History of St. Petersburg: Exhibition “Petersburg Guide. 18th – 21st century”

Through 25 November 2022 the John’s ravelin of Peter and Paul Fortress (St. Petersburg) hosts the “Petersburg Guide. 18th – 21st century” exhibition.

The exhibition features the guide books of St. Petersburg, travel notes, gravures depicting the city’s sights from the collections of the State Museum of St. Petersburg History revealing a wide range of “traveler’s literature” meant for Russian and foreign travelers who came and come to St. Petersburg.

The genre of a guide book in its modern concept started to develop in 19th century. The basic stages of its development are reflected in the displayed exhibits. The guides of St. Petersburg of the early 19th century were essays describing mostly the city’s attractions.

From the middle of the 19th century the city guide books started to provide not just description of sights, but also useful information.  The exhibition features “Booklet on St. Petersburg and its attractions for troops and population” by V. Gervais (1897), “St. Petersburg sights. Literature for people with 124 pictures” by D. N. Loman (1898).

There were special guide books for children which described in the first place “sacred places in the Russian history”. For instance, “Walk with children around St. Petersburg and its suburbs” by V. Buryanov (1838).

Guides of St. Petersburg for foreigners were issued both in St. Petersburg and Europe; they included, besides all, contained information on customs and traditions of the country and city.

In the Soviet age guide books became one ways of propaganda. The exhibition features a series of guide books issued in the period of 1933 to 1988.

Complete the exhibition modern guide books on St. Petersburg issued in 2000s. Among them are those which appeared relatively recently: pocket guide books, guides-maps, “informal” guides of the city, etc.