История Санкт-Петербурга, вступление. (10 класс)

St. Petersburg is the second largest city in Russia and one of the most beautiful cities in the world. It was founded in 1703 by Peter the Great as the “Window on Europe”. It was planned to become a new capital of Russia. The city was founded during the Northern War (1700-1721), the war between Sweden and Russia for the lands, which used to belong to Novgorodian Principality. But from 1617 these lands were taken by Sweden. It was a part of trade route from Varegians to Greeks. The city was built on the swampy land at the mouth of the River Neva which is located at the coast of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. Prominent European and Russian architects worked here. The new capital grew rapidly in wealth and beauty. And already in 1712 the capital of the country was moved from Moscow to St.Petersburg though the war was not finished and the lands still belonged to Sweden.  St. Petersburg was the capital of Russia from 1712 till 1918.

When World War I began in 1914, the German-sounding name St. Petersburg was changed to Petrograd by Nicolas II. In 1924, after the death of V. Lenin, the city was given a new name – Leningrad. In 1991 after the split of the USSR the old name of St. Petersburg was returned to the city. These are three official names of the city but there are a lot of so called nicknames such as Venice of the North, Cultural Capital, The Cradle of Revolution.

During the Great Patriotic War the city suffered a greatly. The German armies laid siege to it in 1941, and for the next two years and a half the city was cut off from the rest of the country. No food could be brought in, and people died of starvation. Daily shelling and air raids destroyed parts of the city. Thousands of people were killed. The siege of Leningrad lasted for almost 900 days and the people never gave up. Rebuilding took years.

Now St. Petersburg is an industrial, cultural and scientific centre. There are over 200 museums, more than 80 theatres, a lot of picture (art) galleries, clubs, universities, colleges, schools and parks.

Today the population of the city is more than 5 mln people. Saint Petersburg is a major European cultural center, and also an important Russian port on the Baltic Sea.

Vocabulary:

Air raid – налет авиации
artistically – мастерски
to be founded – быть основанным
to destroy – разрушать
exhibition – выставка
invasion – вторжение
to lay siege – осадить
mouth – устье (реки)
prominent – выдающийся
rapidly – быстро
to rebuild – восстанавливать, перестраивать
to rename – переименовать
shelling – бомбежки
starvation – голод
swampy – болотистый

Answer the questions
1. Who founded St. Petersburg, when and where?
2. When was St. Petersburg the capital of Russia?
3. How many times has the city been renamed and why?
4. What happened to the city during the Great Patriotic War?
5. How many museums and theatres are there in the city?
6. What is the population of the city?
7. Why is Saint-Petersburg called The City of three names?