The Port of St. Petersburg is an important port for Russia and a world-class historic and cultural center on the shores of the Gulf of Finland off the Baltic Sea. About 600 kilometers northwest of Russia’s capital, the Port of St. Petersburg is near the Artic Circle.

The first palace of stone was finished in 1714 for the Port of St. Petersburg’s first governor. Peter planned an elaborate capital there from the beginning, bringing in craftsmen, architects, and artisans from around the world to build his new Port of St. Petersburg. He transferred Russia’s capital there from Moscow in 1712 even though Sweden did not cede sovereignty to Russia until 1721. Peter moved nobles and merchants to his new capital. Building a city there was difficult. Many bridges were built across canals and river channels, and the flood-prone marshes and harsh climate cost many lives. Some have said that the Port of St. Petersburg “… rests on a swamp of bones.”

Nevertheless, the harbor was constructed, and Peter the Great made the Port of St. Petersburg Russia’s major port for foreign trade. Work started on canals in 1703 and, by 1709, St. Petersburg had a direct water rout to the Volga River basin and central Russia. Industry sprang up, and the shipyard stimulated services for the growing fleet including a foundry and a gunpowder factory. The shipyard built both warships and merchant vessels. By the mid-1700s, population reached over 150 thousand. By the end of the century, over 220 thousand people lived there, more than a third of them working for the government or in the armed forces.

Construction continued throughout the 18th Century, and buildings in the Russian Baroque style were added to the earlier simple, elegant Peter-Paul Fortress and Summer Palace. By the end of the 18th Century, new buildings appeared in a neoclassical style, making the Port of St. Petersburg a marvel among cities and a world cultural hub. Russia’s first ballet school opened there, and its first conservatory of music opened in 1862.

The Port of St. Petersburg’s imperial growth under tsarist rule was countered by the development of an industrial community of workers. With industrial growth and the opening of a new modern canal system and railroad during the early 19th Century, population grew from just over a million in 1864 to 1.5 million in 1900. Migration from the countryside pushed population growth to 2.5 million by 1917.

The Port of St. Petersburg’s factory environment was a breeding ground for revolution. St. Petersburg’s skilled labor force was politically active and relatively sophisticated. A lack of adequate public transportation forced workers to live near their work, and terrible overcrowding resulted with the related poor sanitation. Public services were completely inadequate, and epidemics were frequent. In 1825, a serious rebellion arose that was suppressed cruelly. Worker unrest and revolutionary activity continued through the rest of the century, culminating in a general strike in 1905 where over 150 thousand workers participated. The famous event of Bloody Sunday, where over 100 people were killed by the tsar’s troops, ended a mass march to the Winter Palace. This was the first event leading to the Russian revolution and the end of tsarist rule after the end of World War I.

After the revolution, the name was changed to Petrograd. Civil war overtook Russia from 1918 to 1920, but the Bolsheviks prevailed and moved the capital to Moscow. The civil war ruined the Port of St. Petersburg’s economy, and population quickly decreased. By 1920, the Port of St. Petersburg was only a third of its previous size, and starvation was common. When Lenin died in 1924, the city was renamed Leningrad to honor him. The Soviet Union’s five-year plans put much of the burden of development on the Port of St. Petersburg. By 1939, it produced 11% of all of the country’s industrial output, and its population was over 3 million.

Being an initial target of the German invasion in 1941, the Port of St. Petersburg suffered what is called the 900-day siege when Germany blockaded the city. Leningrad endured assaults, bombing from artillery and air, and serious food shortages. About 660 thousand people died during the siege. While the blockage was broken in 1943, the Germans remained at the Port of St. Petersburg’s borders for another year. Before they retreated, the Germans destroyed several palaces, and the city did not reach 3 million again until the 1960s.

The Port of St. Petersburg’s character began to change in the 1980s when Russia’s government began to introduce more democracy and openness. When other political parties became legal in 1990, the city elected a council of Communist and non-Communist reformers who pushed for free-market practices and began taking the Communist Party’s assets and privileges. In 1991, a citywide referendum restored the name of St. Petersburg to the city.

After the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, crime became a major problem for the Port of St. Petersburg. Several prominent politicians were assassinated, and the Port of St. Petersburg won a reputation as the crime capital of Russia. Even though the local economy grew faster than the country’s, unemployment was high. The Port of St. Petersburg underwent a major overhaul, with new cafes and restaurants, lighting of bridges and landmarks, and construction of new cultural centers. The Port of St. Petersburg continued to be haunted by the homeless, but many people’s lives improved as employment in the national government increased. In 2006, the Port of St. Petersburg hosted the annual Group of Eight summit.

Though many churches and monasteries still belong to Russia’s government, some were returned. The Port of St. Petersburg’s largest, St. Isaac’s Cathedral, has the world’s biggest gold-plated dome, and the Kazan Cathedral was modeled after Saint Peter’s in Rome. An enduring symbol of the city, the Peter and Paul Cathedral contains the graves of Peter and other Russian tsars. The Peter and Paul Fortress and Peter and Paul Cathedral dominate the right bank of the River Neva, and the Winter Palace faces them from the city center on the other side. The fortress contains a boardwalk where visitors can view the Port of St. Petersburg. The city is filled with museums and cultural centers for public events. Its most famous museum, the Hermitage, contains an extraordinarily rich collection of Western European art.

This former imperial capital is well-known for its many scientific, educational, and cultural institutions. Saint Petersburg University, the Academy of Arts, the Smolny Institute, Catherine’s Institute, and the Horse Guards Riding School survive to enrich the Port of St. Petersburg. The city is home to over 50 theaters. The oldest, the Hermitage Theatre, was Catherine the Great’s private palace theater, and it still has its original 18th Century stage machinery. The Mariinsky Theatre, formerly the Kirov, is called by many the world capital of ballet. And the Ciniselli Circus is the world’s oldest circus building. Composer Dmitri Shostakovich was born and raised in the Port of St. Petersburg, and he dedicated his famous Seventh Symphony to the Port of St. Petersburg. Russia’s first jazz band was established here in the 1920s, and its first jazz club was opened here in the 1950s. You can find information on the many sights and activities at the City of St. Petersburg’s website.