CHRONOLOGY

 

the 12th c. Novgorod lays Ingria (Inkerin-maa) under tribute.
1181–1195 Reign of the Pope Alexander III, who forbids selling arms "to the pagans of Ingria".
1478 Conquering of the Republic of Novgorod by Moscow.
1484–1486 First brutal deportations of the Inkeris and Votes from Ingria to Russia.
1617 Ingria is annexed by Sweden under the name of Ingermanland, Peace-Treaty of Stolbovo between Sweden and Russia ; Lutheran Finnish colonisation in Ingria.
1670–1734 Life of Domenico Andrea Trezzini, the first architect of Sanct-Peterbourg, designer of many main buildings, such as the Cathedral of St. Peter and St. Paul, The Twelve Colleges, Palace of Menshikov.
1679–1719 Life of Jean Baptiste Leblond, a French architect, designer of planning of Sanct-Peterbourg and its imperial suburbs.
1686–1743 Life of Michail Zemtsov, architect of Sanct-Peterbourg, designer of Anichkov Palace.
1700–1771 Life of Bartolomeo Francesco Rastrelli, son of a sculptor, the greatest architect of Sct.-Peterbourg, designer of the (third) Winter Palace, Catharine Palace in Sarskoe > Tzarskoe Selo (Saarimoisio "Island's homestead", Saarskoe), the Geat Palace in Peterhof and many other masterpieces of the Baroque architecture.
1703 Peter I Romanov (born 1672), (Russian Czar since 1682 together with his brother Ivan V, since 1689 autocrat), ruler of the Western cultural orientation, founds Sanct-Peterbourg in Ingria on place of the Swedish fortress Nyen (Nevanlinna 'Neva Town' in Finnish) in the delta of the river Neva after having re-captured this Finno-Ugrian land from the Swedes in the Northern War. A fortress is built south-westwards from Nyen on Hares' Island (Jδnisaari). Aim of Peter I was to Europeanise Russia. This Europeanising (Westernisation) was achieved on the small territory of non-Russian Ingria only. Love to Holland and passion, with which Peter I exterminated Russian traditions and personally cut beards of ethnic Russian noblemen, force to suspect that he hated ethnic Russia. Consequently he strongly restricted the Orthodoxy, traditional ethnic Russian ideology.  
1704 Enslaving of the Ingrian peasants; inauguration of a shipyard on the left bank of Neva.
1710 Ingria is incorporated into Russia as its province, the Russianising of the local toponyms begins.
The first public entertainment for the inhabitants of Sct.-Peterbourg: a procession of more than 70 dwarfs in rich German clothes during the wedding ceremony of Peter Romanov's Chief Dwarf.
1710–1716 Building a palace for Menshikov by Domenico Trezzini on the right bank of Neva.
1710–1794 Life of Antonio Rinaldi, architect of Sanct-Peterbourg, designer of palaces in Oranienbaum and Gatchina, as well as of the Marble Palace in Sanct-Peterbourg.
1711 Building the first Winter Palace on the left bank of Neva.
1712–1733 Domenico Trezzini realises his greatest project – the building of St. Peter and Paul Cathedral on Jδnisaari.
1713 The capital of Russia is transferred from Moscow to Sanct-Peterbourg. All administrative buildings are located on the right bank of Neva.
1713–1780(?) Life of Sabbas Czewakinski, architect of Sct.-Peterbourg, designer of the Cathedral of St. Nicolas, the palaces of counts Sheremetyev and Shuvalov, of the Hermitage Dinner House in Catharine's Park in Tzarskoe (Saarskoe) Selo.
1714 Building the Summer Palace by Domenico Trezzini and Berlin architect Andreas Schlόter on the left bank of Neva.
1717 Beginning of the reforms which broke traditional Russian forms of administrating, introduced a proto-type of ministries (i.e. so-called Colleges), a civil calendar, a civil (not Church-Slavic) alphabet, a western-like education.
1719–1721 Building the second Winter Palace on the same place.
1719–1734 Building Kunstcamera Museum by Domenico Trezzini on the right bank of Neva.
1719–1790 Building Laura of Alexandre of Neva by Domenico Trezzini (finished by Ivan Starov). An avenue leading from the shipyard to this monastery is called Neva (Nevsky) Perspective 'Neva avenue'.
1721 Abolishment of the Orthodox Church institution of the Patriarchate and subduing the Russian Orthodox Church to the State Synod in Sct.-Peterbourg.
1721, 10–17 10 The first great public masquerade celebrating the Nystad Peace-Treaty with Sweden : Peter Romanov appears in garments of a Holland sailor.
1721, 22 10 Senate grants Peter Romanov the title of the Emperor; Sanct-Peterbourg – capital of the Empire.
1722 Introduction of the Table of Ranks of the military and civil servicemen allowing everybody to achieve nobility together with achieving the rank of the Colonel or of the Real State Counselor.
1722–1742 Building the Twelve Colleges Administrative Centre on Vasily's Island (true name Hirvisaari "Elks' island") by Domenico Trezzini.
1725, 8 02 Death of Peter Romanov who left no male heir of his second marriage.
1725–1727 Reign of Catharine I (Lithuanian Martha Skauranskaite, Polish Skowronska), daughter of a Lithuanian farmer from Latvia , the second wife (1712) of Peter Romanov.
1726–1772 Life of Alexandre Kokorinov, architect of Sct.-Peterbourg, co-designer of the building of the Academy of Arts and Director of the latter.
1727–1730 Reign of Peter II Romanov (born 1715), grandson of Peter I and his first wife, son of the Heir Alexis, executed by his father Peter I to death in 1718.
1730–1740 Reign of Anna Romanov, daughter of Czar Ivan V.
1732–1738 The Admiralty complex of the shipyard appears on place of the first shipyard opposite to the Twelve Colleges.
1730(?)–1801 Life of Georg Velten, architect of Sct.-Peterbourg, developer of the complex of the WinterPalace, Director of the Academy of Arts.
1735(?)–1812(?) Life of Charles Cameron, architect of Sct.-Peterbourg, Chief architect of the Admiralty in 1802-1805, designer of the Imperial Palace in Paulovsk (then - Paulust), of the Cameron Gallery and the Agate-Rooms in Saarskoe (Tzarskoe, Saari) Selo.
1736–1737 Conflagrations annihilate 2/3 of the island of the Admiralty (between the rivers Neva and Mya, Russian Moyka); a Commission for the Rebuilding divides the Town into 5 parts:  1)  Admiralty Part – from Neva up to the Fountains' river,  2) Foundry Part – from Fountains' river up to Neva and Ohta on the other side of Neva,  3) Moscow Part – southward from the Fountains' river up to Catharinehof on Finnish Gulf,  4) Vasily's Island Part (true name Hirvisaari "Elks' island"), 5) Petrograd Part – Petrograd island (true name Koivusaari "Birch island") and the remaining Vyborg (Viipuri) Side. The administrative centre is transferred from the right bank of Neva into the Admiralty Part.
1740–1741 Reign of Ivan VI Johann Ulrich, son of Anna Romanov and Anton Ulrich von Braunschweig Lόneburg.
1740–1802 Life of Vicenzo Brenna, architect of Sct.-Peterbourg, one of the designers of the Grand Palace in Paulovsk (Paullust), builder of the Michael's Castle of Paul I.
1741–1762 Reign of Elisabeth Romanov, daughter of Peter I of his second marriage; end of heirs of the masculine line of the Romanov dynasty.
1742 Inauguration of the Academy of Sciences in the building of the Kunstcamera Museum.
1744–1817 Life of Giacomo Quarenghi, architect of Sct.-Peterbourg, designer of the building of the Academy of Sciences , of Smolny Institute, Hermitage Theatre, Assignation Bank, Alexandre Palace in Tzarskoe Selo and other masterpieces of Classicism.
1748–1764 Building the Smolny ("At Tar-Works") monastery and cathedral by Bartolomeo Rastrelli. 
1752–1754 Building the Stroganov's Palace on the Neva avenue and the bank of Mya by Bartolomeo Rastrelli.
1754–1763 Conflagration of the second Winter Palace and building the third Winter Palace on the same place by Bartolomeo Rastrelli.
1759–1783 Activities of a French architect Prof. Jean Baptiste Michel Vallin de la Mothe (1729-1800) in Sanct-Peterbourg, where he created the Museum Hermitage Minor, a Trade-Yard, the Catholic Cathedral of St. Catharine on Neva avenue, other buildings which mark the transition from Baroque to Classicism.
1759–1814  Life of Andrew Voronikhin, professor at the Academy of Arts, architect of Sct.-Peterbourg, designer of the Cathedral of God's Mother of Kazan on Neva avenue, as well as of the building of the Institute of Mines on the right bank of Neva.
1760–1813 Life of Prof. Jean Thomas de Thomon, architect of Sct.-Peterbourg, designer of the building of the Stock Exchange on cape of Vasily's Island (Hirvisaari).
1761–1811 Life of Andrean Zakharov, architect of Sct.-Peterbourg, designer of the second (today's) complex of the Admiralty.
1762 Reign of Peter III von Holstein GOTTORP (born 1728 in Kiel, killed in Ropsha by order of his reigning wife Catharine II), son of Karl Friedrich von Schleswig-Holstein Gottorp and Anna, daughter of Peter I of the second marriage. Peter III - founder of the Gottorp dynasty which adopted the family name Romanov. The policy of Peter III as if was anti-Russian because he finished the war against Friedrich II of Prussia and withdrew the Russian troops from the captured territory. In fact this was only a pretext for his amoral wife, also a German, to organise a coup d'etat and to seize power.
1762–1796 Reign of Catharine II Sophia Charlotte von Anhalt-Zerbst. Named "the Great" because of her outward adherence to the Enlightenment and because military victories of the Empire during her governing. In fact she distinguished herself as voluptuous woman who protected her lovers in holding high posts in the administration. In spite of the Enlightenment, Catharine II was a grave-digger of Polish-Lithuanian Republic, participant of its brutal annihilation and divisions (1772, 1793, 1795) between Prussia, Austria and Russia. 
1764–1788 Building the Academy of Arts by Jean B.M. Vallin de la Mothe and Alexandre Kokorinov.
1766–1777 French sculptor Etienne Maurice Falconet creates in Sct.-Petersburg the world-wide known monument of Peter I – the so-called Copper Horseman.
1768–1785 Building the Marble Palace on the left bank of Neva by Antonio Rinaldi.
1769–1848 Life of Basily Stasov, architect of Sct.-Peterbourg, designer of the building of barracks of Emperor Paul's regiment on Mars' Field as well as of Moscow and Narva Triumph Archs. He was also finaliser of Bartolomeo Rastrelli's Winter Palace and Catharine's Palace in Tzarskoe Selo.
1775–1849 Life of Carl Rossi, architect of Sct.-Peterbourg, designer of the Palace of Grand Duke Michael, Elagin's Palace, Empress Alexandra Drama Theatre, the buildings of Senate and Synod, the ensembles of Alexandra's square and Rossi's str., as well of the Palace square with the building of the General Staff.
1779–1846 Life of Basily Demut-Malinowski, professor and rector of the Academy of Arts, Peterbourg sculptor, author of the group "Abduction of Proserpine" in front of the Institute of Mines.
1783–1789 Building the Academy of Sciences on the right bank of Neva by Giacomo Quarenghi.
1786–1858 Life of Auguste Ricard de Montferrand, architect of Sct.-Peterbourg, designer of the Isaac Cathedral and the column of Emperor Alexandre on the Palace square.
1793–1809 Italian architect Carlo Domenico Visconti in Sct.-Peterbourg, designer of the Mausolem of Emperor Paul I in Paulovsk (Paullust).
1796–1801

 

 Reign of a brilliant Peterbourgian Paul I (born 1754), son of Peter III and Catharine II. Paul I demonstrated further development of the West-European ideas of Peter I. He actively kept forming Sct.-Peterbourg as a Baltic representative of towns of North-European type and as Metropolis of Russia. Being a partisan of Lutheran Prussian moral values and strict order, he could realise this love only as an inclination to Catholicism because the latter was between the Orthodoxy and the Lutheranism. As Honour Master of the Malta Knight Order he became dangerous for the Orthodoxy which was the single tie between West-European Sct.-Peterbourg and ethnic Russia . This, as well as formal dissatisfaction with his policy toward England, was used by the aristocracy, which was corrupted by Catharine II and did not want any discipline. The great romanticist became victim of the conspiracy and was murdered in his own fortified castle.
1797–1800 Building Michael's Castle for Paul I on the bank of Fountains' river by Peterbourg architect Vicenzo Brenna and Russian architect Basily Bazhenov. 
1798–1877 Life of Alexandre Brullow, architect of Sct.-Peterbourg, designer of the Michael's Theatre, the Neo-Gothic church in Pargolovo (Parkala), other buildings.
1799–1852 Life of Karl Brullow, Sct.-Peterbourg painter, brother of Alexandre Brullow.
1801–1825 Reign of Alexandre I, son of Paul I. He kept further the policy of Europeanising Russia through Sct.-Peterbourg but finally understood the cultural abyss between it and Russia and started the policy of the police dictatorship. During his reign Georgia (1801), Finland (1809), Bessarabia (1812) and Azerbaijan (1815) were annexed. He became famous as co-founder of the Holy Alliance at the Vienna Congress of 1815 after the victory against Napoleon. Since he came to power with the help of forces, which had murdered his father, and since he obviously knew this but made use of the latter, a legend about his repentance survived. As if he did not die in Taganrog in 1825 but fled to a monastery as a Russian "starets" (a pious wise old man, usually a monk). 
1801–1811 Building the Cathedral of God's Mother of Kazan by Alexandre Voronikhin on Neva avenue.
1801–1862 Life of Alberto Cavos, architect of Sct.-Peterbourg, designer of the first Great Theatre (further – Conservatoire) and of the reconstruction of the Circus for the future MariaTheatre.
1802–1865 Life of Andreas Stackenschneider, architect of Sct.-Peterbourg, master of eclecticism, designer of the Palace of Beloselsky-Belozersky on Neva avenue, of Princess Maria's Palace, Grand Duke Nicolas Palace, Alexis' Palace on Mya.
1804–1810 Building the Stock Exchange on cape of Vasily's Island (Hirvisaari) with 2 columns with ship rostra by Jean Thomas de Thomon.
1805–1867 Life of Peter baron Clodt von Jόrgensburg, famous sculptor of Sct.-Peterbourg. Copies of his main work – 4 figures depicting "Taming a steed" – adorn Viena and Naples.
1806–1808 Building the Smolny Institute for Noble Girls by Giacomo Quarenghi.
1806–1823 Rebuilding the complex of the Admiralty by Andrean Zakharov.
1811–1837 Alexandre Pushkin (1799-1837) in Sct.-Peterbourg, author of the mystic novel "The Queen of Spades" (1834) on Peterbourg theme.
1813–1889 Life of Peterbourgian Nicolas Benois, Court architect of Nicolas I and Alexandre II, designer of the Chore Chapel on Mya, of the Neo-Gothic Imperial Stables, the Railway station and Cavalry Corps building in Peterhof as well as of the Summer Theatre in Paulovsk (Paullust).
1816–1875  Life of Apolinary Krasowski, Peterbourg engineer, author of the Theory of Rationalism in architecture.
1818–1858 Building the St. Isaac Cathedral by Auguste Montferrand.
1819–1829 Building the General Staff ensemble on the Palace square by Carl Rossi.
1825, 26 12 The revolt of military troops against the absolutism and serf-ownership in Sct.-Peterbourg, organised by the “ North Society” of the military officers. On the day of crowning Nicolas I, brother of Alexandre I, ca 3000 soldiers and 100 officers occupied Senate Square aiming to force the authorities to proclaim a Manifest to the Russian Nation. The revolt was suppressed because of the treason of its leader prince Serge Trubetzkoy.
This caused further development of the police regime in the Empire and the subsequent victory of the Bolshevism in 1917. On the other hand, this prolonged the existence of Sct.-Peterbourg as West-European Metropolis ruler over ethnic Russia.
1825–1855 Reign of Nicolas I, who once confessed having "no drop of Russian blood" in his veins. During his reign the second national liberating revolt of Poland-Lithuania (1830-1831) was suppressed and the idea of the national Orthodox ideology for the ethnic Russians was invented to prevent new revolts.
1829–1834 Building the palaces of Senate and Synod by Carl Rossi.
1829–1894 Life of Anton Rubinstein, Peterbourg pianist, conductor and composer, founder of the Conservatoire (1862).
1833–1838 Building the Lutheran Cathedral of St. Peter on Neva avenue by Alexandre Brullow.
1839–1844 Building Princess Maria's Palace by Andreas Stackenschneider.
1840–1893  Life of the greatest Peterbourgian Peter Czajkowski (Tchaikovsky), world acknowledged composer of the French school, author of the ballets "Nutcracker", "Swans' Lake", "The Sleeping Beauty", famous symphonies, concerts, operas and other masterpieces of classical music.
1850 Inauguration of the building of the public museum of New Hermitage constructed by the German architect Leo Klenze (1784-1864).
1855–1881 Reign of Alexandre II, son of Nicolas I. His reign was signed by the abolishment of the serfdom-ownership. In spite of this a lot of revolutionary trends came into being. The movement of the "People's Will" coincided with the growth of the ethnic Russian constant residents in Sct.-Peterbourg due to influx of worker masses into industrialised Town in the last quarter of the 19th c. For these ethnic Russians the reforms had little significance because West-European Sct.-Peterbourg itself appeared to be alien and therefore ostensibly inimical to them. They had a passion of its destruction. Revolutionary movements gained terrorist character. Representatives of Yiddishland (the Jews imprisoned in the "Settling zone" of Kurlandia, Lithuania, Poland, Belarus and Ukraine) as well as of other discriminated nationalities, took active part in these movements. Alexandre II became victim of the wild assassination. This may be also explained as God's mercy for this good-nature person, what purified him of his adultery in personal life. Nevertheless, the name of Alexandre II is also associated with the suppressing of the Polish-Lithuanian liberating revolt of 1863-1864. In his reign the ideology of Autocracy, Orthodoxy and Russian Nationalism was theoretically formed, but it was actively enforced only during reign of his son and grandson.
1860 Alberto Cavos reconstructs the building of Circus for the Maria Theatre in Sanct-Peterbourg Colomna.
1861–1916 Famous conductor of Maria Theatre Orchestra, composer Eduard Naprawnik (1839, Bejπt in Czechia – 1916) in Sanct-Peterbourg.
1862 Inauguration of the Conservatoire by its founder Anton Rubinstein in the building of the former Great Theatre against the Maria Theatre.
1862–1887 Life of outstanding Peterbourg poet decadent Simon Nadson.
1863–1865, 1872 Building Reformed Evangelical Church at Mya by architects H.Bosse and K.Rachau. After 1917 the Bolsheviks disfigured the church and transformed it into Mailmen Club-cinema.
1870–1960 Life of Alexandre Benois, outstanding artist of Sct.-Peterbourg and one of the founders of the circle The World of Art and its leader, son of Nicolas Benois.
1875–1956 Life of Reinhold Gliere, the last Peterbourg composer, author of the Hymn of the Great Town.
1876–1877 Building Circus of Gaetano Cinizelli by architects W.Kenel, P.Bernhardt and O.Krehl.
1880–1884 Michail Wrubel (Wrσbel, 1856–1910), Russian painter and drawer of the Polish origin, studied and worked in Sanct-Peterbourg.
1881–1894 Reign of Alexandre III, son of Alexandre II. The Emperor governed under the conditions of rapidly Russianising Sct.-Peterbourg. This, as well as the miserable end of his westernised father, forced Alexandre III to an attempt to become Ethnic Russian, really close to the title nation of his Empire. In this respect his and his son's Nicolas II policy was opposite to the historic West-European line of Peter I, Founder of Sct.-Peterbourg. An artificial mode of idealised ethnic Russian culture begins. Russian Pseudo-Byzantine church architecture is introduced into Sct.-Peterbourg disharmonising with its Western appearance. Simultaneously, all kind of Russification in any part of the Empire was accompanied with provoking ethnic Russians to murder and rob the Jews. Anti-Semitic myths are widely spread, the official policy becomes Anti-Semitic too. The foreign policy is oriented more toward France and less toward Germany.
1890, 19 12 Premiere of Peter Czajkowski's opera "The Spades Queen" in Maria Theater under conduction of Eduard Naprawnik.
1894–1917 Reign of Nicolas II, son of Alexandre III. Nicolas II keeps playing a Russian Czar. Unfortunately, Nicolas II appeared to be an enough restricted ruler whose decisions were either erroneous, or late. He could not forbid the provocation of the 9 Januar 1905 which formally signed the break of the 1st revolution. The war against Germany was the final result of the Russian madness and meant the end of Sct.-Peterbourg and the Gottorp dynasty itself. After his and his family's arrest in 1917, they were first imprisoned in Tzarskoe Selo, then – in Tobolsk and in Ekaterinburg in Siberia. All of them were brutally murdered by Ethnic Russians on 17 July 1918 in Ekaterinburg on order of Bolshevik degenerates Vladimir Lenin and Jacob Sverdlov. This was not the last reason why Ekaterinburg was later renamed Sverdlovsk. The murder was historic not only because of the personalities of the victims but because they were the first victims whose murder was a mass one (together with the servants and other relatives in Alapaevsk), sanctioned by the supreme authorities secretly with the official lie. Thus this was the beginning of the Bolshevik genocide during following decades. The house of their murder became place of pilgrimage for various Russians in subsequent decades. Therefore Boris Yeltsin, future President of Russia, ordered to demolish the house while being 1st secretary of the Communist party in Sverdlovsk. In this way alcoholic Boris Yeltsin joined ethnic Russian enemies of Sct.-Peterbourg and became participant of the murder (all murderers naturally tried to hide all traces of the murder from the very beginning) soiled with the innocent blood of at least the children, the doctor and the servants.
1914 Sanct-Peterbourg is renamed Petrograd.
1917  The Russian February revolution abolishes the monarchy.
1917, 25 10 /
            7 11		 Leo Trotski organises the revolt of Bolshevik Soviets against Temporary Government, Vladimir Lenin becomes head of the bloody ethnic Russian Bolshevik State. End of the epoch of Sanct-Peterbourg Metropolis, beginning of the genocide.