E°yK G<Jhneñion with th-e European powers before any -eífential
,s— (reformation in the, manners of the people-ihouldhave taken
.place, Ruffia would ioon relapfe into her original barbarifm-;
-and no traces-of the memorable improvements introduced
by Peter I. and Catharine II. -would be found but in the
•.annals of hiftory.
Asil walked about this metropolis I-was filled with afto-
niffiment upon reflecting, that fo late as the beginning of
¡this century, the ground on-which-Peteríburgh now ftands
•was only -a v-aft morafs occupied by a few fiihermens’ huts.
The firft building qf the city is -fo recent as to be almoft
.remembered by feme perfons -who are -now alive-; and its
gradual progrefs is accordingly traced without the leaft difficulty.
Peter the Great had no fooner wrefted Ingria from
áhe Swedes, and advanced the boundaries of his empire to the
Ihores of-the Baltick,-than he determined to eredt a fortreis
.upon a fmall iiland in the mouth of the Neva, for the pur-
■pofe of fecuring-his conquefts, and opening a new -channel
.of commerce*. A sa prelude to-this-undertaking, a-final!
.battery was immediately raifed on -another ifland of the
.Neva, upon the-fpot now occupied by «the Academy-of Sci-
-ences, and .it was ..commanded -by Vaffili Dmitrievitch
■Kortihmin. All -the orders of the emperor fent to this
..officer .were dkedted Vaffili na Oftrof, to Vaffili upon the
Iiland ; and hence this part of the town -was-called Vaffili
iOttrof, or the Ifland.of Vaffili.
The fortrefs -was begun on the i 6th of May, i 7-0 3 ; and,
.notwithflanding all the obftrudtions arifing from the marffiy
.nature of the.ground, and.the inexperience of the workmen,
* See Hiit. Geog. and To p . Befchreibv.ng der S.tadt S. Pet. in the Journal o f St. Pet.
for 1775..
a imall citadel furroun-ded with - a - rampart: of' earth, - and cmm
ftrengthened with fix hafiions, was completed in a- fhort
fpace of time. An author-®; who-was in-Ruffia-at that
period, informs us, “ that the labourers were not furniihed
“ with the neceffary tools, as pick-axes, fpades-and ihovels,
“ wheelbarrows, planks, and the- like ; notwithftanding
“ which,- the work- went on with fucbi'expedition,- that it
“ was furprizirag to fee the fortrefs raifed within lefs th anil
five-months, though the earth, which-is very fearee there-
“ abouts, was, for-the greater part, carried by the labourers
“ in the ikirts-of their clothes, and in' bags-made of rags
“ and old mats, the u-ie of. wheel-barrows being.then un-
“ known to them*-”
Within the-fo-i trefs a few wooden habitations were eredledt
For his own immediate refidence Peter alio ordered, in the
beginning of the year 1 7 0-3, a fmall hut to be raifed in an '-
adjacent ifland, which he called the ifland of St. Peteriburgh, -
and from- which the new1 metropolis-has taken-its name s'-
this hut was low and fmall; ■ and is ftill preferved in-memory
of the fovereign who condefcended to dwell- in it. - Near i t '
was foon afterwards conftruCled another wooden habitation;
hut larger and more commodious, in which princeMenziko#
reiided, and gave audience to foreign minifters. At a fmall
diftance was an inn, much frequented by the courtiers and
perfons-of all ranks ; to which Peter himfelf, on-Sundays
after divine-fervice, frequently repaired, and would there
drinjt with his fuite and thofe who happened to be prefent,-
as fpe&ators of fire-works and other diverfions, which were
exhibited by his orders.
* Perry’s State o f Ruffia, V o l. I, p. 300#
On