The style of Petrine Baroque, developed by Trezzini and other architects and exemplified by such buildings as the Menshikov Palace, Kunstkamera, Peter and Paul Cathedral, Twelve Collegia, became prominent in the city architecture of the early 18th century. In 1716, Peter the Great appointed Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Alexandre Le Blond as the chief architect of Saint Petersburg. The project was not completed but is evident in the layout of the streets. By 1716 the Swiss Italian Domenico Trezzini had elaborated a project whereby the city centre would be on Vasilyevsky Island and shaped by a rectangular grid of canals. However, Saint Petersburg soon started to be built out according to a plan. History ĭuring its first few years, the city developed around Trinity Square on the right bank of the Neva, near the Peter and Paul Fortress. Petersburg is "The City of the White Nights" because of a natural phenomenon which arises due to the closeness to the polar region and ensures that in summer the night skies of the city do not get completely dark for a month. Furthermore, it has strongly Western European-inspired architecture and culture, which is combined with the city's Russian heritage. The northernmost metropolis in the world, Saint Petersburg is often called the " Venice of the North" or the "Russian Venice" due to its many water corridors, as the city is built on swamp and water. Saint Petersburg was traditionally called the "Window to the West" by the Russians.
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This spelling survives in the name of a street in the Bayswater district of London, near St Sophia's Cathedral, named after a visit by the Tsar to London in 1814. Local residents often refer to the city by its shortened nickname, Piter (Russian: Питер, IPA: ).Ī former spelling of the city's name in English was Saint Petersburgh, under the influence of burgh. Today, in English the city is known as Saint Petersburg. On 6 September 1991, the original name, Sankt-Peterburg, was returned by citywide referendum. On 26 January 1924, shortly after the death of Vladimir Lenin, it was renamed to Leningrad (Russian: Ленинград, IPA: ), meaning 'Lenin's City'. On 1 September 1914, after the outbreak of World War I, the Imperial government renamed the city Petrograd (Russian: Петроград, IPA: ), meaning 'Peter's city', in order to expunge the German words Sankt and Burg.
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It is considered an important economic, scientific, cultural, and tourism centre of Russia and Europe.
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Saint Petersburg is known as the "Cultural Capital of Russia," and received over 15 million tourists in 2018. After the October Revolution in 1917, the Bolsheviks moved their government to Moscow. It served as a capital of the Tsardom of Russia and the subsequent Russian Empire from 1713 to 1918 (being replaced by Moscow for a short period of time between 17). Saint Petersburg is historically and culturally associated with the birth of the Russian Empire and Russia's entry into modern history as a European great power. The city was founded by Tsar Peter the Great on on the site of a captured Swedish fortress, and was named after apostle Saint Peter. As Russia's Imperial capital, and a historically strategic port, it is governed as a federal city. Saint Petersburg is the fourth-most populous city in Europe, the most populous city on the Baltic Sea, as well as the world's northernmost city with over 1 million residents.
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It is situated on the Neva River, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea, with a population of roughly 5.4 million residents. Sankt-Peterburg, IPA: ( listen)), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), is the second-largest city in Russia.