In what year was St. Petersburg founded? This question is very interesting, because this city is called Northern Palmyra. Its inhabitants are considered intellectuals. The city has long been the capital of the Russian Empire. It is replete with museums, palaces, architectural and cultural monuments.
In what year was St. Petersburg founded
It is known that on May 27, 1703, by order of the Russian Tsar Peter I, the construction of the Peter and Paul Fortress began on Hare Island. She became the first building of the city, which later received the name of St. Petersburg. The city itself is of artificial origin.
Where was St. Petersburg founded? Many believe that he seemed to have grown out of nothing in the swamps. However, this is not quite true. About the year in which St. Petersburg was founded and how it was possible to build it so quickly, we will discuss further. Let's make a reservation right away that the construction was a difficult and very costly process.
A bit of history
Settlements at the mouththe Neva River began to be built, starting from the XIV century, by the Swedes (Landkrona fortress, 1300) and Novgorodians (Ust-Okhta, 1500). In 1611, at the confluence of the Okhta River with the Neva, the Swedes built the Nienschanz fortress, near which the settlement of Nienstadt (in Swedish - "city on the Neva") soon appeared, which in 1632 received the status of a city. By the end of the 17th century, Nienstadt had become a major trading port, surrounded by a large number of settlements. In 1703 it was captured by Russian troops and renamed Schlotburg.
The initial plans of Peter I
Who founded St. Petersburg and what were the prerequisites for this? To protect the new territories conquered in the Swedish Ingermanland during the Northern War, Tsar Peter I decided to build a new fortress, which was founded on May 27, 1703 on one of the islands in the widest part of the mouth of the Neva. And on June 29, on Peter's Day, the fortress was named St. Peter-Burkh (in honor of the Apostle Peter). This is another answer to the question of what year St. Petersburg was founded. Initially, in order to speed up construction, the walls were poured from the ground. And the creation of stone structures began three years later. It turns out that the name of the fortress gave the name to the future city, which began to be built around it on the drained swamps and neighboring islands.
The first St. Petersburg church, a tavern and a pier
In November 1703, the first city church, the Trinity Church, was opened on Berezovy Island. It was originally built from wood. However, a few years later it was rebuilt intostone. At first, it was the main religious institution of the new capital. It was here that in 1721 Peter took the imperial title. The square on which the temple was located received the same name - Troitskaya. She went to the river. Neva. Here they arranged the first pier of the city. Many ships moored to it for unloading and loading. The first tavern and gostiny dvor were also built on the square. The island where the fortress was located was renamed from Hare to City.
Construction
To speed up the construction of stone buildings, Peter I banned the construction of stone throughout Russia, and a special tax was levied on everyone who entered St. Petersburg. A person had to bring with him a certain amount of stone or pay its equivalent in money. Buildings were also built on the other side of the river. Shipyards were built. Vasilyevsky Island was being rebuilt, which Peter wanted to make the city center. The construction process was hard, but the one who founded St. Petersburg had the determination to complete what he started and knew what he was doing.
The construction of the city, which was planned as a "window to Europe", was led by foreign specialists, and construction work was carried out by serfs and the so-called. state peasants. The latter were mobilized for labor service. They were brought from all over Russia. Only about 24 thousand people were engaged in logging, draining swamps and laying roads. Since 1717, civilians were involved in the construction. By this time, about 6% of the 300,000 builders had already died.
The first buildings served utilitarian and, above all, defensive functions. The one who founded St. Petersburg wanted to ensure the presence of Russia in this region for centuries. Soon, the construction took on even greater scope and began to be carried out more carefully and systematically. The work was supervised by professional architects. In 1706, the Office of City Affairs was created to manage all work and issues. In 1716, the city's primary development plan was adopted, developed by the architect Domenico Trezzini, who had worked in the city since its foundation. It was according to this plan that the center was planned to be located on Vasilyevsky Island. Such was the whim of the king. The island was washed by two channels of the Neva. It was planned to cover it with a geometrically correct grid of streets, and to make channels for drainage. However, the construction was soon headed by Jean-Baptiste Leblon.
Empire Capital
Yes, Peter the Great founded St. Petersburg. Gradually, the city successfully rebuilt and grew. The first foreign ship arrived in the harbor in 1703. In 1705 the city survived a flood, and in 1712 Saint Petersburg was proclaimed the capital of Russia. All state institutions and the court of the emperor were moved here. Given that the Northern War had not yet been completed at that time, this is a unique historical precedent - the capital of one state was located on the lands of another. St. Petersburg remained the capital of Russia until 1918, when Moscow was reclaimed as the capital.
In 1709 in St. Petersburg, the first public school in Russia was opened, in 1719 - the first museum (Kunstkamera). Petersburg Academy of Sciences was founded in 1724. In 1728, the first Russian newspaper began to be published. In 1851 St. Petersburg was connected to Moscow by a 451 km railway.
Throughout its existence, the city was renamed several times (in Petrograd in 1914, Leningrad in 1924). In 1991, the original name was returned to it. It is the third largest city in Europe. In 1725, the population of St. Petersburg was about 40 thousand people, most of whom were soldiers, residents of the surrounding villages, as well as serfs assigned to the city to carry out construction work. By the end of the century, there were about 200 thousand inhabitants. Now more than 5 million people live in St. Petersburg.
Present
Peter 1 founded St. Petersburg, and this city became the pearl of the country. Currently, it has about 1200 streets and more than 70 churches. Tourists will not be indifferent to such attractions as Kronstadt, Gostiny Dvor, Peter and Paul Cathedral and the Peter and Paul Fortress, the Winter Palace, the Hermitage, the Kunstkamera and others. Come to the city on the Neva, join the history of your native country!
