7 misconceptions about St. Petersburg
Petersburg myths
Anything can happen in St. Petersburg.
The residents themselves do not know much about their city, and much that they know often turns out to be a delusion. Here are just some of the most popular St. Petersburg myths. Perhaps you also believe that... St. Petersburg is named after Peter I.
Many people mistakenly believe that St. Petersburg is named after its founder, Peter I. However, this is not so.
The city bears the name of the heavenly patron of the first Russian emperor - the Apostle Peter. The Russian emperor had a desire to name some fortress in honor of his heavenly patron long before the founding of St. Petersburg. Such a fortress was supposed to be erected on the Don if the Azov campaign was successful, but it ended in failure. A fortress in honor of St. Peter was founded on May 16, 1703 on the Neva and named St. Petersburg. But already on June 29, after the foundation of the Peter and Paul Cathedral in the fortress, it began to be called Peter and Paul, and the old original name Petersburg later spread to the entire city. The myth of the founding of St. Petersburg.
“On May 16, 1703, while inspecting the island of Yeni-saari, Peter suddenly stopped, cut out two layers of turf, laid them crosswise and said: “There should be a city here.” At that time, an eagle appeared in the air and began to soar above the king.”
In fact, on Hare Island (Yeni-saari in Finnish), not a city, but a fortress was founded.
The city arose later under her protection on the neighboring Berezovy Island. Some researchers claim that Peter was not present at the founding (as historians have established, from May 11 to May 20 he was not at the site of the future city at all). St. Petersburg was founded on uninhabited desert territory.
This legend took root in the consciousness of St. Petersburg residents, which was greatly facilitated by the lines from Pushkin’s “The Bronze Horseman”: “On the shore of desert waves.”
We imagine an uninhabited desert area covered with forests and swamps. In fact, only on the site of the historical center of the city there were about forty settlements, many of which belonged to Novgorod even before the Swedish occupation. Many buildings of the future capital arose in already inhabited places. On Vasilievsky Island there was a hunting lodge of Delagardie, on the site of the Admiralty there was a Swedish settlement, the name of which could not be established; at the mouth of the Fontanka - the village of Kallila (this is where Kalinka village and Kalinka bridge are from); on the site of the Engineers' Castle there is the Kanau manor with a well-kept extensive garden (the Summer Garden arose in its place); in the Smolny region - the village of Spasskoye. Before the emergence of the city, there were settlements whose names have survived to this day - Sabirino, Odintsovo, Kukarevo, Maksimovo, Volkovo and Kupchino. The Bronze Horseman is made of copper.
"The Bronze Horseman" is the symbol of the city.
“The Bronze Horseman—we are all in the vibration of his copper,” wrote A. A. Blok. However, the material of the monument is not copper, but bronze, and it received its name only after the appearance of the poem of the same name by A. S. Pushkin. The Kisses Bridge got its name thanks to lovers.
Until now, the Kisses Bridge is considered a meeting place for lovers.
This has supposedly been the case for a long time. Hence the name, all the more symbolic because this bridge does not open. In fact, the bridge is named after the merchant Potseluev, who ran a tavern on the left bank of the Moika River, on the corner of what is now Glinka Street. The tavern was called “Kiss”, which is why the bridge leading to it began to be called Kisses. Myth about the origin of the name "Vasilievsky Island".
There is also a misconception about the origin of the name “Vasilievsky Island”.
It is believed that under Peter there was a fortification on the western tip of the island, commanded by artillery captain Vasily Korchmin. Sending orders to him, Peter wrote: “To Vasily on the island” - hence, supposedly, the name. But the name of the island existed before the founding of St. Petersburg. It was mentioned back in 1500 in the census salary book of the Vodskaya (Vodinskaya) Pyatina of Veliky Novgorod. At the same time, the island had another Finnish name - Elk (Hirva-saari). It was here that Peter intended to create the city center. Barmaleyev Street is named after the robber Barmaley from Chukovsky's Fairy Tale.
In fact, everything was “exactly the opposite.” K.I. Chukovsky wandered around the city in the early 20s with the artist M.I. Dobuzhinsky, and they came across a street with such a strange name. Of course, both began to fantasize - and thus the African robber Barmaley was born. Dobuzhinsky immediately painted his portrait, and Chukovsky later came up with poetry. In Russian there is a word "barmolit" - to speak indistinctly. Maybe the word "barmaley" was a nickname for a person, and then became his surname? Hence the name of the street where he most likely was a landowner.
The residents themselves do not know much about their city, and much that they know often turns out to be a delusion. Here are just some of the most popular St. Petersburg myths. Perhaps you also believe that... St. Petersburg is named after Peter I.
Many people mistakenly believe that St. Petersburg is named after its founder, Peter I. However, this is not so.
The city bears the name of the heavenly patron of the first Russian emperor - the Apostle Peter. The Russian emperor had a desire to name some fortress in honor of his heavenly patron long before the founding of St. Petersburg. Such a fortress was supposed to be erected on the Don if the Azov campaign was successful, but it ended in failure. A fortress in honor of St. Peter was founded on May 16, 1703 on the Neva and named St. Petersburg. But already on June 29, after the foundation of the Peter and Paul Cathedral in the fortress, it began to be called Peter and Paul, and the old original name Petersburg later spread to the entire city. The myth of the founding of St. Petersburg.
“On May 16, 1703, while inspecting the island of Yeni-saari, Peter suddenly stopped, cut out two layers of turf, laid them crosswise and said: “There should be a city here.” At that time, an eagle appeared in the air and began to soar above the king.”
In fact, on Hare Island (Yeni-saari in Finnish), not a city, but a fortress was founded.
The city arose later under her protection on the neighboring Berezovy Island. Some researchers claim that Peter was not present at the founding (as historians have established, from May 11 to May 20 he was not at the site of the future city at all). St. Petersburg was founded on uninhabited desert territory.
This legend took root in the consciousness of St. Petersburg residents, which was greatly facilitated by the lines from Pushkin’s “The Bronze Horseman”: “On the shore of desert waves.”
We imagine an uninhabited desert area covered with forests and swamps. In fact, only on the site of the historical center of the city there were about forty settlements, many of which belonged to Novgorod even before the Swedish occupation. Many buildings of the future capital arose in already inhabited places. On Vasilievsky Island there was a hunting lodge of Delagardie, on the site of the Admiralty there was a Swedish settlement, the name of which could not be established; at the mouth of the Fontanka - the village of Kallila (this is where Kalinka village and Kalinka bridge are from); on the site of the Engineers' Castle there is the Kanau manor with a well-kept extensive garden (the Summer Garden arose in its place); in the Smolny region - the village of Spasskoye. Before the emergence of the city, there were settlements whose names have survived to this day - Sabirino, Odintsovo, Kukarevo, Maksimovo, Volkovo and Kupchino. The Bronze Horseman is made of copper.
"The Bronze Horseman" is the symbol of the city.
“The Bronze Horseman—we are all in the vibration of his copper,” wrote A. A. Blok. However, the material of the monument is not copper, but bronze, and it received its name only after the appearance of the poem of the same name by A. S. Pushkin. The Kisses Bridge got its name thanks to lovers.
Until now, the Kisses Bridge is considered a meeting place for lovers.
This has supposedly been the case for a long time. Hence the name, all the more symbolic because this bridge does not open. In fact, the bridge is named after the merchant Potseluev, who ran a tavern on the left bank of the Moika River, on the corner of what is now Glinka Street. The tavern was called “Kiss”, which is why the bridge leading to it began to be called Kisses. Myth about the origin of the name "Vasilievsky Island".
There is also a misconception about the origin of the name “Vasilievsky Island”.
It is believed that under Peter there was a fortification on the western tip of the island, commanded by artillery captain Vasily Korchmin. Sending orders to him, Peter wrote: “To Vasily on the island” - hence, supposedly, the name. But the name of the island existed before the founding of St. Petersburg. It was mentioned back in 1500 in the census salary book of the Vodskaya (Vodinskaya) Pyatina of Veliky Novgorod. At the same time, the island had another Finnish name - Elk (Hirva-saari). It was here that Peter intended to create the city center. Barmaleyev Street is named after the robber Barmaley from Chukovsky's Fairy Tale.
In fact, everything was “exactly the opposite.” K.I. Chukovsky wandered around the city in the early 20s with the artist M.I. Dobuzhinsky, and they came across a street with such a strange name. Of course, both began to fantasize - and thus the African robber Barmaley was born. Dobuzhinsky immediately painted his portrait, and Chukovsky later came up with poetry. In Russian there is a word "barmolit" - to speak indistinctly. Maybe the word "barmaley" was a nickname for a person, and then became his surname? Hence the name of the street where he most likely was a landowner.