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St. Petersburg was founded on the 16th of May 1703. That day the six-bastion fortress was ceremonially laid on the Zayachy Island in the broadest part of the Neva estuary. The laying of the Fortress became a culmination in the succession of events that lasted several centuries. The Finnish Gulf, the Ladoga Lake, the Onega Lake and the surrounding region became the arena of fight between Novgorod, and later the centralized Russian State and the neighboring states, especially Sweden. In 1710 the Capital of Russia was transferred to St. Petersburg from Moscow, while in 1712 the Tsar Family and households together with the major Governmental Bodies moved to St. Petersburg. On the 27th of July 1714 Russia fleet headed by Peter the Great scored the decisive victory at Gangut cape in the Baltic Sea that made Russia an equal partner among the European states and determined the outcome of the Northern War. Peter the Great conceived the idea of a regularly planned city with well-defined layout developed to clear designs. Domenico Tresini was the first architect who made the General Layout of the city center. His designs were used for construction of the Summer Palace of Peter the Great, the Building of the Twelve Boards, and the laying of the Alexander Nevsky Monastery, that appeared to be of the prime importance for the city development and the ideology. It was Peter the Great's intention to move the Relics of Saint Alexander Nevsky from Vladimir City to this monastery to make a memorial that would always remind of the glory of Russian troops. Jean Batist Leblon was the architect who developed the General Layout of St. Petersburg. During that period such buildings as the Menshikov Palace, and the Kunstkamera were constructed; the outstanding sculptor and architect B.F. Rastrelli worked in the city. The combined efforts of these architects lead to the specific style of St. Petersburg baroque.

During the reign of Nicolay II (1894-1917) Russia waged a number of wars that happened to be extremely hard for the Country. The war with Japan lead to the defeat of Russian fleet at Tsushima Island and to the loss of the Port Arthur (in China). In 1914 the First World War I broke out. Under the influence of anti-German vein St. Petersburg was renamed into Petrograd in 1914. This war (1914-18) appeared to be fatal for the Russia autocracy. The October Coup inspired by the Bolsheviks headed by V. Lenin on November 6-7 1917 lead to the change of the political system in Russia. The Civil War and the mess in economy followed these events. All private properties were nationalized. In twentieth of XX century thousands of workers from industrial outskirts moved to central apartments, breaking the functional structure of the central residential houses. During these years the Bolsheviks sold out to foreign countries a lot of national treasures, sacred objects that belonged to church, that had been created and cherished for many centuries. In 1917-1923 the Mars Square in St. Petersburg was transformed into a garden laid out to the drawing of I. Fomin. The granite monument to the revolutionaries was erected there to the design of L. Rudnev. V. Lenin died in 1924. The Bolsheviks renamed the city into Leningrad "to immortalize Lenin's name".

The Great Patriotic War with Nazi Germany became the hardest ordeal for the whole country and in particular for St. Petersburg. According to the plan of Hitler, Leningrad was supposed to be totally demolished. The Blockade of Leningrad was the most tragic period for the city during the World War II. It lasted from September 08 1941 till January 27 1944, about 900 days and nights. Fighting for Leningrad the Soviet troops managed to keep the enemy back from the city at quite a short distance setting an example of real heroism. Two million eight hundred and eighty seven civilians left is the blocked city. The Military Council of the Leningrad Front established the production of ammunition died of hunger, while seventeen thousand more were killed by bombs and shell splinters. The memorial ensembles were created in sixtieth at Piskarevskoye and Seraphimovskye cemeteries, were the victim of the Blockade had been buried. The monuments of history and culture and the suburban palace complexes were ruined or devastated. The restoration works started right after the war. These works were most successfully performed in fiftieth and sixtieth.

The ninetieth of XX century are marked the drastic changes in the governmental structures and economical policy. In 1991 the name of Saint Peter was returned to the city. The high speed St.Petersburg-Moscow railroad project was started in 1991. In 1994 St.Petersburg became the place of the Good Will Games. The projects for revamping of the City Sea Port and the Airport have been initiated. The growth of business, political and cultural activity is quite obvious. Being one of the major European centers the city has the honor to be referred to as the Northern Capital of Russia.

Upon the decision of UNESCO St.Petersburg has been recognizes as a Monument of the Works Culture.