Officially it is believed that the year of foundation of St. Petersburg is 1703 (May 23rd). In some historical sources, the date is May 16, and this is not a mistake, but simply a date according to the old calendar. Until 1914, the city was called St. Petersburg, after that it was called Petrograd and Leningrad. Petersburg returned its historical name only on September 6, 1991.
The foundation of St. Petersburg was marked by the erection of a fortress in 1703 by Peter the Great, which was called St. Peter-Burkh.
It was founded on Ingrian land, which was recaptured from the Swedes.
The author of the fortress project is Tsar Peter the Great himself.
The northern capital began to be named after the name of the fortress, which Peter the Great gave it in honor of the Apostle Peter.
After they built a wooden house for Peter, the walls of which were painted like bricks.
On the modern Petrograd side, the city began to grow in a short time. A couple of months later, the first temple was built, which was named Trinity.
Foundation date of St. Petersburg, or rather the laying of the fortress, coincided with the feast of the Holy Trinity, which is why the first temple got its name. Trinity Square, where the cathedral stood, was the first pier where ships moored. It was here that the first tavern and the Gostiny Dvor were built.
In addition, military units, a craft settlement, as well as service buildings were located here. Novy Ostrov and Zayachiy, on which the fortress was located, were connected by means of a drawbridge. After a short period, both the opposite coast of the Neva and Vasilyevsky Island began to be built up.
The founding of St. Petersburg for Tsar Peter the Great was something like Amsterdam, to which he treated somehow in a special way. The city was originally named in the Dutch manner - St. Peter-Burch. Two decades later, it received its current official name. It is worth noting that already in 1712 the royal court moved to St. Petersburg from Moscow, followed by other official institutions. After that, the entire Russian Empire was transferred to St. Petersburg, which for almost two centuries was its capital. That is why even today it is called the northern capital of Russia.
The founding of St. Petersburg, which is associated with the construction of the Peter and Paul Fortress, was of particular importance. The first buildings of the city served as a cover for the branches of the delta of two rivers - the Bolshaya Nevka and the Neva. Already in 1704, the fortress of Kronstadt was erected on the island of Kotlin. Its purpose was to protect Russian maritime borders. It should be noted that both fortressesplayed a fairly large role both in the history of St. Petersburg, and in general in the history of the Russian Empire.
The founding of St. Petersburg was of great importance. Peter the Great, founding the city on the Neva, pursued very important strategic goals. First of all, providing a waterway from the Russian Empire to Western Europe. In addition, an important role was played by the trading port, which was located on the opposite side of the Peter and Paul Fortress, on Vasilyevsky Island.
