Early Urban Planning of St. Petersburg

Maim plan 1716-1717 Domenico Trezzini

The First Emperor of Russia, inspired by the examples of Western European cities, was firm in his intentions to implement the construction of a new city as soon as possible. It was necessary to choose a strategy of building on the basis of the new urban challenges. Some of his ideas, such as canals within the city, were based on the development of transportation and infrastructure similar to the Venetians and Dutch. The same influence of European architects is evident in the development of the first plan, which brought a regular grid of perpendicular streets with clear outlines, broad avenues, and standard home models.

Peter became a reformist, banning any wooden construction in favor of stone, which proved to be quite difficult, as the materials and technique were time-consuming and had poor thermal properties. This required skilled stonemasons, of which Russia was lacking.
The marshy terrain and close proximity of groundwater created immediate problems. Drainage channels for the territory were planned, as was the usage of domestic and industrial waste for backfilling the swampy, low-lying areas.

The creator of the first Master Plan of 1716 was the Italian architect Domenico Trezzini. The plan reflected the idea of Peter: Trezzini was to bring the city to the Baltic Sea, turning it to face the water. Significantly, Trezzini’s system of levies failed, and therefore this plan was not implemented.

By 1716 Vasilevsky Island was almost completely undeveloped. The only major construction was the Menshikov mansion (a palace, house church, and a garden).

 Menshikov palace (1710-1720) architects M.D.Fontana and I.G.Shedel (gravure of Zubov 1714)

 Menshikov palace

Line of Vasilievskii island

The island was supposed to host the government and commercial center of the city. The plan was to dig a long canal, crossing the island from east to west (along the axis of the current Grand Avenue), and included 62 cross-channel lines, and several artificial harbors, where boats could station themselves near the center. The northern part of the island holds a huge park and an area for future constructions. Streets of Vasilevsky Island are not named in the traditional manner. The three main streets running along the island are called big, medium and small avenues, with numbered cross streets (lines) running perpendicular to the main avenues.

planning of Vasilievkii island 1715 architect Trezini

In 1737 the chief architect of the "Commission of the St. Petersburg Construction" was Yeropkin. Under his guidance, a master plan of St. Petersburg, as well as projects and development for its central regions, was drawn up. In this way, the general plan of the city was secured, the three major radial avenues (so-called "Eropkinsky Trident") were finalized, and a plan for future urban development was realized.

master plan 1737