Petersburg – miasto mężczyzn. Życie towarzyskie w stolicy carów

Abstract

Saint Petersburg is the former capital of the Russian Empire; currently, it belongs to the largest Russian cities and is regarded as the symbol of the bygone era of powerful Tsars. Back then, the city attracted various social groups, thus helping them to cross paths; it also interweaved the fates of people of different nationalities. In the 19th century, Saint Petersburg was the place of residence of the Tsarist authorities; moreover, it served as the centre of cultural, artistic and scientific development. Apart from this, in the course of centuries, the number of citizens was constantly increasing. Curiously, according to various statistics, in the imperial times Saint Petersburg was primarily “the city of men”, whose population was greater than that of women. As a result, both spiritual and physical entertainment was mostly targeted at men. Therefore, the aim of the article is to present the image of 19th century Saint Petersburg in the context of the aforementioned entertainment as well as male-female relationships in which men dominated.