 22 thousand firing points were equipped in buildings, and 35 kilometers of barricades and anti-tank obstacles were installed on the streets. On September 4, 1941, massive bombing and shelling of the city began. During the blockade of Leningrad, about 150 thousand shells were fired and 102,520 incendiary and 4,655 high-explosive bombs were dropped. 840 industrial enterprises and more than 10 thousand residential buildings were put out of action.
Since November 20, workers began to receive 250 grams of bread per day on food cards, all others - 125 grams. Famine began in the city. During the siege, over 640 thousand Leningraders died.
In the difficult winter conditions of 1941, the military automobile Road of Life began to operate on the ice of Lake Ladoga. During the first winter of the siege, over 360 thousand tons of cargo were delivered to Leningrad along it, which somewhat improved the city’s supply of food and weapons.
During the blockade, the working people of the city manufactured and repaired 2 thousand tanks, one and a half thousand aircraft, thousands of naval and field guns, manufactured 225 thousand machine guns, 12 thousand mortars, over 10 million shells and mines. On January 18, 1943, troops of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts broke the blockade. A corridor 8-11 kilometers wide was formed between Lake Ladoga and the front line, and after 17 days a railway and highway were built along it.
The plans of the fascist German command to capture the city failed. In January 1944, through the heroic efforts of the troops of the Leningrad, Volkhov and 2nd Baltic fronts, in close cooperation with the Baltic Fleet, the Ladoga and Onega military flotillas, the blockade was finally lifted.
For their courage and heroism, 486 soldiers were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, including eight people twice. 350 thousand soldiers, officers and generals were awarded orders and medals.
By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Union of the USSR of December 22, 1942, the medal was established<За оборону Ленинграда>, which has been awarded to about 1.5 million people.
On May 1, 1945, in the order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief I.V. Stalin named Leningrad among the first hero cities. The nine-hundred-day defense of the besieged city is a legendary tale of courage that aroused the surprise and admiration of contemporaries and will forever remain in the memory of future generations.
The official date of the founding of St. Petersburg is May 27, 1703 (according to the old calendar, May 16). Initially, until 1914 it was called St. Petersburg, then Petrograd, and until September 6, 1991 it was called Leningrad.
History of the founding of the city on the Neva
The history of the beautiful city on the Neva of St. Petersburg dates back to 1703, when Peter I founded a fortress called St. Petersburg on the land of Ingria, conquered from the Swedes. The fortress was planned personally by Peter. The Northern capital received the name of this fortress. The fortress was named Peter in honor of the holy apostles Peter and Paul. After the construction of the fortress, a wooden house was built for Peter, with oil-painted walls imitating brick.
In a short time, the city began to grow on what is now the Petrograd side. Already in November 1703, the first church in the city called Trinity was built here. They named it in memory of the date the fortress was founded; it was founded on the feast of the Holy Trinity. Trinity Square, on which the cathedral stood, became the first city pier where ships approached and unloaded. It was on the square that the first Gostiny Dvor and the St. Petersburg tavern appeared. In addition, here one could see buildings of military units, service buildings and craft settlements. The new city island and Zayachiy, where the fortress stood, were connected by a drawbridge. Soon buildings began to appear on the other side of the river and on Vasilyevsky Island.
They planned to make it the central part of the city. Initially, the city was called “St. Peter-Burch” in Dutch style, since Holland, namely Amsterdam, was something special for Peter I and one might say the best. But already in 1720 the city began to be called St. Petersburg. In 1712, the royal court, and subsequently official institutions, began to slowly move from Moscow to St. Petersburg. From that time until 1918, the capital was St. Petersburg, and during the reign of Peter II the capital was again moved to Moscow. For almost 200 years, St. Petersburg was the capital of the Russian Empire. It’s not for nothing that St. Petersburg is still called the Northern capital.
The significance of the founding of St. Petersburg
As mentioned above, the founding of St. Petersburg is associated with the founding of the Peter and Paul Fortress, which had a special purpose. The first structure in the city was supposed to block the fairways along two branches of the delta of the Neva and Bolshaya Nevka rivers. Then, in 1704, the Kronstadt fortress was built on the island of Kotlin, which was supposed to serve as a defense for Russia’s maritime borders. These two fortresses are of great importance both in the history of the city and in the history of Russia. In founding the city on the Neva, Peter I pursued important strategic goals. First of all, this ensured the presence of a waterway from Russia to Western Europe, and, of course, the founding of the city cannot be imagined without a trading port located on the spit of Vasilyevsky Island, opposite the Peter and Paul Fortress.