5. Arts Square

Over the centuries many architectural ensembles appeared in our city — compositions where buildings, squares, streets and the water of rivers and canals make one harmonious whole. The Arts Square ensemble was created in the first half of the 19th century. It consists of the Mikhailovsky Palace building with the square and the garden, houses bordering the square and also those on Mikhailovsky Street which joins the square to Nevsky Prospekt.

Mikhailovsky Palace. This was the design of Carl Rossi. He laid out Mikhailovskaya street from the palace to Nevsky prospekt, and parallel to Nevsky a new Inzhenernaya Street went from Catherine (now Griboedov) Canal to Fontanka. The centre of the ensemble —Mikhailovsky Palace — was built in 1819-1825 for the Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich, Paul I's younger son (hence the name Mikhailovsky). Before that the Mikhailovsky Castle hothouses were situated here. The palace is built like a country mansion with a garden. It consists of the main building and two wings. The main palace building which has two storeys is situated behind the court yard. It is 25 metres high. The symmetrical wings are connected by a magnificent high cast iron fence with three gates. The main gate is decorated by four-sided pylons with arms depicted on top of them: armour, swords and banners. The palace's ground floor is tiled with roosts.The main facade is decorated with a portico with eight columns of the Corinthian style, lifted atop the arcade of the first floor. The portico is completed by a triangular fronton. Over the arches and all the ground floor windows there are lion heads carved from stone. The wings of the palace are decorated with three-quarters columns. The palace frieze consists of 44 bas-reliefs by the sculptor Vastly Demut-Malinovsky. The side risalites are decorated with enormous Venetian windows. A wide staircase decorated with lions and ramps leads to'the entrance. In front of the main facade a formal garden is laid out. The facade on the other side, looking onto the Mikhailovsky Garden, is also richly decorated. Its central part is adorned by a great loggia-colonnade. In decorating the palace's interior participated sculptors Stepan Pimenov, Vastly Demut-Malinovsky, painters Giovanni and Pietro Scotti etc. The original interior of the entrance hall, main staircase and the White Hall have survived. From these examples we can imagine all the magnificence of the palace.

Now the Mikhailovsky Palace houses the State Russian Museum. Together with the Tretiakov Gallery in Moscow it is the biggest collection of Russian art in the country. Priceless treasures are kept here —monuments of ancient Russian painting, the works of painters and sculptors of 18th-20th centuries and collections of objects of applied arts. In order to house the exhibits in 1914-1917 the west wing was added to the Mikhailovsky Palace (architect Leonty Benois). In 1902 in a wing specially built (architect Vastly Svinyin) the ethnographic department exhibition (later a separate museum) was opened, and in 1913 — an exhibition of the history of everyday life. In 1957 in the centre of the oval garden on Arts Square a monument to the great Russian poet Pushkin was erected (sculptor Mikhail Anikushin, architect Vastly Petrov).

St Petersburg State Philharmonic Society named after Shostakovich

The building was erected as the Noble Assembly house. At first it had three storeys (architect Paul Jacquot, 1834-1839), but in 1899-1901 another one was added. The building has very good acoustics.The big auditorium is decorated by Corinthian columns faced with white marble. Around the central part there are two-tiered galleries.Viewing from the Arts Square the Philharmonic Society side with the Musical Comedy Theatre (13, Italian Street).

Other Buildings on Arts Square

Rossi designed the facades of the houses bordering the square from the east and west sides. They are the house ofVielgorsKy (4, Art Square) he east side, the house of Lieutenant General Golenischev-Kutuzov (house 3) and the house of architect Jacquot (house 5) from the west side, and also the house belonging to St Catherine's catholic church (5, Italian Street) on the south-east, which calls to mind the Noble Assembly house in its design. The Small Opera and Ballet Theatre "Musorgsky" (Mikhailovsky Theatre). The theatre building is situated on the west side of the square, near the Russian Museum (1, Arts Square). It was built in 1831-1833 by the architect Alexander Briullov. The theatre auditorium is shaped like a horseshoe. The seats are placed in four tiers. In 1859-1860 the theatre building was rebuilt by the architect Albert Kavos.

Michaelovsky palace

After the death of Mikhail Pavlovich the palace was owned by his widow, the Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna. Many leading figures of Russian culture visited her salon. Then the palace stood empty and began to decay In 1895 it was bought by the crown so as to place the Russian Museum there. In 1898 there was created the first Russian Museum of Alexander III.