On May 16th 1703 on the Zajatsji island in the Russian river Neva, the construction of a new city had started. On May 27 Tsar Peter the Great placed the first stone for the Peter and Paul Fortress, giving birth to St. Petersburg.
Peter decided to build a new capitol, to wash away the conservative style of Moscow. He wanted Petersburg to be a true European city. During part of the year the whole region was flooded by water and so was this Island. In necessity, hundreds of tons of earth had to be moved to the location to essentially raise the land from sea level. Eventually, the large base of the fortress emerged, with six large bastions. Peter himself supervised the construction of the sixth bastion. He usually worked on the fortress in the summer months, residing in his small cabin near the building site where he would review architectural plans and take care of the daily problems of construction.
At first, the existence of the city was in jeopardy as the construction commenced during the Great Northern War, when one of the most disciplined fighting forces in the world at the time, Sweden, was at St. Petersburg's doorstep. The glorious victory over Sweden at the Battle of Poltava (yep, Poltava Ukraine) named Russia as a new superpower, established the prominence of Peter the Great, and secured the safety of the new city of St. Petersburg.
Peter, having visited Venice in 1698, fell in love with the city and it's European architect. Much of St. Petersburg today resembles Venice and is often referred to as Venice of the North. Buildings designed by architects from all over Europe, brought to Russia to showcase their talents and design a city rich in diversity. Construction took place so rapidly that the city took shape not by the week or even day, but by the hour. In fact, travelers to the new city were required by Peter's decree to bring stones and building material with them, or pay a hefty tax!
The pace of construction was relentless, with tens of thousands of workers being brought to the city to work on the massive project. To punish what he saw as disloyalty, Peter condemned tens of thousands of Cossacks to build canals and drain marshes, clear forests, drag stones to pave the streets, cut, hew and haul lumber to the banks of the Neva and drive piles, build docks. The slaves lived in crowded, filthy huts in the midst of swamps and squalor. Many of them died from the intensive labor malnutrition, wild animals malaria, scurvy and dysentery. In the wintertime, many froze. According to estimates from Peter's time, at least 100,000 people died building his city. For this reason, St. Petersburg is sometimes said to be built on bones. Many workers deserted as wages were rarely paid on time and local officials complained of the conditions behind Peter's back.
The buildings in St. Petersburg were not tall. In fact, Peter the Great made it law that no building, except for churches, could be built taller than his palace. He envisioned a marvelous city that no one else could imagine. Peter was truly a great visionary, a man who lived his dreams. The building and prosperity of St. Petersburg is, without a doubt, mainly due to the iron will and passion that Peter the Great invested in the city. Today St. Petersburg is considered as one of the most beautiful cities in the world.
