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ST PETERSBURG |
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ST PETERSBURG , Petrograd, Leningrad and now again, St Petersburg -
the city's succession of names mirrors Russia's turbulent history.
Founded in 1703 as a "window on the West" by Peter the Great, St
Petersburg was for two centuries the capital of the tsarist empire,
synonymous with excess and magnificence. During World War I the city
renounced its German-sounding name and became Petrograd, and as such was
the cradle of the revolutions that overthrew tsarism and brought the
Bolsheviks to power in 1917. As Leningrad it epitomized the Soviet
Union's heroic sacrifices in the war, withstanding nine hundred days of
Nazi siege. Finally, in 1991 - the year that Communism and the USSR
collapsed - the change of name, back to St Petersburg, proved deeply
symbolic of the country's democratic mood.
St Petersburg's sense of its own identity owes much to its origins and
to the interweaving of myth and reality throughout its history. Created
by the will of an autocrat, the imperial capital embodied both Peter the
Great's rejection of Old Russia - represented by "Asiatic" Moscow, the
former capital - and of his embrace of Europe. The city's architecture,
administration and social life were all copied or imported.
Today, St Petersburg is beautiful yet drab, progressive yet stagnant,
sophisticated and cerebral, industrial and maritime. Beggars and
nouveaux riches rub shoulders on Nevskiy prospekt, yet after the
enormous changes of recent years a sense of stability and relative
wellbeing has at last arrived, reaching even beyond the historic centre
to the sprawling outer ring of high-rise blocks
The City
Everything in St Petersburg is built on a grand scale, which makes
mastering the public transport system a top priority. The city is split
by the River Neva and its tributaries, with further sections delineated
by the course of the canalized Moyka and Fontanka rivers, all of which
conveniently divide St Petersburg into a series of islands, making it
fairly easy to get your bearings.
St Petersburg's centre lies on the south bank of the River Neva , with
the curving River Fontanka marking its southern boundary. The area
within the Fontanka is riven by a series of wide avenues which fan out
from the most obvious landmark on the south bank of the Neva, the
Admiralty. Many of the city's greatest sights and monuments - the Winter
Palace and the art collections of the Hermitage, the Russian Museum, the
Mikhail Castle, the Summer Garden, and the St Isaac and Kazan cathedrals
- are located in and around Nevskiy prospekt , the main avenue.
Across the River Neva, and connected by Dvortsoviy most (Palace Bridge),
is Vasilevskiy Island , the largest of the city's islands. In an area
known as the Strelka , located on the island's eastern tip, are some of
St Petersburg's oldest institutions: the Academy of Sciences, the
university and the former Stock Exchange, as well as some fascinating
museums.
On the north side of the River Neva, opposite the Winter Palace, is the
island known as the Petrograd Side, home to the Peter and Paul Fortress
, whose construction is seen as marking the foundation of the city
itself. As well as its strategic and military purpose, it also housed St
Petersburg's first prison and cathedral.
Back on the mainland, east of the River Fontanka, the conventional
sights are more dispersed and the distances that much greater. The two
most popular destinations in this wedge of land, which was largely
developed in the latter half of the nineteenth century, are the Smolniy
Complex , from where the Bolsheviks orchestrated the October Revolution,
and, further south, the Alexander Nevsky Monastery .
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