MAYMESTER 2010 IN ST. PETERSBURG
European Studies 260. European Cities: St. Petersburg. The course will explore the past and the present of the great Russian city, its history and culture. MAY. [3] Kustanovich
St. Petersburg was founded in 1703 by the Russian tsar Peter I (Peter the Great)—the first Russian tsar who assumed the title of the Emperor. The city is located on the Gulf of Finland in the Baltic Sea. Building the city on the Baltic Sea Peter, in the words of the great Russian poet Alexander Pushkin, "chopped a window into Europe," opened a much-needed waterway connecting Russia to the rest of the world. Peter also encouraged, sometimes with cruel force, adopting of European science and culture in Russia. In 1812 Peter moved the capital of Russia from Moscow to St. Petersburg where it remained until 1918 when the Soviet government moved it back to Moscow.
Below: Monument to Peter the Great in St. Petersburg
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In a relatively short span of 200 years St. Petersburg became one of the most beautiful cities in Europe. Built by the best French, Italian, and Russian architects its buildings and palaces still strike the viewer with their rich, unfading beauty.
Below: Griboedov Canal. View on Church on Spilt Blood
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In its 300-year history the city has been one of the most important centers of Russian politics and culture. Alexandr Pushkin, Nikolay Gogol, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Anna Akhmatova, Joseph Brodsky and dozens of other famous Russian writers and poets lived and worked here, as well as such renowned composers as Mikhail Glinka, Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Alexander Borodin, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Mily Balakirev, Modest Mussorgsky, Igor Stravinsky, Sergei Prokofiev, and Dmitry Shostakovich.
 Alexander Pushkin
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Alexander Pushkin (1799-1837) Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821-1881) Anna Akhmatova (1889-1966) Iosif Brodsky (1940-1996) Dmitri Shostakovich (1906-1975)
Here the tsarist empire, ruled by the Romanov dynasty for over 300 years, came to an end after Nicolas II abdicated in 1917 and Bolsheviks headed by V. I. Lenin came to power. During World War II, the city was besieged by the Nazis for almost 900 days; about 1.5 million died there from starvation and shelling. After the war the city was rebuild in its original beauty. Museums, including the famous Hermitage, palaces in both St. Petersburg itself and in its environs, the granite embankments of the Neva, and the white nights in the summer when the sun barely sets attract thousands of tourists from all over the world.
The course will cover the history of politics and culture in this city with the emphasis on the 19th and 20th centuries. The students will have regular classes supplemented with excursions to tsars' palaces and the Revolution headquarters; to the Peter and Paul Fortress where many revolutionaries were incarcerated and where all Russian tsars from Peter the Great on are entombed; to one of the world greatest museums The Hermitage; to places where Pushkin and Dostoevsky lived and and retraced the footsteps of their immortal characters. We will also travel to Moscow and visit the Kremlin and Lenin's Tomb, Tretyakov Museum of Russian art, Novodevichy Cemetery, where the most important figures in Russian history are buried, and ride on famous Moscow metro. We'll take another trip to the ancient Russian city of Novgorod, visit the museum of wooden architecture, churches and monasteries. The students will also have classes on and be able to observe first hand today's Russian culture including music, arts, and famous Russian ballet.
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