The article discusses the main features of the transformation of leisure practices of the population of St. Petersburg in the late XIX-early XX centuries. It is concluded that the capital of the Russian
Empire was a place of development and dissemination of leisure culture in all its various forms. Industrialization and industrial growth have led both to the emergence of more leisure consumers and to the creation of conditions for its commercialization. Everyday life was filled not only with the usual forms of recreation and entertainment, but also with new ones that owed their appearance to technological progress.
The authorities and civil society were concerned about the organization of cultural forms of leisure, which
was associated with the steady popularity of deviant practices. Despite the social contrasts associated with
both the economic and cultural level of residents, it can be argued that leisure gradually became more and
more democratized