World History Minute: The Founding Of St. Petersburg

The city landmark, St. Isaak’s Cathedral is silhouetted as the sun sets in St. Petersburg, Russia, Saturday, Jan. 15, 2011.
The city landmark, St. Isaak's Cathedral is silhouetted as the sun sets in St. Petersburg, Russia, Saturday, Jan. 15, 2011. Dmitry Lovetsky / AP Photo
The city landmark, St. Isaak’s Cathedral is silhouetted as the sun sets in St. Petersburg, Russia, Saturday, Jan. 15, 2011.
The city landmark, St. Isaak's Cathedral is silhouetted as the sun sets in St. Petersburg, Russia, Saturday, Jan. 15, 2011. Dmitry Lovetsky / AP Photo

World History Minute: The Founding Of St. Petersburg

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On May 27, 1703, Czar Peter founded the city of St. Petersburg on a marshland off the Baltic Sea in west Russia. For World History Minute, our historian John Schmidt tells the story of the city’s inception.