Vitebsky railway station
St Petersburg-Vitebsky () is a railway station terminal in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Formerly known as St Petersburg-Tsarskoselsky station because its first line led to the suburban royal residences town of Tsarskoye Selo, it was the first railway station to be built in Saint Petersburg and the whole of the Russian Empire (while its present-day building is much newer). Later, with considerable extension of its lines, the station was renamed after a much farther destination - Vitebsk, a city in Belarus. Early history The station, located at the crossing of the Zagorodny Avenue and the now-vanished Vvedensky Canal, was inaugurated in the presence of Nicholas I of Russia on 30 October 1837 when the first Russian train, named Provorny, departed from its platform for the imperial residence at Tsarskoe Selo. A replica of this train may be seen as a permanent exhibit at the modern station. The first building of the Petersburg Station (as it was then known) was constructed in timber in August and September of the same year to a design by Konstantin Thon. Since it proved to be too small, it was demolished within twelve years and a much larger structure was erected under Thon's supervision between 1849