Historical Landmarks

1703 Peter the Great founds the city.

1712 The imperial court is moved to the city.

1725 Catherine I moves the capital back to Moscow after Peter’s death.

1730 Empress Anna returns the capital to St Petersburg.

1754 Rastrelli begins the Winter Palace.

1762 Catherine II (the Great) begins her reign.

1801 Catherine II’s son Paul is murdered; Alexander I takes the throne.

1812 Napoleon’s armies attack Russia and capture the Kremlin.

1825 The Decembrist rebellion.

1851 The rail line opens between Moscow and St Petersburg.

1855 Alexander II assumes the throne.

1858 St Isaac’s Cathedral is completed after 40 years.

1861 The emancipation of the serfs.

1881 Alexander II is assassinated and Alexander III assumes the throne.

1894 Nicholas II assumes the throne.

1904–5 Russo-Japanese War.

1913 300th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty.

1914 Russia enters World War I and the city is renamed Petrograd.

1917 In February the tsar abdicates; in October the Bolsheviks stage a coup against the Provisional Government.

1918 Capital moved to Moscow; imperial family killed in Yekaterinburg.

1922 Civil war ends with the formation of the USSR.

1924 Lenin dies and the city is renamed Leningrad.

1941–4 900-day blockade of Leningrad during World War II.

1991 The USSR is dissolved and the city is renamed St Petersburg.

1999 Boris Yeltsin, first president of Russia, resigns on 31 December.

2000 Vladimir Putin, son of St Petersburg, elected president.

2008 Zenit St Petersburg football team wins the UEFA Cup.

2017 A terrorist bomb explodes on St Petersburg metro, killing 15 and injuring 45 people.

2018 Presidential election scheduled for March. In June and July, Russia, including St Petersburg, is set to host the FIFA World Cup.