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122-431: The oblast was established on 1 August 1927, although it was not until 1946 that the oblast's borders had been mostly settled in their present position. The oblast was named after the city of Leningrad . In 1991, the city restored its original name, Saint Petersburg , but the oblast retains the name of Leningrad. It overlaps the historical region of Ingria , and is bordered by Finland ( Kymenlaakso and South Karelia ) in

244-712: A scale insect once used to produce red dye , lives on cinquefoils and other plants in Eurasia. Some, but not all, cinquefoils are insect-pollinated , producing nectar that lures bees , hoverflies , muscid flies , butterflies, true bugs , and ants . One fossil fruitlet of † Potentilla pliocenica has been described from a middle Miocene stratum of the Fasterholt area near Silkeborg in Central Jutland , Denmark . Four fossil fruits of † Potentilla pliocenica have been extracted from bore hole samples of

366-545: A 2012 survey 55.1% of the population of Leningrad Oblast adheres to the Russian Orthodox Church , 4% are unaffiliated generic Christians , 1% are Muslims , 1% of the population adheres to the Slavic native faith (Rodnovery), 1% are Old Believers . In addition, 20% of the population declared to be " spiritual but not religious ", 8% is atheist , and 9.9% follows other religions or did not give an answer to

488-591: A European great power . It served as a capital of the Tsardom of Russia , and the subsequent Russian Empire, from 1712 to 1918 (being replaced by Moscow for a short period of time between 1728 and 1730). After the October Revolution in 1917, the Bolsheviks moved their government to Moscow. The city was renamed Leningrad after Lenin's death in 1924. It was the site of the siege of Leningrad during

610-532: A fortress at the mouth of the Neva River in 1611, which was later called Ingermanland . The small town of Nyen grew up around the fort. Before the 17th century, this area was inhabited by Finnic Izhorians and Votians . The Ingrian Finns moved to the region from the provinces of Karelia and Savonia during the Swedish rule. There was also some Estonian , Karelian , Russian and German population in

732-400: A naming act that established an official spelling; even in his own letters he used diverse spellings, such as Санктьпетерсьбурк ( Sanktpetersburk ), emulating German Sankt Petersburg , and Сантпитербурх ( Santpiterburkh ), emulating Dutch Sint-Pietersburgh , as Peter was multilingual and a Hollandophile. The name was later normalized and russified to Санкт-Петербург. A former spelling of

854-496: A new general plan was outlined, whereby the city should expand to the south. Constructivism was rejected in favour of a more pompous Stalinist architecture . Moving the city centre further from the border with Finland, Stalin adopted a plan to build a new city hall with a huge adjacent square at the southern end of Moskovsky Prospekt , designated as the new main street of Leningrad. After the Winter (Soviet-Finnish) war in 1939–1940,

976-591: A new plan in 1737. The city was divided into five boroughs, and the city centre was moved to the Admiralty borough, on the east bank between the Neva and Fontanka . It developed along three radial streets, which meet at the Admiralty building and are now known as Nevsky Prospect (which is considered the main street of the city), Gorokhovaya Street and Voznesensky Avenue . Baroque architecture became dominant in

1098-536: A number of changes to the circumscription of Potentilla . The horkelias, mousetails, and mock-strawberries formerly classified in the genera Horkelia , Ivesia, and Duchesnea are now all included in the genus Potentilla . Conversely, the shrubby plants previously included in this genus are now separated in the genus Dasiphora , while some distinctive and apparently protocarnivorous herbaceous cinquefoils are placed in Drymocallis . The marsh cinquefoil

1220-520: A power-sharing agreement with the federal government, granting it autonomy. This agreement would be abolished on 18 April 2002. Population : 2,000,997 ( 2021 Census ) ; 1,716,868 ( 2010 Census ) ; 1,669,205 ( 2002 Census ) ; 1,661,173 ( 1989 Soviet census ) . Vital statistics for 2022: Total fertility rate (2022): 0.87 children per woman Life expectancy (2021): Total — 70.17 years (male — 65.43, female — 74.94) Ethnic composition (2021) According to

1342-784: A range of cultivars . Some double-flowered cinquefoils have been bred, starting with Victor Lemoine 's 'Gloire de Nancy' in 1854. Other taxa and varieties are useful for more specialized gardening purposes, such as rock gardens or swamps . Among the former is the hardy spring cinquefoil ( P. neumanniana ), the floral emblem of Cromartyshire . Some species are used in herbalism . Common tormentil ( P. erecta ), for example, has been used as an herbal remedy for inflammation and gastrointestinal disorders . Research continues to determine its safety and usefulness as an alternative medicine for such disorders as ulcerative colitis . Potentilla discolor and P. multifida are Chinese medicinal herbs used to treat diabetes . In heraldry ,

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1464-569: A rectangular grid of canals. The project was not completed but is evident in the layout of the streets. In 1716, Peter the Great appointed Frenchman Jean-Baptiste Alexandre Le Blond as the chief architect of Saint Petersburg. The style of Petrine Baroque , developed by Trezzini and other architects and exemplified by such buildings as the Menshikov Palace , Kunstkamera , Peter and Paul Cathedral , Twelve Collegia , became prominent in

1586-609: A small part of the Estonian SSR to the east of the River Narva with the town of Jaanilinn (now Ivangorod) was transferred to the Russian SFSR and incorporated into Leningrad Oblast. Since then, the territory of Leningrad Oblast has not changed significantly, although some suburbs of Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg) have been excluded from the oblast and incorporated into the city. In October 1946 Leningrad gained from

1708-411: A small territory of Novgorod Oblast . Uritsk was transferred from the oblast to the city of Leningrad in 1963, Krasnoye Selo and several settlements nearby—in 1973, Lomonosov —in 1978. After a referendum in 1991, the city of Leningrad was renamed back to Saint Petersburg, but Leningrad Oblast retained its name. On 13 June 1996, Leningrad Oblast, alongside Tver Oblast and Saint Petersburg , signed

1830-716: Is Aleksandr Drozdenko . Leningrad Oblast is located around the Gulf of Finland and south of two great freshwater lakes, Lake Ladoga and Lake Onega . The oblast includes the Karelian Isthmus and some islands, including Gogland in the Gulf of Finland and Konevets in Lake Ladoga. Much of the area of the oblast belongs to the drainage basin of the Neva , which is the only outflow of Lake Ladoga. The Neva, which flows to

1952-496: Is a network of railways at the Karelian Isthmus , in particular, connecting Vyborg and Priozersk, as well as south of Saint-Petersburg. There also railway lines connecting Veymarn with Slantsy , Veymarn with Petergof via Sosnovy Bor , Mga with Sonkovo via Kirishi , Volkhov with Vologda via Tikhvin and Cherepovets , Volkhov with Chudovo , and Lodeynoye Pole with Sortavala via Olonets . Most of them support intensive passenger and cargo traffic. Paved roads well cover

2074-432: Is also considerable. The territory has no endemic plant taxa. Vascular plant species of Leningrad Oblast listed in the red data book of Russia are Botrychium simplex , Cephalanthera rubra , Cypripedium calceolus , Epipogium aphyllum , Lobelia dortmanna , Myrica gale , Ophrys insectifera , Orchis militaris , Pulsatilla pratensis , Pulsatilla vernalis . The territory of present-day Leningrad Oblast

2196-498: Is combined with the city's Russian heritage. Another nickname of Saint Petersburg is "The City of the White Nights" because of a natural phenomenon which arises due to the closeness to the polar region and ensures that in summer the night skies of the city do not get completely dark for a month. The city is also often called the "Northern Palmyra ", due to its extravagant architecture. Swedish colonists built Nyenskans ,

2318-711: Is located within the federal city of Saint Petersburg . The oblast, particularly the areas adjacent to Saint Petersburg, is heavily industrialized. The major enterprises include the oil refinery in Kirishi, the Ford car assembly plant, Hyundai Russia assembly plant and the Rexam PLC Beverage Can Europe and Asia packaging plant in Vsevolozhsk, the paper mill in Syssstroy, and the paper mill and

2440-649: Is no scheduled passenger navigation within the oblast, except for seasonal leisure river cruises from Saint-Petersburg. The Onega Canal , shared with Vologda Oblast, serves as a bypass of Lake Onega from the south. Similarly, the Ladoga Canal bypasses Lake Ladoga from the east, from the Svir to the Neva. It is a part of the Volga–Baltic Waterway . In contrast, the Tikhvinskaya water system , connecting

2562-471: Is now in the genus Comarum , and the three-toothed cinquefoil makes up the monotypic genus Sibbaldiopsis . As already proposed by John Hill in the 18th-5century, the silverweeds of genus Argentina may be distinct, but as the immediate sister genus of Potentilla , its boundary is still unclear. Estimates of the number of valid species in this large genus depend on the circumscription used, and over 500 species are currently recognised by Plants of

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2684-435: Is often used specifically for common tormentil ( P. erecta ). Others are referred to as barren strawberries , which may also refer to P. sterilis in particular, or to the closely related Waldsteinia fragarioides . Several other cinquefoils formerly included here are now separated in distinct genera – notably the popular garden shrub P. fruticosa , now Dasiphora fruticosa . Potentillas are generally found throughout

2806-585: Is relatively flat and mostly covered with forest and swamps. An exception is the rocky Karelian Isthmus , which contains a lake district, as well as the Vepsian Upland in the east. The biggest lakes on the isthmus are Lake Vuoksa , Lake Sukhodolskoye , and Lake Otradnoye . Leningrad Oblast contains two federally protected natural areas, the Nizhnesvirsky Nature Reserve and Mshinskoye Boloto Zakaznik , both created to protect

2928-448: Is still named Leningrad . Having passed the role of capital to Petersburg, Moscow never relinquished the title of "capital", being called pervoprestolnaya ('first throned') for 200 years. An equivalent name for Petersburg, the "Northern Capital", has re-entered usage today since several federal institutions were recently moved from Moscow to Saint Petersburg. Solemn descriptive names like "the city of three revolutions" and "the cradle of

3050-745: Is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow . It is situated on the River Neva , at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea . The city had a population of 5,601,911 residents as of 2021, with more than 6.4 million people living in the metropolitan area . Saint Petersburg is the fourth-most populous city in Europe, the most populous city on the Baltic Sea, and the world's northernmost city of more than 1 million residents. As

3172-544: Is unpleasant and persistent (such as a stomach ache, against which P. erecta was used). The change from initial "t" to "p" seems to have been influenced by terms such as poterium  – Latin for the related burnets (genus Sanguisorba ) – or propedila and similar words used for the European cinquefoil ( P. reptans ) in the now-extinct Dacian language , as attested in Latin herbals . In another medieval dictionary

3294-652: Is Αγία Πετρούπολη, Agia Petroupoli ). Saint Petersburg has been traditionally called the "Window to Europe" and the "Window to the West" by the Russians. The city is the northernmost metropolis with more than 1 million people in the world, and is also often described as the " Venice of the North" or the "Russian Venice" due to its many water corridors, as the city is built on swamp and water. Furthermore, it has strongly Western European-inspired architecture and culture, which

3416-705: The Gold Star sign was installed in April 1985. In October 1946 some territories along the northern coast of the Gulf of Finland , which had been annexed into the USSR from Finland in 1940 under the peace treaty following the Winter War , were transferred from Leningrad Oblast to Leningrad and divided into Sestroretsky District and Kurortny District . These included the town of Terijoki (renamed Zelenogorsk in 1948). Leningrad and many of its suburbs were rebuilt over

3538-618: The Great Northern War , Peter the Great captured Nyenskans and soon replaced the fortress. On 27 May [ O.S. 16 May] 1703, closer to the estuary (5 km (3 mi) inland from the gulf ), on Zayachy (Hare) Island , he laid down the Peter and Paul Fortress , which became the first brick and stone building of the new city. The city was built by conscripted peasants from all over Russia; in some years several Swedish prisoners of war were also involved under

3660-610: The Karelian Isthmus again in the Moscow Armistice of September 19, 1944. This time the newly acquired territories on the isthmus were incorporated into the Leningrad Oblast ( Vyborgsky and Priozersky Districts ). In 1947 the territorial gains were confirmed with the Paris Peace Treaty . Novgorod and Pskov Oblasts were formed out of the southern parts of Leningrad Oblast in 1944. In January 1945

3782-629: The Koporye Fortress , both built in the 14th century, and the Ivangorod Fortress , originally built in 1492, are excellent examples of Russian fortification art. Podporozhsky District contains the best samples of wooden ecclesiastical architecture in Leningrad Oblast, some of which are collectively referred to as Podporozhye Ring : The Resurrection Church in the settlement of Vazhiny , the Saint Nicholas Church in

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3904-686: The Legislative Assembly of Leningrad Oblast , which consists of 50 deputies elected by the region's inhabitants according to a mixed proportional-majority system for a term of 5 years. In 2016, the Legislative Assembly of the sixth convocation was formed, in which there are 4 factions: United Russia (40 deputies), A Just Russia (3 deputies), Communist Party of the Russian Federation (3 deputies), Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (4 deputies). The Chairman of

4026-530: The Leningrad Affair (1949–1952), a notable event in the postwar political struggle in the USSR . It was a product of rivalry between Stalin's potential successors where one side was represented by the leaders of the city Communist Party organization – the second most significant one in the country after Moscow. The entire elite leadership of Leningrad was destroyed, including the former mayor Kuznetsov ,

4148-796: The Leningrad Military District of the Russian Armed Forces . The Historic Centre of Saint Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments constitute a UNESCO World Heritage Site . Saint Petersburg is home to the Hermitage , one of the largest art museums in the world, the Lakhta Center , the tallest skyscraper in Europe , and was one of the host cities of the 2018 FIFA World Cup and the UEFA Euro 2020 . The name day of Peter I falls on 29 June, when

4270-666: The Middle Miocene fresh water deposits in Nowy Sacz Basin, West Carpathians , Poland . Some cinquefoils are grown as ornamental plants . These are generally high species with bright, showy flowers, such as golden cinquefoil ( P. aurea ), ruby cinquefoil ( P. atrosanguinea ), Nepal cinquefoil ( P. nepalensis ), and sulphur cinquefoil ( P. recta ). Horticultural hybrids such as Hopwood's cinquefoil ( Potentilla × hopwoodiana ) and tongue cinquefoil ( Potentilla × tonguei ) have been bred, and there exists

4392-695: The Moscow Peace Treaty in 1940 gained some territories, including the Karelian Isthmus . Their Karelian population was hastily evacuated to inner Finland and later replaced with people from other parts of the Soviet Union. A small part of the territory (the municipalities of Kanneljärvi , Koivisto and Rautu ) was incorporated into Leningrad Oblast, the rest being included within the Karelo-Finnish Soviet Socialist Republic . In 1941, Germany invaded

4514-705: The Narva Triumphal Arch . In 1825, the suppressed Decembrist revolt against Nicholas I took place on the Senate Square in the city, a day after Nicholas assumed the throne. By the 1840s, neoclassical architecture had given way to various romanticist styles, which dominated until the 1890s, represented by such architects as Andrei Stackenschneider ( Mariinsky Palace , Beloselsky-Belozersky Palace , Nicholas Palace , New Michael Palace ) and Konstantin Thon ( Moskovsky railway station ). With

4636-556: The October Revolution , which led to the end of the social-democratic provisional government , the transfer of all political power to the Soviets , and the rise of the Communist Party . After that the city acquired a new descriptive name, "the city of three revolutions", referring to the three major developments in the political history of Russia of the early 20th century. In September and October 1917, German troops invaded

4758-530: The October revolution " used in the Soviet era are reminders of the pivotal events in national history that occurred here. Petropolis is a translation of a city name to Greek, and is also a kind of descriptive name: Πέτρ- is a Greek root for 'stone', so the "city from stone" emphasizes the material that had been forcibly made obligatory for construction from the first years of the city (a modern Greek translation

4880-478: The Russian Orthodox Church observes the memory of apostles Peter and Paul . The consecration of the small wooden church in their names (its construction began at the same time as the citadel) made them the heavenly patrons of the Peter and Paul Fortress , while Saint Peter at the same time became the eponym of the whole city. When in June 1703 Peter the Great renamed the site after Saint Peter, he did not issue

5002-587: The Second World War , the most lethal siege in history. In June 1991, only a few months before the Belovezha Accords and the dissolution of the USSR , voters supported restoring the city's original appellation in a city-wide referendum . As Russia's cultural centre, Saint Petersburg received over 15 million tourists in 2018. It is considered an important economic, scientific, and tourism centre of Russia and Europe. In modern times,

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5124-776: The Syas and the Mologa , which provided access from the Ladoga to the river basin of the Volga, is disused. The trans-border Saimaa Canal connects Lake Saimaa in Finland with the Gulf of Finland, has special status, and is occasionally used for passenger navigation. Ust-Luga , Vyborg , Vysotsk , and Primorsk are the major sea terminals on the Gulf of Finland. There is a number of airfields in Leningrad oblast that are now used only by

5246-871: The Upper Svir Hydroelectric Station and the Lower Svir Hydroelectric Station , both on the Svir River, and the Narva Hydroelectric Station on the Narva River. There are many science and high-tech institutions around Saint Petersburg, some of which are located in the oblast. For example, Gatchina is the site of the Petersburg Nuclear Physics Institute  [ ru ] and Sosnovy Bor hosts

5368-619: The West Estonian archipelago and threatened Petrograd with bombardment and invasion. On 12 March 1918, Lenin transferred the government of Soviet Russia to Moscow, to keep it away from the state border. During the Russian Civil War , in mid-1919 Russian anti-communist forces with the help of Estonians attempted to capture the city, but Leon Trotsky mobilized the army and forced them to retreat back to Estonia . On 26 January 1924, five days after Lenin's death, Petrograd

5490-593: The cinquefoil emblem or potentilla signified strength, power, honor, and loyalty. Depiction of the five- petalled flower appears as early as 1033, in the architecture of the church built in the village of Reulle-Vergy in Burgundy, France , two years before the reign of William the Conqueror . The cinquefoil emblem was used generously in the architecture of numerous churches built in Normandy and Brittany through

5612-410: The emancipation of the serfs undertaken by Alexander II in 1861 and an Industrial Revolution , the influx of former peasants into the capital increased greatly. Poor boroughs spontaneously developed on the outskirts of the city. Saint Petersburg surpassed Moscow in population and industrial growth; it became one of the largest industrial cities in Europe, with a major naval base (in Kronstadt ),

5734-430: The general aviation . Scheduled and international flights are available exclusively from Pulkovo airport in Saint-Petersburg. The Leningrad Nuclear Power Plant is located in the city of Sosnovy Bor . There are four major hydroelectric plants in the oblast. The Volkhov Hydroelectric Station , on the Volkhov River, was constructed in 1921 and became the first major hydropower station in the Soviet Union. The others are

5856-435: The 1920s and 1930s, the poor outskirts were reconstructed into regularly planned boroughs . Constructivist architecture flourished around that time. Housing became a government-provided amenity ; many "bourgeois" apartments were so large that numerous families were assigned to what were called "communal" apartments ( kommunalkas ). By the 1930s, 68% of the population lived in such housing under very poor conditions. In 1935,

5978-438: The Axis invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941. The siege lasted 872 days, or almost two and a half years, from 8 September 1941 to 27 January 1944. The Siege of Leningrad proved one of the longest, most destructive, and most lethal sieges of a major city in modern history . It isolated the city from food supplies except those provided through the Road of Life across Lake Ladoga , which could not make it through until

6100-475: The Estonian border to Tallinn. R23 connects Saint Petersburg with Pskov; it is a part of the E95 . A114 runs to Vologda via Cherepovets. A paid motorway between Saint Petersburg and Moscow and the new A121 from Saint-Petersburg to Sortavala , around the Western coast of Ladoga are under construction. Roads are well served by bus traffic. The Luga , the Svir , the Volkhov , and the Neva are all navigable and heavily user for cargo transport, however, there

6222-407: The French word potentille is defined as a "wild Tansie, a silver weed", a reference to the tansy ( Tanacetum vulgare ) and similar taxa of the genus Tanacetum . The related adjective potentiel/potentiells means "strong", "forcible", or "powerful in operation". Its origin is the French potence ("strong", "powerful", "mighty", or "potent"). The origin of these words is the Latin potens , with

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6344-400: The German words Sankt and Burg . In March 1917, during the February Revolution Nicholas II abdicated for himself and on behalf of his son, ending the Russian monarchy and over three hundred years of Romanov dynastic rule . On 7 November [ O.S. 25 October] 1917, the Bolsheviks , led by Vladimir Lenin , stormed the Winter Palace in an event known thereafter as

6466-401: The Gulf of Finland (the city of Saint Petersburg is located in its river delta ) is relatively short, but its drainage basin is very large, including Lake Onega and Lake Ilmen . The Svir and the Volkhov flow from Lake Onega and Lake Ilmen, respectively, to Lake Ladoga. Other major tributaries of Lake Ladoga include the Vuoksi and the Syas . Rivers in the western part of the oblast flow to

6588-461: The Gulf of Finland; the two biggest rivers there are the Luga and the Narva , which forms the border of Russia and Estonia. Small areas in the east of the oblast lie within the river basin of the Chagodoshcha , a tributary of the Mologa , and of the Suda , both within the Volga basin. A ridgeline in Tikhvinsky District in the eastern oblast forms part of the divide between the Baltic Sea and Caspian Sea basins. The terrain of Leningrad Oblast

6710-406: The Legislative Assembly is Sergei Bebenin. In the period when they were the most important authority in the oblast (1927 to 1991), the following first secretaries were appointed, Since 1991, governors were sometimes appointed, and sometimes elected, Administratively , Leningrad Oblast is divided into seventeen districts and one town of oblast significance ( Sosnovy Bor ). In terms of area,

6832-496: The Neva River, and a seaport on the Baltic. The names of Saints Peter and Paul , bestowed upon the original city's citadel and its cathedral (from 1725 – a burial vault of Russian emperors) coincidentally were the names of the first two assassinated Russian emperors, Peter III (1762, supposedly killed in a conspiracy led by his wife, Catherine the Great ) and Paul I (1801, Nikolay Alexandrovich Zubov and other conspirators who brought to power Alexander I ,

6954-401: The Research Institute of Optical and Electronic Devices. Since prehistory, the Volkhov and the Neva Rivers were constituents of major trade routes, and archaeological sites dot their banks. Staraya Ladoga has many pre-1700 sites, including two of about a couple of dozens standing pre-Mongol churches in Russia. Both of them were built in the 1160s. The Oreshek Fortress in Shlisselburg and

7076-456: The Soviet Union in Operation Barbarossa , and shortly thereafter the territory became the site of the Battle of Leningrad . The Wehrmacht captured the southwestern part of the oblast and reached Tikhvin in the east, while Finnish troops quickly recaptured the ceded territories in the Continuation War , encircling Leningrad from the land. In 1944 Soviet offensives managed to expel the Wehrmacht and put military pressure on Finland, which ceded

7198-549: The Soviet era, many historic architectural monuments of the previous centuries were destroyed by the new regime for ideological reasons. While that mainly concerned churches and cathedrals, some other buildings were also demolished. On 1 December 1934, Sergey Kirov , the Bolshevik leader of Leningrad, was assassinated under suspicious circumstances, which became the pretext for the Great Purge . In Leningrad, approximately 40,000 were executed during Stalin's purges. During World War II, German forces besieged Leningrad following

7320-504: The Soviet–Finnish border moved northwards. Nevsky Prospekt with Palace Square maintained the functions and the role of a city centre. In December 1931, Leningrad was administratively separated from Leningrad Oblast . At that time it included the Leningrad Suburban District, some parts of which were transferred back to Leningrad Oblast in 1936 and turned into Vsevolozhsky District , Krasnoselsky District , Pargolovsky District and Slutsky District (renamed Pavlovsky District in 1944). During

7442-400: The Winter Palace and prohibited spacing between buildings. During the reign of Catherine the Great in the 1760s–1780s, the banks of the Neva were lined with granite embankments. However, it was not until 1850 that the first permanent bridge across the Neva, Annunciation Bridge , was allowed to open. Before that, only pontoon bridges were allowed. Obvodny Canal (dug in 1769–1833) became

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7564-547: The World Online . See the list of Potentilla species . "Cinquefoil" in the Middle English Dictionary is described as "Pentafilon – from Greek Pentaphyllon  – influenced by foil, a leaf. The European cinquefoil ( Potentilla reptans ), often used medicinally." The word is derived from Old French cinc , Middle English cink and ultimately Latin quinque  – all meaning "five" –, and feuille and foil/foille which mean "leaf". Formerly this term referred to five-leaved plants in general. In medieval times,

7686-508: The acting mayor Pyotr Sergeevich Popkov, and all their deputies; overall 23 leaders were sentenced to the death penalty, 181 to prison or exile (rehabilitated in 1954). About 2,000 ranking officials across the USSR were expelled from the party and the Komsomol and removed from leadership positions. The Leningrad Metro underground rapid transit system , designed before the war, opened in 1955 with its first eight stations decorated with marble and bronze . However, after Stalin's death in 1953,

7808-637: The actual seeds – each one technically a single fruit – are tiny nuts . Among the Rosaceae , cinquefoils are close relatives of avens (genus Geum ) and roses ( Rosa ), and even closer relatives of agrimonies ( Agrimonia ). Yet more closely related to Potentilla are lady's mantles ( Alchemilla ) and strawberries ( Fragaria ). Dryas is a more distantly related genus, long-held beliefs notwithstanding. Analysis of internal transcribed spacer DNA sequence data has yielded valuable information on cinquefoil relationships, supporting previous hypotheses as to their descent , but also resulting in

7930-417: The advent of rail transport in the late 19th century, the areas in the vicinity of Saint Petersburg had been popular summer resort destinations ( dachas ) for its residents. However, while Saint Petersburg itself was populated mostly by Russians from the very beginning, it was not until the 20th century that its surrounding population was Russified. In 1914, with the beginning of World War I , Saint Petersburg

8052-412: The area. At the end of the 17th century, Peter the Great, who was interested in seafaring and maritime affairs, wanted Russia to gain a seaport to trade with the rest of Europe. He needed a better seaport than the country's main one at the time, Arkhangelsk , which was on the White Sea in the far north and closed to shipping during the winter. On 12 May [ O.S. 1 May] 1703, during

8174-419: The attack against the Red Army under Leon Trotsky ultimately failed, and Yudenich retreated. The border with Estonia was established in the Russian-Estonian Treaty of Tartu of 1920. Finland-backed Ingrian Finns of North Ingria attempted to secede in 1918–1920, but were incorporated back with the Russian-Finnish Treaty of Tartu , which settled the border between Finland and Soviet Russia. In 1924, Petrograd

8296-440: The author of the first nickname of Petersburg which he called Петри ( Petri ). It took some years until the known Russian spelling of this name finally settled. In 1740s Mikhail Lomonosov uses a derivative of Greek: Πετρόπολις (Петрополис, Petropolis ) in a Russified form Petropol ' (Петрополь). A combo Piterpol (Питерпол) also appears at this time. In any case, eventually the usage of prefix " Sankt- " ceased except for

8418-410: The capital of the Russian Empire . In 1708, most of the territory was organized into Ingermanland Governorate under Governor General Alexander Menshikov . It was renamed Saint Petersburg Governorate in 1710 (the borders of that governorate, however, differed very significantly from those of the present-day oblast and included much of the areas of current Novgorod, Pskov, and Vologda Oblasts). In 1721,

8540-514: The city architecture of the early 18th century. In 1724 the Academy of Sciences , University and Academic Gymnasium were established in Saint Petersburg by Peter the Great. In 1725, Peter died at age fifty-two. His endeavors to modernize Russia had been opposed by the Russian nobility . There were several attempts on his life and a treason case involving his son. In 1728, Peter II of Russia moved his seat back to Moscow. But four years later, in 1732, under Empress Anna of Russia , Saint Petersburg

8662-400: The city authorities arranged for the mayoral elections and a referendum upon the city's name, when the original name Saint Petersburg was restored. The turnout was 65%; 66.13% of the total count of votes went to Anatoly Sobchak , who became the first directly elected mayor of the city . Meanwhile, economic conditions started to deteriorate as the country tried to adapt to major changes. For

8784-496: The city authorities until December 2010, when after the statement of President Dmitry Medvedev , the city decided to find a more appropriate location for this project. In the same year, the new location for the project was relocated to Lakhta , a historical area northwest of the city centre, and the new project would be named Lakhta Center . Construction was approved by Gazprom and the city administration and commenced in 2012. The 462 m (1,516 ft) high Lakhta Center has become

8906-599: The city during the first sixty years, culminating in the Elizabethan Baroque, represented most notably by Italian Bartolomeo Rastrelli with such buildings as the Winter Palace . In the 1760s, Baroque architecture was succeeded by neoclassical architecture . Established in 1762, the Commission of Stone Buildings of Moscow and Saint Petersburg ruled that no structure in the city could be higher than

9028-863: The city has the nickname of being "the Northern Capital of Russia" and is home to notable federal government bodies such as the Constitutional Court of Russia and the Heraldic Council of the President of the Russian Federation . It is also a seat for the National Library of Russia and a planned location for the Supreme Court of Russia , as well as the home to the headquarters of the Russian Navy , and

9150-537: The city was renamed Leningrad in January 1924. The referendum on restoring the historic name was held on 12 June 1991, with 55% of voters supporting " Saint Petersburg " and 43% supporting " Leningrad ". The turnout was 65% . Renaming the city Petrograd was not an option. This change officially took effect on 6 September 1991. Meanwhile, the oblast whose administrative center is also in Saint Petersburg

9272-572: The city's name in English was Saint Petersburgh . This spelling survives in the name of a street in the Bayswater district of London, near St Sophia's Cathedral , named after a visit by the Tsar to London in 1814. A 14 to 15-letter-long name, composed of the three roots , proved too cumbersome, and many shortened versions were used. The first General Governor of the city Menshikov is maybe also

9394-723: The city. Some of them still stand and are listed as World Heritage sites, aggregated into the site of Historic Centre of Saint Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments . includes, among others, estates in Gostilitsy , Ropsha , and Taytsy . Localities in the Karelian Isthmus preserve some fine inter-war Finnish architecture. The best-known example is the Viipuri Municipal Library by Alvar Aalto . Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg , formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad ,

9516-488: The first tallest skyscraper in Russia and Europe outside of Moscow. Potentilla Over 500 Potentilla / ˌ p oʊ t ən ˈ t ɪ l ə / is a genus containing over 500 species of annual , biennial and perennial herbaceous flowering plants in the rose family , Rosaceae . Potentillas may also be called cinquefoils in English, but they have also been called five fingers and silverweeds . Some species are called tormentils , though this

9638-552: The first time since the 1940s, food rationing was introduced, and the city received humanitarian food aid from abroad. This dramatic time was depicted in photographic series of Russian photographer Alexey Titarenko . Economic conditions began to improve only at the beginning of the 21st century. In 1995, a northern section of the Kirovsko-Vyborgskaya Line of the Saint Petersburg Metro

9760-559: The forest and swamp landscapes of northwestern Russia. The most taxonomically diverse vascular plant families are Asteraceae , Cyperaceae , Poaceae and Rosaceae . By far the most diverse genus is Carex (68 species). The diversity in genera Hieracium (with Pilosella ), Ranunculus (with Batrachium ), Alchemilla , Galium , Potamogeton , Salix , Veronica , Viola , Juncus , Artemisia , Potentilla , Rumex , Festuca , Epilobium , Poa , Trifolium , Campanula , Vicia , Lathyrus , Geranium

9882-400: The formal official documents, where a three-letter abbreviation "СПб" ( SPb ) was very widely used as well. In the 1830s Alexander Pushkin translated the "foreign" city name of "Saint Petersburg" to the more Russian Petrograd (Russian: Петроград , IPA: [pʲɪtrɐˈgrat] ) in one of his poems. However, it was only on 31 August [ O.S. 18 August] 1914, after

10004-489: The former capital of Imperial Russia , and a historically strategic port , it is governed as a federal city . The city was founded by Tsar Peter the Great on 27 May 1703 on the site of a captured Swedish fortress , and was named after the apostle Saint Peter . In Russia , Saint Petersburg is historically and culturally associated with the birth of the Russian Empire and Russia's entry into modern history as

10126-474: The head of the city administration . The title of the city head was changed from "mayor" to "governor". In 2000, Yakovlev won re-election. His second term expired in 2004; the long-awaited restoration of the broken subway connection was expected to finish by that time. But in 2003 Yakovlev suddenly resigned, leaving the governor's office to Valentina Matviyenko . The law on election of the City Governor

10248-420: The lake froze. More than one million civilians were killed, mainly from starvation. There were incidents of cannibalism, with around 2,000 residents arrested for eating other people. Many others escaped or were evacuated, so the city became largely depopulated. On 1 May 1945 Joseph Stalin , in his Supreme Commander Order No. 20, named Leningrad, alongside Stalingrad , Sevastopol , and Odesa , hero cities of

10370-412: The largest administrative district is Podporozhsky (7,706 square kilometers (2,975 sq mi)), and the smallest is Lomonosovsky (1,919 square kilometers (741 sq mi)). Lomonosovsky District is the only district in Russia that has its administrative center (the town of Lomonosov ) located within a different federal subject . While the district is a part of Leningrad Oblast, Lomonosov

10492-404: The local Orthodox population of Russian and Finnic ancestry massively fled from Ingria to neighbour Russian provinces, so Ingrian Finns soon became the dominant ethnic group. During the Great Northern War (1700–1721) the territory of what is now Leningrad Oblast was conquered from Sweden by Russia under Peter the Great , who founded Saint Petersburg amidst the land in 1703, which soon became

10614-623: The modern entity. Administratively, the oblast was divided into nine okrugs ( Borovichi , Cherepovets , Leningrad , Lodeynoye Pole , Luga , Murmansk , Novgorod , Pskov , and Velikiye Luki ), each of which was in turn subdivided into districts . In 1929, Velikiye Luki Okrug was transferred to newly formed Western Oblast . Leningrad was administratively separated from Leningrad Oblast in December 1931. In 1935 five southernmost districts were made part of Kalinin Oblast . In 1936 some parts of

10736-506: The mountain heathlands of Scotland with alpine juniper ( Juniperus communis ssp. alpina ). The leaves of cinquefoils are eaten by the caterpillars of many Lepidoptera, notably the grizzled skippers (genus Pyrgus ), butterflies of the skipper family . Adult butterflies and moths visit cinquefoil flowers; for example, the endangered Karner blue butterfly ( Plebejus melissa samuelis ) takes nectar from common cinquefoil ( P. simplex ). The Polish cochineal ( Porphyrophora polonica ),

10858-655: The northern continents of the world ( holarctic ), though some occur in montane biomes of the New Guinea Highlands . Typical cinquefoils look most similar to strawberries , but differ in usually having dry, inedible fruit (hence the name "barren strawberry" for some species). Many cinquefoil species have palmate leaves . Some species have just three leaflets, while others have fifteen or more leaflets arranged pinnately. The flowers are usually yellow, but may be white, pinkish or red. The accessory fruits are usually dry but may be fleshy and strawberry-like, while

10980-464: The northwest and Estonia ( Ida-Viru County ) in the west, as well as five federal subjects of Russia: the Republic of Karelia in the northeast, Vologda Oblast in the east, Novgorod Oblast in the south, Pskov Oblast in the southwest, and the federal city of Saint Petersburg in the west. The first governor of Leningrad Oblast was Vadim Gustov (in 1996–1998). The current governor, since 2012,

11102-433: The oblast corresponded to the modern territories of the present-day Leningrad Oblast (with the exception of the Karelian Isthmus and the territories along the border with Estonia), Novgorod Oblast , Pskov Oblast , parts of Vologda Oblast , most of Murmansk Oblast , and the federal city of Saint Petersburg. The total area of the oblast was 360,400 square kilometres (139,200 sq mi); more than four times larger than

11224-491: The oblast some former Finnish territories along the northern coast of the Gulf of Finland divided into Sestroretsky District and Kurortny District , including the town of Terijoki . In 1953, Pavlovsky District of the oblast was abolished, and parts of its territory including Pavlovsk were made subordinate to Leningrad. In 1954 the settlements Levashovo , Pargolovo and Pesochny were also transferred to Leningrad. In 1956 Boksitogorsky District of Leningrad Oblast gained

11346-416: The original name, Sankt-Peterburg , was returned by citywide referendum. Today, in English the city is known as Saint Petersburg . Local residents often refer to the city by its shortened nickname, Piter (Russian: Питер , IPA: [ˈpʲitʲɪr] ). After the October Revolution the name Red Petrograd (Красный Петроград, Krasny Petrograd ) was often used in newspapers and other prints until

11468-489: The perceived ornamental excesses of the Stalinist architecture were abandoned. From the 1960s to the 1980s many new residential boroughs were built on the outskirts; while the functionalist apartment blocks were nearly identical to each other, many families moved there from kommunalkas in the city centre to live in separate apartments. On 12 June 1991 , simultaneously with the first Russian SFSR presidential elections ,

11590-826: The plant producing oil platforms in Vyborg, and the Tikhvin industrial site in Tikhvin. The main agricultural specializations of the oblast are cattle breeding with meat and milk production and poultry production. The main agricultural lands are in the east and in the southwest of the oblast. Saint-Petersburg is a major railway hub, and all railways running to it cross also Leningrad Oblast. They connect Saint-Petersburg with Moscow ( Saint Petersburg – Moscow Railway ), Helsinki via Vyborg , Murmansk via Petrozavodsk , Sortavala via Priozersk , Tallinn via Kingisepp , Riga via Pskov , Vitebsk via Dno , and Veliky Novgorod . There

11712-421: The post-war decades, partially according to pre-war plans. The 1948 general plan for Leningrad featured radial urban development in the north as well as in the south. In 1953, Pavlovsky District in Leningrad Oblast was abolished, and parts of its territory, including Pavlovsk, merged with Leningrad. In 1954, the settlements Levashovo , Pargolovo and Pesochny merged with Leningrad. Leningrad gave its name to

11834-600: The preservation of its historical and architectural environment became controversial. After 2005, the demolition of older buildings in the historical centre was permitted. In 2006, Gazprom announced an ambitious project to erect a 403 m (1,322 ft) skyscraper (the Okhta Center ) opposite to Smolny , which could result in the loss of the unique line of Petersburg landscape. Urgent protests by citizens and prominent public figures of Russia against this project were not considered by Governor Valentina Matviyenko and

11956-465: The question. State power in the region is exercised on the basis of the Charter, which was adopted on 27 October 1994. The highest official of the region is the governor , who is elected for a term of five years. Since 28 May 2012, he has been Aleksandr Drozdenko . The executive power in the region is exercised by the administration, which includes: Legislative power in the region is exercised by

12078-489: The regime. Starting from the 1929, the Soviet authorities carried out mass deportations of the Ingrian Finnish population of the oblast, which constituted the majority in many rural localities as late as in the beginning of the 20th century, to the east, replacing them with people from other parts of the Soviet Union. On 30 November 1939, the Soviet Union waged the Winter War against neighbouring Finland and with

12200-519: The same meaning. Cinquefoils grow wild in most cool and cold regions of the world. Most species are herbaceous perennials but a few are erect or creeping shrubs . Some are troublesome weeds . Other types are grown in gardens. Cinquefoils are a prominent part of many ecosystems . In the United Kingdom alone, common tormentil ( P. erecta ) together with purple moor grass ( Molinia caerulea ) defines many grassy mires , and grows abundantly in

12322-603: The son of their victim). The third emperor's assassination took place in Saint Petersburg in 1881 when Alexander II was murdered by terrorists (see the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood ). The Revolution of 1905 began in Saint Petersburg and spread rapidly into the provinces. On 1 September 1914, after the outbreak of World War I, the Imperial government renamed the city Petrograd , meaning "Peter's City", to remove

12444-710: The southern limit of the city. The most prominent neoclassical and Empire-style architects in Saint Petersburg included: In 1810, Alexander I established the first engineering higher education , the Saint Petersburg Main military engineering School in Saint Petersburg. Many monuments commemorate the Russian victory over Napoleonic France in the Patriotic War of 1812 , including the Alexander Column by Montferrand, erected in 1834, and

12566-541: The supervision of Alexander Menshikov . Tens of thousands of serfs died while building the city. Later, the city became the centre of the Saint Petersburg Governorate . Peter moved the capital from Moscow to Saint Petersburg in 1712, nine years before the Treaty of Nystad of 1721 ended the war. He referred to Saint Petersburg as the capital (or seat of government) as early as 1704. While the city

12688-648: The territorial concessions of Sweden were confirmed with the Treaty of Nystad . The life of the countryside was greatly influenced by the vicinity of the imperial capital, which became a growing market for its agricultural production as well as the main consumer of its mineral and forest resources. In 1719–1810, Ladoga Canal was dug between the Svir River and the Neva River as part of the Volga-Baltic waterway to bypass stormy waters of Lake Ladoga . Since

12810-503: The territory is known as the historical region of Ingria (or the land of Izhora) and in the 17th century, after most of the present-day territory of Leningrad Oblast was captured by Sweden with the Treaty of Stolbovo of 1617, became subject to substantial Finnish Lutheran population influx from Finnish Karelia (which included Karelian Isthmus , the northwestern part of present-day Leningrad Oblast) and Savonia . Having faced religious pressure from Lutheran pastors and Swedish authorities,

12932-398: The territory of Leningrad Suburban District of Leningrad was returned to Leningrad Oblast and divided into Vsevolozhsky District , Krasnoselsky District , Pargolovsky District and Slutsky District (renamed Pavlovsky District in 1944). Vologda Oblast , which has included the easternmost districts of Leningrad Oblast (former Cherepovets Governorate), was created in 1937. Murmansk Oblast

13054-670: The typical deciduous forest with downy birch ( Betula pubescens ), common wood sorrel ( Oxalis acetosella ), and sessile oak ( Quercus petraea ). In upland pastures on calcareous soil it typically accompanies common bent ( Agrostis capillaris ), sheep's fescue ( Festuca ovina ), and wild thyme ( Thymus praecox ). It is most commonly seen in regions dominated by common heather ( Calluna vulgaris ), including common lowland heaths with bell heather ( Erica cinerea ), maritime heaths with spring squill ( Scilla verna ), submontane heaths dominated by red peat moss ( Sphagnum capillifolium ) and common bilberry ( Vaccinium myrtillus ), and

13176-650: The village of Soginitsy , the Sts Peter and Paul Chapel in the village of Zaozerye , and the Saint Athanasy chapel in the village of Posad . The two other notable wooden churches are located in the villages of Gimreka and Shcheleyki close to the Onega Lakeshore. The center of Vyborg preserves many examples of medieval Swedish architecture, unique for Russia. After Saint Petersburg was founded in 1703, many estates and residences were founded around

13298-611: The war with Germany had begun, that Tsar Nicholas II renamed the city Petrograd in order to expunge the German words Sankt and Burg . Since the prefix "Saint" was omitted, this act also changed the eponym and the "patron" of the city from Saint Peter to Peter the Great, its founder. On 26 January 1924, shortly after the death of Vladimir Lenin , it was renamed to Leningrad (Russian: Ленинград , IPA: [lʲɪnʲɪnˈgrat] ), meaning 'Lenin City'. On 6 September 1991,

13420-715: The war. A law acknowledging the honorary title of "Hero City" passed on 8 May 1965 (the 20th anniversary of the victory in the Great Patriotic War), during the Brezhnev era . The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR awarded Leningrad as a Hero City the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal "for the heroic resistance of the city and tenacity of the survivors of the Siege". The Hero-City Obelisk bearing

13542-643: The western and the central parts of Leningrad Oblast. The M10 highway connects Saint Petersburg with Moscow via Veliky Novgorod in the south and with the Finnish border, continuing across the border to Helsinki, in the north. It is split between European routes E18 (Saint Petersburg to Finland) and E105 (Saint Petersburg to Moscow), and much of it within the oblast is built as a dual carriageway. R21 highway (also part of E105) runs from Saint Petersburg to Murmansk via Petrozavodsk, and A180 (part of E20 ) connects Saint Petersburg with Ivangorod and continues across

13664-521: The word "cinquefoil" was used almost exclusively in England. In France, the genus was called quintefeuille , first attested in Normandy and Brittany in the 11th-century. The scientific name Potentilla seems to have been influenced by a fusion of ancient names for these plants. Common tormentil, P. erecta , was known as tormentilla in medieval Latin , derived from early Spanish – literally "a little torment", meaning pain that, while not debilitating,

13786-591: Was again designated as the capital of the Russian Empire . It remained the seat of the Romanov dynasty and the Imperial Court of the Russian tsars , as well as the seat of the Russian government, for another 186 years until the communist revolution of 1917 . In 1736–1737 the city suffered from catastrophic fires. To rebuild the damaged boroughs, a committee under Burkhard Christoph von Münnich commissioned

13908-593: Was being built, Peter lived in a three-room log cabin with his wife Catherine and their children. During its first few years, the city developed around Trinity Square on the right bank of the Neva, near the Peter and Paul Fortress. However, Saint Petersburg soon started to be built out according to a plan. By 1716 the Swiss Italian Domenico Trezzini had elaborated a project whereby the city centre would be on Vasilyevsky Island and shaped by

14030-530: Was changed, breaking the tradition of democratic election by universal suffrage that started in 1991. In 2006, the city legislature re-approved Matviyenko as governor. Residential building had intensified again; real-estate prices inflated greatly, which caused many new problems for the preservation of the historical part of the city. Although the central part of the city has a UNESCO designation (there are about 8,000 architectural monuments in Petersburg),

14152-400: Was cut off by underground flooding, creating a major obstacle to the city development for almost ten years. On 13 June 1996, Saint Petersburg, alongside Leningrad Oblast and Tver Oblast , signed a power-sharing agreement with the federal government, granting it autonomy. This agreement was abolished on 4 April 2002. In 1996, Vladimir Yakovlev defeated Anatoly Sobchak in the elections for

14274-535: Was divided between the Kingdom of Sweden and Novgorod Republic (see Swedish-Novgorodian Wars ) and populated mostly by various Baltic Finns people such as Karelians (northwest), Izhorians and Votes (west), Vepsians (east), as well as Ilmen Slavs of Novgorod (south). During the Russo-Swedish Wars of the 15th-17th centuries, the border moved back and forth over the land. The central part of

14396-644: Was populated shortly after the end of the Weichselian glaciation and now hosts numerous archaeological remnants. The Volga trade route and trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks crossed the territory. Staraya Ladoga , the first capital of legendary Rurik , founded in the 8th-9th century, is situated in the east of the oblast, on the Volkhov River . In the 12th-15th centuries, the territory

14518-486: Was renamed Leningrad . Later many streets and other toponyms were renamed accordingly, with names in honour of communist figures replacing historic names given centuries before. The city has over 230 places associated with the life and activities of Lenin. Some of them were turned into museums, including the cruiser Aurora – a symbol of the October Revolution and the oldest ship in the Russian Navy . In

14640-709: Was renamed Leningrad, and Petrograd Governorate was again renamed accordingly (Leningrad Governorate). Leningrad Oblast was established on 1 August 1927, by the resolutions of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee "On the Establishment of Leningrad Oblast" and "On the Borders and Composition of the Okrugs of Leningrad Oblast" by merging Cherepovets , Leningrad, Murmansk , Novgorod , and Pskov Governorates . The territory of

14762-575: Was renamed Petrograd and the governorate was accordingly renamed Petrograd Governorate. After the Russian Revolution , in 1918, the capital was transferred from Petrograd to Moscow , farther from the borders of the country. In 1919, during the Russian Civil War , the Northwestern White Army advancing from Estonia and led by Nikolai Yudenich tried to capture Petrograd and even managed to reach its southern outskirts, but

14884-631: Was split from Leningrad Oblast in 1938. In the autumn of 1934, the Forbidden Border Zone along the western border of the Soviet Union was established, where nobody could appear without special permission issued by the NKVD . It was officially only 7.5 km deep initially, but along the Estonian border it extended to as much as 90 km. The zone was to be cleansed of Finnic and other peoples who were considered "politically unreliable" by

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