Санкт-Петербург. Краткая история

Peter hired the architect Jean-Baptiste Le Blond to design the imperial palace, the Senate building, and major squares such as Senate Square. Le Blond proposed a grander plan for the city, drawing inspiration from Versailles.

In 1718, the first engineering school and the Academy of Sciences were opened. Major avenues, such as Nevsky, were paved with logs. Fire protection and a city-wide drinking water supply were introduced.

By the time of Peter's death in 1725, St. Petersburg had more than 20,000 inhabitants on 489 streets.

However, in the 1730s-40s the population dropped sharply, and the new capital remained sparsely populated for decades, with frequent fires and floods. The swampy terrain led to the spread of disease.

In the 1760s, Catherine the Great revitalized St. Petersburg by introducing neoclassical architecture. She commissioned city planners to formalize the street network and drain the swampy terrain. She initiated large-scale construction projects, including the expansion of the Winter Palace, granite embankments along the Neva, and monumental cathedrals.

By the end of her reign in 1796, the city's population exceeded 200,000.

In the early 1800s, St. Petersburg's appearance became more refined, with new green spaces, lighting, drainage systems, and decorative bridges over the city's many canals. Architect Carlo Rossi led the reconstruction of Palace Square and other iconic ensembles in the classical style.

In 1782, a monument to Peter the Great, known as the Bronze Horseman, was erected.

In the mid-to-late 1800s, major infrastructure projects were realized: a network of railroads departing from the capital, a system of ring canals, telegraph lines, gas lighting, the first permanent bridge in Russia across the Neva River – the Blagoveshchensky Bridge – was built. By 1896 the city had electric streetcars, street lighting and a telephone network.

During this period, luxurious palaces, theaters and churches were built for the elite of Imperial Russia.

The Church of the Savior-on-Blood, built in 1883-1907, was an example of the ornate style of the Russian Renaissance. By 1913, more than 2.2 million people lived in the imperial capital, making it the 5th largest city in Europe.

After the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. St. Petersburg was renamed Petrograd and in 1924, after Lenin's death, it was renamed Leningrad.