St isaac’s square
The name of the square is due to St Isaac’s Cathedral, the fourth largest cupola cathedral of the world (after St Peter’s in Rome, St Paul’s in London and Santa Maria degli Fiori Cathedral in Florence). The cathedral was named after St Isaac of Dalmatia, a Bysantine monk of the 4th century who was Peter I’s patron saint. It was designed by the French architect Auguste Montferrand. It took him 40 years to build the cathedral (1818-1858); it has standing room for 8,000 people. The façade of the cathedral is decorated with huge granite Columns (totally 112, with the height of 16m, weight of 114tones each). The interior of the cathedral is richly decorated with different stones: 43 minerals, 14 marbles. The cupola is gilded with 100kg of gold leaf. It was the most dangerous technique of gilding- mixture of pure gold and mercury being covered the copper sheets during heating them from inside evaporated and let sheets be gilded with a very thin layer of gold. Mercury vapors cost lives of 60 workers.
The building across the square is the former Mariinsky Palace (Stakenschneider, 1844). It was built for Princess Maria, daughter of Nicholas I. In 1884 the palace was given over to the State Council – the supreme legislative body of the Russian Empire. At present it houses St Petersburg city council. The Legislative SEAT IS THERE.
Mariinsky palace is actually separated from the square by the Moika River (this river used to be the 18th century boundary of the city), and right in front of the palace building is the Blue Bridge across the Moika, the city’s widest bridge (almost 100 (99.95) m wide). It is also one of the world’s widest bridges. It is a one-span cast-iron bridge: a few bridges of a similar design were built across the Moika in the early 19th century. The bridges were named after the colours of their railings. Thus, the railing of the Blue Bridge is blue. Because of its width, it looks like part of St Isaac Square. In old days this bridge was a serf market, and also a labour exchange, where crowds of workers and peasants used to come to get employed.
The granite obelisk on your left, crowned with Neptune’s trident, was put up in 1971. The bronze ribbons on the obelisk mark the water levels during the most devastating floods of St Petersburg. The strongest flood happened on November 19, 1824, when the water level rose 421 centimetres above the normal level; the second strongest one occurred a hundred years later, on September 23, 1924, when it rose 380 cm above the normal level. These and some other marks are shown on the granite pillar.
The monument in the centre of the square is to Nicholas I (sculptor Klodt, mid-19th century). It is an exceptional example of monumental sculpture: although the statue is 6 metres high, it only has two points of balance – the horse’s hind legs. The pedestal is decorated with four symbolic statue representing Justice, Faith, Wisdom, and Strength. The statues bear portrait likeness to Nicholas’s wife and three daughters.
The two identical buildings on the west and east sides of the square (right and left of the monument to Nicholas I) were constructed in the middle of the 19th century to house the Ministry of State Property (architect Yefimov). They now house the Research Institute of Plant Breeding.
The building of the Astoria Hotel dates from a later period, the early 20th century (Lidval, 1912). At that time it was considered the best hotel in Russia; nowadays it is one of the city’s finest hotels.
Across the square from the hotel is the building which was put up at the same time as the hotel. It was meant for the German Embassy and was designed by a German architect (Berens, 1912). At present the building houses St Petersburg office of the Ministry of Justice.
Beside St Isaac’s Cathedral there is an interesting yellow-and-white building which, as well as the cathedral, was designed by Montferrand. It is triangular in plan, and was built in 1820 for Prince Lobanov-Rostovsky. The entrance to the former palace (now occupied by a bank) is guarded by two marble lions made in Italy in the early 19th century.
Now we are driving towards the center of our city, to Palace Square along Admiralty Prospekt named after the majestic yellow-and-white building, the Admiralty, we can see on our right. The gilded spire of the Admiralty is a landmark of the city: three streets radiate outwards from it – Gorokhovaya Street, Voznesensky pr., Nevsky pr. A picturesque garden was laid out it 1872-1874, the fountain in 1877, around which there are busts and statues of Glinka, Lermontov, Gogol, and other cultural figures. This place is very attractive in summer; it is practically a center of general merry-making. The grey colored building across on the corner of Gorokhovaya St. is a branch of the Museum of Political History, known as the city administration building which once housed police security service offices. Even poor Lenin spent 10 days in a jail cell in the basement. From 1917 to 1918 Felix Dzerzhinsky, founder of the KGB precursor Cheka, set up his All-Russian Extraordinary Commission here, where many people were interrogated, some shot on the premises. In 2001, a small but interesting exhibit opened on the 2nd floor chronicling the history of police repression in Russia, detailed through documents, photos and short video documentaries. On the façade of this building a bas-relief of Felix Dzerzhinsky is fixed.
Now we are approaching Palace Square. Palace Square witnessed many important historical events of the Russian history. The first Russian revolution started here, it was on the 9th of January 1905 when a peaceful procession of workers came to this square with a petition to the Tsar Nicholas II, in which they asked him to make their living condition a little bit easy. But this procession was shot down, according to statistics- about 1000 people were killed, and 4000 were wounded. This event is known as Bloody Sunday, it was the beginning of the first Russian revolution, it lasted till 1907. This revolution was suppressed, and a period of the most severe reaction began. In February 1917 the 2nd revolution broke out, the tsar Nicholas II abdicated and the governmental bodies were organized: the Soviets of working people and Soldier deputies and the Provisional Government. The period of duel Power lasted till the 4th of July 1917. On that day one of the demonstrations was shot down and that was the end of the duel Power in favor of the Provisional Government. Then in August 1917 the Provisional Government moved to the Winter Palace and the Soviets moved to the building of the Smolny Institute, which became the center of preparing the armed uprising of October 25th, 1917.In one day by night of October 25th all the key-points of the city, such as the Central Post-office, Telegraph-office, railway station were in hands of revolutionary people and the last Strong-Hold of counter-revolution was the Winter Palace, where was the seat of the Provisional Government. Twice they were offered to capitulate, but they refused. The only way of winning for the social revolution was to storm the Winter Palace. The signal for storming the Winter Palace was a blank shot given from the Cruiser Aurora. The Winter Palace was taken by storm. Members of the Provisional Government were arrested there. For some time they were imprisoned in the Peter and Paul Fortress. Later they were released on the word of honor not to participate in actions against the Soviet Power. The Socialist Republic was established in Russia and nowadays Palace Square is the place of different meetings, demonstrations, processions, manifestations.
A few words about the architecture of the square. The yellow-and white building on the right is the former General Staff-Head –Quarters designed by the architect Carlo Rossi in 1829, the building has the longest façade, about two thousand feet, but it doesn’t look so long due to the shape of the building, it is shaped as a horse-shoe. In the central part of the building there is a triumphal arch crowned with the victory chariot. It is a monument glorifying the victory of the Russian army over Napoleon. The one more monument dedicated to the same victory is the Alexander Column in the center of the square erected in 1834 to the design of Augustine Monferrand. The green-and-white building to the left from the Column is the Winter Palace designed by architect Rastrelli in 1754-1762. Today it is a part of the Hermitage museum.
Now we are turning to the right, to Palace Embankment. All the buildings on the embankment are former palaces and mansions of the nobility. So, the first palace on our right is the Winter palace, next is the Small Hermitage, then the Old Hermitage, and the Hermitage theater. Another palace worth mentioning is the Palace of Great Duke (Great Prince) Vladimir, a brother of Alexander II, who was the President of the Academy of Fine Arts. The palace was designed by the architect Rezanov in 1867-1872. In 1920 on the initiative of Maxim Gorky the Palace of Scientists was open here.
Please have a look on your left. On the other bank of the Neva River we can see the Peter and Paul Fortress; the grey walls are joined with the gate. The gate is called the Neva gate, as well as the gate of death. Exactly through this gate the criminals, political offenders were taken to the barges tied up here at the pier and then were transported to the place of their execution, to the Schlüsselburg fortress, near the Ladoga Lake. The embankments of the Neva River were first covered with granite in the 2nd half of the 18th century. And the walls of the fortress were covered with granite at the same time.
The next palace on our right is the former palace of Great Prince Michael, the son of Nicholas I. The palace was built by Stakenshneider in the mid-19th century. Nowadays in this palace is the Institute of Archeology and Oriental study. All the buildings along the Palace embankment are former palaces of the nobility. Some of them nowadays are used as apartment houses, in some of them are different institutes. So the next building constructed in the second half of the 19th century for the industrialist Gromov by the architect Rakhau houses the Register office of Russia today.
Now we are approaching the Marble Palace designed by the architect Rinaldi in 1785. The façade and interior of the palace are decorated with different kinds of marble (more than 30). The palace was presented to Count Grigory Orlov, the lover of Catherine II, by her as a token of gratitude for the coup d’etat that brought Catherine II to the Russian throne on July 3d, 1762. But he was known a notorious gambler, soon he had to sell off his palace for his debts, and Catherine actually bought it from the new owner back to the treasury, and it was in the possession of the members of the royal family till 1917. After the October Revolution till 1992 it housed Lenin’s museum. Then the museum of Lenin was moved out of the palace, and today the Marble palace is an affiliate of the Russian Arm Museum. They display different art-exhibitions of modern art and permanent exhibits of foreign artists, who were active in Russia in the 18th and 19th century. In the inner court-yard there is an equestrian statue of Alexander III by sculptor Paolo Trubetskoy erected in 1909.
Now we are entering the square with the statue of Alexander Suvorov, designed by sculptor Michail Kozlovsky and unveiled in 1801. The Russian Field Marshal is depicted as a young warrior. Next is another square called as the Field of Mars, the Roman God of War (Marsovo Pole). The field is so named because it was the scene of the 19th century military parades and drilling-ground. It was so big and dusty that people used to call it a Sahara desert of St Petersburg. After the February revolution of 1917 participants of the street clashes were buried in mass-graves in the center of the square. On the first of May 1917 the first legal May-day manifestation of workers was held here. In 1919 the monument consisting of plain granite walls was built in the center of the square by the architect Rudnev. The park was laid out in 1920. In January 27th 1944 when the siege was lifted the Leningraders came to this square for celebration. In 1957 the eternal flame was lit in the center of the square to commemorate those people who became victims of starvation during the 900-day-siege. Among the new weds a tradition is spread to come to the places of interests after their official registration just to put fresh flowers; they come to this place also.
The Field of Mars is a garden-architectural ensemble. A conspicuous (видный) structure on the right of the yellow and white building with three porticos, a fine specimen of Russian classicism, was built in 1820 by Vasily Stasov as the barracks of the Pavlovsky Guards Regiment. That regiment became honored in the war of 1812 against Napoleon. In February 1917 the regiment was one of the first to join the revolutionary people. Today the building houses the board of management of Electricity in St Petersburg.
On the right hand side we can see another garden-architectural ensemble. The central loveliest and oldest park, the Summer Gardens, lies between the Mars Field and the Fountain (Fontanka) river. It is actually the first garden in St Petersburg laid out by Peter the Great in 1704 with fountains, pavilions and a geometrical plan to resemble the park in Versailles. The garden is decorated with statues of Italian work of the 18th century. But the fountains were destroyed by the flood of 1777. There are about 2000 trees are planted there. In the corner of the park a modest, two-storey building is the first Summer Palace of Peter the Great, built for him between 1704-1714 by the first architect of the city Domenico Trezzini. It is pretty well intact. Little bas-reliefs around the walls depict Russian naval victories. Today it’s open as a museum, there are 14 rooms totally, 7 are on the ground floor, they are of Peters, and 7 are on the first floor for his wife Catherine I. They are stocked with early-18th century furnishings. Actually the Summer Garden is laid out on an island measuring some 30 acres, and washed by rivers and a canal (the Swan Canal artificially made). The Summer Garden is fenced off from the Neva Embankment by the famous black and golden railing designed by J.Felten in the 18th century.
Ahead of us the orange colored building is the famous Mikhailovsky Castle, the only castle in St Petersburg. It was built in 1801 by the architects Bazhenov and Brenna for the tsar Paul I. The name of the castle is due to the fact that Archangel Mikhail was a personal patron saint of Paul I. The part of the building with the spire on the roof is dedicated to Archangel Mikhail. Paul I was afraid of coup d’etat, that’s why he ordered to build a palace for him like a medieval castle. It was constructed on the small island with moats around, with draw-bridges that were lifted at night. But all these precautions didn’t save him; he was killed in the castle in his bed room on his forty-first night there. After his death his family left the castle for some 20 years. Then in 1821-1823 the castle became a military engineering school (hence another name of this castle- Engineers’ Castle), whose most famous pupil was Fyodor Dostoevsky, in 1837 16-year-old Dostoevsky came to the capital and entered the Engineer’s School. He was not interested in military sciences and suffered from unending drills. Books were his only entertainment. Dostoevsky finished the school in 1843 and retired from the military service the next year. It is interesting to know that most of the 17 houses in which Dostoevsky lived in St Petersburg stood on a street corner perhaps because his first quarters in the capital were in a corner room of the Engineer’s Castle. Then there were different organizations, offices, historical archives, now they are all moved out, and the castle has become an affiliate of the Russian Art Museum. In front of the main entrance to the castle we can see an equestrian monument of Peter the Great created by the sculptor Carlo Rastrelli in 1746, the father of Bartolomeo Franchesko Rastrelli, who constructed the Winter Palace. It is the first equestrian monument in the city. Peter the Great was a great-grandfather of Paul I. The monument’s socle carries the inscription “To great grand-father from the great grandson”.
Now the route may go either along Sadovaya Street in order to enter Arts Square and then from the Griboedov Canal Embankment to show the multi-domed Church on Spilled Blood, known as the Church of the Resurrection of Christ or by turning to the right from the Mars Field along the Moika river to come to the northern side of the church. The Cathedral of Our Savior on Spilled Blood was built on the place where the tsar Alexander II had been assassinated on the first of March 1881, hence the name of the Cathedral. The Church was constructed by the architect Parland in 1883-1907, it took him 24 years to accomplish it. The church was consecrated on the 19th of August 1907, that is a day celebrated in the Russian Orthodox Church (Faith) as the day of the Savoir. The tsar Alexander II is known in our history as the Tsar-Liberator. It was him who abolished Serfdom in Russia in February 19th 1861. However, 20 years later after the abolition of serfdom he spilled his blood here. The terrorist Ignaty Grinevitsky, a Polish student of the University of St Petersburg, threw the bomb under the tsar’s feet, which cost the life to both of them. In three hours later Alexander II died in the Winter Palace after the blast.
The cupolas of the cathedral are covered with ceramics; the cathedral is richly decorated with mosaics outside and inside. It’s decorated with 7000 sq meters of mosaics. The cathedral was consecrated for the second time on the 19th of August 1997. Today it is open as a museum. In front of the cathedral the cast-iron railing designed by the same architect Parland is of the artistic value, was made in St Petersburg in the early 20th century. The railing actually separates the Mikhailovsky Gardens, the first private garden in St Petersburg. Nowadays the garden is open to every visitor free of charge.
So, here we will have our photo stop of 20 minutes. This area is famous for the Flea-Market where you may have a look at some typical Russian Souvenirs: Matryoshka dolls, lacquer boxes, T-shirts, military hats, and other symbols. Here you may bargain.
Now we are leaving Stables Square formed by the Imperial Stables constructed in the 18th century originally, then rebuilt by architect Stasov in the 19th century. The central part of the Stables is occupied by a church, in which on the first of February 1837 there was a funeral service held in honor of Alexander Pushkin. After that night his body was buried in his Michailovskoe estate.
We are crossing the Moika river, and from the bridge on the left one can see the yellow-and-white building, famous in our city as the Pushkin- Flat-Museum, the museum was open in building 12 along the Moika river embankment in 1925. It was the last flat of Alexander Pushkin; there he died on the 29th of January 1837.
We are going to drive along the street named after very rich people in St Petersburg, Millionaire Street. The name goes back to the early 18th century, when the land in the city was so expensive, that only rich people could buy a piece of land at the neighborhood of the official winter residence of the royal family.
***If you have enough time to stop on Palace Square for taking pictures, you may turn to the left in Millionaire street after having crossed the Moika river.
If your time is limited, turn to the right in Millionaire street towards the Marble Palace and by passing-by the palace come back to Suvorov Square in order to cross the Neva river and appear on the Petrograd Side to continue the tour.
Suvorov Square is flanked by a pink building on our right which was put up for the count Saltykov by the architect Quarenghi in the second half of the 18th century. Then there was a residence of the Austrian Ambassador, then the British Embassy, nowadays here is the University of Culture and Arts, a university which trains librarians, theatre producers, choir directors etc.
The green building on the left was constructed by the architect Bryullov in the first half of the 19th century for the services of the Marble Palace. Nowadays there is Polytechnic Institute for correspondent students.
The monument to Alexander Suvorov, an outstanding Russian military leader of the 18th century, was unveiled in 1801 (sculptor Kozlovsky). Suvorov is known to be "the invincible general" as he fought 60 battles and never lost a single one. His name has become a symbol of Russia's military glory.
The sculpture does not bear any portrait likeness to Suvorov; rather, it is an allegorical image of a young Roman warrior. It personifies Suvorov's valor (героизм) and courage.
Although all the monuments in the city were carefully protected during WWII, the statue of Suvorov was left open. Soldiers leaving for the front marched past Suvorov and saluted him.
Now we are approaching the bridge that was built by the bicentenary of our city in 1903. The name is Holy Trinity Bridge. Actually the bridge was planned by Alexander III to become a wedding present to his wife Mary Fedorovna for the 25th anniversary of their marriage. It was constructed, however, in 1903 by professional team-builders from Paris who erected the Eiffel Tower in Paris. The lanterns on the sides of the railings have in the their socle parts the monograms of Alexander III and his wife’s in the shape of letters A. and M. This bridge is open at night, too. The opening section is the first one at the side of Suvorov Square. The bridge finishes onto Kamennoostrovsky Prospekt. In the very beginning of it there is a replica of the 18th century church constructed here in the early years of the city’s foundation. It is called the Holy Trinity Church; it was consecrated on the 27th of May 2003, on the day of the 300 anniversary of the foundation of the city. The first church in the city was constructed on St Trinity Square, which was the oldest part of the city and the first administrative center. At that time here were only wooden buildings that didn’t survive till today. All buildings around the square appeared in the beginning of the 20th century. One of them to the left worth mentioning is the former mansion of the prima ballerina of the Mariinsky Theater Mathilde Kschessinska, who was very talented. She was noted in the love affair with Nicholas II before his marriage to Alix. Mathilde Kschessinska was not blessed with long legs, but she had beautiful eyes and was a talented dancer. She came from a family of famous ballet dancers and was the first Russian ballerina to master thirty-two consecutive fouettes. With her technical skill and excellent connections inside the Imperial family, Kschessinska quickly became the prima ballerina of the Mariinsky Theatre.
After Nicholas married Princess Alix of Hesse-Darmstadt, Kschessinska took up with Grand Duke Sergei Mikhailovich, who was responsible for the Russian artillery and the theatrical society, Russians joked: "Thanks to the grand duke, we have a fine ballet and terrible artillery."
Kschessinska's next admirer was Grand Duke Andrei Vladimirovich — despite a seven-year age difference. In 1902, she gave birth to a son called Vladimir, who was given a hereditary (наследственный) title and the surname Krasinky by the tsar. His original patronymic was Sergeyevich ("son of Sergei") as Mathilde was at that time the common-law wife (неофициальная жена) of Grand Duke Sergei. After marrying Grand Duke Andrei in France in 1921 and converting from Catholicism to Orthodoxy in 1925, Vladimir's patronymic was changed to Andreyevich ("son of Andrei"). Kschessinska emigrated to France after the February revolution and died in Paris in 1971, a few months short of her hundredth birthday.
The mansion of Mathilde Kschessinska was designed by the architect Gogen in 1907. After the February revolution in her mansion the central Soviet committee of the Social Democratic party was housed, here Lenin from a balcony addressed the party members with his famous April theses in April 1917 when he returned to Petrograd from his exile in the armed train from Helsinki. Today the mansion houses the museum of Political History and Political Parties in Russia of the early 20th century, there is a study room of Vladimir Lenin, who worked there for several months till the end of the dual power, June 4th 1917, as well as private rooms of the ballerina.
So our route goes along the embankment named after Peter the Great. To the right at the pier is anchored the replica of the 18th century ship named Flagman. It is used as a restaurant nowadays. The yellow-and-white building to the left is the former palace of count Nicholas, one of the members of the tsar’s family constructed in 1912 by the architect Khrenov. Today the palace is a seat of the plenipotentiary representative of our president in the North-Western region Mr. Ilia Klebanov.
Next building to the left in a patch (небольшой участок земли) of trees is a little stone building which actually a brick case around the wooden log cabin of Peter the Great where the tsar lived in 1703-1706 while supervising the construction of the Peter and Paul Fortress. This little log cabin was built in 3 days by military carpenters. Brick casing around the log cabin protects the wooden house from fluctuation of temperature and changing of weather. Inside there is a museum dedicated to the first period of the city’s existence and interiors of Peter’s dwelling. In front of the house there is the bust to Peter the Great by sculptor Zabello. Here was also the first port in St Petersburg. At the embankment we can see two sculptures of Chinese-mythological monsters Lion-Frogs. They were brought in the early 20th century from Manchuria. The monsters are guards of family happiness.
Next yellow building was meant for the hotel in the 1930s, now there is an apartment house.
Our next photo-stop is in front of the notorious CRUISER "AURORA". She was built in St Petersburg in 1900 and was launched in 1903. She participated in the Russo-Japanese war of 1904-1905. She was damaged in the Tsushima battle. She participated in WWI and was later used as a training ship. Of course, she was too old to take part in WWII, but the ship's guns were used at the front line and helped defend the city. Since 1948 the cruiser has been moored at the Neva embankment and opened as a public museum of revolution. There is no entrance fee to this museum.
Cruiser "Aurora" is famous for the special role she played in the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917. On the eve of the revolution, the night of October 25, 1917, the "Aurora", whose crew had sided with the revolutionaries, sailed up the Neva and was moored at a bridge not far from the present-day Decembrists Square. From there, at 9:45 in the evening, the cruiser fired the famous blank shot which was the signal to start the storming of the Winter Palace. Many sailors from the crew participated in the assault of the Winter Palace.
Earlier the same day, at 2:00 in the afternoon, the "Aurora"'s radio was the first to broadcast the appeal of The Revolutionary Military Committee «To the Citizens of Russia» and thus announced the victory of the revolution.
The fore gun which gave the signal shot is still there and has a memorial plaque on it.
The blue-and-white building, beside which the cruiser is moored, houses Nakhimov Naval School, named after the celebrated Russian Admiral Nakhimov. The school was opened in 1944 first for the orphanages after the war and now for boys to get secondary education. The building was constructed in the early 20th century (architect Dmitriyev); its facade is decorated with a bust of Peter I, who founded the Russian navy. Besides being a memorial museum, cruiser "Aurora" now serves as a training ship for students of the Naval School. Every morning at 9 a.m. sharp there is a ceremony of hoisting the flag on the cruiser by the students of the school.
Now are driving down one of the arms of the Neva river. Our city is located in the delta of the Neva. There are 5 main arms of the Neva. On the other bank of the river there is one of the industrial districts, one of the former outskirts of the city – Vyborg district named after town Vyborg located near the Finnish border in the distance of 160km off St Petersburg. The bridge across the Big Nevka is called after Sampson, a mythological hero, on which day 27th June 1709 the famous Poltava battle took place during the Northern War against Sweden. Peter the Great defeated the Swedes at Poltava in 1709, on the feast day of St Sampson. In commemoration a wooden church was built first then was replaced by the five-domed stone church in the 1730s. The church is located not far from this bridge, and is one of the city’s oldest buildings.
After the bridge we are turning to the right to drive along the façade of the hotel St Petersburg built in 1970 by the architects Kamensky and Speransky. There are rooms for over 1300 people. The concert hall in the adjacent building operates from 1985. They organize concerts, lectures, international conferences, folklore performances there. In front of the hotel there is a model of the sailing ship, it is a replica of the first ship produced in St Petersburg in the first quarter of the 18th century.
The name of the embankment we are driving along is after the Russian surgeon Pirogov, in whose honor the big yellow building stretching to the left is named, too. It was founded as the Military Hospital in the second half of the 18th century. Nowadays it houses the famous in the city Clinic, Hospital and higher educational establishments. It is also one of the main, most important medical centers of our city.
We are going to cross the Neva river again, this time using Liteiny Bridge. Liteiny means Foundry. In the first quarter of the 18th century a foundry workshops were here. Their location gave the name to the district and later to the bridge. The bridge was built in 1879 by the architect Struve, and then it was reconstructed and modernized in 1967. The wrought-iron railing designed by Rokhau is famous for its central sections where one can see two mermaids holding a shield with two fixed anchors (the sea and river anchors) and a scepter. They all form the oldest coat-of arms of St Petersburg. After crossing the bridge we appear on Liteiny Prospekt. It is famous not only for a lot of former palaces of nobility, as well as for the highest building in the city due to its depth, the notorious KGB building constructed in the 1930s by the architects Gegello and Trotsky. You can see this building on your left. Up till today a gloomy fiercely atmosphere dominates over the building. There exists a warning advice to visitors: “Never pass by the entrance to the building of KGB as it may trap you forever”. Or another one says that from the basement of the KGB building one can see Siberia.
The street along which we drive for a while in order to turn to the embankment is called after the former Tapestry Manufacture established here by the order of Peter the Great in 1717. It is Shpalernaya Street in Russian or Tapestry Street in English.
The embankment here is very long, about 34 km, and it is totally incorporated into the city architectural ensemble. This section before the bridge is named after a famous Russian field-marshal Michael Kutuzov, who once lived in building 10. Behind the bridge the embankment is called after the French revolutionary Robespierre. On the opposite bank of the river the low building with the clock-tower and the spire atop is the Finland railway station. It was used till 2003 as the main terminal from which the trains leave for Helsinki, the capital city of Finland. Today the Finland railway terminal is operating in commuter services to transport citizens to the suburban towns and villages located along the northern coast line of the Gulf of Finland. In front of the Finland terminal there is a monument to Lenin unveiled in 1926 to the design of sculptor Evseev. It is the first monument to Lenin in our city. Lenin is represented on top of the armed car. The monument reminds us about the events of early April 3d, 1917 when Lenin returned to Petrograd from Helsinki in such a type of armed car. In 2003 a new railway terminal was open for the daily services for passengers traveling from St Petersburg to Helsinki and vice- versa. The new railway station is named Ladozhsky, after the Ladoga Lake. Actually in our city there are six railway terminals, the busiest one was open in the mid-19th century and called Moscowsky or Moscow railway station.
The next building across the river is a red brick structure; it is called Kresty, the main holding prison: if you are busted (арестовать) here, Kresty’s where they take you to await whatever (все) it is that awaits you. But what distinguishes Kresty from, say, New York’s Riker’s Island, is that Kresty is located on a main boulevard, and prisoners can get to the windows. Russian families are quite close, and with true Russian exuberance (богатство), the families of the accused line the street outside, bonding with their inmates. Just here across the prison on this embankment you can see two sphinxes; they are presents to our city by the former citizen Michael Shemyakin, who donated these sphinxes in 1995. These creatures symbolize victims of Stalin’s oppression.
Now we are turning to the right from the embankment to proceed along Tapestry Street. To the right you can see the Flowers Exhibition Hall, an indoor tropical paradise just north-west of the Taurida Gardens. There is a wishing well, and a flower-selling stall at the front.
Now we are approaching the Taurida Palace built by the architect Starov in 1783-89 for Catherine II, who commissioned the palace for her favourite Prince Potyomkin. Potyomkin gained the title of Prince of Taurida for his military victories in the Crimea during the Russian-Turkish War. The palace takes the name from the Ukrainian region of Crimea (once called Tavria), which Potyomkin was responsible for conquering. The palace was richly decorated inside. The Taurida Palace is one of the most elegant Classical mansions in the city. Unfortunately, the palace became the last place Potyomkin stayed in, as he spent only one gala party there which lasted for the whole night. Next morning he was found dead. He had a lot of rivals; maybe one of them poisoned Potyomkin during that night. After his death Catherine II took the palace to the treasury. After the death of Catherine II her son Paul I converted the palace into stables, and during his short reign it was badly damaged. Later the palace was restored and in the 20th century the palace played an important role in Russian history. At the beginning of the 20th century, from 1906, the building was the seat of the first Russian parliament called the State Duma. After February 1917, during the period of the so-called "dual power", both Russian governments of the time sat in this building: the Petrograd Soviet in its right wing, and the Provisional Government in the left wing.
At present, the palace is the seat of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Commonwealth of Independent States. The building is often used for different congresses, meetings and conferences.
The brick structure to the left is the water purifying tower, there is a museum inside.
Next building to left is a rather modern construction; it is the office of Federal Security. That’s why in front of the building you can see the monument unveiled to Felix Dzerzhinsky in 1981. He was the first head of the All Russian Extraordinary Committee, later known as KGB. Dzerzhinsky was one of Lenin’s associates after the October revolution of 1917.
One more building you can see to the left. It is a red-and-white building constructed for Kikin, a minister of Peter I’s government, in 1714. In his palace Peter the Great opened his first museum known as Kunstkammer or Chamber of curiosities, rarities and monstrosities. During WWII the palace was badly destroyed by artillery bombardment. After the war is was rebuilt exactly to the original design. We don’t have many palaces that date back to the first quarter of the 18th century. Nowadays there is a musical school.
Driving forward we can see ahead a fabulous building designed by the architect Rastrelli in 1748. We will stop there for 5 minutes so that you could get a whole impression of this ensemble.
In the early 18th century this area was occupied by the Tar Yard which made and stored tar for caulking ships built at St Petersburg shipyards. The name “Smolny” is the Russian for tar – hence the name of the whole architectural ensemble.
In 1723 the Tar Yard was moved to another part of the city, and in the 1740s it was decided to build a convent in its place. Later, the convent became known as Smolny Convent.
The convent was designed by Rastrelli, an outstanding master of Baroque style. It was planned as a palace-convent, with a cathedral as its compositional centre. The cathedral was designed as a typical Russian Orthodox Church with five domes. The daughter of Peter the Great Elizabeth commissioned the construction of the convent to her court architect Rastrelli in 1748. The official name was the Resurrection New maiden’s nunnery or convent. All small buildings around the cathedral were meant for the nunnery. The construction of the cathedral was neglected after the death of Elizabeth. But in 1763, before the cathedral was completed, Rastrelli retired and left St Petersburg forever. The interior of the cathedral was completed some 80 years later (in the 1830s) by architect Stasov.
In 1764, before the convent was completed, Catherine II founded there the first in Europe school for the daughters of nobility, which later became known as Smolny Institute for Noble Girls. The girls studied there foreign languages, music, dances, good-manners, mathematics, history, geography and etc. As a rule graduates from that school got an appointment of ladies-in-waiting for the members of the royal family.
The building of Smolny Cathedral, with its wonderful acoustics, is used for concerts of church music nowadays. The square in front of the former convent is named after the architect Rastrelli. From the square to the left one can see a modern building constructed in the1970s, today there is International business center. Next building we can see while driving to Dictatorship Square to the left is the British Consulate, once constructed in the beginning of the 20th century for the orphanage home. In front of us the building with the three colored flag atop the building is the seat of Leningrad region administration.
From Dictatorship Square to the left in some distance the white-and-yellow building crowned with the flag is the Smolny Institute constructed originally for the school of Noble Girls in 1808 in Classical style (architect Quarenghi). In that building the school functioned till August 1917.
In August 1917, several months after the February Revolution which overthrew the Russian tsar, the school for young noble ladies was closed. The building of Smolny Institute was taken over by the Petrograd Soviet. Smolny became a centre of great political activities. Here functioned the Revolutionary Military Committee. In October 25th, 1917 Smolny became the headquarters of the Bolshevik Revolution. It was here that the Soviet power was proclaimed, and the first Soviet government, the Soviet of People’s Commissars, was formed, with Lenin at its head. Lenin himself lived in Smolny at that time, and his former rooms have been preserved as a memorial museum.
It was here that the first decrees of the Soviet power were adopted. The first one was a decree on Peace: it was an appeal to all belligerent countries to stop the war and to begin negotiation on Peace-Treaty. The second one was a decree on land: it gave land to peasants in perpetuity. And then the first Soviet government sat in Smolny till March 10th, 1918. In 1918 the capital city of the country was transferred to Moscow and the government moved there.
At present, the Smolny Institute building is the seat of the government of St Petersburg. The executive seat of the government and the working office of the governor are in the building. For the first time in our city’s history we elected for governorship lady for the post in October 5th, 2002, her name is Valentina Ivanovna Matvienko.
Now we are going back to Nevsky Prospekt. The large street we will drive along is actually Suvorov Prospekt named after our famous Russian field-marshal, first Generalissimos, Alexander Suvorov. He was invincible worrier; he didn’t lose any battle in his life, and especially became known for his heroic crossing the Alps. With great difficulty, Suvorov managed to extract himself from Switzerland by crossing through the Alps. He took ill on the road back to St Petersburg and died soon after his arrival in the Russian capital. The crossing of the Alps is nevertheless still regarded as one of the finest chapters in the history of the Russian army. Here is a house of Alexander Suvorov in the nearby street. The walls of the building are faced with mosaics depicting this heroic event.
Actually this part of the city was badly damaged during the time of WWII. Most buildings were restored after the war. Now I would like to tell you about that period, the most tragic, in the history of our people. You know, the war began for our country on the 22nd of June 1941, when the Nazi army trespassed on the borders of our country without declaration of the war. Their plan was to conquer the country in several months. One of the major parts of their plan was to conquer our city. There was a special department of armies formed consisting of 43 divisions, that started offensive in the direction of Leningrad. Their plan was to take our city by storm, but their plan failed thanks to heroism of the citizens. They built ramparts, made trenches around the city. The monuments were buried in the grounds or sandbagged. The art collections were evacuated in the eastern part of the country. The spires of the Admiralty, Sts Peter and Paul Cathedral and others were covered with special cases or camouflaged. The Nazi army was approaching the city rather fast. The ring of the Nazi army closed round the city on the 8th of September 1941. And 900 days of the siege began. Bombardment became continuous up to 19 hours a day. Traffic stopped. There was no electricity in the city, sewerage system was destroyed. Very often houses lit by incendiaries were on flame for several days. The first winter of the siege was unusually cold. It was about minus 40-45 degrees Centigrade. To get water people had to go down to rivers and canals. There was no fuel. To get warm they dismantled all wooden houses and made stoves the so-called makeshift stoves to warm their flats. Notices were put in the streets with the information to avoid vulnerable side of the street. One of the documents signed by Hitler and later used in Nuremberg trial reads: “There is no point of further existence of such an important political and cultural center of the country as Leningrad. It should be leveled to the ground”. And that was the Nazi were doing. But above all was starvation: food in the city shredded five times and reached its lowest point in November-December 1941. It was only 250g bread for workers and 125g for the employees and dependants: children, old people. 70% of this bread consisted of different additions, such as saw dust, bark, carpenter glue, cellulose. During the first winter more than half a million people died from starvation. In February 1942 they were buried in the north of the city where 20 years later a famous Piskarev cemetery was unveiled. All the country tried to help our people during the first winter of the siege. The ice-road was built across the Ladoga Lake. The road became known as the road of life. It functioned for 152 days, from the end of November 1941 till the end of April 1942. This road really saved lives of many people. Food supplies were brought to the city as well by the road, and the most famished people, children first of all were evacuated to the eastern parts of the country. The drivers displayed real courage and heroism: very often they had to go with open doors of their cabins as they could jump out in the moment of danger of artillery bombardment. This road was under artillery bombardment continuously. The first lorries went on the ice when it was about 14cm thick, and the last ones when the ice was almost melting. People in the city tried not only to survive; they continued working and giving production for the front. Mostly women and teenagers worked, as men were in front. They worked every day producing shells, machine guns, repaired tanks. Very often they couldn’t get to the office, they were killed in the streets or they died at the factory or plant. Also people tried to continue their pre-war life. There were some schools open in the underground shelters, several cinemas, three theaters, and concerts. One of the famous concerts took place in August 9th 1942 in the Philharmonic society when composer Dmitry Shostakovich, who stayed in the besieged city, created his 7th symphony dedicated to Leningrad and Leningraders. The defenders of the city got an order to neutralize the Nazi artillery and that was done, and people could really enjoy the music. In summer people planted vegetables in the parks and gardens, even in front of St Isaac’s Cathedral, it also helped them to survive. In January 1943 the siege was broken. There was a rather narrow space of Leningrad that was liberated-some 10 km. wide. A railway road was built and living conditions of people became a little easy. But finally the siege was lifted on the 27th of January 1944. The losses of the city were terrible. One third of the city’s living space was completely destroyed or badly damaged. About 1 million people were killed or died from starvation. For heroism displayed by Leningraders our city was awarded Lenin’s order in 1945 and the Golden Star in 1965. There are many monuments in the city dedicated to the period of the siege, and one of them is an obelisk in the center of the square we are entering now.
We are on Insurrection Square named after the events of the Second Russian Revolution which took place here in February 1917. The square was then the scene of mass meetings and demonstrations against the tsarist government. In the center of the square we can see the obelisk. The obelisk was erected here in 1985 on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany. The obelisk is topped by the Golden Star of a Hero City (Leningrad was titled Hero City for the courage displayed by its residents during the siege in 1965).
Behind the obelisk to the left a pink colored building with the tower in the center is the largest railway station in the city- Moscow railway terminal. The building was constructed by the architect Thon in 1851, when the first railway connecting St Petersburg to Moscow was constructed. On the right the green building is the hotel Oktyabskaya, recently renovated.
The yellow building with the dome surrounded by colonnades is a metro station named after Insurrection Square. It is one of the first stations put into operation in 1955. The vestibule of the metro is elaborately decorated with plaster work, bronze bas-reliefs, and crystal chandeliers.
The section of Nevsky Prospect from Anichkov Bridge to Insurrection Square was mostly built up in the late 19th and early 20th century. Most of the buildings here used to be tenants’ houses.
An exception is the yellow building with white columns on your right. This is one of the former palaces of the Yusupov family. The building, designed in Late Classical style, dates from the 1830s (architects Ovsyannikov and Fossati). Now it houses St Petersburg Actors’ Club.
The opposite building is one of the five-star hotels in the city, the so-called Nevsky-Palace hotel.
The corner pink-reddish building on the left side of Nevsky, on the corner of the Fountain River Embankment, is the former Palace of Prince Beloselsky-Belozersky (Stakenschneider, 1848). At present the building is used as a municipal cultural centre.
The bridge over the Fountain River is known as Anichkov Bridge. It gained its name from Lieutenant-Colonel Anichkov who was in command of the Fountain River army construction squad. This was the first bridge over the Fountain River, built in the 18th century. The bridge is famous for the four sculptural groups of horse tamers which decorate it. The sculptures were made by Klodt, an eminent Russian sculptor, in the middle of the 19th century.
This section of Nevsky is the widest: its width is 60 metres.
The yellow building across the Fountain River is the former Anichkov Palace. It was commissioned by Empress Elisabeth in the 18th century for her secret husband, Count Razumovsky. The construction of the palace started in 1741, but later it was reconstructed several times, so there were a lot of architects who contributed to its design: Zemtsov, Rastrelli, Starov, Rossi, to mention just a few. The two garden pavilions were designed by Rossi (1818); the sculptures between the columns represent Russian warriors.
Since 1935 the palace has housed the Children’s Palace with a wide choice of activities: engineering, outdoor activities, art, sport, natural sciences, libraries, and many others.
The Palace is part of the architectural ensemble of Ostrovsky Square named after the prominent Russian playwright of the 19th century.
The monument in the centre of the square is to Empress Catherine II (the Great), unveiled in 1873 (designed by artist Mikeshin; sculptors Chizhov and Opekushin). The Empress stands on the granite pedestal; around its base there are the figures of some of Catherine’s eminent contemporaries (Prince Potyomkin who won the Crimea for Russia in the Russian-Turkish War; the “invincible general” Suvorov; Field Marshal Rumiantsev; Dashkova, the first and only woman President of the Russian Academy of Science; poet Derzhavin and other famous people of the late 18th century). Note that the Empress’s figure is almost twice as tall as the others!
The corner grey building accommodates the Russian National Library. It is one of the world’s biggest libraries, and certainly the world’s largest store of Russian books and manuscripts. It was founded in 1795. Now there are more than 30 mln. items in store. The first library building was put up in 1801 (architect Sokolov); the corner grey one was added to the library in the 1830s. Its facade is decorated with bas-reliefs and busts of ancient scholars, philosophers and writers. It was designed by architect Rossi.
In the background of the square there is an impressive yellow-and-white Classical building of the Alexandrinsky Drama Theatre. It is one of the oldest drama theatres in Russia, where the greatest Russian 19th-century actors performed. The name of the theatre is due to Empress Alexandra who patronized the theatre in the 19th century. The building is crowned by Apollo’s chariot; it was built around 1830 to Rossi’s design.
Carlo Rossi was an architect who contributed a lot to the creation of beautiful Classical architectural ensembles in St Petersburg, and the street running immediately behind the theatre is named after him – Architect Rossi Street. The street is formed by two identical buildings in Classical style built in 1834 to Rossi’s designs. This is one of St Petersburg’s most fascinating sights. The street is remarkable for its severe proportions: 22 metres high, 22 metres wide, and 220 metres long.
One of the buildings in Rossi Street houses the Academy of Russian Ballet (formerly called Imperial Ballet School), the oldest ballet school of Russia founded in 1738. Many world famous ballet dancers such as Pavlova, Vaganova, Nizhinsky, Karsavina, Ulanova, Nuriyev, Baryshnikov (to mention just a few) were its graduates.
Across Nevsky Prospect from Gostiny Dvor there is another large department store specializing in goods for ladies, the Passage (Kozlov, 1900).
So you can see that our tour is finishing, we have come back to the place of our destination. Let me hope the tour was really enjoyable for you, and you liked the city. Thank you for your time and your interest to the history of our city and country. Stay well and healthy. Buy! And have a good day!