The history of the official name of the city on the Neva is very confusing. In May 1703, the fortress of St. Peter Burkh was founded on the Hare Island, the name of which was given by Tsar Peter I.
Instructions
Step 1
Despite many misconceptions, the city is named not after Tsar Peter I, but in honor of its heavenly patron Saint Peter. More precisely, at that time there was still no city. There were only buildings inherited from the Swedes, on whose former lands this city was built, and a small fortress. A month and a half after the foundation, the first stone of the Cathedral of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul was laid in the center of this fortress. Later, the people began to call this fortress Peter and Paul, and its name was transferred to the city, which at that time had already grown up around it.
Step 2
This city was to become the new capital of the Russian Empire. This happened just 9 years after its foundation. In 1712, the capital was moved from Moscow to St. Petersburg. Every year the new capital of the Russian Empire gained its global influence and gained more and more prestige in the world. They began to count with her. Western diplomats have written rave reviews of the city. Already in the 18th century, hundreds of flattering epithets were invented to characterize the city. Among them are such famous ones as "New Rome", "Northern Palmyra", "New Babylon", "Russian Athens", "Venice of the North" and "Second Paris". And in the Greek way the city began to be called "Petropolis" and "Petropolis".
Step 3
However, already in the 19th century there were quite a lot of those who did not like the name of the city or were incomprehensible. In the eyes of many inhabitants of the empire, Petersburg seemed to be an entirely Western military city. There was a roar of voices suggesting that it be renamed after the type of ancient Russian cities such as Novgorod and Vladimir. There were offered such variants of renaming the city as "Nevsk", "Petr", "Petrgorod" and even "New Moscow". Under the onslaught of public criticism, on August 19, 1914, St. Petersburg was renamed Petrograd.
Step 4
However, this name did not last long - a little less than ten years. Three years later, the Bolsheviks came to power in the Russian Empire. On March 10-11, 1918, the capital was moved back to Moscow. And in January 1924, allegedly at the request of the workers, Petrograd was renamed Leningrad.
Step 5
In 1991, the Soviet Union collapsed and the Bolsheviks lost power. Despite more than seventy years of Soviet propaganda, in which the name "Leningrad" prevailed over the name "Petersburg", folklore has never been mistaken about this. During the referendum held on June 12, 1991, the majority of residents voted in favor of returning the city to its historical name in honor of St. Peter the Apostle. About 54% of the townspeople who took part in the referendum spoke in favor of this idea. And on September 6, 1991, the city was officially named Saint Petersburg by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR.
