Saint-Petersburg
St.Petersburg was founded on the
16th of May 1703. That day
the six- bastion fortress was
ceremonially laid on the Zayachy
Island in the broadest part of the
Neva estuary. The laying of the
Fortress became a culmination in
the succession of events that
lasted several centuries. The
Finnish Gulf, the Ladoga Lake, the
Onega Lake and the surrounding
region became the arena of fight
between Novgorod, and later the
centralized Russian State and the
neighboring states, especially
Sweden.
In 1240 Duke Alexander Nevsky
who headed the troops of Novgorod
defeated the Swede at the place
where the Izhora River fell into
the Neva River. However, in 1617
during the reign of Michael III
when the Times of Troubles had
just been over, Russia was forced
to conclude a peace treaty with
Sweden giving up the Izhora
grounds. The vast country was
deprived of the natural outlet to
the Baltic Sea.
In 1699 during the reign of
Peter the Great Russia started
its preparation for the war with
Sweden. In 1700 the Northern War
of Russia with Sweden broke out.
It lasted 21 year and resolved
finally the controversy of
centuries. In the fall of 1702
Russian troops seized Noteburg.
Peter the Great called this
fortress Schluesselburg (Key
Town), which marked that the route
to Neva was cleared. In May 1703
Peter and Paul fortress was laid
in the Zayachy Island with the
church in name of Saints Peter and
Paul in the middle. The house of
wooden logs known as "the House of
Peter the Great"was constructed on
the Right Bank of the Neva River
not far from the Peter and Paul
fortress. May 16, 1703 is deemed
to be the date of St.Petersburg
foundation. In May 1704 the
construction of the first sea
fortress, Kronstadt, was completed
in the Finnish Gulf. The location
of these three fortresses outlined
the borders of the future Russian
Capital and its suburbs.
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Duke Alexander Nevsky |
Peter the Great |
In 1710 the Capital of Russia
was transferred to St.Petersburg
from Moscow, while in 1712 the
Tsar Family and households
together with the major
Governmental Bodies moved to
St.Petersburg. On the 27th of July
1714 Russia fleet headed by Peter
the Great scored the decisive
victory at Gangut cape in the
Baltic Sea that made Russia an
equal partner among the European
states and determined the outcome
of the Northern War.
Peter the Great conceived the idea
of a regularly planned city with
well-defined layout developed to
clear designs. Domenico Tresini
was the first architect who made
the General Layout of the city
center. His designs were used for
construction of the Summer Palace
of Peter the Great, the Building
of the Twelve Boards, and the
laying of the Alexander Nevsky
Monastery, that appeared to be of
the prime importance for the city
development and the ideology. It
was Peter the Great's intention to
move the Relics of Saint Alexander
Nevsky from Vladimir City to this
monastery to make a memorial that
would always remind of the glory
of Russian troops.
Jean Batist Leblon
was the architect who developed
the General Layout of
St.Petersburg. During that period
such buildings as the Menshikov
Palace, and the Kunstamera were
constructed; the outstanding
sculptor and architect
B.F.Rastrelli worked in the city.
The combined efforts of these
architects lead to the specific
style of St.Petersburg baroque.
A tragic pause in the city
development followed the death of
Peter the Great (January 28,
1725). The opponents of Peter the
Great's reforms brought the
Capital back to Moscow and the
City of Peter began to decay. In
1730 Empress Ann ascended
the throne and the status of
Russian Capital came back to
St.Petersburg again. The Empress
tried to be seen as the follower
of Peter's ideas. During her reign
the city was carefully divided
into five parts, the center being
moved to the Admiralty Island.
Three thoroughfares that stemmed
from the Admiralty were completed
- Nevsky Prospect, Median Prospect
(now Gorokhovaya street), and
Voznesensky Prospect.
Empress Elizabeth
ascended the throne in 1741. She
brought Russia back to the Peter's
custom of doing things by means of
Russian people. The reign of
Empress Elizabeth was the period
when the society gathered strength
for the coming glorious epoch of
conquests and transformations.
During that period the Russian
Baroque style of St.Petersburg
was embodied in such creations as
the Winter Palace, and Smolny
Monastery (B.Rastrelli), and
St.Nicolay Church (S.Chevakinsky).
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Empress Elizabeth |
Empress Catherine II |
Empress Catherine II
(1762—1796) was known as the
continuer of Peter the Great's
affairs for home reforms and
significant conquests. After the
series of wars Russia acquired
Crimea and the Northern shores of
the Black Sea, took back Russian
regions of Poland, and joined
Kurlandia. Brilliant education and
philosophy ideals of the Empress
seriously influenced Russian
legislation, policy and the fine
arts of that time. A new style -
classicism - was
established. Such buildings as the
Academy of Fine Arts (Felten), the
Gostinny Dvor (Valen - de la
Moth), the Marble Palace (Rinaldi),
the Old Hermitage (Felten), the
Taurida Palace (Starov), the
Yusupov Palace at the Fontanka
River, the Smolny Institute, the
Narva Triumph Gates (Quarenghi),
the Main Admiralty Building (Zakharov),
the Stock Exchange House (Toma de
Tomon), and the Kazansky Cathedral
(Voronikhin) were constructed
during that period.
Emperor Pavel I
(1796—1801) proceeded with
rearrangement of the city center
and its suburbs. In 1797-1800 the
architects V.Brenna and V.Bazhenov
built the Mikhaylovsky Palace.
This is a square shaped building
with an inner yard surrounded by
rivers and moats on all sides like
a medieval castle. Emperor Pavel I
was always in terror of a plot,
therefore to make his life safer
he ordered the palace with many
passages, levels, and rooms. On
November 1, 1800 the Palace became
the official residence of the
Emperor's family, however after
his assassination by the plotters
the Emperor's family came back to
the Winter Palace.
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Emperor Pavel I |
Emperor Alexander I |
In 1801 Emperor Alexander I
(1801—1825) ascended the throne,
and in 1805 the war with Napoleon
broke out. Moscow, along with
St.Petersburg was under threat of
invasion of the French troops.
There are oodles of legends about
the history of St.Petersburg, and
one of them is related to that
time when the city decided to
erect the monument of Peter the
Great. A peasant from Lakhta
Village, Semen Vishnyakov, came to
the city authorities to say:
"There is a big stone in the bog
near my village. Its name is the
Thunder Stone. Just come and take
it. It will be the pedestal for
Peter's monument since Peter
himself used to climb it to watch
the sea". The stone was inspected.
It was huge indeed, of ash-gray
quartz and feldspar. Its weight
was 100 thousand poods (one pood
is 16.38 kg). The Baltic sailors
headed by Captain Mordvinov lifted
it with winches and levers, pushed
it through the slope on the
platform on copper balls and
rolled to St.Petersburg. In took
them two years to complete the
job. This Thunder Stone is a
pedestal for the most world famous
monument of Peter the Great, that
is also known and The Copper
Horseman. It is located in the
city center near the Senate
building. In 1812 Napoleon
threatened to invade St.Petersburg.
There were some individuals who
wanted to dismantle this monument,
but the people ready to fight
against the French troops created
a new legend that said: "In the
night the clop of hoofs of the
Copper Horseman could be heard".
It was Peters the Great, the
great-great grandfather of
Alexander I. He appeared in front
of his great-great grandson and
said: "Mind that while I am on my
rock the city will never be
defeated". Than he turned back and
the clop of hoofs could be heard
again as he came back to his rock.
The victorious parry of Napoleon's
invasion in 1812 and the raid of
liberation of Russian troops to
Europe were reflected in a new
rise of the city development in
the Capital of mighty Russia. The
ensemble of the Mikhaylovsky
Palace, the ensemble of the
Alexandrinsky Theater, the
buildings of the top governmental
bodies of Russia (The Senate and
The Synod), the building of the
Headquarters with the Triumph Arch
and the House of Ministries in the
Palace Square (Rossi) were
constructed during this period.
The complex of the Palace Square
was completed with the Alexander
Column, and the biggest cathedral
in Russia, the St.Isaac Cathedral
was erected in the Isaac Square (Montferrand).
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Emperor Nicolay I |
Emperor Alexander II |
The death of Alexander I and the
accession of Nicolay I
(1825—1855) to the throne were
complicated by dramatic political
events. On December 14, 1825, the
day when Nicolay I was taking the
oath, the Guards' regiments headed
by plotters refused to swear to
Nicolay I. Their intentions were
to seize the Winter Palace, and
Peter and Paul Fortress, to
encircle the Senate and make
Senators issue the Manifest to the
Russians, where they would declare
the autocracy toppled,
introduction of democracy,
abolition of serfdom and summon of
the Constituent Assembly. However
the insurrection went bust. It was
suppressed in the cruelest way.
That was the first armed
insurrection against the autocracy
and serfdom in Russia, later
called the Decembrist Rebellion.
During the reign of Nicolay I
Russia waged wars with Persia and
Turkey in the East. That time
could be characterized by the
stormy growth of industry that
brought about the extensive
development of the Capital. St.Petersburg acquired new
features typical of capitalism
epoch. The city appearance became
more complicated, multifaceted,
and contradictory. Private housing
development was on the up and up
filling empty plots of land in the
city center with more buildings.
During this time the squares near
railroad stations were formed, the
revamping of port facilities were
completed, and a lot of industrial
buildings were erected. It was the
time when the architect
Stakenschneider worked in
St.Petersburg. He was the one to
create the Mariinsky Palace in the
Isaac Square, the Nicolaevsky
Palace, etc. The development of
Petrogradskaya Storona (the
district in St.Petersburg) can be
seen as an example of the
architects' concept of the city
that was supposed to be a single
artistic entity.
When Alexander II
(1855—1881) assumed the throne in
1855 Russia had more problems than
an epileptic tight-rope walker.
Nicholas' imperialist pretensions
towards Turkey left Russia
embroiled in the embarrassing
Crimean War with France and
Britain, and discontent both among
the upper classes and the serfs
was becoming more evident (during
Nicholas' reign there had been
over five hundred peasant
uprisings). A series of reforms
including the abolition of
flogging in the army and some
judicial and educational reforms
culminated in the abolition of
serfdom in 1861. After an
assassination attempt on Alexander
II in 1866, the reform period
gradually faded and Russia slid
back into conservatism.
These trends in the city
development were followed during
the reign of Emperor Alexander
III (1881—1894), which was a
short peaceful reprieve for
Russia.
The social, economical and
political contradictions of Russia
development after bourgeois
reforms of 1860-1870 opened the
way for the growth of capitalism.
However Russia could not get
entirely rid of feudal/serfdom
survivals. Social contradictions
that had been accumulating for a
long time added to the wars that
Russia was waging brought about
the Bourgeois-Democratic
Revolution of 1905-1907 that was
accompanies by the series of
political strikes. The most severe
strikes in Russia took place in
St.Petersburg.
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Emperor Alexander III |
Emperor Nicolay II |
During the reign of Nicolay II
(1894—1917) Russia waged a number
of wars that happened to be
extremely hard for the Country.
The war with Japan, lead to the
defeat of Russian fleet at
Tsushima Island and to the loss of
the Port Arthur (in China). In
1914 the First World War I broke
out. Under the influence of
anti-German vein St.Petersburg was
renamed into Petrograd in
1914. This war (1914-1918)
appeared to be fatal for the
Russia autocracy. The October Coup
inspired by the Bolsheviks headed
by Vladimir I. Lenin on
November 6-7, 1917 lead to the
change of the political system in
Russia. The Civil War and the mess
in economy followed these events.
All private properties were
nationalized. In twentieth of XX
century thousands of workers from
industrial outskirts moved to
central apartments, breaking the
functional structure of the
central residential houses. During
these years the Bolsheviks sold
out to foreign countries a lot of
national treasures, sacred objects
that belonged to church, that had
been created and cherished for
many centuries.
In 1917-1923 the Mars Square in
St.Petersburg was transformed into
a garden laid out to the drawing
of I.Fomin. The granite monument
to the revolutionaries was erected
there to the design of L.Rudnev.
V.Lenin died in 1924. The
Bolsheviks renamed the city into
Leningrad "to immortalize
Lenin's name". In thirtieth and
fortieth such districts as Avtovo,
Moskovsky Avenue, and Malaya Okhta
were developed.
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Vladimir I. Lenin |
Iosif V. Stalin |
Stalin,
who emerged victorious from the
power struggle following Lenin's
death in 1924, despised Petersburg
and its ties with both tsarism and
the old revolutionaries who
overthrew it. The Great Patriotic
War with Nazi Germany became the
hardest ordeal for the whole
country and in particular for
St.Petersburg. According to the
plan of Hitler, Leningrad was
supposed to be totally demolished.
The Blockade of Leningrad was the
most tragic period for the city
during the World War II. It lasted
from September 08, 1941 till
January 27, 1944, about 900 days
and nights. Fighting for Leningrad
the Soviet troops managed to keep
the enemy back from the city at
quite a short distance setting an
example of real heroism. Two
million eight hundred and eighty
seven civilians left is the
blocked city. The Military Council
of the Leningrad Front established
the production of ammunition died
of hunger, while seventeen
thousand more were killed by bombs
and shell splinters. The memorial
ensembles were created in sixtieth
at Piskarevskoye and
Seraphimovskye cemeteries, were
the victim of the Blockade had
been buried. The monuments of
history and culture and the
suburban palace complexes were
ruined or devastated. The
restoration works started right
after the war. These works were
most successfully performed in
fiftieth and sixtieth.
Leningrad started rebuilding
itself immediately after the war,
a Herculean task considering that
one third of the city's buildings
had been damaged and much of its
infrastructure (factories, power
stations, transportation networks,
etc.) destroyed. Following
Stalin's death things here stayed
reasonably calm through the
Khrushchev and Brezhnev
years. Moscow was the undisputed
center of the USSR although
Leningrad remained Russia's
cultural center, with many
exciting innovations in art,
popular music, and literature
originating here. In sixtieth -
eightieth the city was developed
along the arch of the Finnish Gulf
coast, as well as to the Northwest
and South. The memorial ensemble
of the Victory Square was
established that time. The "Oktyabrsky"
concert hall, the "Yubileiny"
Palace of Sport, the "Moskva"
hotel, the "Pulkovskaya" hotel,
the "Pulkovo" airport, and the
Sport and Concert Hall are the
biggest buildings that appeared
during this period. In 1979
St.Petersburg began to erect the
flood protection dam and
associated facilities. Throughout
its history St.Petersburg always
faced the menace of flood. The dam
starts from the Gorskaya station
on the northern coast of the
Finnish Gulf, crosses the Kotlin
Island, and reaches the Bronka
station on the southern coast. The
dam is 25.4 kilometers long and 8
meters high. After commissioning
of the dam and associated
facilities, the floods will no
more threaten the city.
The ninetieth of XX century are
marked the drastic changes in the
governmental structures and
economical policy. In 1991 the
name of Saint Peter was returned
to the city. The high speed
St.Petersburg-Moscow railroad
project was started in 1991. In
1994 St.Petersburg became the
place of the Good Will Games. The
projects for revamping of the City
Sea Port and the Airport have been
initiated. The growth of business,
political and cultural activity is
quite obvious. Being one of the
major European centers the city
has the honor to be referred to as
the Northern Capital of Russia.
Upon the decision of UNESCO
St.Petersburg has been recognizes
as a Monument of the Works
Culture.
March 26, 2000 Vladimir Putin
elected president. The year 2003
marks the 300th anniversary of
the founding of St.Petersburg
— one of the most beautiful and
celebrated cities in the world. In
preparation for the celebrations
more than 130 objects in and
around St.Petersburg have been
scheduled for renovation.
St.
Petersburg’s places of interest
Peter and Paul Fortress
(Petropavlovskaya Krepost')
is historical core of
St.Petersburg. It is a monument of
military and engineering craft. It
was laid by the order and to the
plot-plan of Peter the Great on
May 16, (27) 1703 on Zayachy
Island that is linked with
Petrogradsky Island by Ioanovsky
and Kronverksky bridges.
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the PETER and PAUL
FORTRESS in the night |
The Fortress forms an irregular
hexagon stretched from West to
East with 6 bastions at the
corners. The fortress was
constructed "in quite a haste"
under supervision of Peter the
Great and his closest associates.
In 1706-1740 the walls of fortress
that face the Neva River were
lined with granite blocks. For
defense of the northern approaches
to the Peter and Paul Fortress the
Kronverk fortifications were
constructed on the southern bank
of the Petrogradsky Island. A
canal was dug in the territory of
the fortress to bring construction
materials and supply the garrison
with water. It was filled up with
ground in 1882. The parade
Petrovsky gate is located in the
Eastern Wall of the fortress.
Vasiliev gate is in the Western
Wall, Kronverk and Nicholas gates
are in the Northern Wall, and Neva
gate (leading to the jetty) is in
the Southern Wall. Ioannovsky
Ravelin was constructed in
1731-1740 outside the fortress on
the eastern side, while 1733-1740
Alexeyevsky Ravelin was built on
the western side.
The new Peter and Paul Cathedral
of stone appeared in 1712-1733 in
place of the old wooden church of
St.Peter and St.Paul. The
cathedral became the burial-vault
of Russian Emperors.
Metro: Gor'kovskaya
The
Palace Square (Dvortsovaya
Ploshchad) is the most
grandiose among the squares of the
city. The focal point of its
architectural ensemble is the
Winter Palace (Zimny
dvorets), an architectural
masterpiece of the flamboyant
Russian Baroque and the royal
residence of all the Russian
Emperors but Paul. It was built by
Rastrelli at the close of
the Empress Elizabeth reign, in
1754-1762. The Empress ordered it
to show off the grandeur of her
Court. Hurry as he did, Rastrelli
had not completed the Palace
before Elizabeth died and she
never saw her dream to come true.
To make it look truly imperial
Rastrelli resorted to all the
advantages of the Russian Baroque.
He decorated the edge of the roof
with huge bronze figures and
reduced the emerald wall space to
the minimum disguising it by
decorative columns and golden
tracery, plastic Amours, vases and
sculptures.
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The PALACE SQUARE |
The Palace has a dramatically
eventful history. During the First
World War Nicolas II turned it
into a hospital. On the eve of the
Revolution it was occupied by the
Provisional Government. On October
25, 1917 Bolsheviks occupied the
Palace and called the occasion the
Social Revolution. In the course
of the World War II the Palace was
damaged by Nazis' air strikes.
Several rooms of the Palace that
had been used for the location of
unique objects d'art later
received the designation of the
Hermitage. Then the growing
collections found the new
accommodations: the buildings of
the Small Hermitage, Old
Hermitage, the Hermitage
Theater and New Hermitage.
Nowadays all these buildings
belong to the State Hermitage
- the largest artistic, historical
and cultural museum. It exhibits
the paintings of Rubens,
Rembrandt, Leonardo da Vinci,
Titian and works of many other
masters, relics of the past
culture of many countries of the
world.
The semi-circular facade of the
General Stuff of Russian Army
and Ministries Building is
its southern border. The General
Stuff Building is a genius
creation of the architect
K.Rossi. The portal of the
Winter Palace faces the two long
buildings of the General
Headquarters joint by the
Triumphal Arch and thus
forming the semicircular boarder
of the Palace Square.
The colossal
Alexander Column
(Alexandrinskaya Colonna)
with the bronze figure of an angel
at the top was erected in the
center of the Square in 1834 to
commemorate the triumphant victory
of the Russians over Napoleon in
the Patriotic War 1812. It was
built by architect Monferran
and was named after Emperor
Alexander the First. The bronze
angel on its top resembles the
Emperor Alexander while the snake
he is trampling by his cross looks
much like Napoleon. This means the
victory the good over the evil.
The block of red granite was got
near Vyborg and was delivered by 2
ships to St.Petersburg. The 47,5
meter high column (height of the
granite block is 25.5 metres, the
lower diameter of the column is
3.66 meters, the upper diameter is
3.16 meters) made of the biggest
in the world one-piece marble
monolith rests on the porch only
by means of its own enormous
weight (600 tons) without any
supporting clamps. The foundation
of the monument consists of 1250
piles each of them is 6 metres
length. The block put up by 3000
soldiers and sailors.
Today the Palace Square is the
place for all the city's festivals
and official performances.
Traditionally, the citizens and
tourists spend almost all the
Russian public holidays here.
Metro: Nevskiy Prospect
Spit of Basil Island
The Spit (Strelka) was
St.Petersburg's main port for over
one hundred years, with the big
reddish Rostral Columns serving as
lighthouses. The Spit is bordered
to the west by the white
colonnaded Stock Exchange building
with a great Neptune statue on
top. The area remains an
intellectual center, with the
St.Petersburg State University,
situated in the House of Twelve
Boards, the Academy of Science.
The cape of Basil Island (Vasilievsky
Island) is called a Spit
(Strelka) (Tongue of Land)
because it sticks out into the
Neva Riverin the shape of a spit
and divides it into two estuaries.
The spot ranks as one of the most
prominent architectural sights in
Saint- Petersburg. The two almost
a hundred feet high redbrick.
Rostral Columns
raised on the Spit in 1810 and
designed by an architect Tomas
de Tomon as a symbol of the
naval supremacy of the Russian
Empire and in honor of the Russian
fleet victories. The shafts of the
columns are decorated with the
sculptural images of bows (rostra)
of enemy ships. The five metre
high allegoric statues installed
at the foot of each column embody
the four main Russian northern
rivers: Volga, Dnieper, Neva and
Volhov. The St.Petersburg Columns
were designed as beacons or
lighthouses as well and in 1957
the natural gas was laid up to the
stone lighting cups at the top of
each column, They are still fitted
with gas lamps that are lit on
ceremonial occasions. They are
reminders that until the 1880s
this part of Petersburg was a
thriving port.
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the SPIT OF BASIL
ISLAND in the night |
Toma de Tomon with the
participation of the architect
A.D.Zakharov designed the
austere columns to highlight the
limpid Classicism of the Stock
Exchange building erected on
the Spit just behind the green
square bordered from the Neva
River by granite fence and a long
row of trimmed trees. The building
was set up on a man-made mound
protruded into the river at 120
meters ahead from the natural
coastline. The porch with 44 snow-
white Doric columns leads to the
sea- green facade decorated with
impressive sculptural groups of
allegorical figures of Neptune
with Two Rivers and Navigation
with Mercury and Two Rivers.
Nowadays the Central Naval Museum
occupies the building. And to the
south of the Exchange in another
ex-warehouse is the Museum of
Zoology, reputed to be one of the
biggest and best in the world,
with incredibly life-like stuffed
animals from all around the world.
Among the dioramas and the tens of
thousands off mounted beasties is
a complete woolly mammoth thawed
out of the Siberian ice in 1902.
The Kunstkamera (1718-34
G.I.Matternovi, N.F. Gerbel,
G.Ciaveri; 1754-58 S.O.Chevakinsky)
is one of the most original
examples of the baroque of the
first third of the 18th century.
That is blue-and-white building
with the steeple was the city's
first museum, founded in 1714 by
Peter himself. This museum (Museum
of Anthropology and Ethnography)
is about peoples outside the
former USSR, with campy dioramas
and displays on the cultures of
Asia, Oceania, Africa and the
Americas. The old anatomy theatre
is the (only) big draw, with
selections from Peter's original
kunstkammer. While this translates
from German to 'art chamber', the
bloodthirsty crowds are really
here to see Peter's collection of
monstrosities, notably a ghoulish
collection of preserved freaks,
two-headed mutant foetuses and
body parts.
The main building of the
Academy of Science
(1783-89
J.Quarenghi), a perfect monument
of strict classicism.
The
House of Twelve Boards
(1722-42, D.Tresini), one of the
most characteristic and unique
buildings of the epoch of Peter
the Great. The Principal Wing of
the University (1794, 1840-42,
A.F.Shchedrin), an example of
stylization of the Peter the Great
baroque. Near by there is statue
of the scientist-poet Mikhail
Lomonosov is Mendeleevskaya linia
and the skinny, 400m- long Twelve
Colleges building. Meant
originally for Peter's government
ministries, it's now part of the
university, which stretches out
behind it.
Metro: Vasiliostrovskaya
The St.Isaac Square got its
name from the magnificent
St.Isaac Cathedral (Isaakievsky
sobor), located in its center,
that is dominating building
linking with the Decembrist
Square. It is the biggest Orthodox
Cathedral in St.Petersburg. The
history of the construction began
in 1710, when the first small
wooden church was put up in honor
of St.Isaac of Dalmatia, which was
the patron saint of the Romanov
family. In the early 19th century
a contest was arranged for the
best project of a new cathedral,
in which the most well-known
architects took part. In 1818
Alexander I approved a project
submitted by Montferrand, a
talented drawer who had just
arrived from Paris; however, he
had had but little experience in
architecture. The building process
lasted so long that people made
fun of the architect saying that
Montferrand dragged it on because
a prophet had predicted him he
would die the day the Cathedral
was completed.
In a way, the prediction came
true.
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The SAINT ISAAC'S
SQUARE |
It took 40 years to build the
cathedral.
Three years after the construction
had started it came to a halt
because of a number of mistakes
made in the project and during the
building process. A special
commission of notable Russian
architects was formed. In 1825 the
construction works were resumed
according to the corrected
project. Lots of complicated
engineering problems were to be
solved for the first time in
history.
In 1828, even before the walls
were erected, installation of the
48 monolithic columns was
started, that were to form the
porticoes, each weighing 114
tons, massive marble carved
from solid marble monoliths
corresponds exactly to the
dramatic history of the Cathedral.
The ideas of Betancourt, an
engineer, made it possible to
raise the 67-ton granite columns
to the height of 40 m and install
them around the dome drum. It was
reconstructed as many as four
times, has sustained a destructive
fire, disastrous floods of the
Neva River and a no less damaging
incompetence of many architects.
The majestic grandiose cathedral
strikes itself riches and luxury.
The high walls inside the
Cathedral are covered with various
kinds of marble and porphyry, the
icons are adorned with green
malachite, azurite and guilt
bronze. It was spent more then
400 kilograms of pure gold (of
which only 100 kg of gold were
used for gilding dome), 1000
tons of bronze and many others
Russian semi- precious stones.
112 massive granite columns
(made of single pieces of red
granite) surround the cathedral,
24 statues encircle the dome. They
are copies of Antique originals by
J.Hermann. The Cathedral has 4
smaller bell towers, and
sculptural groups of angels with
torches, which adorn each corner
of the Cathedral's roof. Four
enormous porticoes are decorated
with monolithic granite columns,
brought by sea from Vyborg.
St.Isaac's Cathedral is one of the
largest domed structures in the
world, and nowadays is the 4th
highest cathedral in the world
after the world-known St.Peter's
in Rome, St.Paul's in London and
Santa Maria del Fiore in Florence.
Having the area of 4000 square
meters, the Cathedral can
accommodate up to 14000
standing worshipers at a time.
The dome is of an original
construction, practically
including three domes, placed one
over other. The Cathedral astounds
with its dimensions: its length
is 115,5 m; width - 97,6 m.
The long spiral staircase leading
up in 562 steps to more
than is 101,5 meters height
of the balustrade of the dome is
open for anyone who is able to
ascend it. The walls are 5
meters thick.
Both inside and outside the
cathedral is decorated with
sculptures. About 400 meters high
sculptural work was created by
Vitali, Klod, Pimenov, Loganovsky.
It was for the first time that the
galvanoplastics method developed
by Yakoby was used for making
monumental sculptures.
The cathedral, faced with
light-gray marble from Olonetsk,
was completed by 1842; however,
it took 16 years more to decorate
the interior. A lot of
valuable materials were used,
among them lazurite, malachite,
porphyry, all kinds of marbles.
The decor of the Cathedral is
extremely impressive. It is
decorated with 382 works of art:
sculpture, painting, mosaic. The
walls and vaults of the cathedral
bear paintings and mosaic works
made by well-known Russian
artists: Briullov, Bruni, Basin,
Shebuyev and others. The mosaic
has 14 sorts of marble of
contrasting colors, that is
12000 shades and colors. The
great plafond of the big dome with
the area of more than 700 square
meters was painted by Briullov. It
shows Madonna surrounded by saints
and angels. There's a statue of
Montferrand holding a model of the
cathedral and made of different
colored marbles and other minerals
on the west facade. The
Iconostasis is decorated with ten
malachite and two azurite columns;
two lower tiers are mosaics while
the upper tier is painted. A group
of the most talented painters:
Bruni, Neff, Steuben, Mussini
painted the monumental murals.
Also of note are the intricately
sculpted bronze doors. The
interiors dazzle the eye with
mosaic icons, paintings and
columns made of malachite and
lapis lazuli. The white marble
central iconostasis with its
columns of malachite and lazurite,
and the huge brightly colored
stained glass window of the "The
Resurrection of Christ" in
Catholic colors (Orthodoxy has
Christ wearing blue). A series of
documents, plans, engravings, and
models serves as an exhibition of
the building of the cathedral.
But St.Isaac's was once the main
Russian Orthodox Cathedral. The
cathedral that stands out for its
grandeur was sanctified in 1858
and became the main church in
Saint-Petersburg. In the late
1920s the church was closed for
services and used for an
exhibition of revolutionary
propaganda. It was badly damaged
at the time of World War II. In
the Soviet epoch the Socialist
government officials were close to
demolish the dome for it blocked
up the view at the Neva out of
their windows. The enormous golden
dome of the Cathedral brought
about most complicated technical
problems for the builders and
especially for the painters many
of who died of mercury fumes while
gilding it. Since 1970 the staff
of the St.Isaac's Cathedral has
managed the church. The spiritual
monument was under restoration for
over 25 years. Nowadays with
scaffoldings removed, the
bell-tower dome gilded and the
interiors carefully restored, the
church is in its stunning beauty
and it is used for services on
Easter and Christmas. Since 1990,
after a 62-year gap, services have
been held in the cathedral on
major religious holidays. Today,
church services are held here only
on major ecclesiastical occasions.
St.Isaac's Cathedral is a
remarkable monument of Russian
architecture. This grand structure
filled up the space of the Senate
Square, and created a new square
as well. Alongside with the Peter
and Paul's Cathedral and the
Admiralty it became an important
architectural landmark in the city
outline. The golden dome of
St.Isaac's can be seen from any
part of the city, and in clear
weather - even from the suburbs.
Before Montferrand died two years
after the cathedral was completed
he had conceived a monument to
the iron-willed and notoriously
despotic Russian ruler Nicolay
I to be established in the
middle of the St.Isaac Square in
1859, four years after the Emperor
had died. The monument to Nicholas
I accurately and powerfully
depicts the determined absolutist
Russian ruler as a powerful
military figure.
In fact, Nicholay I was a junior
army officer at heart. He was
especially devoted to his troops
and intricately involved in the
details of the military from
ordering the alteration of
military uniforms to specializing
in the engineering of military
fortresses. His despotic rule over
Russia from 1825-1855 saw the
crushing of the liberal Decembrist
revolt and the expanse of Russian
territory largely at the expense
of Turkey.
Several different sculptures were
used in creating the monument. A
large model of the pony which
Nicholas I sits on was completed
by famous Russian classical
sculpture Peter Klodt.
Ramazanov and Zaleman
sculpted the model of the
monument's pedestal. Zaleman also
sculpted the four allegorical
female figures, steel fixtures and
ornaments on the pedestal and
bas-relief showing the historic
and significant "Delivery of the
Codification of Law to Count
Michael Speransky". It was largely
through the work of Speransky and
his associates that the new code
was introduced during Nicholas I's
reign in January 1835 marking a
milestone in Russian
jurisprudence.
The graceful silhouette of the
equestrian rests on a grand
pedestal adorned with elaborate
decoration, such as historical
scenes of the Nicolas's reign and
the allegoric images of Justice,
Belief, Wisdom and Power which
bears strong resemblance with the
Emperor's wife and three
daughters. The statue was casually
located in a line with the Bronze
Horseman, the monument to Peter
the Great on the Senat Square. The
two monuments looked as if one
statue was chasing the other and
only the Isaac Cathedral got in
its way. People say that several
days after the monument was
established a board with
inscription "you'll never catch me
up" was hung on its horse's right
leg.
Klodt completed the casting of the
pony statue and two bas-reliefs in
the Liteinoy artist's studio of
the Academy of Arts. A local
factory completed the remaining
bronze parts of the monument.
The impressive pedestal stands on
a short platform made of red
Finnish granite with three steps.
The lower part of the pedestal is
made of dark gray granite and red
porphyry. The middle part is
decorated with bronze bas-reliefs
and hewed from red Finnish
granite. The upper part of the
pedestal is made of red porphyry.
The pedestal of the pony statue is
sculpted from white Italian
marble.
The monument has an especially
beautiful silhouette, but at the
same time boasts a complex
composition. The placement of the
monument on one of the city's most
beautiful and historic squares and
the great interrelationship
between the monument and the
square is especially powerful and
gives the impression of a unified
and complete ensemble. Thanks to
its unique construction (the horse
stands on its hinds legs) the
monument to Nicholas was spared
during the various phases of
Soviet de-tsarization despite its
inherent policital-incorrectness.
The cathedral sits on the northern
side of St.Isaac's Square.
Opposite the cathedral is the
Mariinsky Palace, home of the
St.Petersburg Duma.
Metro: Nevsky
Prospekt / Gostiny Dvor
The
Decembrists' Square (Ploshchad'
Dekabristov) was given its
present name in 1925 in honor of
the first feeble attempt at a
Russian revolution - the
Decembrists' Uprising of 14
December 1825. Inspired by
radical ideas from France during
the Napoleonic campaigns, young
officers tried to depose the new
Tsar Nicholas I by drawing up
troops in the square. But they
allowed their opponents to argue
with them and were finally
dispersed with grapeshot. Most of
the leaders ended up on the
gallows or in Siberia.
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The DECEMBRISTS SQUARE |
The original name of the Square is
Senat's Square, because
there are the yellow and white
buildings of a former Senat
and Sinod, built in 1834 by
Rossy. The Senat was the
highest legislative body under the
tsar and the Sinod was the main
governing body of the Church. Now
it houses the Central
Historical Archives.
The most famous an impressive
monument to the founder of
St.Petersburg, Peter the Great,
the Bronze Horseman, in the
middle of the Square is the first
monument in the city.
The monument was built by order of
the Empress Catherine the Great as
a tribute to her famous
predecessor on the Russian throne,
Peter the Great. Being a German
princess by birth, she was eager
to establish a line of continuity
with the earlier Russian monarchs.
For that reason an inscription on
the monument reads in Latin and
Russian: Petro Primo Catarina
Secunda - To Peter the First from
Catherine the Second.
This equestrian statue of Peter
the Great, created by the famous
French sculptor Etienne Maurice
Falconet, depicts the most
prominent reformer of the Russia
state as a Roman hero. He came to
Russia especially for that
purpose. It took him three years
(1768-1770) to make the model of
the equestrian statue. The head of
Peter I was performed by
Falconet's apprentice - Collot.
The pedestal was performed after
Felten's design.
The pedestal is made of a single
piece of red granite molded into
the shape of a cliff. We can see
how the rider compresses the reins
of the impetuous horse. From the
top of this "cliff" Peter
gallantly leads Russia forward,
while his horse steps on a snake,
snake is a symbol of envy and
spite, represents the enemies of
Peter and his reforms. Ironically,
the "evil" snake serves as a third
point of support for the statue.
This monument personifies the
growth of the power of Russia.
The gigantic piece of granite upon
which the statue rests was a
favorite of Peter the Great.
Previously and was located on the
shore of the Gulf of Finland, in
the vicinity of the Lakhta
village. Peter affectionately
named it "Thunder-stone"
and from it he used to observe the
surroundings.
It took nine months to deliver the
enormous monolith weighting
1600 tons to the construction
site. 400 people, using special
devices, were first moving it by
land, and further by water.
Catherine II had it brought by
barge to St.Petersburg
specifically to serve as the base
for this statue. Catherine herself
came to inspect the stone and the
transportation device several
times.
The casting that began in 1775 and
might have ended in a catastrophe.
Molten copper began to pour
out of a crack that appeared in
the mold. The caster Khailov
who was in charge of the works
repaired the damage with a risk to
his life and completed the
casting. Sculptor Gordeyev
molded the snake trampled by the
horse.
"The monument will be simple, - he
wrote. - I shall limit myself to
the statue of this hero, and I am
treating him neither as a great
marshal, nor as a victor, though
he was both. More important is his
creative personality, that of the
benefactor of the whole country,
and it is this personality that is
to be shown to the people. My tsar
is not holding any warder; he is
stretching his benefactor arm over
the country that he is trying to
"break in". He is going up to the
top of the rock that serves as a
pedestal-this is the symbol of the
hardships that he had to
overcome... He overcame them by
the persistence of genius... In
other words, this is a monument to
Russia and its Transformer".
In October 1770 the rock was put
into its place; however, only 12
years later the monument was
opened. This monument more than
any other has come to symbolize
the city of St.Petersburg and
it was a main character in both
Pushkin's mini-epic about this
city, the Copper Rider, and
the symbolist Andrei Bely's
surreal novel, Petersburg.
According to a 19th century
legend, enemy forces will never
take St.Petersburg while the
Bronze Horseman stands in the
middle of the city. During the
Second World War the statue was
not taken down, but was protected
with sand bags and a wooden
shelter. In that way, the monument
survived the 900-day Siege of
Leningrad virtually untouched.
Near by there is the yellow
building with white columns. The
entrance is decorated with 2
sculptural groups representing
sons of Zeus taming horses
(sculptor Triskorny). The
former the Horse Guards' Riding
School (constructed in
1804-1807 from a design by
Quarenghi) was turned in to the
Manage Central Exhibition Hall
in 1877.
The columnes of grey granit were
designed by Rossy to
support 2 statues of glory.
They are gift of the prashin
imperor.
Metro: Nevsky
Prospekt / Gostiny Dvor
Arts Square
Arts Square
(Ploshchad Iskusstv) is a
testimony to the effectiveness of
the originally planning that went
into the city. The square's plan
was drawn up by the Italian
architect Carlo Rossi, who spent
most of his life working in Russia
and is considered by many to be a
native Russian architect (both his
contemporaries and present-day art
historians have tended to call him
by his Russified name Karl
Ivanovich Rossi). He was
responsible for all the most
prominent buildings built on the
square, including the Mikhailovsky
Palace, which today houses the
Russian Museum. According to the
"Classical" style of the day, all
the buildings lining the square
are similar in design and form a
harmonious architectural ensemble.
Other architects and landlords
then had to follow his design.
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The ARTS SQUARE |
Arts Square derives its name from
the cluster of museums, theaters
and concert halls that surround
it. Some of the most notable
include:
the Russian Museum, one of
the country's two largest
collections of Russian art;
the Ethnographic Museum,
representing all the ethnic
cultures of the former USSR;
The Maly Opera and Ballet
Theater (also known as the
Mussorgsky Theater) often
referred to as "the city's second
fiddle to the Mariinsky for opera
and ballet" but still a
well-respected and centrally
located theater;
the Large Concert Hall (Bolshoi
Zal) of the St.Petersburg
Philarmonia - the city's prime
classical music venue.
In the middle of Arts Square
stands a Statue of Alexander
Pushkin (1799-1836) (sculptor
Anikushin, architect
Petrov) - Russia's most famous
and most beloved poet and the
author of the novel-in-verse "Evgeny
Onegin" and some of the most
beautiful poetry written about
St.Petersburg.
