Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XIV.djvu/574

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550 SAINT PAUL DE LOANDA SAINT PETERSBURG ences, and comprising together about 24,000 volumes. The charitable institutions include a Catholic and a Protestant orphan asylum. The number of churches is 88, viz. : 8 Baptist, 1 Congregational, 4 Episcopal, 8 Evangelical, I Jewish, 5 Lutheran, 7 Methodist, 4 Presby- terian, 7 Roman Catholic, 1 Swedenborgian, 1 Unitarian, and 1 Universalist. The first build- ing was erected on the site in 1838, and it was simply an Indian trading post for several years. It was laid out into village streets in 1849, and a city government was obtained in 1854, when it contained about 3,000 inhabitants. It de- rived its name ffbm that of a log chapel dedi- cated to St. Paul by a Jesuit missionary in 1841. SAINT PAUL DE LOANDA, a decaying city of Angola proper, and the seat of government of the Portuguese possessions in Lower Guinea, a few miles S. of the mouth of the river Ben- go; pop. about 12,000. It contains the ruins of two cathedrals, one of which was used as a college by the Jesuits in the 17th century. The harbor, formed by a low sandy island, is protected by three forts. SAINT PETER, a city and the county scat of Nicollet co., Minnesota, on the W. bank of the Minnesota river, at the junction of the Wi- nona and St. Peter and the St. Paul and Sioux City railroads, 75 m. S. W. of St. Paul ; pop. in 1870, 2,124; in 1875, 8,810. It contains several furniture manufactories, three cooper shops, two grist mills, two sash, door, and blind factories, a marble shop, a foundery and machine shop, three, breweries, and a national bank. There are a largo graded school, with I 1 departments and 750 pupils ; a Roman Cath- olic school, with 75 pupils; two weekly news- papers, and 10 churches. The state hospital for the insane, completed in 1875, is of lime- stone quarried on the ground, and cost $500,- 000. The Swedish Lutherans of Minnesota are erecting (1S75) a large building for a college. SAINT PETKRSBIRG, a N. W. government of Russia, bounded N. by the gulf of Finland, the government of Viborg, and Lake Ladoga, E. by Novgorod, S. by Pskov, and W. by Lake Peipus, which separates it from Livonia and Esthonia; area, 20,760 sq. m. ; pop. in 1870, 1,825,471. It is drained by the Neva, Luga, and Narva, which discharge their waters into the gulf of Finland, and the Volkhov, Svir, and other streams, which flow into Lake Lado- ga. The surface is low and flat, and in many places swampy, but there are some low hills in the northeast, and a spur of the Valdai moun- tains enters it on the south. The climate is severe, and the soil mostly barren. It nearly corresponds to the former province of Ingria, and was the principal theatre of the long wars between the Swedes and the Russians. Peter the Great finally conquered it, and it was se- cured to Russia by the peace of Nystad in 1721. In 1871 the city of St. Petersburg was erected into an administrative district by itself, which left in the old government about 500,000 inhabitants. SAINT PETERSBIRG, the capital of Russia, situated on and around the delta of the Ni-vn, in lat. 59 56' 80" N., Ion. 80 19' E., 13 m. E. of its port of Cronstadt, and 890 m. N. V. of Moscow; pop. in 1870, 667,026, including 76,831 Protestants and 20,882 Roman Cath- olics, more than 40,000 Germans, and many other foreigners. The Neva, as it approaches the gulf of Finland, turns first N. and then W., and soon divides into the Great and Little Nevka, and the Great and Little Neva. Be- ginning at the north, the first two enclose the Velaginski, Kamenuoi, and Krestovski islands; between the Great Nevka and the Neva lies the large Apteknrski island ; Citadel island is in the Neva; Petrovski island and several islets are between the Little Nevka and the Little Neva ; while S. of the Little Neva and between it and the Great Neva are Volni and Vasili islands, the latter the largest of the del- ta. S. E. of this in the peninsula (converted into islands by canals) formed by the bend of the Neva is the admiralty quarter of the city. All these islands are included within the lim- its of the city, and the larger are very popu- lous. They are connected with the peninsula and with each other by ten bridges, several of them very fine. Beyond the Neva at the east there is a large and rapidly growing suburb. The Neva, though broad and clear, is shallow, and a bar at its mouth forbids the passage of vessels drawing more than 9 ft. of water ; and though the hulls of large ships are built at the city dockyards, they are floated to Cronstadt for their masts, rigging, and cargoes or arma- ment. The city is not liable to an attack by sea, but it has no adequate defences against an approach by land. The peninsular part S. of the Neva, with the finest buildings and streets, is called the Bolshaya Storona or Great side ; the islands and settlements on the N. bank are collectively known as the Petersburg side. On the latter side, opposite the so-called English quay, are the exchange and most of the impor- tant docks and warehouses. The city is ele- vated but little above the Neva, which has more than once overflowed and caused great destruc- tion of life and property. The peninsula, or Great side, is drained by cands, the principal of which are the Moika, the Catariuo, the Fon- tanka, and the Zagorodnoi, connected with each other and with the Neva by cross canals. The banks of the principal canals are protect- ed by walls of hewn granite, and crossed by numerous bridges. The quays along the Neva are of great extent and solidity. The admi- ralty building, on the S. side of the Great Neva, is an immense and massive pile with a lofty dome and spire, and is the central point of the S. or Great side. The statue of Peter the Great is on its S. W. side, and the col- umn of Alexander I. on the N. E. From the galleries of this building the whole city can be seen. Radiating from it S. E., S. S. E., and S. are the three finest streets of the city, viz. : the Nevski Prospekt or Neva per-