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Saint Petersburg was built by Peter the Great in 1703 on the Neva river, amidst the land he had just conquered from Sweden, outside the area populated then by the Russian people. Pre-planned rather than spontaneous almost from the very beginning, the city, called by Peter “my window on Europe”, was designed to look European rather than Russian, and many European architects were invited to work here. As the capital of the Russian Empire from the early 18th century to the early 20th century, the city grew steadily, saw many crucial events of the Russian history, and was a major cultural center. Many world-famous artists, scientists, writers and composers, such as Mendeleev, Dostoevsky and Tchaikovsky, lived and worked here.
In 1917 the Russian Revolution started. The significance of Saint Petersburg has declined somewhat after the transfer of the Russian capital to Moscow in 1918, but this allowed its cityscape to remain largely intact to this day. During World War II, the city was besieged by the Wehrmacht for 872 days, resulting in more than a million of civilian losses, mainly from starvation.
The city has undergone several name changes since its founding. Due to the German origins of the name “Saint Petersburg”, its name was changed to the more Russian-sounding “Petrograd” in 1914 in the wake of World War I. Subsequently, its name was changed to “Leningrad” in honor of the founding leader of the Soviet Union, Vladimir Ilyich Lenin. It was only in 1991, after the breakup of the Soviet Union that the original name was restored, though the surrounding area remains known as Leningrad Oblast.
Saint Petersburg has almost always been, or at least tried to be a city with strong foreign connections, and this is where its authenticity lies. Don’t expect it to be overly indigenous. Matryoshkas and other such souvenirs popular among foreigners have very little to do with its authentic life.
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