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St. Petersburg
St. Petersburg was founded in 1703 by Peter the Great, who was the Tsar (sometimes also spelled Czar in English). He wanted to move Russia’s capital from the old Russian city of Moscow to a location that was closer to Europe, so the new capitol was built on very wet land in northwest Russia, on the Baltic Sea. He named the city Saint Petersburg and that was the name until 1914. Then, when World War I began, the name was changed to sound more Russian – Petrograd. In 1924, after the Russian Revolution brought the communists to power, the name was changed to Leningrad to honor the leader of the revolution, Lenin. Finally, in 1991 after the break-up of the Soviet Union, the name was changed back to Saint Petersburg.
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Canal scene
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Tomb of Peter the Great
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Since Saint Petersburg was the capital of Russia and was governed by the Tsar and the royal family, there are many grand palaces in and around the city. The Winter Palace, or Hermitage, was begun in 1711 and was completed in 1762. It has more than 350 rooms open to the public! The Michael Palace (Russian Museum) is in the center of Saint Petersburg. It was built in the early 1800's for the younger brother of the Tsar and is now a museum of Russian art. An interesting thing about these palaces is that they were designed by architects from other European countries because Peter the Great wanted his city to be a window on Europe. He tried to make Russia more European and even made noblemen cut their traditional Russian beards.
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Peter & Paul Fortress
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Statue of Pushkin outside Russian Museum
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Church on the Spilled Blood
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"Church on the Spilled Blood" was built between 1883 and 1907 and, even though that's pretty old, it's meant to look like even older Russian churches. Compare this church to St. Basil's in Moscow, another famous Russian church that looks something like this one but was built in 1555! This church has two names. Its formal name is "Church of the Resurrection" but everyone calls it the "Church on the Spilled Blood." This is because it was built on the exact spot where Czar Alexander II was murdered, so now you see where the spilled blood came from. His son, Czar Alexander III, had the church built as a memorial. The altar was built on the exact spot where his blood had stained the cobblestones in the street. After the Revolution in 1917, the Soviet government used it as a warehouse (can you believe it?), but in the last 10 years it has been beautifully restored and now everyone can go inside and see all the beautiful mosaics.
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The Russian Museum or Michael Palace
(All Russian artists)
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Monument to WWII victory over Germany
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Place Square with Alexander Monument and military headquarters
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Hermitage Art Museum in Palace Square
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What inventions do you see in this painting of a famous street in St. Petersburg, Nevsky Place?
artist, Rudolf Frenz, "Nevsky at Night"
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