Year: 1967
Type: book
Abstract: The Setting CHAPTER The Founding of St. Letersburg J n the year 1703, Peter the Great, Tsar of Russia, founded a city on the banks of the Neva River near its mouth at the head of the Gulf of Finland.It was an act of daring and sovereign self-confidence to attempt to create a national and international hub of politics, science, and culture, representing the finest in Russian society, here on the braided delta of the Neva amid the birches and conifers of a vast and barren boreal forest.For this was swbarctic wilderness lying at 60° north latitude, only about 7° south of the Arctic Circle, and within the perennial grip of a harsh and unrelenting climate.With chilly summers and long, dark, frigid winters, battling the elements had to be a major year-round preoccupation.Stull, the Neva Delta had some points to recommend it.For one, there was the proximity of the gulf and the easy access it provided to the open seas, a major consideration in days before trains and planes.The prospect of a good port for Russia on the Baltic Sea, open at least 6 months a year, outweighed many of the drawbacks of the subarctic location.The river would provide an abundance of fresh water and an inland navigation route.Fish, always a staple in the Russian diet, 3 Ww UL Wz The Modern City of Leningrad 1s Key to Map of Downtown Leningrad .Pharmaceutical Island (Aptekarsky Ostrov -Aurekapcruit OctpoB), where the Komarov Botanical Institute of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR (Borannuecknit Uncrutyt um.B. JI.Romapopa AH CCCP) is located (east end). .Peter and Paul Fortress (Petropavlovskaya Krepost'-Iletpo-WaBIOBCKasd Hpenocts ).
Authors: Stanwyn G. Shetler, Smithsonian Institution
Language: English
Subfield: History and Philosophy of Science
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
Funders: Royal Society, University of Leicester
OpenAlex ID: W2482551430