"St.Petersburg Leningrad Petrograd " a Saint Petersburg Travel Page by cheekymarieh

I dreamed of visiting the city since my childhood days.Finally those dreams turned into reality, courtesy of two friends I made while working in Cyprus. Now I would like to visit the city in winter sometime in the furture.

The city has changed its name from St Petersburg to Petrograd, then to Leningrad and back to St Petersburg. Among the locals though, it has always been ‘Pieter’.

From the 8th century the marshy ground was inhabited by peasants , but ir wasn't until 1703 when Peter the Great decided to build the St Peter and Paul Fortress at its current location, di the city become to be formed as we know it today. Attempts were made to drain the marshy ground and then the building work began. In 1712, Peter the Great made St Petersburg the capital city with a population of 40,000.

In 1905 St Petersburg saw many strikes and violent protests. During World War I there was a huge loss of life and some destruction and this created more unrest in the whole country. Nicholas II bore the brunt of the blame for the failure of the Russian armies. On 1 March 1917 he abdicated and the 300 year old Romanov dynasty came to an end. Shortly after this the whole family were taken to Yekaterinberg and killed. It is only recently that the remains have been exhumed and returned to St Petersburg.

On the 25 October 1917 the crew of the cruise ship Aurora fired the shots that started the October Revolution. In 1924 the city was renamed Leningrad. During World War II the city suffered huge casualties during the period known as the 900 day siege (actually 872 if you pick up a calendar and add them up). The people of the city lived on whatever they could find to eat. There are some references to cannibalism in the city's museum.

In 1991 the city's name was changed back to St Petersburg after the collapse of Communism. Now the city has earned a reputation for the home of the Russian Mafia.The city is now trying to rebuild itself gradually with many landmarks closing for repairs.

The city is a meeting point for European and Asian culture. It is much more European than other Russian cities with strong influences in architecture from cities like Paris.