Saint Petersburg: Window to Europe
byNatalia Motili

History of some cities is covered with uncertainty: it is almost impossible to tell when and how they were founded, what gives birth to numerous legends. But there are other cities, foundation of which can be given with exactity of the day, and St. Petersburg is such an example. By order of the Russian tsar Peter I, on May 16 (27), 1703 construction of the Peter and Paul fortress with the church in name Saints Peter and Paul began on the Zayachy Island, located in the delta of the Neva River. In 1710 the capital of Russia was officially moved to St. Petersburg. Nowadays the official holiday of St. Petersburg is celebrated on May 27.

Peter the Great had an idea to build a well planned city and dreamed to see in this city the best things that could be found in the European capitals of that time – and we should agree, that he succeeded. Italian architect Domenico Tresini designed a general lay out of the city center, while French architect Jean Batist Leblon developed the general layout of St. Petersburg. Architecture of St. Petersburg is magnificent. All the styles that were popular at a certain period of time in history can be found in the city. In the Peter and Paul Cathedral and the Winter Palace embodied splendor of Baroque with its flowing lines, richness of stucco molding, magnificent combination of white, blue and gold. Arts Square has distinctive features of classicism. Power and monumentalism of Russian Empire style are manifested in Admiralty and Kazan Cathedral. All this interweaving of various architectural styles makes the city atmosphere unique.

City changed its name three times and was officially named St.Petersburg (1703-1914), Petrograd (1914-1924), Leningrad (1924-1991) and St.Petersburg again from 1991.

But the city has many other unofficial names: it is called “Piter”, “The Northern Capital of Russia”, “Pearl of the Baltic”, “The Palmyra of the North”, “Venice of the North”. The last comparison is not occasional. The city has a lot of channels that is reflected also in the names of the streets – Naberejnaya, Moika, Chernorechenskaia, while in the 18th century Venetian gondolas could be seen in the rivers and channels of St. Petersburg. Rows of multicolor buildings that stand along the Neva river also make it to resemble Amsterdam. Another epithet for St. Petersburg is “The city of muses” – the city influenced many writers, poets, composers and painters, whose names and destinies are tightly linked to the destiny of St. Petersburg: Pushkin, Dostoyevsky, Esenin, Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky, Shostakovich, Brullov.
During the period of Peter the Great St. Petersburg was considered a “window looking on Europe”. St. Petersburg opened to Russia access to the Baltic Sea through Gulf of Finland and offered Russia connection with Western European countries. It is interesting to mention that common people called Gulf of Finland (more exactly, its eastern part) “Marquis Paddle” or “The biggest paddle in the world”.

Number of sailors, dressed in uniforms, does not leave any doubt, that St. Petersburg is a port. Seamen even on land continue walking planting their feet apart, as if on the boat. Sailors’ peaked caps with various inscriptions can be seen all over the city. One young sailor “borrowed” his cap to Peter the Great – but just for a moment - to make a common photo with him.

Citizens of St. Petersburg read a lot and use every spare minute for reading: long moving staircases in the markets, on the bus stations, in the cues and even while walking. A lot of newspapers are distributed for free at the entrance to the underground and this also contributes to widely-spread reading in the city.

What about St. Petersburg underground – it’s unique! Each station has its specifics and is a dedication to a certain historical moment. Many of them are covered with marble and granite. In 2005 St. Petersburg underground marked half century history. The oldest stations are “Pushkin”, “Baltic”, “Narva”. Amount of passengers who are “swallowed” by the underground each day is quite significant – 2,5 mln. persons a day. Being in the underground, one has feeling that the whole life moved to the belly of the Earth. St. Petersburg underground is the deepest in the world – the tunnels are at the depth of 70-80 meters (the city was built on the marshlands - thus it was a need to drive tunnel under the bedrocks).

St. Petersburg is also famous for its cable cars. Length of cable car network in St. Petersburg is over 690.6 km (429 miles) – making it the most extensive cable car system in the world - fact which was included in the Guinness World Records in 1927.

Looking at citizens of St. Petersburg one has impression that all of them have “sweet tooth”. One can meet a lot of people with boxes of cakes and other sweet stuff. At Café at Nevsky Prospect, 44 where cakes of “Sever” confectioner’s are sold, is always crowded, because Café respects 100 year tradition of offering only fresh cakes every day. Polar bear – symbol of “Sever” sweet-shop - became well recognized outside of the city as well.
But one can see crowds in St. Petersburg not only after cakes – people are hungry for cultural satiety. People begin forming crowds in front of the museums well before their opening – one or even two hours in advance. There are more than 100 museums in St. Petersburg and its suburbs for every taste: historical, art, science, literary and many others. Museums of St. Petersburg can be compared with “cities in the cities” – one might loose himself without having a floor map of the museum. Number and beauty of the displays – struck even the richest imagination. If you walk through the museum without a guide, ladies that have been working for years in the museum will not loose opportunity to point your attention to a certain detail on the famous painting or tell you an interesting history related to the exhibited object. State Hermitage Museum is one of the largest art galleries (fact recorded in the Guinness World Records in 1997), housing more then 3 mln. works of art. One has to walk 24 km (almost 15 miles) to visit all of the 322 galleries of the Winter Palace and the rest of the State Hermitage Museum, that present to the visitors culture of different nations and epochs.

St. Petersburg is a kind of museum in the open air. The city is full of monuments of Russian and world culture – any city can be envy for such a collection! Upon the decision of UNESCO, St. Petersburg has been recognized as a Monument of the World’s Culture. This is a city with splendid architecture: open-worked bridges, grandiose cathedrals, elegant churches, majestic monuments and luxurious country royal residencies. St. Petersburg holds the 8th place among the world tourist attractions (according to the official UNESCO rating).

A lot of visitors come to St. Petersburg to discover phenomenon of “white nights” (prolonged twilight) during which the city does not need artificial lighting. It lasts from June to the middle of July. “White nights” can be explained by the geographical position of St. Petersburg, which is situated at latitude of 59 degrees North.

St. Petersburg is one of the greenest Russia’s major cities. Summer Garden is the oldest park in St. Petersburg (it was laid out in 1704 by order of Peter the Great around his first summer residence). It houses Russia’s oldest collection of park sculptures and is a charming place to visit not only during summer.

Being situated on numerous islands in the Neva river delta, the city was named “The city on 101 islands” and it has numerous bridges: there are more than 580 in the city, including 20 that are raised. The longest bridge on Neva River – Alexander Nevsky Bridge (909 m), the widest - Blue Bridge at Moika River (99.5 m). Drawing bridges on Neva River to allow ships to pass into Baltic see is an exciting show! It can be viewed every night in the period of navigation, May – November.

St. Petersburg is beautiful in winter as well! Coming to St. Petersburg during winter, you will become participants of the fairy tale. The city restored old tradition and real “Winter Palace” out of ice is built in the center of the city, with many ice figures both inside and outside of the Palace. Ice cannon shoots make the atmosphere really solemn. Wedding ceremonies take place in the ice Palace to check feelings and seriousness of intentions.

Streets of St. Petersburg attract visitors by their names and their cleanliness. The standards for clean streets were introduced by the order of Peter the Great in 1717! Thus, St. Petersburg was the first city in the world to protect city environment by forbidding garbage. Each householder was obliged to take care of cobbled road and sweep territory in front of his house early in the morning or late in the evening, when traffic of pedestrians and carriages was close to none. Those who did not obey the order were fined.

Communal apartment, called “communalka” – is also something specific to St. Petersburg. You will hardy find them in other cities on the territory of the former Soviet Union. Communal apartment is an apartment dwelled by several families or people, who frequently do not have any relation to each other and who represent various segments of society. Colorful images of the communal apartment dwellers became immortal through literature, theatre and cinema.

In 2003 St. Petersburg marked its 300 anniversary. A thorough preparation was carried out for this celebration: jubilee publications, anniversary coins, renovated monuments. The process of city reconstruction is going on even after the celebration – several city buildings are in scaffolding. St. Petersburg had more than 288 floods during its history. The strongest floods had frequency of one in a hundred years, thus taking place in 1724, 1824 and 1924. Currently the city has reliable protective constructions that have to prevent floods in St. Petersburg in the future.

Old and modern are neighboring all over St. Petersburg and “Gostiny Dvor” – is just an example. “Gostiny Dvor” is the city's largest department store - it occupies a whole city block south of Nevsky Prospect. It has reputation for being one of the world’s first shopping malls, but currently it hosts the most fashionable boutiques.
While visiting St. Petersburg one should plan visiting its suburbs to see “The Russian Versailles” - Peterhof palace and garden or to explore Catherine parks and palaces in Pushkin (Tsarskoye Selo). You will enjoy both the final destination and the travel itself, with “mobile” sellers in the train changing each other almost every minute and offering various stuff, such as chocolate, newspapers, towels, books, medicine, cosmetics, coats and thousands of other useful things.
Each city has its own symbols and St. Petersburg is not an exception in this regard. “The Bronze Horseman” monument to Peter the Great is one of them. The well known monument became the subject of the Russian poet Pushkin’s famous poem with the same name. Admiralty Needle and Peter and Paul Fortress – are also well recognized symbols of St. Petersburg. St. Isaac’s Cathedral and Spit of Vasilyevsky Island, The Stock Exchange and the Rostral Coloumns, Palace Square and the Alexander Column, Smolny Convent, The Church of Our Saviour on Spilled Blood - just some historical and architectural monuments which are tightly associated with St. Petersburg.

The city has a lot of secrets and is ready to open them to those who are willing to explore them. Coming to St. Petersburg you will travel not only geographically. Golden carriages on the streets of St. Petersburg allow you to make a trip in time as well. Numerous two meters high “Peters the Great” walk on the streets in their green jackets in any weather. Make a photo with one of them and do not miss an opportunity to ask the great Russian emperor questions to which there are no answers in any of the city guides or historical books.

Copyright © Natalia Motili