Much is said and written about the beautiful and majestic city on the Neva. And yet, you can talk about it endlessly. His beauty is fascinating, and if you have not been there, you have lost a lot. How did not they call him! "Russian Venice", "Northern Palmira" ... For a long time no one is surprised by the name "cultural capital", and the first fan and builder, Peter I called this city "paradise."

Interestingly, one of the pearls of town planning Peter became approximately a hundred years after the founding of .Over the years, St. Petersburg was perceived only as a king's whimsy .But, knowing the severe disposition of Peter I, he did not dare to betray .And how do you object - the construction of the city was regulated by state decrees .In the first decades after the founding of the city, almost all buildings were public - there were almost no private buildings .No one in my head could not come to build houses there, at least for the sake of profit .I am glad that now the situation has changed, and the daily rent of apartments in St. Petersburg does not present any problems .But, on the other hand, at that time no one could even imagine that this city would attract tourists from all over the world..

A beautiful stone city that can be seen now began to take on a familiar look about seventy years after the foundation .Under Peter I, according to the testimony of that time, only about 450 houses were built, of which about a hundred were stone, while the rest were wooden $ ±.It was explained simply - the buildings of Russia at that time were mostly wooden, and for the erection of stone buildings there was not enough masters-masons .The Tsar did not stop this circumstance, judging by what we know about him, he perceived all the obstacles as a personal challenge, and these challenges have always been accepted .His purposefulness admires - the king lost rarely .Here and with the lack of masters decided simply, but effectively - across Russia, except for St. Petersburg, the construction of stone buildings was forbidden, respectively, masons had no other choice but to work for a job in the future capital,.

Peter I wanted to see his capital not inferior to the capitals of European states, so the streets, paved with wood, did not suit him. There was a problem with the stone, the solution of which was somewhat extravagant, but effective: the tsar introduced a stone tax, which consisted in the mandatory importation of several stones upon arrival in the city. The effectiveness of this idea of ​​the tsar is proved by the fact that this tax was abolished only under Catherine II.

By the way, it is Catherine II St. Petersburg is obliged to expand and mass settlement residents $ $ .After all, before it, since the moment of foundation, the city was perceived exclusively as a "presence", that is, a place of work! There was even the concept of "link to St. Petersburg" .It was Catherine II who continued the work of Peter, who took steps to forcibly resettling the city residents, desperate to attract people benefits and subsidies .The explanation for this is - during the time of Peter I the city was born, there was no developed infrastructure, the city saw only the prospect of $ .Ordinary people feared uncertainty, and in the end, Peter was forced to drive the population by force .Quite another thing happened under Catherine: the city is large enough and developed by the standards of that time, subsidies and benefits are attractive, and people were drawn into the city .As now, it was urgent to rent apartments in St. Petersburg, because it used to be that people came to look around, moving to a new city is a matter of serious $ ±​​$..So, gradually, Peter acquired the look that we now know .