During this period the famous Mariinsky Theatre was built along with a number of palaces for Grand Dukes, the Liteiny bridge (where the first street lights in the city were installed ) and monuments to Catherine the Great, Nicholas I and the poet Alexander Pushkin.

Turn of the XX century

This period was both brilliant and troublesome. It started with the splendid coronation of Nicholas II in Moscow, which ended with the Khodynka disaster with thousands of casualties. It ended with the cruelest of wars World War I. However, in the early 1900's St. Petersburg was obsessed with celebrations.

In 1902 the bureaucratic St. Petersburg celebrated the 100th anniversary of Alexander I's government reform, which had established Russia's ministries. In May 1903 St. Petersburg celebrated its 200th anniversary. The new Troitsky (Trinity) Bridge was officially opened in the royal presence and then a church service took place on the Senate Square next to the Bronze Horseman, the monument to the founder of the city. The trouble came in 1905. In January 1905 a peaceful demonstration of workers was fired at by troops at the Palace Square. This led to public outrage and the start of the 1905-07 Revolution. The events of January 9, 1905 became known as "Bloody Sunday". On October 17, 1905 Nicholas II had to issue a manifesto proclaiming a number of civil rights and instituting a new parliament, consisting of the Duma and the reformed State Council.