The article discusses the long period of development of the Department of physical geography and landscape hlanning at the St. Petersburg State University. History of the department spans more than one and a half centuries. At different periods of time it was part of the various faculties, however physical geography as a scientific discipline was formed under the leadership of the largest Russian and Soviet scientists, each of whom has made a valuable contribution to its formation. The article briefly describes the main stages of department development, staff, and the main topics of theoretical and field studies of each period. It also considers, separately, modern trends of research department and staff.