SAINT PETERSBURG, the capital of the Russian empire, and of the government of the same name, stands upon and around the lower branches of the Neva, and on time shores of the eastern extremity of the gulf of Finland, 16 M. e. of Cronstadt, its port. Let. 59' 56' a., long. 30° 19' east. The Great Neva, the most southern branch of the Neva, divides the city into two great sections—the Petersburg side on the n., and the Great side on the south. The former is built on the ishinds which are formed by the delta of the Neva, the chief of which arc the Vassili Ostrov, the Citadel island, and the islands Aptekarskoi, Kammennoi, Petrovskoi. Krestovskoi. and Elaghinskoi. The Great side, s. of the Great Neva. is compactly built. and contains the residences of the court and of time nobility, and more than half time population. The city covers run area of 42 sq.m., stands 56 ft. above the level of the sea, upon plains which were formerly malarious marshes, but are now for the most part drained and laid out in 'meadows and gardens. Pop. '63, 539,475; '78, about 900,000.
The climate, severe in winter, is pleasant and mild in summer. The mean tempera ture in summer is 62'; in winter, 14° Fehr. The extreme. of temperature are 09' and —31°. Fourteen arms of the Neva, irrespective of the smaller branches, ramify through St. Petersburg, and there nre seven canals.
General View of St. Petersburg.—Approaching the city from Cronstadt (q.v.), the port and fortress of the Russian capital, the first indications of the great city are the gilded dome of the church of St. hak, and the lofty spire of the admiralty, which are seen rising apparently from the water's edge. The Admiralty square faces the English quay on the s. bank of the Great Neva, and may be considered the center of the city. From the spire, with its numerous galleries, the whole plan of the city can be clearly seen. Right opposite it is the populous Vassili Ostrov, on the s. shore of which are the Bourse, academy of sciences, corps of cadets, etc. To the n. is the Citadel island, and further n, the densely peopled Aptekarskoi island, and the Kannueunol, and other islands, which are for the most part studded with wood-embosomed villa's, and laid out in charming 'gardens. Considering the river on the u. as the chord, and the admiralty as the center, •the semicircle that might be drawn with a radius of 2-i m. would pretty nearly describe what is called the Great side of St. Petersburg. This section of the city is divided into three or four portions by the Moika, St. Catharina, Foutanka, and New canals; and it is intersected by three spacious streets, which radiate e s.e., s.e., and s. from the great cen ter, the admiralty. The streets are nanted respectively the Nevski Prospekt (Neva Per spective),_ Gorokhovaia Oulitza (Peas street), Vosuosenskoi Prospekt (Resurrection Per spective). Extensive suburbs also are rising on the eastern bank of the Neva, and there are five railway stations.
.Streets, Squares, Monuments, Bridges, Churches, street architecture of St. Petersburg, unlike that of Moscow, with its pale-yellow walls and red and green roofs, is almost destitute of color. Here the rigid, military aspect of the streets, with the •houses drawn up in long regular lines of gray, or massed together in blocks like the of battalions, is one of the first features of the Russian capital that impress 'themselves upon a traveler. Except in the more fashionable quarters the greater MIDI •ber of the houses are built of wood: but owing 'to the liability of- such houses to catch fire, building in this material is very much discouraged. St. Petersburg contains 500 streets, and among these lanes and alleys are unknown, as, while the finest streets have a breadth of 120 ft., the narrowest are 42 ft. broad. The Nevski Prospekt is the most •splendid street in St. Petersburg; and for architectural grandeur, as well as for natural beauty, for proportions, and for variety, is considered the finest street iu Europe. It is 130 ft. broad, and about 4 m. long, is planted on both sides with trees, contains a large number of the most beautiful palaces, of highly ornamented churches. and splendid warehouses, and increases in breadth and magnificence as it advances from the admiralty. For the first mile it does not contain more than about 50 mansions, each of which, however, is of colossal magnitude. The houses are built of brick faced with st w co, are three and four stories high, and are in many cases furnished with ornaments] porches, colonnades, gilded balconies, and parapets that gird the flat roofs. About ten of the other streets of
the city are distinguished fur their grandeur, though none of them equals the Nevski Prospekt. Thsre are 64 squares in the city, and of these the Admiralty square is one of the most famous. It contains one mass of buildings, presenting to 'the Neva a fine facade, nearly half a mile in length, while its sides are 650 ft. long. In the Palace square, adjoining the Admiralty, stands Alexander's column; an immense monolith, erected in 1834, It consists of a shaft of red granite, standing on a pedestal of the same material, and supporting a capital, above which rises the figure of an angel and a cross. The length of the shaft is 80 ft., and that of the whole column 150 feet. Peter's square contains the noble and well-known equestrian statuo of Peter the great, 18 ft. high, and erected 1768-82. The Field of Mars, large ,enough to allow of 40.000 men being put through military evolutions, contains the bronze statue of Snwaroff, and a monument to Catharine II.—Bridges.—Of the 150 bridges that unite the islands, cross the canals, and span the Neva, the Annitchkoff bridge, leading across the Fontanka canal, consists of five arches, is 110 ft. long, and is decorated with four spirited groups, in bronze, of wild horses and their tamers, by a native artist. The Nikolayevski bridge, a magnificent struc ture in granite, and the only permanent bridge save one that crosses the Neva—the others being temporary bridges supported on bloats, and removed every autumn and spring— was completed in 1850. It crosses the Neva from the English quay ou the s. bank of the Vassili Ostrov shore, is 1200 ft. long, and consists of seven elegant arches. supported upon ponderous piers of granite. At tile northern end of the bridge there is a draw bridge which affords a passage to ships. No part of St. Petersburg affords a foundation solid enough to support weighty structures. The foundation for the Nikolayevski bridge was not obtained until three sets of piles had been driven into the oozy bed of the river, the one on the tip of the other, and so close that all the timbers touched each other all the way across.—Pal«ces, Petersburg might be called a city of palaces, from the number of edifices of that description which it contains. The Winter palace, destroyed by fire in 1837, but soon after rebuilt, is certainly the largest, and, in one sense, probably the most Magnificent palace in the world. It is 4•i0 ft. long and 040 wide, has an imposing facade, and 800 inhabitants. and, during the resi dence of the emperor within it, is inhaited by 6,000 people. It has numerous ample halls. decorated in the most artistic manner, sod containing collections, furniture. and articles of recto of immense value. The Hermitage. situated on the Neva like the Win ter palace, is eonnected with that strimetn•e by several galleries. Its gallery of 2,000 paintings is famous for its specimens of the Spanish school. The library of this palace contains the collections of Diderot. Voltaire, etc., and possesses in all 120,000 vols. The Aunitehkoff palace is the residence of the cesarewitch. Time imperial library, one of time first in Europe. contains 1,100,000 vols. and 35,000 MSS. The gilded tower of the admiralty buildings, which is said to he visible from Croustadt, and certainly forms in these flats a most conspicuous laud-mark, is 230 ft. high. The old and new arsenals are surrounded by cannon taken from the Turks and Petersburg contains about 350 churches, 300 of which are orthodox. Within the citadel stands the church of St. Peter and St. Paul, finished in 1727. It is surmounted with a slender tower, crowned by a gilded spire, the whole being 345 ft. high. The cathedral of St. Izak, though destitute of architectural beauty, is'remarkable for its rude magnificence, and is one of the most, considerable buildings of modern times, is 330 ft. long, 290 ft. broad, and 310 ft. high. It is surmounted by a great gilded dome, and by four smaller domes. The domes are made of bronze, and the value of the plate-gold by which they are overlaid is stated at £50,000. Each of hs four sides is adorned with a peristyle of 12 or 1p red granite monolith pillars from Finland. Other notable churches are the cathedral of Our Lady of Kazan, and the Vladimir church.