Shortly after the Bolshevik leader
Vladimir Lenin died the city was renamed
Leningrad (supposedly by public demand). During
the years of the Revolution the population of the
city had dropped dramatically and the recovery of
the once gorgeous city was slow and only partial.
From the 1930s onwards economic growth was
significant, but came at the very high price of
Stalin's regime.
In the late 1920s mass construction
of cheap housing for workers became a very
prominent feature of the Leningrad landscape.
Many cultural centers - "palaces of culture"
were built to provide the city's common folk with
entertainment, clubs and other social activities.
In terms of architecture most of what was built
was rather modern, quite straightforward, but
sometimes still inspirational. The large
apartments of the Imperial St. Petersburg were
turned into "communal" - shared - apartments,
housing several families. Life was not a piece of
cake, but ahead lay the events that were to
change this life completely: WWII and the
dramatic 900-day Siege of Leningrad.
Next: 900-day
Siege of Leningrad
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