5. Аничковский Дворец: история создания и особенности декора/The Anichkov Palace: the history of creation and peculiarities of the décor, 1741-1754

Authors: architects - M.G. Zemtsov and G.D. Dmitriev (1741 - 1754), I.Ye. Starov (1778 - 1779), L.I. Ruska (1809 – 1810), C.I. Rossi (1817 - 1818), K.K. Rakhau (1875)Address: Nevskiy prospect, 39Originally the plot where the present Palace is located had been occupied by the mansion belonging to Mcnshikov's brother-in-law Anton Deviere. After A. Menshikov had been sent to exile the plot was confiscated and given to merchant Drhitriy Lukyanov who later on sold the plot to the Treasury, for at thai time the territory was quite deserted and the court he owned didn't bring him enough profit. In 1741 Elizabeth I having ordered to ereel ihe Palace on ihe spol between Sadovaya ulitsa and ihe Fontanka River, commissioned M. Zemisov wiih ihe construction of the edifice. The Fontanka River was a cily border at that time and the Palace was to decorate the entrance lo Saint-Petersburg. A special canal was dug up from the Fonlanka to ihc main entrance lo the Palace where a harbour was constructed. The Palace was creeled in ihc form of an elongated Russian letter .V and faced the Ко titan ka Ri\er.In 1743 after M. Zemlsov's death the work was continued by G. Dmitriyev. and completed in Baroque Style by F.-B. Rastrelli in 1756. The Palace was named after the Anichkov Bridge that goi such a name because of Lieutenant-Colonel engineer Mikhail Anichkov. whose battalion was dislocated behind the Fonlanka in so called Anichkov settlement. The folk etymology connects ihe bridge name with the name of a young woman Anya or Anichka what is absolutely wrong, and ihe name of the Bridge is pronounced wilh the stress on ihe second syllable.The Anichkov Palace became the first palace in Nevskiy prospcki. though separated from it by the stone railings. A spacious garden wilh pavilions, scuiplures and fountains (like the ones in Peterhof) was laid out on the territory of the Anichkov Palace along Sadovaya ulilsa.Elizabeth I presented the Palace to her morganatic husband A. Razumovskiy.After his death the Palace became ihe property of his brother- K. Razumovskiy. In 1776 Catherine II purchased ihc Palace lo present it to her favourite Count G. Potyomkin, having added 100 000 roubles for the redecoration of ihe Palace lo her favourite's taste. The mansion was reconstructed by I. Starov in Classicism. The harbour was filled up, the Baroque mouldings were demolished - as a result the Palace became more ausiere. A new owner soon sold the present to merchant Shcmyakin for he had already had the Taurida Palace and could not afford keeping two residences in order. Guhcrine II however relumed ihc Palace to its former owner, but G. Poiyomkin sold ii again in 1785 - thai time to ihe Treasury.In 1794 the Anichkov Palace accommodated ihe Study of Her Majesty and became the Chancellery of the Empress, later on G. Quarenghi erected a special building for the Chancellery thai closed the view of the Palace from the Anichkov Bridge. In 1803 - 1805 the territory of the Anichkov garden was cut to give ihe space for the Public Library. One of the garden pavilions was reconstructed for ihe performances of the Italian theatre.In 1S09 Alexander 1 presented the Palaee to his sister Grand Duchess Catherine Pavlovna on the day of her marriage with Prince George Oldenburg. The Palace was reconstructed by L. Ruska. In 1812 her husband died and Catherine Pavlovna married Prince Wilhelm WiirUemberg and weni abroad having sold the Palace to the Treasury for 2 mln roubles.In 1817 Alexander I presented the Palace to his brother Grand Duke Nikolay Pa\lo\ich for whom the Palace was reconstructed by C. Rossi. The architect redecorated some apartments, built the Service Block, two pavilions and redesigned ihe garden having included the Palace in a harmonious ensemble of the Alexandrinskiy Theatre. When Nikolay Pavlovich was the owner of the Palaee his residence became famous in the capital by its balls often visited by A. Pushkin's wife Naialya Nikolayevna Goncharova. Having become Emperor Nicholas 1 lived in the Anichkov Palace at the time of fast. After the fire in ihe Winter Palace in 1837 the Royal Family moved to the Palace on the Fontanka that was renamed Nikolayevskiy (the name however didn't become popular in the city). V. Zhukovskiy had an apartment in the Palace being ihe teacher of Nicholas I's son -a future Emperor Alexander II.The Anichkov Palace was presented by Nicholas I to his son Alexander as a wedding present, later on by Alexander II to his son - Alexander III, again on ihe wedding. New Emperor was afraid of a terrorist attack and preferred the Palace on the Fontanka to the Winter Palace. In 1874-1875 K. Rakhau erected a new state driveway in the form of an arcade with a winter garden above and a stone wall that closed the Palace from the side of the Alexandrinskiy Theatre Square. Mariya Fyodorovnu. mother of Nicholas II was the last owner of the Palace. The last official reception at the Palace look place in 1914 - that was the wedding of Irina Rum an ova and Felix Yusupov. The lasl Emperor of Russia - Nicholas II spent his childhood in that Palace.After the October Revolution the Palace was nationalized. In 1918 - 1935 the former Palace accommodated the Museum of the History of Leningrad - the interior decor of the Imperial epoch was safely preserved. In 1935 the Museum was closed and ihe properly was sold out. After the reconstruction of 1937 the Palace of Pioneers (the largest in the USSR wiih more that 100 circles.) was opened in the edifice of the former Anichkov Palace. Among its pupils there were L. Dodin. S. Yurskiy, A. Freyndlich, L. Lur'yc, Ye. Obra/tsova, etc. On 1 October 1941 the Surgical Hospital was located in the former Anichkov Palace. In 1990 the Pa/сне of Creative Endeavour of Young People was opened there.

5. Ансамбль Смольного: история возникновения первого учебного заведения в Санкт-Петербурге/The Smol’ny Ensemble: the history of establishment of the first educational institution in Saint-Petersburg, 1748-1769

Authors: architects – F.-B. Rastrelli (1748-1769), Yu.M.Velten (1765-1775), G. Quarenghi (1806-1808), V.P.Stasov (1832-1835)

Address: ploshchad’ RastrelliThe modern Smol'ny Ensemble is located on the territory that at the time of Peter's reign was occupied by the Tar Yard (Smol'ny Dvor) where tar for the Russian Fleet was stored. At the backside of the Tar Yard a comparatively small wooden house with a garden was built for Peter I - it got the name the Tar House (Smol'ny Dom). After the Emperor's death his wife Catherine I ordered to construct the Summer Palace that soon became the property of her daughter Elizabeth Petrovna. The future Empress spent a lot of years there up to the ascension to the throne in 1741. A spacious and a lavishly decorated Palace was ruined by the fire of 1744. Nevertheless in 1746 the ball-masquerade in honour of marriage of Peter III and Catherine II was organized in the palace wings not touched by the fire. Soon after the celebrations the Palace was demolished and the plot was ready for a new building. In 1748 Elizabeth I ordered to start the construction of the Novodev'whiv Convent of Resurrection. On 30 October 1748 the foundation stone was laid on the spot of a modern Smol'ny Convent. According to some historians Elizabeth 1 planned the construction of the Monastery to withdraw to it (The contemporaries of the Empress testified her passionate religious faith: she spent hours praying in the church, and sometimes lost conscmusness; she also fasied caiing only bread, kvass and jam) at an old age delegating the power to her nephew Peter III, The documents however testify that the way of Empress' life and the behavior of her Court were very far from the monastery one. Most likely the idea of constructing a monastery came to Elizabeth's mind as the desire to follow her father's example - on the bank of the Neva Peter 1 had founded the Alexander Nevskiy Lavra, the monastery for men.The project of the Convent was worked out by a court architect F.-B. Rastrelli. The composition of a five-dome cupola which crowned the Cathedral was performed in accordance with the traditions of the Russian church building: close to the central cupola four towers crowned with bulb cupolas were arranged. A special effect was achieved by a snow-white painting on a bright blue background of the walls. However the original design carried out by F.-B. Rastrelli was not accomplished. The architect planned to make a bell-tower above the driveway of the Convent. Its height was planned to be 140 m - 1.5 times higher than the Cathedral itself and 18 m higher than the spire of the Peter and Paul Fonress. That idea was very symbolic for il continued the city developmenl started by Peter I - Saint-Petersburg was to become a horizontal city with the verticals of spires, i.e. the symbols of a young Empire. The building of the Convent was not accomplished. In 1756 the work was slowed because of the Seven-year War, and after Elizabeth's death in 1761 the work was stopped. The Convent stood deserted for more than 70 years. Only in 1830s V. Stasov completed the construction having arranged the entrance and the fence in front of the Cathedral. The bronze medal was coined to commemorate the date of finishing the construction 1748 - 1835. Consecrated on 22 July 1S35 the Cathedral got the name of the Cathedra/ of all educational institutions. Such a name can be explained by the fact that in 1764 the School for Noble. Maids (Smol'ny Institute) was established in the southern wing of the Cathedral, a year later the School for Non-Noble Maids {Middle-Class School) - in the northern wing. However the idea to establish the Convent was not denied by Catherine II. She ordered to collect 20 nuns from Russian convents to form the community and help the maids in their every day life at School.In 1765 - 1775 the Middle-Class School building (later Alexandrovskoye Uchilishche) was constructed to the north of the Convent outer walls by Yu. Velten in early Classicism, and in 1806 (on 30 May - the birthday of Peter I) - 1808 the Smol'ny Institute building was erected to the south of the Convent by G. Quarenghi also in Classicism. The Smol'ny Convent played an important role at the time of the October Revolution - the Second All-Russian Congress of the Soviets when the first Decrees (of peace and earth) of the Soviet government were proclaimed was held in its walls.