Hero City Leningrad: history and photos. What year was Leningrad renamed? Return of the historical name

The official date of the founding of St. Petersburg is May 27, 1703 (according to the old calendar, May 16). Initially, until 1914 it was called St. Petersburg, then Petrograd, and until September 6, 1991 it was called Leningrad.

History of the founding of the city on the Neva

The history of the beautiful city on the Neva of St. Petersburg dates back to 1703, when Peter I founded a fortress called St. Petersburg on the land of Ingria, conquered from the Swedes. The fortress was planned personally by Peter. The Northern capital received the name of this fortress. The fortress was named Peter in honor of the holy apostles Peter and Paul. After the construction of the fortress, a wooden house was built for Peter, with oil-painted walls imitating brick.

In a short time, the city began to grow on what is now the Petrograd side. Already in November 1703, the first church in the city called Trinity was built here. They named it in memory of the date the fortress was founded; it was founded on the feast of the Holy Trinity. Trinity Square, on which the cathedral stood, became the first city pier where ships approached and unloaded. It was on the square that the first Gostiny Dvor and the St. Petersburg tavern appeared. In addition, here one could see buildings of military units, service buildings and craft settlements. The new city island and Zayachiy, where the fortress stood, were connected by a drawbridge. Soon buildings began to appear on the other side of the river and on Vasilyevsky Island.

They planned to make it the central part of the city. Initially, the city was called “St. Peter-Burch” in Dutch style, since Holland, namely Amsterdam, was something special for Peter I and one might say the best. But already in 1720 the city began to be called St. Petersburg. In 1712, the royal court, and subsequently official institutions, began to slowly move from Moscow to St. Petersburg. From that time until 1918, the capital was St. Petersburg, and during the reign of Peter II the capital was again moved to Moscow. For almost 200 years, St. Petersburg was the capital of the Russian Empire. It’s not for nothing that St. Petersburg is still called the Northern capital.

The significance of the founding of St. Petersburg

As mentioned above, the founding of St. Petersburg is associated with the founding of the Peter and Paul Fortress, which had a special purpose. The first structure in the city was supposed to block the fairways along two branches of the delta of the Neva and Bolshaya Nevka rivers. Then, in 1704, the Kronstadt fortress was built on the island of Kotlin, which was supposed to serve as a defense for Russia’s maritime borders. These two fortresses are of great importance both in the history of the city and in the history of Russia. In founding the city on the Neva, Peter I pursued important strategic goals. First of all, this ensured the presence of a waterway from Russia to Western Europe, and, of course, the founding of the city cannot be imagined without a trading port located on the spit of Vasilyevsky Island, opposite the Peter and Paul Fortress.

In 1990, I entered the Leningrad Academy of Arts, and from the second year I studied and graduated from the St. Petersburg State Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. At the same time, I did not move from one university to another, but it so happened that the city itself changed the name. And this happened September 6, 1991. The nineties were generally complex and contradictory, and in St. Petersburg during these years, in addition to all the difficulties of the transition period, there was also unimaginable confusion with the names of organizations, paperwork and other paper issues. For several years there were so many disputes, rallies and discussions everywhere that it is impossible to describe. And then everyone got used to it and calmed down, and now many children and teenagers don’t even know that there was such a city - Leningrad.

When Leningrad was renamed St. Petersburg

St. Petersburg, in just over three hundred years of its existence, has changed the name, and every time in the history of our country something important happened at these moments. Briefly, the chronology can be presented as follows:

• in 1703 year a fortress arose St. Petersburg, so named in honor of St. Peter and “in the Dutch manner”;
• in 1720 year, they decided to call the already expanded city St. Petersburg;
• at the beginning of World War 1 in 1914 in defiance of everything German, it was renamed Petrograd;
• Lenin's death in January 1924 turned Petrograd into Leningrad;
• in 1991, namely on September 6, the name of the city was returned Saint Petersburg- the most suitable according to the majority of residents.

It is important that at all times St. Petersburg has been and remains for ordinary people Peter. This simplified name arose among the people almost immediately after the birth of the city and not only has it been preserved over the centuries, but in recent years it has been used at all levels more often than the official name.

What else was and is called Peter?

Many copies were broken around titles city ​​almost from the very year of its foundation, and these battles continue to this day. Writers and poets gave Peter beautiful comparisons, and historical figures and various political groups argued for the need rename the city and offered their options. Therefore, in the literature we can find such numerous designations of St. Petersburg as Petropolis, Nien, Nevograd, Petrov City, Northern Venice and Northern Palmyra, New Moscow, Cradle of 3 Revolutions, City on the Neva, City of White Nights and many others. Modern youth also did not ignore this tradition and came up with many new names and abbreviations for the city: St. Petersburg, Pete, Santik.

On May 8, 1965, Leningrad was awarded the title “Hero City” and awarded the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal.

The title was awarded “for the massive heroism and courage of its defenders shown in the struggle for the freedom and independence of the Motherland in the Great Patriotic War”

The siege of Leningrad lasted 871 days from September 8, 1941 to January 27, 1944. This is the longest and most terrible siege of the city in the entire history of mankind. Almost 900 days of pain and suffering, courage and dedication.

Over 640 thousand people died from starvation, tens of thousands died during artillery shelling and bombing, and died in evacuation.

German Army Group North was supposed to destroy parts of the Red Army in the Baltic states, capture naval bases on the Baltic Sea and capture Leningrad by July 21, 1941.

Relatives take a Leningrader who died of starvation to the cemetery

Siege of Leningrad, 1942
Boris Kudoyarov
Residents of besieged Leningrad clearing snow from streets

Leningrad, 1942
Vsevolod Tarasevich
Bodies of killed Nazis in the Shlisselburg area

Leningrad Front, 1943
Boris Kudoyarov
Volkovo Cemetery. Blockade survivors are being taken to bury the corpses of civilians who died of starvation

Leningrad, 1942
Boris Kudoyarov Heavy KV-1 tanks leave Palace Square on Nevsky Prospekt and proceed to the front

Leningrad, 1942
Boris Kudoyarov
Marines of the Baltic Fleet fight in the ice ridges of the Gulf of Finland

Leningrad, 1942
Alexander Brodsky
Sea patrol at St. Isaac's Cathedral in besieged Leningrad, 1942

Alexander Brodsky
Empty frames in the halls of the Hermitage after the evacuation of the exhibition

Siege Leningrad, 1941
Alexander Brodsky
Wounded children affected by artillery shelling of the city

Siege Leningrad, 1942
Boris Kudoyarov Residents of besieged Leningrad on Nevsky Prospekt. During the years of the blockade, according to various sources, from 600 thousand to 1.5 million people died. Most of the Leningrad residents who died during the siege are buried at the Piskarevskoye Memorial Cemetery

Leningrad, 1942
Mikhail Trakhman
Local air defense soldiers are on duty on the roof of the Academy of Sciences building

Leningrad, 1942
Grigory Chertov
Residents of besieged Leningrad emerge from a bomb shelter after the all-clear

Leningrad, 1942
Boris Kudoyarov
A kindergarten destroyed by the Nazis in the city of Tikhvin

Leningrad region, 1941
Georgy Zelma
Installation of a barrage balloon on Nevsky Prospect of besieged Leningrad, 1941

Boris Kudoyarov On August 21, 1941, the Germans occupied the Chudovo station, thereby cutting the Oktyabrskaya Railway, and 8 days later they captured Tosno.

2 million 544 thousand civilians, 343 thousand residents of suburban areas, and troops defending the city were surrounded. Food and fuel supplies were limited and should have lasted for one to two months. On September 8, 1941, as a result of an air raid and a fire, food warehouses named after. A. E. Badaeva.

Not everyone managed to evacuate. When the systematic shelling began, and it began immediately, in September, the escape routes were already cut off. Literally from the first days of the blockade, food cards were introduced, schools were closed, and military censorship was in effect.

The ice road across Lake Ladoga, which became the legendary Road of Life, acquired special significance when communication with the mainland ceased.

Public transport stopped. In the winter of 1941, there were no fuel reserves or electricity left. Food was quickly running out. In January 1942, there was only 200/125 grams of bread per person per day. By the end of February 1942, more than 200 thousand people died from cold and hunger in Leningrad. But the city lived and struggled: factories continued to produce military products, theaters and museums operated.

The breaking of the blockade of Leningrad began by order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief Headquarters on January 12, 1943, with the offensive of troops of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts south of Lake Ladoga. A narrow ledge separating the troops of the fronts was chosen as the place to break the blockade. On January 18, the 136th Rifle Division and the 61st Tank Brigade of the Leningrad Front broke into Workers' Village No. 5 and linked up with units of the 18th Rifle Division of the Volkhov Front. On the same day, units of the 86th Infantry Division and the 34th Ski Brigade liberated Shlisselburg and cleared the entire southern coast of Lake Ladoga from the enemy. In a corridor cut along the shore, in 18 days the builders built a crossing across the Neva and laid a railway and a highway. The enemy blockade was broken.

On January 14, 1944, the forces of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts, with the support of Kronstadt artillery, began the final part of the operation to liberate Leningrad.

By January 27, 1944, Soviet troops had broken through the defenses of the German 18th Army, defeated its main forces and advanced 60 kilometers in depth. With the liberation of Pushkin, Gatchina and Chudovo, the blockade of Leningrad was completely lifted.

How many lives were taken by the siege of Leningrad, how many tears and blood were shed in those terrible days. The memory of human feats is sacred, and yet the younger generation needs to know and understand at what cost it was given. Nowadays there are people for whom history is not just paragraphs in textbooks. They don’t just want to be remembered, they bring us closer to history, recreating the events of the war years so that we can feel and feel at least a little what it was like for people in those years. So that there are no terrible repetitions in the future.

In St. Petersburg, military-historical reconstruction of the events of the Great Patriotic War is an important part of the life of the city. Nikolai Shokin has been engaged in reconstruction for several years now. Like other members of the St. Petersburg Regional Public Organization EPOCH, he is a true enthusiast and dedicated to his work.

Nikolay Shokin

“In the public organization POKHA I hold the position of head of the department. My responsibilities include organizing complex technical events. For example, organizing a reconstruction of an amphibious landing, where a lot of equipment and people are involved in difficult conditions.

In addition to military reconstructions, we hold lectures for schoolchildren, students and cadets. We definitely bring military uniforms and artifacts with us; the kids are always interested in touching and looking at them. You can't do it in a museum, but here you can. If we give a lecture on sapper engineering, then we always have a full set of tools with us: picks, hoes, large shovels, small shovels, all sorts of devices - crampons, a demolition bag, special equipment.

I became interested in reconstruction, like many others, by accident. Before military reconstruction, I was engaged in modeling, and one of my friends had already participated in such events. I was interested to see how this happens. He replied - why watch, just come and participate. When a person comes for the first time, they give him everything: clothes, weapons. And this first experience shows whether this is your occupation or not.

My first event was a reconstruction of the Soviet-Finnish War near the city of Vyborg. On March 13, at the East Vyborg fortifications the snow was waist-deep, and when we were given the command “Attack!”, everyone stood up and drowned in the snow. It was impossible to advance: the machine gun was firing, you were wearing grenades, bags, pouches, a satchel. And you understand the hard way that they fought in a completely different way from what they show us in films and what is written in books.

There was a wave of people wanting to participate in reconstructions in the late 1980s and late 1990s. Every seven to ten years a new wave of young people comes. Someone leaves, someone gets used to the reconstruction even more and stays forever.

If you just want to show off, taking pictures is one motivation. There are people who come because they are interested in tinkering with hardware, seeing what kind of weapons systems were there, finding out how everything was tripled. There are people who are interested in the turnover of things - these are collectors. One of my comrades had about 20 types of military caps, such a hobby.”

Participants in the military-historical reconstruction dedicated to the 72nd anniversary of the breaking of the siege of Leningrad in the Great Patriotic War. Leningrad region, Russia

“Reconstruction is the tip of the iceberg. This is the action that people see. First, to create it, it is necessary to study all sources; as a rule, we turn to archival documents. In 90% of cases, we carry out all reconstructions at battle sites. We are preparing technical specifications for ourselves and for the city administration, which is helping us. Then we prepare the area, find the places where we fought. It is necessary to understand what weapons and equipment people had at that time.

Everywhere people always decide everything. Reconstruction has two directions - there is costume, and there is uniform. There are people who are trying to make money from this, so they have costumes. We're not trying to do that. For us, this is not a form of relaxation, but real life in someone else’s shoes. When you put on wartime equipment and run waist-deep in snow, you understand perfectly well what our grandfathers, great-grandfathers, and fathers felt.

The next stage of the fascination with reconstruction is when you start studying documents about what a soldier should be wearing.

We go to the museum, sign up for the archives, study the exhibits, and then restore it all according to the drawings. We study instructions and orders.

The biggest problem with archives is when it comes to obtaining historical military documents. For example, I took a special vacation and came to Moscow for ten days. I ordered the inventory from the Russian State Military Historical Archive. The next day I received the inventory. I ordered the files and received the files three days later. I ordered to see them, they are in a different building, and Thursday is sanitary day. In ten days I managed to look at only five files - three of them were combat logs of the 197th Forest Infantry Regiment for 1915–1916. We are currently engaged in its reconstruction. Of the five cases, I managed to study only three in ten days.

In the 1990s, many collections were published on the Soviet-Finnish War, on the Polish campaign of 1919–1921, and on the Great Patriotic War. Nowadays, people write books to make money from it and collect information from each other, citing a source from the Internet. Of course, you want more accurate data, and this requires painstaking work; there is not always enough time to search. Then we attract interested students to study the archives and search for data.”

“Museums and archives with which we have been cooperating for a long time are willing to meet us halfway. There are, of course, different situations. At the Central Museum of Communications named after A. S. Popov, one reenactor from the Peter the Great era asked to be in the collections, and there, quite by accident, the original buttons from his camisole disappeared. Maybe it wasn’t him, maybe they weren’t there. For example, you often order an inventory, but there is no whole box with drawings; it disappeared during transportation.

The highest stage of reconstruction for us is a hike.

On holidays or long weekends, we get together, leave everything civilian, take everything with us for reconstruction, right down to our underwear. Dry rations are briquetted concentrates of peas and buckwheat; they have been produced since the war. We began to produce such rations following the results of the Soviet-Finnish War, the army was supplied with food no matter, the supply was such that fresh bread had to be delivered, and the frosts were severe, until the horse-drawn cart along the snow-covered broken roads with bread arrived, it was no longer possible to eat it. Therefore, the army returned to the royal breadcrumbs and began making concentrates.

At battlefields, for example in Karelia, a lot of people come to see the military reconstruction. In the vicinity of the city of Suoyarvi, on the 30th kilometer of the Suoyarvi-Loimola highway, the military-historical reconstruction “Karelian Frontiers. Suoyarvi”, dedicated to the anniversary of the end of the Soviet-Finnish (Winter) War. The reconstruction of events takes place at a historical site, the Kola line, precisely in those places where the Red Army and the Finnish army fought fierce battles in the winter of 1940. There were heavy losses on both sides - Russian and Finnish.

People come there every year in March; at that time the frosts are down to -20. The most interesting thing is that a thousand people or more gather, not only Russians, but also Finns. Last year, there were retired Finnish military personnel on the Finnish side, our guys gave them uniforms.”

Participant in military reconstruction dedicated to the Soviet-Finnish (Winter) War, Leningrad region, Russia

“The main problem is materials. Even the thickness of the threads matters to us, although the viewer often does not see the difference. For example, there is such a helmet as SSh36 - this is a helmet of the 1936 model, with a scallop. It is also called “Khalkhingolka”. People who don’t know ask why you put on a fascist helmet?

Or, for example, our famous Sudaev Submachine Gun (PPS). Those who don’t understand say that this is a Schmeisser (German traumatic pistol).

But when a person comes and says: “Wow, this is your SVT-38! (self-loading and automatic rifles of the Tokarev system),” such a person understands what it is.

We are reconstructing the equipment ourselves; now, for example, we are going to make snowmobiles; we have already found the drawings. And all this is collected bit by bit.

Our guys obtained drawings of armored vehicles from the Samara Central Technical Archive. There they found factory drawings of the snowmobile with all the seals.

When we restored the B-64-B armored car, we used photographs from the Aberdeen Proving Ground in the USA. Filmed in great detail. Tires for it were bought in the USA, from the American army off-road vehicle from the Second World War, Willys MB. They were transported through friends - from America they were delivered to Holland, then to Finland, and from there we went and picked them up. Restoring the car took three years.”

Students of the St. Petersburg Polytechnic University at a lecture, St. Petersburg, Russia

“We do not have specialized bases for storing restored military equipment and uniforms. Some reconstruction participants store things at home or in the country, others at work. We store a lot of things in the workshops of St. Petersburg Polytechnic University. The guys who work and study there have a very serious attitude towards patriotism. The university has its own museum of military equipment. Many students visit veterans and assemble models from the Second World War in workshops at the university. Most of our organization are former students of the Polytechnic University.

During the Great Patriotic War, students and teachers of the St. Petersburg Polytechnic University became part of the militia division of the Frunzensky district of St. Petersburg. Every year, students and teachers go to the mountain in the village of Syandeba, a place of military glory, where the division took battle and suffered heavy losses. Some of the fortifications were restored by reenactors and university students.”

“Nobody funds our organization. We do everything on a voluntary basis, there are no duties by order, only a sense of duty. We are drawn to historical war films. The film “Stalingrad” directed by Fyodor Bondarchuk starred 200 reenactors and about 150 extras.

In 2012, the President of the Russian Federation signed a decree on the creation of the Russian Military Historical Society (RVIO). Now you can participate in competitions for holding historical events. The organization that can present its project in the most interesting way receives funding and support from the RVIO.

In addition to the RVIO, there are city administrations, committees for working with youth, and they all hold various competitions. Tenders for events are announced. As a rule, administrations have enthusiasts who are not indifferent to the historical past.

One event may involve a different number of participants. If the administration offers us a football field for the event, then there is little room for reconstruction. As a rule, these are paid events, and we try not to participate in them.

Officially, our organization consists of about 250 people.

Applications are submitted to us and we review them. The compliance of the participant’s military uniform is important, and an important factor is the attitude towards alcohol. The consumption of alcoholic beverages is completely prohibited at our events. After the reconstruction is completed, please, this is a personal matter for everyone.

There are many military reenactment clubs, they are all of different quality, with different goals. There is no strict register of military reconstruction clubs. We are friends with clubs in Moscow, Volgograd, Kaliningrad, and Belarus. Everywhere there are two camps - clubs that accurately and strictly carry the burden of historical accuracy and those clubs that allow some liberties. Some may show up at the beginning of the war wearing shoulder straps that didn’t exist then, or wearing a Brezhnev hat.”

Apartment-workshop of Dmitry Kolyshev, the best master in sewing military uniforms in St. Petersburg. A sample uniform of the Life Guards Preobrazhensky Regiment is presented; Dmitry sewed them as samples for the presidential regiment in the Kremlin Nikolay Shokin

“The question of copy accuracy always arises. We have all the original parts - the engine, axles, gearbox, but we have not yet been able to restore the fuel pump. In our club, historicity comes first. From clothing items to large items, we try to match.

For ten years we had a failure in the fleet due to the lack of original fabrics, and now, thanks to Belarus, we have established the production of fabrics.

The famous master of sewing military hats, Alexander Ballay, even has his own stamp. For many reenactors, this means high quality and a guarantee of historicity. Some craftsmen, on principle, will not sew from the wrong fabric.”

“The fact is that we do not have a legal framework. We have been wanting to offer legal status for a long time. Not a single law says who a reenactor is or what rights he has. At one time, the Cossacks had such a problem. We submit our models for examination to the police so that they can confirm that we cannot use them as military weapons.

The charges are made by special pyrotechnicians who have a license, or we invite guys from Lenfilm who work with pyrotechnics. How, for example, is a grenade made: you take an industrial firecracker, place it in an industrial building, paint it so that from a distance it looks like a grenade, throw it and explode.

We all have original products in our hands, but they are taken out of combat condition so as not to cause damage to ourselves or others. The effect of the shot is visible, but it cannot cause harm.

There are families where everyone is engaged in reconstruction. Clothes are made for all family members, for all eras, and they go to events together. Children are not allowed everywhere; where there is a lot of shooting, they are prohibited. Only if it is a reconstruction will the civilian population leave the city.”

Family of Nikolai Shokin (from left to right): Nikolai Shokin, son Vladislav, wife Elena, daughter Ulyana.
Saint-Petersburg, Russia

"I have two children. My son goes in for sailing at the Sailing Academy, in the summer he has training 6 days a week, in the winter five times. My daughter is very young and goes to kindergarten. My wife is a translator from Italian. We do not send children into combat until they are 18 years old.

My wife is sympathetic to my passion for military reconstruction. Some people like fishing, hunting, and drink strong drinks. My hobby is quite harmless, the only thing is that it happens that I disappear from home for several days.”

The enormous heroism and resilience of Leningraders was demonstrated during the Great Patriotic War. For almost 900 days and nights, under conditions of complete blockade of the city, the residents not only held the city, but also provided enormous assistance to the front. As a result of the counter offensive of the Leningrad and Volkhov fronts on January 18, 1943, the blockade ring was broken, but only on January 27, 1944, the blockade of the city was completely lifted (for more details, see Siege of Leningrad).

The monuments of the glorious city and monuments, the names of streets, squares, embankments tell different stories and stories. Many of them are like scars left over from severe trials and bloody battles. The events of that time have moved away from us by decades, children born after the war have long since had children of their own, and a second generation is growing up, for whom the Leningrad blockade is represented by books, films, and the stories of their elders. Time, however, does not extinguish the living feeling of human gratitude to those who with their lives blocked the path to the city of the fascist hordes. Cutting through the sky, a tetrahedral obelisk rose at the entrance to the city, in its southern front gate, on the sides of which, like our contemporaries, our grandchildren and great-grandchildren, stood the bronze figures of the heroic participants in the legendary defense of Leningrad during the Great Patriotic War; hundreds of thousands of Soviet people, with their labor or their own resources, took part in its construction. It turned into a 220-kilometer belt of Glory, dressed in granite and concrete of monuments, memorials, a fiery, incompressible blockade ring: at Pulkovo and Yam-Izhora, at Kolpin, at the Pulkovo Heights, in the area of ​​​​Ligov and the former Uritsk, along the borders of the Oranienbaum “patch”, on the Nevsky “patch” stood, like immortal sentries, in a guard of honor, obelisks, steles, memorial signs, sculptures, guns and combat vehicles placed on pedestals. Commemorative wayposts were lined along the Road of Life from Leningrad to the Ladoga shore. Eternal flames burn at the Piskarevskoye and Serafimovskoye cemeteries.

Hitler hated the name of the city on the Neva, the glorious traditions and patriotism of its inhabitants. Here is an excerpt from the secret directive of the German naval headquarters “On the future of St. Petersburg” dated September 22, 1941: “The Fuhrer decided to wipe the city of St. Petersburg from the face of the earth. After the defeat of Soviet Russia, there is no interest in the continued existence of this large population center. It was proposed to blockade the city and, through shelling from artillery of all calibers and continuous bombing from the air, raze it to the ground. On our part, there is no interest in preserving at least part of the population of this big city."

To carry out their barbaric plan, the Nazi command sent huge military forces to Leningrad - more than 40 selected divisions, more than 1,000 tanks and 1,500 aircraft. Together with the Germans, Leningrad was attacked by: the army of the White Finns, the “Blue Division” from fascist Spain, legionnaires from the Netherlands, Holland, Belgium, Norway, recruited from fascist henchmen. The enemy troops outnumbered ours several times. To help the Soviet wars, a people's militia was formed in Leningrad. Workers, office workers, and students joined it.

In the occupied areas of the Leningrad region, underground groups and partisan detachments were created, where brave people went, ready to make any sacrifice in the name of the Motherland.

Hitler was going to immediately wipe the city off the face of the earth, but the professional military machine encountered fierce resistance from Leningraders. During the blockade of Leningrad, about 150 thousand shells were fired and 102,520 incendiary and 4,655 high-explosive bombs were dropped. 840 industrial enterprises and more than 10 thousand residential buildings were put out of action. During the blockade, over 640 thousand Leningraders died of hunger.

It took superhuman efforts not to give the city to the enemy. A people's militia army of 130 thousand people was created in Leningrad. Thousands of Leningraders joined partisan detachments. The construction of defensive lines unfolded on a front stretching 900 kilometers and was carried out near Pskov, Luga, Novgorod, Staraya Russa, and on the Karelian Isthmus. On the near approaches to Leningrad, a system of all-round defense was created, which consisted of several defensive belts. Over 500 thousand residents participated in the construction of defensive structures. More than 4 thousand pillboxes and bunkers were built in the city, 22 thousand firing points were equipped in buildings, and 35 kilometers of barricades and anti-tank obstacles were erected on the streets.

When the plan to quickly capture the city failed, the German leadership decided to bomb the city and weaken it through a blockade. From November 20, 1941, workers began to receive 250 grams of bread per day on food cards, all others - 125 grams. Despite such meager food and incessant bombing, the city stood until the end. During the blockade, workers manufactured and repaired 2 thousand tanks, one and a half thousand aircraft, thousands of naval and field guns, manufactured 225 thousand machine guns, 12 thousand mortars, over 10 million shells and mines.

The enemies hoped that severe hardships would awaken base, animal instincts in Leningraders and drown out all human feelings in them. They thought that starving, freezing people would quarrel among themselves over a piece of bread, over a log of firewood, would stop defending the city and, in the end, would surrender it.

On January 30, 1942, Hitler cynically declared: “We are not deliberately storming Leningrad. Leningrad will consume itself."

But the Nazis miscalculated. They knew the Soviet people poorly. Those who survived the blockade still remember the deep humanity of the Leningraders who suffered immensely, their trust and respect for each other.

The work of 39 schools in the besieged city was a challenge to the enemy. Even in the terrible conditions of besieged life, when there was not enough food, firewood, water, and warm clothes, many Leningrad children studied. Writer Alexander Fadeev said: “And the greatest feat of Leningrad schoolchildren was that they studied.”

The journey to school and back home was dangerous and difficult. After all, on the streets, as on the front line, shells often exploded, and we had to go through the cold and snow drifts.

It was so cold in the bomb shelters and basements of the buildings where classes were held that the ink froze. The potbelly stove standing in the center of the classroom could not heat it, and the students sat in coats with raised collars, hats and mittens. My hands became numb, and the chalk kept slipping out of my fingers.

The disciples were staggering from hunger. They all had a common disease - dystrophy. And scurvy was added to it. My gums were bleeding and my teeth were shaking. Students died not only at home, on the street on the way to school, but sometimes even right in the classroom.

“I will never forget Zinaida Pavlovna Shatunina, Honored Teacher of the RSFSR,” recalls the siege survivor, Olga Nikolaevna Tyuleva, “she was already over 60 years old. During this fierce time, she came to school in an ironed dark dress, a snow-white collar, and demanded the same smartness from us schoolchildren. I looked at her and thought: How furious the Nazis would be if they saw our teacher. By her example, she prepared us for an everyday small feat - to be able to remain human under inhuman conditions.”

In January 1944, through the heroic efforts of the troops of the Leningrad, Volkhov and 2nd Baltic fronts, in close cooperation with the Baltic Fleet, the Ladoga and Onega military flotillas, the blockade was lifted.

January 12. 9.30. Operation Iskra begins. Here it is, the minute we've been waiting for! Sky over the Neva cut through the fiery stripes of a volley of 14 divisions of guards mortars - “Katyushas”. Artillery burst out: from the right bank of the Neva about 1900 guns and large-caliber mortars - 144 per kilometer of breakthrough and 2100 from the Volkhov side - 160 per kilometer. There were stubborn battles. And only two weeks later, on the night of February 6, the first trains passed along the Shlisselburg-Polyany railway, built in record time. The Nazis were still looking through Sinyavinsky Heights corridor, broken through the blockade ring, violently, Literally every train traveling along the new road was frantically fired upon, but the land connection between the besieged city and the mainland had already been restored anyway.

In what year was St. Petersburg founded? This question is very interesting, because this city is called Northern Palmyra. Its inhabitants are considered intellectuals. The city was the capital of the Russian Empire for a long time. It abounds in museums, palaces, architectural and cultural monuments.

In what year was St. Petersburg founded?

It is known that on May 27, 1703, by order of the Russian Tsar Peter I, the construction of the Peter and Paul Fortress began on Hare Island. It became the first building of the city, which later received the name St. Petersburg. The city itself is of artificial origin.

Where was St. Petersburg founded? Many believe that he seemed to have grown out of nothing in the swamps. However, this is not quite true. The year in which St. Petersburg was founded and how it was built so quickly will be discussed further. Let’s say right away that construction was a difficult and very costly process.

A little history

Settlements at the mouth began to be built starting in the 14th century by the Swedes (Landkrona fortress, 1300) and Novgorodians (Ust-Okhta, 1500). In 1611, at the confluence of the Okhta River and the Neva, the Swedes built near which the settlement of Nienstadt (in Swedish - “city on the Neva”) soon appeared, which in 1632 received the status of a city. By the end of the 17th century, Nienstadt had become a major trading port, surrounded by a large number of settlements. In 1703 it was captured by Russian troops and renamed Schlottburg.

Initial plans of Peter I

Who founded St. Petersburg and what were the prerequisites for this? To protect the new territories conquered in Swedish Ingria during the Northern War, Tsar Peter I decided to build a new fortress, which was founded on May 27, 1703 on one of the islands in the widest part of the Neva mouth. And on June 29, Peter’s Day, the fortress was named St. Peter-Burkh (in honor of This is another answer to the question of what year St. Petersburg was founded. Initially, in order to speed up construction, the walls were poured out of the ground. And the creation of stone structures began three years later.It turns out that the name of the fortress gave the name to the future city, which began to be built around it on drained swamps and neighboring islands.

The first St. Petersburg church, tavern and pier

In November 1703, the first city church, Trinity, was opened on Berezovy Island. It was originally built from wood. However, a few years later it was rebuilt in stone. At first, it was the main religious institution of the new capital. It was here that Peter took the imperial title in 1721. The square on which the temple was located received the same name - Trinity. She went out to the river. Neva. The city's first pier was built here. Many ships moored to it for unloading and loading. The first tavern and guest courtyard were also built on the square. The island on which the fortress was located was renamed from Zayachy to Gorodskaya.

Construction

To speed up the construction of stone buildings, Peter I banned construction from stone throughout Russia, and a special tax was levied on everyone entering St. Petersburg. The person had to bring a certain amount of stone with him or pay its equivalent in money. Buildings were also constructed on the other side of the river. Shipyards were built. Vasilyevsky Island was being rebuilt, which Peter wanted to make a city center. The construction process was difficult, but the one who founded St. Petersburg had the determination to complete what he started and knew what he was doing.

The construction of the city, which was planned as a “window to Europe,” was led by foreign specialists, and construction work was carried out by serfs, etc. state peasants. The latter were mobilized for labor service. They were brought from all over Russia. Only about 24 thousand people were engaged in cutting down forests, draining swamps and laying roads. Since 1717, civilian workers were involved in construction. By this time, about 6% of the 300 thousand construction workers had already died.

The first buildings performed utilitarian and, above all, defensive functions. Whoever founded St. Petersburg wanted to ensure Russia's presence in the region for centuries. Soon the construction acquired an even greater scope and began to be carried out more carefully and systematically. The work was supervised by professional architects. In 1706, the Office of City Affairs was created to manage all work and issues. In 1716, the primary plan for the development of the city was adopted, developed by the architect Domenico Trezzini, who had worked in the city since its founding. It was according to this plan that the center was planned to be located on Vasilyevsky Island. Such was the whim of the king. The island was washed by two channels of the Neva. They planned to cover it with a geometrically regular grid of streets, and make channels for drainage. However, construction was soon headed by Jean-Baptiste Leblond.

Capital of the Empire

Yes, Peter the Great founded St. Petersburg. Gradually the city was successfully rebuilt and expanded. The first foreign ship arrived in the harbor in 1703. In 1705, the city experienced a flood, and in 1712, St. Petersburg was proclaimed the capital of Russia. All government institutions and the emperor's court were moved here. Considering that the Northern War had not yet been completed at that time, this is a unique historical precedent - the capital of one state was located on the lands of another. St. Petersburg remained the capital of Russia until 1918, when Moscow was reclaimed as the capital.

In 1709, the first public school in Russia was opened in St. Petersburg, and in 1719 - the first museum (Kunstkamera). In 1724, the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences was created. In 1728, the first Russian newspaper began to be published. In 1851, St. Petersburg was connected to Moscow by a 451-kilometer railway.

Throughout its existence, the city was renamed several times (Petrograd in 1914, Leningrad in 1924). In 1991, it was returned to its original name. It is the third largest city in Europe. In 1725 there were about 40 thousand people, most of whom were military personnel, residents of surrounding villages, as well as serfs assigned to the city to carry out construction work. By the end of the century there were about 200 thousand inhabitants. Now more than 5 million people live in St. Petersburg.

Present tense

Peter 1 founded St. Petersburg, and this city became the pearl of the country. It currently has about 1,200 streets and more than 70 churches. Tourists will not be left indifferent by such attractions as the Peter and Paul Cathedral and the Peter and Paul Fortress, the Winter Palace, the Hermitage, the Kunstkamera and others. Come to the city on the Neva and join the history of your native country!