METROPOLIS: LENINGRAD
Leningrad - as St Petersburg was called from 1924 to 1991 after Lenin's death. It had already been renamed Petrograd by Tsar Nicholas II in 1914. Only the name Leningrad reminds us of the terrible time from 1941 to 1944 in which 600,000 people died under the siege by German troops. St Petersburg reminds us of Tsar Peter the Great. The following quote by Antoine de Saint-Exupery fits him well: 'If you want to build a ship with someone, don't divide the work... but awaken in them yearning for the big wide sea'. One of the largest harbors in Russia is in St Petersburg: canals connect the Neva to the Caspian and White Seas as well as to the Dnipro and the Volga. | The Hermitage is St. Petersburg's most significant building. In the Winter Palace the Russian Tsars collected together everything which was significant in European art during their era. The historically significant Palace Square is framed by the Hermitage and the General military headquarters building. The October Revolution began with the storming of the Winter Palace and thereby the end of the reign of the Tsars. |
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