SAINT-PETERSBURG GENERAL OUTLINE

Part I

Geography. St. Petersburg is the second largest city both in Russia and in the Commonwealth of Independent States¹ (CIS). It is the parliamentary capital of the Commonwealth of Independent States — the seat of the Interparliamentary Assembly² of CIS. The city was founded by Peter I in 1703. Throughout its history³ the city has changed the name three times: it was called St. Petersburg, Petrograd, Leningrad. In September 1991 the historical name — St. Petersburg — was officially restored.

St. Petersburg is situated at the mouth of the river Neva, on the eastern coast of the Gulf of Finland. The city stretches for 60 sq. kilometres from north to south, and for 30 kms from west to east. One tenth of the city's area is covered by water. There are more than 60 rivers and canals in St. Petersburg. The city was built on 100 islands, that's why it got the name of the Venice of the North. Now the city is situated on 42 islands. Its population amounts to about 5 million.

Climate. Owing to the Baltic Sea the climate is generally characterized by a mild moist winter and a short warm summer. The average monthly temperature in January is about -8° C, in July – about 18° C. Numerous cyclones cause frequent changes in weather at any time of the year. Sometimes the winter is severe, and the summer is hot.

St. Petersburg is famous for its white nights which last from the end of May to the end of July. During the white nights the sky is so light that there is no need for street lighting. In autumn strong winds from the Baltic Sea often bring floods. They mostly take place at the end of October and the beginning of November. St. Petersburg has seen 270 floods with a water rise of over 1.5 metres. The most destructive one was in 1824.

Areas and Districts of the City. St. Petersburg is one of the very few cities of the world built on a single plan. The central point of the city is the Admiralty. Its gilded spire can be seen from different parts of St. Petersburg. The spire with the ship at the top is considered to be its emblem.

The Admiralty was designed as the architectural centre of the city and you can see three of the city's main streets — they radiate outward from the Admiralty in straight lines. According to the history of its construction, the city can be divided into three concentric parts.

The central part includes the majority of administrative and educational institutions, offices of Russian and foreign companies, banks, shops, restaurants, most of the theatres, museums, and historical and cultural monuments. The boundaries of this part are easily detected from the location of four oldest city railway terminals.

The industrial part historically surrounded the central part, but in the last twenty years the most part of the plants, factories, transport and warehouse enterprises moved to the outskirts of the city. The third, outer part consists of large residential areas which began to appear in the 1960's, when the city outgrew its older boundaries.

Vocabulary

1. state, independent, commonwealth, parliamentary, seat, coast, mouth, area, square, number, island, average, severe, numerous, change, street, lighting, flood, rise, single, gilded, spire, main, construction, majority, administrative, institution, boundary, terminal, warehouse, enterprise, residential;

2. to found, to change, to restore, to be situated, to stretch from ... to, to be covered by, to amount to, to cause, to be famous for, to consider, to design, to radiate, to include, to detect, to surround, to contain, to form, to appear, to outgrow.

Notes on the text

¹ the Commonwealth of Independent States —Содружество Независимых Государств

² the Interparliamentary Assembly — Межпарламентская Ассамблея

³ throughout its history — на протяжении всей истории

Exercises

1. Practise the pronunciation of the following words:

St. Petersburg, Russia, Commonwealth, parliamentary, honour, assembly, throughout, the Gulf of Finland, Venice, the Baltic Sea, the Admiralty, spire, numerous, administrative, institution, cultural, concentric, terminal, warehouse, enterprises, residential, area, boundary, outskirts, appear.

2. Find the synonyms and translate into Russian:

majority, to be situated, wet, most of, building, construction, to be located, moist.

3. Put the words in the correct order:

1. City, Peter I, the, founded, by, was, 1703, in.

2. Is covered, one tenth, by water, of the city's area.

3. The mouth, is, at, the city, Neva, situated, the river, of.

4. The, temperature, January, is, average, in, -8°C, about.

5. Admiralty, designed, the, of, as, architectural, was, centre, city, the.

6. Strong, floods, winds, Baltic Sea, from, the, bring, often.

4. Complete the following sentences:

1. St. Petersburg is the second largest city both in Russia and……………………

2. The city was founded in…………………………….

3. St. Petersburg is situated on the eastern coast of………………

4) The climate in the city is characterized by a long and mild winter and …………………….

5) During the white nights the sky is so light that…………….

6) The central point in the city is…………………………

7. According to the history of its construction the city can be divided into……….

8. The central part includes…………………………

9. The most part of the plants . . . . .. . . . . ………. .

5. Summarize the text.

Part II

History. The history of St. Petersburg has always been bound up with the history of Russia, its national economy, culture and science. In the 18^th and 19^th centuries the city developed as a naval port which gave Russia an access to the Baltic Sea — «a window to Europe».

St. Petersburg became the major economic, cultural and political centre of the country. In 1712 it was proclaimed the capital of Russia.

Throughout its existence St. Petersburg has witnessed many great historical events, among them the Decembrists' Uprising in 1825, three revolutions at the beginning of the 20th century. But for the residents of the city two dates are especially memorable. The first is the date of the city's birth — the 27^th of May, 1703. The second is the day of the city's complete liberation from enemy encirclement during World War II — the 27^th of January, 1944. No other city in the world endured the trials which the city lived through for 900 days of Nazi siege. Isolated from the rest of the country and despite constant bombardment and shelling, despite sufferings from cold and hunger Leningraders successfully defended their city. More than 650.000 people died due to bombing, shelling and hunger.

St. Petersburg today. Present day St. Petersburg is not only a city of beautiful architectural ensembles and historical monuments but also the second largest industrial city of Russia, one of its most important centres of scientific and technological progress. The main industries of St. Petersburg are machine-building, instrument-making, radio-engineering, electronics, power-engineering, car industry, and optical industry. Chemical, light and food industries are also highly developed. The city's enterprises produce ships, cars, machine tools, turbines and telescopes. Among them there are a lot of joint ventures. Western investors are playing a growing role in the business life of St. Petersburg. By the number of created Russian-foreign joint ventures our city holds one of the first places in the country.

St. Petersburg is today Russia's biggest ocean port. A new maritime trade port is being built now. Its construction will make it possible to provide more intensive links with foreign partners.

The city is an important railway junction which has 5 railway terminals. A high-speed railway line between Moscow and St. Petersburg has been constructed. It has reduced the journey time for passengers and the freight. The Pulkovo airport, both its international and domestic air terminals, will be reconstructed and expanded to rank with the best airports of the world and to cope with the growing number of flights.

St. Petersburg plays the leading part in scientific and technological progress of the country. It is one of the largest centres of science having research institutes, design and technological organizations¹. The city's scientists have made great contribution to the field of physics, mathematics, chemistry, medicine, space exploration, etc. There are over 60 higher educational institutions in the city.

St. Petersburg is one of the major cultural centres not only in the country but in the world as well. It can boast of more than 50 museums, the famous Hermitage and Russian Museum are among them. 100 theatres, including such well known companies² as the Mariyinsky Opera And Ballet House, the Tovstonogov Academic Bolshoi Drama Theatre, the Shostakovich Philarmonia, ten's of exhibition halls and art galleries, cinemas and libraries.

St. Petersburg enriched the world of culture with the works of Anna Akhmatova, Dmitry Shostakovich, Evgeny Mravinsky, Galina Ulanova, Arkady Raikin, Iosif Brodski, Dmitry Likhachev, and other eminent people.

City's beautiful architectural and historical monuments, numerous museums and theatres attract thousands of tourists.