The recent siege and heroic defence of Leningrad have refocused the world's attention on this remarkable city; attention that, from the architectural point of view at least, it has always merited, for Leningrad (the old St. Petersburg), even with its northern setting and its Russian background, is probably the most perfect classical city since ancient Rome. It owes this to a wise succession of rulers, each of whom, though building to his personal taste, followed the basic pattern established by Peter the Great, founder of the city.

In 1703, Peter, having captured the mouth of the Neva from the Swedes, decided to build a new capital that would be in closer contact with western Europe.