Presentation. 6th grade. The history of Saint-Petersburg

The history of Saint-Petersburg

"I love thee, city of Peter's making" Alexander Pushkin

The history of St Petersburg on the Neva banks begins approximately from the VIII century, when around 750 years in the lower Volkhov river was founded the settlement of Ladoga

(now  Staraya Ladoga ).

Quite quickly, it became a major, if not the largest, trade point in this region, since it was on the most important trade routes: Baltic-Volga and

Baltic-Black Sea.

They along the Volga and the Dnieper led to the Arab Caliphate and Byzantium. It was in Ladoga, according to the chronicle, the first Russian princes Rurik and Oleg.

In 1617, in accordance with the Stolbov Treaty, which put an end to the war unleashed by the Swedes during the interregnum in Russia, the so-called “Time of Troubles”, the Neva banks lands and access to the Baltic were secured for Sweden.

At the end of the 17th century,

with the exception of the Arkhangelsk Port, Russia had no access to the European seas. Without this, the country could not successfully trade and develop economically. The Black Sea and the Sea of Azov were in the hands of the Turks, the Baltic coast belonged to Sweden, and, consequently, the resolution of the problem of maritime boundaries could only occur through war with Russia’s well-armed and strong neighbors. Peter I believed that Russia needs access to the sea, and this influenced the direction of Russia’s foreign policy at the turn of the 17th and 18th cent. In 1703 the fortress named Saint Petersburg was found in order to defense the newly conquered lands in the course of war with Swedes.

And what is St Petersburg?

St Petersburg became the whole city developed around the fortress in 18th century, named after the saint patron of Peter the Great apostle Peter.

After the end of the Northern War in 1721, Peter I assumed the title of emperor and

the lengthy process of the formation of the Russian Empire was formally completed. Petersburg became the largest center of foreign trade of Russia. By the end of the Petrine era, half of the volume of Russian exports to Western Europe was exported from here. According to the will of Peter I,

St. Petersburg was to become a European city. Since the time of Peter I, European experts – architects, sculptors, artists – have been invited to Russia.

Despite the fact that the place chosen for the city was in the north – St. Petersburg lies on the same latitude as Greenland, Alaska and Chukotka – Peter I developed a grandiose construction here. At the time of the development of the city, swampy, impassable swamps occupied large areas.

In Peterburg, such a large amount of work was carried out to soil the soils, to strengthen the river banks and drain the building, which the world town-planning practice of that and our time did not know. The forest was brought from the shores of Ladoga Lake and from Novgorod.

In order to have a stone for building, Peter introduced a special tax: every resident of the country who came to Petersburg with goods or groceries had to bring with him a certain

number of stones.

Peter I also imposed a ban on the construction of stone houses first in Moscow, and then in the whole empire. As a result, unemployed bricklayers from all over the country flocked to St. Petersburg. Soon drainage canals were dug, piles were blocked, streets, houses, churches, hospitals and government agencies appeared.

Petersburg has been regarded as the capital since 1712, when the Tsar’s court moved from Moscow to the banks

of the Neva.

Moscow became again the capital

in 1918.

Petersburg is the cradle of three Russian revolutions. The Russian Revolution of 1905 or the First Russian Revolution was the name of events that occurred between January 1905 and June 1907. The impetus for the start of mass demonstrations under political slogans was the “Bloody Sleeplessness” – the execution by the imperial troops in St. Petersburg of a peaceful demonstration of workers led by the priest Georgy Gapon on January 9 (22), 1905. The outcome of the speeches was the Manifesto of October 17, 1905, which granted civil liberties on the basis of inviolability of the person, freedom of conscience, speech, meetings and unions. There was the Parliament was established, consisting of the State Council and

the State Duma.

Tragic pages of the history of the city are associated with the outbreak of World War II. For several years, Leningrad was in the ring of blockade of the fascist invaders. People stayed in the city without food, heat, electricity and running water. September 8, 1941 Leningrad was taken into the blockade ring. It was breached on January 18, 1943. By the beginning of the siege in Leningrad, there was not enough food and fuel reserves. The only way to communicate with the city was Lake Ladoga. It was through Ladoga that the Road of Life lay – the highway, along which cargoes with food were delivered to blockade Leningrad. Over the time

of the blockade, over 630,000 Leningrad residents died of starvation and deprivation. This figure was announced at the Nuremberg Trials. According to other statistics, the figure can reach 1.5 million people. Only 3% of deaths occur in fascist shelling and bombing, the remaining

97% were killed by famine.

On January 7, 1944, 872 days after the blockade began, Leningrad was completely liberated from

the Nazis.

The basis of industry in St. Petersburg is more than 740 large and medium-sized enterprises, some of which are among the leading enterprises in Russia. The shipbuilding industry of St. Petersburg is one of the most socially important branches of the economy, which is an indicator of the scientific and technological development of the city. The shipbuilding potential located on the territory of St. Petersburg is unique. The cluster structure includes 43 enterprises and organizations. In St. Petersburg, up to 80% of the capacity of scientific and design potential of the industry, up to 30% of the volume of production in the shipbuilding sector throughout the country.

Interesting facts about St. Petersburg

St Petersburg is Russia’s second biggest city.

Although its history is relatively young, there are plenty of different stories that can excite you. Learn the most interesting facts about St Petersburg with us.

Peter and Paul Fortress is known to be the first structure of the city. It was founded in 1703 by the Russian tsar Peter the Great for the protection of the lands. Nonetheless, the fortress has participated in 0 wars.

In the course of its history St. Petersburg was renamed several times: the original name that was given to the city in 1703 is Saint Petersburg. In 1914 when the First World War started it was renamed into Petrograd.

In 1924 the city was called after Lenin: Leningrad.

In 1991 St. Petersburg got its historical name back.

St. Petersburg is the 3rd biggest city in Europe. Nowadays the population of the city is more than 5 million people. It only yields to Moscow (over 12 million people) and London (over 8 million).

Since there are many rivers and canals in St. Petersburg (92 waterways), the city has a lot of bridges. Altogether there are 350 of them within the city. This includes bridges made of stone, cast iron, steel, reinforced concrete, and even aluminum.

Throughout its history St. Petersburg underwent 288 floods. The flood is declared when the level of water rises 1.5 m (4,9 ft) over the regular water level. The most destructive flood occurred in 1824 when the level of water rose 4 m (13.1 ft) above the average.

The narrowest street in St. Petersburg is Repina street. The width of the street is just 6 meters (19.6 ft).

There are 268 different religious confessions and communities in St. Petersburg. The main confession is Orthodox Christianity, but among other religious temples you can find Catholic and Lutheran churches, Muslim mosques, Buddhist temples, and others.

St. Petersburg is known to be the cultural capital of Russia. No wonder!

St. Petersburg accounts for 70 theaters, more than 20 annual international festivals of art, about 80 musical and theatrical contests, and over a hundred

of exhibitions.

The City of Museums is an alternative name of

St. Petersburg.

There are 300 museums in the city, including the main Russian museum –  the State Hermitage Museum  Every year in May

the so-called Museum Night is organized – it’s time when almost all of the museums are open at night and you can visit them buying one ticket only.

The tallest structure of

St. Petersburg is a TV tower.

It is 310 m tall (1017 ft).

Another famous tall structure is located in St. Petersburg

historical center:

St. Peter and Paul’s Cathedral

is 122,5 m tall (401,9 ft).

The Cathedral is known to be the burial vault of the Russian emperors and empresses and it’s definitely worth seeing.

The first railway that was introduced in Russia connected St. Petersburg and Pavlovsk. It was open on November 11 th , 1837 during the reign of Nicholas I.

St. Petersburg has one of the deepest subway systems in the world. The deepest station is called Admiralteyskaya.

To get to the platform you need to go

86 m (282 ft) down in the grown.

Moskovskaya Square is one of the biggest in Europe.

It occupies over 130 000 sq. m. (about 32 acres). In the Sovet Era the square was supposed to become the administrative center of Leningrad.

In the USA there are 15 cities that are called St. Petersburg.

The biggest one is located in Florida.

The city was founded by Peter Demens (originally, Petr Alekseevich Dementiev – Russian by origin).

It is interesting that the train station in this city is an exact copy of the one in Tsarskoe Selo (suburbs of Russian St. Petersburg).