Introduction to Saint Petersburg
(compiled by Petersburg Library Society)

Saint Petersburg is the youngest of European capital cities. Emerging on the Neva River around the fortress founded in 1703, the city was made by Peter I in 1712 and for two hundred years remained the capital of the vast empire. It was renamed several times: as Saint Petersburg - Petrograd - Leningrad …

The palaces and streets witnessed the events governing future developments in the country, associating with many public figures creating the glory of Russia. By the end of the 19th century Saint Petersburg had already developed as a major industrial, credit and exchange center of worldwide importance. The 1012 large- and medium-scale industrial enterprises located in the city employed 234 thousand workers.

Recent trends are toward the restored role of Saint Petersburg as Russia's wide-open "gateway" to the outer world.

To date, the city rates second in the country both in size and significance, appearing the art treasury and museum city preserving fine works of great architects. The majestic, fill-flowing Neva River, magnificent granite parapets of the embankments, spacious squares and wide avenues, mirror-like canals and fine wrought-iron railings, elegant palaces and grand architectural ensembles, all contribute to the unforgettable image of the city, one of the most beautiful in the world.

Saint Petersburg with administrative areas now occupies 1 439 km2 in the eastern section of the Gulf of Finland in the Baltic. Lying at a crossroads of sea lanes, waterways and railway communications, Saint Petersburg acts as a European gateway and strategic center for Russia, the closest approach to European Communities. International organizations, foreign consulates, territorial Federal ministries and agencies are represented here.

Saint Petersburg is the administrative center of North West Federal District incorporating Karelian Republic, Komi Republic, Nenets Autonomous Area, Archangel, Vologda, Kaliningrad, Murmanska, Novgorod and Pskov Regions. Saint Petersburg ranks fourth in population (4 624 thousand inhabitants) in Europe, next to London, Moscow and Paris.

Among others, Saint Petersburg is symbolized as the Venice of the North, home waters covering about ten per cent of the area, with 40 streams totaling 217.5 km. The city has more than 580 bridges including 20 drawbridges (7 across the Neva). The Neva runs across the city for 32 km.

As a cultural center of worldwide importance, Saint Petersburg has developed an immense cultural potential over the three centuries, remaining as the true gem of world culture. Among the valued contributors to cultural history in Russia were the architects and artists creating the world-famous architectural ensembles of Petersburg: the Peter-and-Paul Fortress, the Alexander-Nevsky Lavra, the Smolny, St Basil Point with the Stock Exchange and the Twelve Colleges, the Palace Square with the Winter Palace, the Triumphal Arch and the Alexander Column, the Decembrists Square and the Bronze Horseman, St Isaac's Cathedral and many other monuments and buildings. The very diverse museum world is represented by 250 museum institutions including the world-renown Hermitage, the State Russian Museum holding the richest collections of Russian art, palaces within Saint Petersburg and in the suburbs, and the so-called minor municipal museums like F.M. Dostoevsky memorial, museums collecting musical instruments, arts and crafts, or professional collections including:
- 45 representing natural sciences and engineering: Central Railway Museum, Military Medical Service Museum, Zoological Museum, etc.
- 18 for literature: the All-Russia A.S. Pushkin Museum, A.A. Akhmatova memorial museum in Fontanny (Fountain) House, etc.
- 5 State Museum Reserves: Peterhof, Tsarskoe Selo, Pavlovsk, Oranienbaum, Gatchina, etc.
- 39 history museums: Central Naval, A.V. Suvorov Memorial, etc.
- 24 museums of regional and ethnic studies: Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography, Museum of Regional History in Pushkin town, etc.

There are 45 public galleries and exhibition halls; over 80 theatrical companies including more than 30 state-supported, among them:
- musical: the Mariinsky, M.P. Mussorgsky Opera and Ballet House, Musical Comedy Theatre, etc.
- dramatic: G.A. Tovstonogov Academic Great Drama Theatre, N.P. Akimov State Academic Theatre, the Baltic House, etc.
- children's: A.A. Bryantsev Junior Theatre, Children's Musical Theatre "Through the Looking Glass", Great Puppet Theatre, etc.

Almost 50 movie-houses, including 40 state-supported.

The 1800 library institutions include:
· 190 public libraries,
· 98 academic,
· 99 college,
· 750 school,
· 115 trade-union.
Among them are the country's oldest:
- Academy of Sciences Library
- National Library of Russia
- State Theatre Library Saint Petersburg

Libraries of national importance:
- Academy of Arts Library,
- Central Agricultural Library,
- Central Science and Engineering Library,
- Naval Library,
- All-Russia Geological Library.

The V.V. Mayakovsky Central Municipal Public Library is the city's biggest public library.