Saint Petersburg, the second largest city in Russia, is one of the most stunning and architecturally marvelous cities in all of Eastern Europe. Since its 8th century beginnings, it has developed from a collection of single-story wooden buildings into a sparkling city of elaborate palaces and cathedrals. Located at the delta of the 46-mile Neva River, Saint Petersburg's canals and natural waterways have earned it the title "Venice of the North." Divided into four sections, the Admiralty Side, Vasilyevsky Island, the Petrograd Side and the Vyborg Side, the city spreads across 42 islands and the mainland floodplain. Numerous floods have swept through the marshy city over the centuries, the worst occurring in 1777, 1824 and 1924. The Admiralty Side features most of the well-known attractions in Saint Petersburg, including the Winter and Summer Palaces, the Hermitage, the Alexander Column and Senate Square.


Although the Russian settlement of Saint Petersburg began hundreds of years earlier, May 16, 1703 is considered the official founding date of the city. Peter the Great, future Tsar and Emperor of all Russia, captured the city during the second Northern War, and made it the capital of Russia in 1712. By 1726, after a harbor was constructed, Saint Petersburg managed 90 percent of Russia's foreign trade. During the next decades, industry grew rapidly, as did the population, which reached over 220,000 by the century's end.

The city flourished under the wealthy court's patronage, and literature, science, music and ballet thrived as educational and cultural institutions were created. However, the number of working class factory workers exploded during the industrial revolution of the 19th century, and under the ostentatious Tsarist reign, the proletariat began to organize in the overcrowded city.

The first major Russian revolution of the 20th century took place in 1905 on what became known as Bloody Sunday. One hundred fifty thousand striking workers marched on the Winter Palace, and when military troops fired on the peaceful protesters, over a hundred people were killed, with hundreds more wounded. Although the revolution was ultimately suppressed, the event set the stage for the upcoming Bolshevik Revolution.

In 1917, the city's name was changed to Petrograd as a nationalist reaction to World War I, but economic and social unrest continued. After riots and demonstrations in the streets, Tsar Nicholas II abdicated the throne in favor of a provisional government. However, the Bolshevik party did not support the new government, and in October, Soviet leader Nikolai Lenin convinced the party to make their move. On October 25th, the Bolsheviks staged a coup, storming the Winter Palace and officially overturning the provisional government. Under Lenin's rule, a nearly three-year civil war followed, further decimating the economy. The Bolsheviks were able to fend off opposition from within and without Russia, and recovery began soon after the war ended.

Renamed Leningrad following Lenin 's death in 1924, the city began its recovery under the iron hand of Joseph Stalin, but again was struck by difficulties when the Germans invaded in 1941. Although those who remained in the city after evacuation put up a valiant resistance, air strikes, freezing temperatures, starvation and scurvy killed more than half a million residents. When the Germans were finally driven out in 1944, the retreating troops destroyed historic monuments and palaces in their wake.

By the 1980s, the Soviet government had begun to foster a period of openness, and a reformation of the political process (including the introduction of other parties) gave the Communists a minority share in the council of Leningrad. The city voted to change its name back to Saint Petersburg shortly before the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. Since the Cold War ended, Saint Petersburg has been the host of the Good Will Games, and in 2003 it celebrated its 300th anniversary with a series of cultural events and summits.


Catherine's Palace
The Teams' next Pit Stop is Catherine's Palace, located twelve miles south of Saint Petersburg in Pushkin. Named for Peter the Great's wife, Catherine I, the estate is now a museum housing art, furniture and weapons from the 16th-19th centuries. The building's white, blue and gold Baroque facade stretches nearly a thousand feet, topped by the chapel's five golden domes. Although the Palace was destroyed after WWII, its restoration continues even today. The Palace's world-famous Amber room, stolen in its entirety and lost at the end of WWII, is also being recreated, but the mystery of the theft has never been solved.

Hermitage
Founded in 1764 by Catherine the Great, this multi-structure museum was originally meant only for the court, and was opened to the public after its reconstruction by Nicholas I in 1852. The largest and best known of the museum's buildings is the Winter Palace, which once served as the official royal residence. After the October Revolution, the Hermitage and Winter Palace were proclaimed state museums, making their vast collections of Prehistoric, Oriental, Western European and Russian art public property.

Decembrist's Square
Originally called Senate Square and St. Peter's Square, Decembrist Square acquired its current moniker in 1925, the 100th anniversary of the unsuccessful yet influential December Uprising. In the center of the square stands the "Bronze Horseman," a monument to Peter the Great, commissioned by Catherine the Great and unveiled in 1782. The former Senate and Synod buildings are also located in the square, alongside the Admiralty, one of the oldest structures in Saint Petersburg.

St. Isaac's Cathedral
Once the main church of St. Petersburg, St. Isaac's Cathedral went through four incarnations (the first in 1710) before Alexander I commissioned the current structure in 1816. The cathedral's gilded dome dominates the city skyline, and it's possible to see spectacular views by climbing 300 steps to the walkway stretching around the base of the dome. Inside, the walls are decorated with malachite, porphyry and marble, and the beautiful stained glass window depicting the Ascension casts colored light across the space.

Peter and Paul Fortress
The foundation of the Peter and Paul Fortress was begun on May 16, 1703, also considered the day Saint Petersburg itself was founded. Built by Peter the Great to protect land garnered from the war with Sweden, the fortress was used primarily as a barracks and jail, since Sweden was defeated before the structure was completed. In the center of the fortress stands the Peter and Paul Cathedral, which at its highest point reaches 404 feet. Inside the cathedral, all the leaders of Russia between Peter the Great and Alexander III are interred. Also located inside the fortress walls are the City History Museum and one of the two Mints in all of Russia.

Alexander Column
Built between 1830 and 1834, the Alexander Column is located in the center of Palace Square. It was designed by architect Auguste de Montferrand (also responsible for St. Isaac's Cathedral), stands nearly 156 feet tall and features an angel holding a cross at its apex. The red granite column weighs 600 tons, and the bronze bas-relief base depicts themes of peace, justice and victory. Even more remarkable than the weight of the perfectly balanced column is the fact that it was erected in less than two hours, well before the advances of modern technology.



Battleship Potemkin. Sergei Eisenstein, director. Film. Soviet Union, 1925.

Clark, Katerina. Petersburg, Crucible of Cultural Revolution. Harvard UP, 1998.

Figes, Orlando. Natasha's Dance: A Cultural History of Russia. Picador, 2003.

George, Arthur and Elena George. St. Petersburg: Russia's Window to the Future--The First Three Centuries. Taylor Trade Publishing, 2003.

October. Sergei Eisenstein, director. Film. Soviet Union, 1927.

Strike. Sergei Eisenstein, director. Film. Soviet Union, 1925.

Sutcliffe, Mark et al., editors. Petersburg Perspectives. Booth-Clibborn Editions, 2003.

Volkov, Solomon. St. Petersburg: A Cultural History. Free Press, 1997.