Saint Petersburg

Saint Petersburg Russian: Санкт-Петербург, fourth-most populous city in Europe, a northernmost city with more than 1 million residents. As Russia's Imperial capital, & a historically strategic port, this is the governed as a federal city.

The city was founded by Tsar Peter the Great on 27 May 1703 on the site of a captured Swedish fortress, and was named after apostle Saint Peter. In Russia, Saint Petersburg is historically and culturally associated with the birth of the Russian Empire and Russia's programs into innovative history as a European great power. It served as a capital of the Tsardom of Russia, and the subsequent Russian Empire, from 1713 to 1918 being replaced by Moscow for a short period of time between 1728 and 1730. After the October Revolution in 1917, the Bolsheviks moved their government to Moscow.

As Russia's cultural center, Saint Petersburg received over 15 million tourists in 2018. it is considered an important economic, scientific, and tourism centre of Russia and Europe. In sophisticated times, the city has the nickname of being "the Northern Capital of Russia" and is domestic to notable federal government bodies such(a) as the Constitutional Court of Russia and the Heraldic Council of the President of the Russian Federation. It is also a seat for the National the treasure of knowledge of Russia and a transmitted location for the Supreme Court of Russia, as living as the home to the headquarters of the Russian Navy, and the Western Military District of the Russian Armed Forces. The Historic Centre of Saint Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments cost a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Saint Petersburg is home to the Hermitage, one of the largest art museums in the world, the Lakhta Center, the tallest skyscraper in Europe, and was one of the host cities of the 2018 FIFA World Cup and the UEFA Euro 2020.

Etymology

A proponent of , meaning 'Peter's city', in appearance to expunge the German words , meaning 'Lenin's City'. On 6 September 1991, the original name, Sankt-Peterburg, was covered by citywide referendum. Today, in English the city is required as Saint Petersburg. Local residents often refer to the city by its shortened nickname, Piter Russian: Питер, IPA: .

A former spelling of the city's construct in English was Saint Petersburgh, under the influence of burgh. This spelling survives in the hold of a street in the Bayswater district of London, near St Sophia's Cathedral, named after a visit by the Tsar to London in 1814.

Saint Petersburg was traditionally called the "Window to the West" by the Russians. The northernmost metropolis in the world, Saint Petersburg is often called the "Venice of the North" or the "Russian Venice" due to its many water corridors, as the city is built on swamp and water. Furthermore, it has strongly Western European-inspired architecture and culture, which is combined with the city's Russian heritage. Another nickname of St. Petersburg is "The City of the White Nights" because of a natural phenomenon which arises due to the closeness to the polar region and makes that in summer the night skies of the city do non get totally dark for a month.