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St. Petersburg
St Petersburg, the second biggest city in Russia, has a giant
population of five million, and was called Leningrad
and Stalingrad during its communist period. This is
relatively young city by Russian standards. Located in the
far west of European Russia and founded in 1703, St Petersburg
will celebrate its 300th anniversary in 2003. The site of
St. Petersburg was originally a Swedish fortress commanding
the approach to the Neva. In 1703, Peter I captured the area
and built the fortress of Peter and Paul and the fortress
at Kronshtadt. He ordered the construction of a new
city on the site, to be named St Petersburg after his patron
saint. Peter wanted the city to be westernised, considering
it 'a window in Europe.'
In 1914, Emperor Nicholas II changed the German-sounding name
of St Petersburg to the Russian name Petrograd, after
Russia declared war on Germany. In 1918, the capital of Russia
was moved from Petrograd back to Moscow. After Lenin's death
in 1924, Petrograd was renamed Leningrad in his honour. Following
World War I and the loss pf the Russian Baltic provinces,
the importance of Leningrad increased, the city being the
only Soviet Port near Western Europe. During World War II,
Leningrad was the scene of heavy fighting during a siege by
German forces from late 1941 to January 1944. About 1.25 million
residents died in the fighting and as a result of disease
and starvation, and more than 10 000 buildings were totally
or partially destroyed.
Rebuilt after the war, the city was renamed St Petersburg
after the collapse of communism in 1991. Since the early days,
it was always a city of myth and mystery: you can hardly find
a young city which is wrapped in legends and stories in such
a unique St Petersburg way. Today St Petersburg contains more
than 1700 public libraries the largest being 'ME. Saltykov-Shchedrin
Library' which was founded in 1795 and houses more than 28.5
million volumes. The city is also a shipbuilding centre and
manufactured products include electrical equipment, machinery
and tools, agricultural equipment, paper, furniture, textiles
and clothing, tobacco, leather good and chemicals.
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