St. Petersburg during the first quarter of the 19th century was capital of the Empire, residence of the Emperor, Headquarters of the Guard, and the location of all supreme and central government institutions. Nonetheless, the city had not yet assumed the appearance for which it is now known worldwide. Many famous buildings were under construction. The new building of the Admiralty designed by A. Zakharov had just been constructed. The place of today's conservatory was occupied by the building of the former Bolshoy Theater. A rather decrepit and cramped old building of the Senate stood at the location of the present Senate and Synod building. Construction of the Kazan Cathedral (designed by Andrey Voronikhin), without which one cannot imagine Nevsky Prospect, the city's central avenue, was completed as late as 1811.
St. Petersburg University, which was opened in the building of the Twelve Colleges in 1819, immediately became one of the largest higher educational institutions in Russia. Fifteen years earlier St. Petersburg had become the center of an educational district which included the north and north-west provinces. In addition to the University, the city had a Medico-Surgical Academy, Mining Cadet Corps, and Institute of Transportation Routes Engineers. The latter two institutions were militarized and closed. Traditionally, the majority of noblemen were educated at the Page Corps (for the youths of high nobility), First, Second and Marine Cadet Corps.
St. Petersburg was rapidly growing in the early 19th century. The population of the northern capital nearly doubled in the period between 1802 and 1818. The city was divided into eight parts, inhabited mostly by migrants: handicraftsmen, seasonal workers, numerous soldiers of the garrison. The privileged class of the population consisted of courtiers, army officers and civil officials.
St. Petersburg merchants maintained trade relations with the whole world via the city's sea port. Although Russians accounted for a majority of the population (85%), there were large German, Polish, Estonian, Finnish, and Lettish communities as well as French, English and Swedish colonies. The Jewish community, though not numerous, kept growing.