Re: Koporye Fortress near St.Pete

From: Andrey Frizyuk (frizyuk_at_yahoo.com)
Date: 08/17/04 

Date: 17 Aug 2004 13:02:26 -0700

Padraig Breathnach wrote...
> Is it not "Petrograd" to Russians? Except when it was "Leningrad"?

No. As the name St.Petersburg isn't particularly poetical, Russian
poets (Derzhavin, Pushkin, etc) invented Greeko-Slavic names for the
capital: Petropol(is), Petrograd, Nevograd, etc. When the WWI started
90 years ago, there was a discussion if the name should be changed to
Petrograd or to Nevograd. The former version proved more popular in
official circles, because it was first used by Pushkin in "The Bronze
Horseman". The popular nickname has always been Peter.

> I spoke last night with a family member who has just come
> back from a visit there. She tells me that it is very impressive,
> but many of the fine buildings are in a worrying state of
> dilapidation and, unless something is done, they might be ruins
> in forty years.

Overcentralization of the Russian state resulted in the fact that the
capital accumulates 90% of the national finance. After the capital was
moved to Moscow in 1918, the older city rapidly overtook Leningrad in
population and well-being. Even now, in financial terms Petersburg is
little more than an average oblast centre. It is sometimes compared to
Venice, for having lost his power, its imperial edifices are slowly
succumbing to indifference and decay.

Best wishes

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