St. Petersburg: What’s in a Name? - The Wise World Traveler: Becoming a Part of All that You Meet - page 144

Figure 10.1. St. Petersburg
At war with Sweden for twenty-one years (the Great Northern War), Peter's ultimate
victory gave Russia huge holdings in what is now Estonia and Latvia and, more important
for Peter's imperial ambitions, his “window on the West”—access to the Baltic Sea. To
frame that window, a city needed to be built. And in so doing, Peter opened a debate that
still continues between Slavophiles and Westernizers, that is, those who wish to keep Rus-
sia insulated from western influences and those who seek to unify Russian and western cul-
tures.
Legend has it that in 1703 Peter took his sword (or was it a bayonet?) and sliced two
pieces of earth from a marshy island where the Neva River enters the Gulf of Finland. Lay-
ing the two pieces crosswise, he commanded that a city be built “here and in this place.”
Wise (but not wiser) heads counseled that the island was marshy, an unsuitable place for
urban development. But Peter's diktat was not to be countermanded, let alone thwarted, and
in May 1703 saws and axes began clearing forests. At the end of June (Peter's and Paul's
Day), foundations of a church were laid within the fortress that was Peter's new house. Still
standing, the oldest “residence” in the city, the house and much else in St. Petersburg are
a memorial to Peter's city. Originally built of wood, Peter's house reflects the city's island
origins. No stones suitable for building were present on the island. Rich and noble famil-