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PETROGRAD, LENINGRAD, ST. PETERSBURG

09 September 2021

30 years ago on 6 September, 1991, Leningrad was renamed back to St. Petersburg. The decision to return the historical name to the city was made taking into account the opinion of the city-dwellers. Over its 318-year history, St. Petersburg has changed names several times - during different periods of time it used to be called Petrograd and Leningrad.

On 6 September, 1991 locals fell asleep in one city - Leningrad, and woke up already in another one – St. Petersburg. Voting on the change of the name of the Northern Сapital of Russia took place in June 1991, simultaneously with the elections of the first Russian president. According to the data published 30 years ago, 53% of people supported the change of name from Leningrad to Saint-Petersburg, and 47% opposed it. Many eyewitnesses of those historical events are sure that sooner or later the historical name of the city on the Neva would still be returned. They also express the opinion that the name given by the founder - the Imperator Peter the Great, turned out to be the most suitable. At the same time, the Northern Capital was called Leningrad for 67 years and with this name it survived the Siege during the Great Patriotic War and received the status of the Hero City.