Petrograd

Toponymy

In the early 19th century a slavicised variant appeared: Petrograd (Russian: Петроград, IPA:), used also by Alexander Pushkin. However, it was only on 31 August[O.S. 18 August] 1914, after the war with Germany had begun, that Tsar Nicholas II renamed the city Petrograd to expunge the German words Sankt and Burg. Since the prefix "Saint" was omitted, this act also changed the eponym and the "patron" of the city from Saint Peter to Peter the Great, its founder. On 26 January 1924, shortly after the death of Vladimir Lenin, it was renamed to Leningrad (Russian: Ленинград, IPA:), meaning 'Lenin City'. On 6 September 1991, the original name, Sankt-Peterburg, was returned by a citywide referendum. Today, in English, the city is known as Saint Petersburg. Residents often refer to the city by its shortened nickname, Piter (Russian: Питер, IPA:).