Old Petersburg

The book by Mikhail Ivanovich Pylyaev, a famous journalist, local historian, and chronicler, introduces readers to the history of St. Petersburg, its attractions, daily life, and customs of the northern capital of Russia in the 18th-19th centuries. The first edition of "Old Petersburg" was published in 1887, yet it remains very popular among modern readers, just as it did over a hundred years ago. Indeed, where else would one learn how elephants were led to drink in Petersburg two hundred years ago and why their diet included so many buckets of vodka; why Catherine II could not stand apples, and why nothing was lost during the fire of the Winter Palace in December 1837 except for a silver coffee pot. Engagingly written, Mikhail Pylyaev's book contains many little-known and interesting facts and historical anecdotes. The edition is equipped with illustrations - antique engravings and lithographs.