This square came into being due to the 
construction of the granite embankment along 
the |Neva|Custom1|O:127| and the piers for the only pontoon 
bridge (1727), Connecting the city center with 
Vasilyevsky Island.
In the 1760s the square got the name of 
Senatskaya Square. It was here that the Senate - 
one of the highest bodies of power in Russia - 
was transferred from Vasilyevsky Island.
In 1804-7 G. Quarenghi put up the building of the 
Manege. The ensemble was completed after the 
construction of |St. Isaac's Cathedral|Custom1|O:14| was finished 
in 1858: the enormous mass of the cathedral 
bounded the square in the south.At the foot of 
the monument to Peter I the rebellious troops 
lined up, headed by noblemen, members of the 
underground North Society who were intended to 
overthrow the autocratic regime. On the whole 
there were about three thousand rebels in the 
square, that were surrounded by the troops 
devoted to the tsar. The uprising was suppressed.
On the 100th anniversary of the uprising 
Senatskaya Square was renamed Dekabristov 
(Decembrist's) Square.