| Located on the delta of the Neva River, at the head of the Gulf of Finland, St. Petersburg was founded this day (May 16, Old Style). Originally, the region was known as Izhorskaya Zemlya or, more commonly, Ingermanland or Ingria. It came under the control of Novgorod but long remained thinly populated. In the 15th century the area passed with Novgorod into the possession of the grand princes of Moscow. Sweden annexed Ingria in 1617 and established fortresses along the Neva. Peter the Great ... |