SAINT PETERSBURG
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SAINT PETERSBURG
May, 1703, he began the citadel of Peter and Paul, the
fortifications of which were built first of wood and in
1706 of stone. The Troitzki church was the first
wooden church of the imperial city; around it were
erected houses in Dutch architectural style for Peter
and his friends. As early as 1704 the first habita-
tions were built on the northern bank of the Neva.
Some 40,000 men drawn from all parts of the empire
worked for sevei al years in the erection of the new
city; a large number of them succumbed to the ex-
treme severity of their labours and the deadly mists
of the marshy ground. In 1708 St. Petersburg was
unsuccessfully besieged by the Swedes. The Rus-
sian victory over Charles XII at Pultowa put an end
to any danger that might have arisen from Sweden.
In 1712 the city was formallj^ made the residence of
the Court.
It was Peter's desire that his new capital should not be surpassed in brilliance by the capitals of Western Europe. He intended to follow in its construction the plans of the architect and sculptor Andreas Schliiter, who was called to St. Petersburg in 1713 but died in the following year. In order to make the new capital the equal of Moscow in reUgious matters, Peter and his successors built a large number of churches and monasteries, often equipped with the most lavish splendour. Peter sought, above all, to es- tablish veneration for the national saint, Alexander Newski, Grand duke of Novgorod, who died in 1261. He therefore built a church near Neva, on the spot where Alexander in 1241 gained the traditionallj' cele- brated victory over the united forces of the Swedes, Danes, and Finns; this victory cannot be proved his- torically. The bones of the saint were placed in the church with much pomp in 1724. The tsar himself drew up a plan for a monastery and gave to its con- struction 10,000 roubles from his private fortune, be- sides state revenues. At Peter's death the city had 75,000 inhabitants. However, a pause now occurred in its development as Catharine I and Peter II pre- ferred the ol(l capital Moscow. Anna Ivanova (1730- 40) was the first ruler to Uve again at St. Petersburg. During her reign and that of her successor, Elizabeth Petrovna, the city grew greatly and was adorned with striking buildings. Most of the older public build- ings, however, belong to the reigns of Catharine II and Paul I, who were gr^at builders. By the favour of the tsars who competed with one another in adorn- ing the imperial city with splendid structures and en- riching it with schools anrl collections, as well as by its advantageous position for commerce and intercourse with Western Europe, St. Petersburg has gradually surpassed its rival Moscow. It has developed into the largest city of the empire, but has assumed more the character of a city of Western Europe than that of a national Russian one.
The history of the Catholic Church at St. Peters- burg goes back to the era of the founding of the city. As early as 1703 there were a few Cathohcs in the city. In 1704 one of the Jesuits, who since 1684 had been able to maintain themselves at Moscow, came to St. Petersburg in order to make the observance of their religious duties easier to the officers and soldiers stationed on the Neva; he had also the spiritual care of over 300 Catholic Lithuanians who had been taken prisoners. From 1710 the Catholics had a Uttle wooden chapel, called the Chapel of St. Catharine, not far from the spot where the monument to Peter the Great now stands. The parish register of the chapel goes back to this year. Later, Franciscans and Ca- puchins took the place of the Jesuits. Although Peter the Great was kindly disposed to the Catholic community, the Holy Synod, an administrative eccle- siastical board that he had created, was constantly suspicious of tliem. National disputes having arisen between the Franciscans and Capuchins, the Holy Synod was able to obtain an imperial decree in 1725,
compelhng all the Capuchins but one to leave the
city. This one remained behind in the employ of the
French embassy and was permitted to hold services
for his countrymen in a chapel designated for the pur-
pose. In 1737 the wooden church bm-nt down. It
was decided to rebuild it in stone and a temporary
chapel was arranged. Although the Empress Anna
Ivanova gave a piece of ground, the corner-stone of
the new Church of St. Catharine was not laid until
1763 on account of the national feuds within the
Catholic community of Germans, French, Italians,
and Poles. The construction of the church advanced
slowly because of lack of funds. It was built in the
Renaissance style by the Itahan architect, VoUini de la
Mothe, and was formally consecrated by the papal
nuncio Archetti in 1783. In 1769 Catharine II con-
firmed the gifts of her predecessors and released the
church, school, and dwelhng of the Catholic priests
from all taxes and imposts. In the same year she is-
sued the "Ordinatio ecclesia; petropolitanse", which
settled the legal status of the parish and was a model
for the other Cathohc parishes of Russia. This or-
dinance raised the permitted number of Catholic
priests from four to six. These were generally Fran-
ciscans, who had charge of the welfare of souls at
Kronstadt, Jamburg, Riga, and Reval.
The number of Catholics was considerably in- creased by the French emigrants whom the French Revolution caused to flee to St. Petersburg. Fur- ther, the fact that the first archbishop of the newly founded Archdiocese of Mohileff soon transferred his residence to the capital of the empire also con- tributed to the strengthening of the Cathohc Church in St. Petersburg. In October, 1800, the Church of St. Catharine was confided to the Jesuits at tlie re- quest of the Emperor Paul. The Jesuits opened a school that was soon very prosperous, but their suc- cess and the many following conversions aroused the jealousy of the Orthodox. The Jesuits were e.xpelled from St. Petersburg on 22 December, 1815, and from the whole of Russia in 1820. The parochial care of the Catholics of St. Petersburg was given to secular priests, and in 1816 to the Dominicans who have been in the city continuously until the present time. A Catholic Rumanian church was built during the reign of Alexander I. During the forties the number of Dominicans increased to twenty; but the closing of the Polish monasteries, from which they drew new mem- bers, reduced their number, and it became necessary to call fathers from Austria and France. Since 1888 secular priests have also been admitted to the cure of souls; still the present number of ecclesiastics is hardly sufficient to meet the needs of the entire Cath- olic community, the pastoral care, schools, and char- itable demands. In addition, there still remains the old limitation of administration by the governmental church consistory, the Catholic collegium, and the department of the state ministry for foreign religious, which exerts a zealous care that an active Catholic life, religious freedom, and efforts for the conversion of those of other faiths should be and remain impos- sible.
Ecclesiastically, as regards Catholicism, St. Peters- burg is the see of the Metropolitan of Mohileff, of the general consistory, of the Roman Catholic ecclesiasti- cal collegium (the highest collegiate church Iboard of administration, which, however, has to obtain the consent of the minister of the interior in all more im- portant matters), of a Roman Catholic preparatory academy for priests, and of an archiepiscopal semi- nary. The Cathedral of the Assumption of Mary was built in the Byzantine style in 1873 and was en- larged 1896-1902. The parish Church of St. Catha- rine was erected in 1763, that of St. Stanislaus in 1825, that of Our Lady in 1867, that of St. Casimir in 1908, and the German parish Church of St. Boniface in 1910. In addition there are 4 public and 10 private
