One thing that can double the fun of travel to St. Petersburg is getting to know the city's past in different historical periods. Many tourists also travel to Russia in historical and cultural travel to familiarize themselves with this beautiful and spectacular city. In Russia tour, different styles of tourism are covered so that every tourist with any taste can get the best experience of traveling to Russia. St. Petersburg is also a large city with a remarkable history that has more than three centuries of Russian history at its heart. St. Petersburg is the cultural capital of Russia. For this reason, we should expect many cultural tourist attractions in this city and numerous museums and places of interest that display Russian culture. Another thing that tourists can easily see in St. Petersburg is the history of Russia and St. Petersburg. Many of St. Petersburg's tourist attractions are tied to Russian history. St. Petersburg was founded in 1704 and has experienced many ups and downs over three centuries. To better understand the history of St. Petersburg, we must study its various historical periods one by one. In the Star Travel blog, we have already given a complete review of the history of the Russian Empire from the reign of Peter the Great to the last Russian emperor, Nicholas II, which you can find out by visiting our blog. The history of St. Petersburg during the reign of all Russian emperors is one thing that gives you a complete picture of how the Russian Empire developed.
The Fall of the Empire
After Peter the Great established St. Petersburg as the capital of his new empire, until Paul I, the first influential emperor in the history of St. Petersburg, succeeded Peter the Great, four great queens reigned over the Russian Empire, each made a significant impact on the history of St. Petersburg. For information on the history of St. Petersburg during the reign of all Russian Empresses, you can visit our blog. St. Petersburg became one of the largest, most beautiful, and most important capitals in Europe during the Russian Empire from a newly established city. Many of St. Petersburg's tourist attractions also belong to this historical period. Grand Imperial Palaces, critical art and historical museums, such as the Hermitage Museum and the State Russian Museum, are among the attractions of St. Petersburg that tourists should not miss the opportunity to visit on tour to St. Petersburg. Royal palaces in the suburbs of St. Petersburg, such as Peterhof, Pushkin, and Pavlovsk, are also attractions that tourists should not miss during their tour to Russia. Although St. Petersburg flourished during the Russian Empire, the cultural, economic, and political problems that people dealt with every day led to the most significant Russian revolution during the reign of Nicholas II, which led to the collapse of the Russian Empire and the formation of the Soviet Union.
The Revolution
The collapse of the Russian Empire took place in two stages. In the first phase, in February 1917, after a failed revolution, Nicholas II, the last Russian emperor, ascended the throne. Secondly, in October 1917, the revolutionaries and the Bolsheviks, after receiving the signal by the Aurora Cruiser Ship, one of the most important tourist attractions of St. Petersburg on tour to Russia, began the attack on the Winter Palace, which today is the headquarter of the Hermitage Museum. The successful mission to capture the Winter Palace completed the October Revolution and ended the Russian Empire. That happened only five years after the end of World War I, at a time when the people and the Russian Empire were forgetting the hardships of war and St. Petersburg was returning to its heyday. You can visit the State Political History Museum during the St. Petersburg tour program to learn more about this historical period.
Sergei Mironovich Kirov
The following crucial historical period in St. Petersburg during the Soviet rule was during the leadership of Sergei Kirov in St. Petersburg. An essential member of the Bolshevik Party, he took many steps to improve the economic and industrial situation in St. Petersburg, and many St. Petersburg workers recognized him as a hero. Of course, Sergei Kirov was assassinated during the Stalin era, the then leader of the Soviet government. Although there is still no direct evidence of Stalin's involvement in Kirov's assassination, most people in St. Petersburg believed that Stalin was involved in the matter. The first dark period of St. Petersburg took place after Kirov's death, when Stalin, under the pretext of Kirov's assassination, launched the first phase of the Great Purge of St. Petersburg, in which many political activists, workers, and ordinary citizens of St. Petersburg were executed, imprisoned, or forced to work at labor camps. One of the most important buildings built during this period in St. Petersburg that tourists can visit during the St. Petersburg tour is the Soviet House on Moskovsky Street. This building is an excellent example of Stalinist architecture in St. Petersburg.
Siege of Leningrad
The next dark period of St. Petersburg is considered one of the terrifying historical periods of this city. During World War II, the city was besieged by the Nazi army as Nazi Germany invaded Russia, following Hitler's plan to demolished St. Petersburg. One of the strangest and darkest heroic events in St. Petersburg was the 900-day resistance of the people of St. Petersburg, the soldiers, commanders, and resistance forces of this city against the Nazi German army. Many citizens of St. Petersburg lost their lives defending the city. Many of St. Petersburg's most important landmarks and historical sites, which are now part of Russia tour in St. Petersburg, have been largely destroyed. However, St. Petersburg, renamed Leningrad in those years, did not surrender the city to the Nazi German and resisted to the end. People can find the name of many citizens, soldiers, commanders, and workers of Leningrad in the pillars of Heroic defender of Leningrad. The Museum of the History of Politics and the Museum of Defense and the Siege of Leningrad in St. Petersburg, and the Museum of the Great Patriotic War in Moscow are excellent places to visit to learn about this dark period world and St. Petersburg.
Post War Era
After World War II and Leningrad's unparalleled resistance to the Nazi army, there was much damage to the city, some of which was rebuilt immediately after the war. Many of St. Petersburg's tourist attractions today were considerably destroyed, including the Winter Palace, St. Petersburg suburban palaces such as Peterhof, Pushkin, Gatchina, and many others. As the people of Leningrad celebrated the victory over the siege of Leningrad, Stalin, who saw the young leaders of Leningrad as a threat to his power, began the second phase of his Great Purge in Leningrad called the Leningrad Affairs, which, as before, many leaders, citizens, and fighters of Leningrad were imprisoned, exiled or executed. Just after the end of World War II, this incident caused significant damage to the spirit of St. Petersburg and its citizens. You can visit the Museum of Defense and Siege of Leningrad on the St. Petersburg Tour for more information.
The Thaw
After several dark and frightening periods in St. Petersburg's history, from the October Revolution to the aftermath of World War II, under the leadership of Nikita Khrushchev, St. Petersburg breathed new life and was able to regain some of the freedom it once held. During this historical period, known as The Thaw, many restrictions were eased, censorship was reduced, and many Leningrad prisoners and those in labor camps returned to their homes. This historical period also breathed new life into Russian literature, and many books of poetry and fiction were published freely. You can get acquainted with the atmosphere of those days of Leningrad and the artists who published their works by visiting the literary museums of St. Petersburg during the tourism programs of the trip to St. Petersburg. By visiting our blog, you can find out the name and location of each of the prominent literary museums in St. Petersburg.
Leonid Brezhnev
Just as the people of Leningrad thought the dark ages were over and the economic, cultural, and social stagnation of Leonid Brezhnev's leadership took over Leningrad. Many of Stalin's censorships once again cast a shadow over Leningrad, with artists suffering the most damage from these censorships. During this period in Leningrad, smuggled goods and underground books and writings flourished Leningrad. People were required to wait for illegal newspapers to access the news of the world and Russia. Nevertheless, this period saw the establishment of two important literary museums on the St. Petersburg tour, the Dostoevsky Memorial Museum and the Rimsky-Korsakov Memorial Museum.
The Fall of Communism
The last page of the history of Leningrad under Soviet rule took place under Gorbachev. Unlike former Soviet leaders, Mikhail Gorbachev spoke of the Soviet Union's fundamental problems and promised to correct them. Fulfilling this promise to some point, he was slandered by other members of the Communist Party and placed under house arrest late in his leadership. Following Gorbachev's media liberties, that occurrence led to a great revolution of the Russian people, especially Leningrad, which eventually led to the end of the Soviet Union and its collapse. After the collapse of the Soviet Union in Leningrad, one of the most historical events was the return of the city's name to its former name, St. Petersburg, by popular vote. Today, tourists who want to visit St. Petersburg can enjoy this beautiful city more by knowing the history of its past three centuries.
