A free access to the upper floor gallery of the Gostinny
Dvor shopping arcades was opened about a year ago.
In this album we’ll look at whatever may be seen from the gallery.
Our photo session was
limited by 15 minutes – after which a security guard appeared to inform
that all photographing and video filming from the gallery were
prohibited by the Gostinny Dvor management.
However a few shots have already been made.
Let’s begin with the
Vorontsov Palace that faces Sadovaya St.
Its
restoration, completed half a year ago, included chopping down the trees
– which had obstructed the palace’s view from the street.
The grille was also renovated.
The Vorontsov Palace was built in 1749 -
1757 by Bartolomeo Francesco Rastrelli for Count Michael Vorontsov,
chancellor of the Russian Empire at the end of the Elisabeth Petrovna’s
reign.
Later the palace belonged to the Maltese Order.
At that time, the whole area behind the park up to Fontanka river was
a large regular park with fountains.
In 1810 – 1918 the palace
housed the Corps of Pages, a privileged military school. In spite of its
aristocratic character, the Corps yielded such revolutionaries as the
Decembrists P. Pestel, V. Ivashev and P. Svistunov, as well as the
father of Anarchism Prince P. Kropotkin.
After
the Bolshevik revolution in 1917, the building was allotted to the Red
Army’s 1st Petrograd Infantry Command School.
In 1937, the school was renamed the S.M.
Kirov Infantry School.
From 1955 and till the present day, the palace
has housed the Suvorov Military Academy, and its cadets may be
constantly seen marching or running in the palace’s yard.
This house (26, Sadovaya St.) seems to be
a separate building, but is listed as a part of the Vorontsov Palace.
Krylov Lane links
Sadovaya St. (between Nos. 22 and 24) and Ostrovsky square around the
Alexandriinsky theater (partly seen at the lane’s distant end).
No. 22 (left), built by A. Roben in 1847 and rebuilt by
G. Gavrilov in 1910-1911, used to belong to A. Korovin and K. Gavrilov
and to house a restaurant of the First S. Petersburg Society of Waiters.
In more recent times it contained a popular confectionery.
We’ve arrived to the intersection between
Sadovaya and Nevsky Ave.
Apparently the Christmas preparations are
already under progress.
The corner building is the Russian
National Public Library, built in 1796 – 1801 by E. Sokolov.
Another
library’s wing, built by Carlo Rossi, faces Ostrovsky square.
Ahead along the gallery,
over Nevsky Ave.
No. 48 is the Passage
department store.
It was originally built in
1846 – 1848 by R.Zhelyazevich who modeled it after the Golitsin Gallery
in Moscow.
In 1899 – 1900 engineer S. Kozlov raised the building
up to four stores and changed the facades.
New street lamps at
Nevsky.
By the way, before the
current buildings were erected, the plots had belonged to prominent
architects Michael Zemtsov and Bartolomeo Francesco Rastrelli (No. 46 at
the center, No. 48 at the right).
No. 46, formerly the
Moscow Merchant bank (built in 1901-1902 by L. Benois).
No. 44, the “Small Passage”, built in
1909 – 1910 by B. Girshovich for the Rossiya Insurance Co.
At the
right below: the Sever confectionery shop famous for its delicious
pastries.
No. 40 is one of the two
buildings erected simultaneously with the Armenian Church.
The Armenian Church and
the mentioned houses, which have been repeatedly shown in the previous
albums.
The left one (No. 40) is the St.
Petersburg municipal Committee for Culture.
Please note that I’ve completed uploading my North Korea albums, accompanied
with an article by Alexey Novikovsky, the second member of our enormous
:) tourist group.
