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Lecture#5
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Now we're entering the main square of the city, Palace Square,
with the Alexander Column designed by Monferrand, which was putup in the centre of the square to commemorate Russian victory over Napoleon in the war of 1812.
This unique construction is 47.5 metres high. A granite monolith of 25.5 metres high was brought from Finland & it took 2000 soldiers & 400 artisans to put it on its basement. It stands on its basement without any special support thanks to the enormous weight of more than 600 tons. On the top there is a statue of an angel stepping on the snake & raising a cross. (Designed by the sculptor Boris Orlovsky) The column was named after Emperor Alexander I and the angel's face resembles his. In the past Palace Square was used as the military parade ground.
It took a long time to form the architectural ensemble of Palace Square. After the construction of the Winter Palace in 1762 the square in front of it remained disordered space with some houses built at random to the south. According to the daring design by Carlo Rossi they were torn down & the immense building of General Staff, 600 metres long, was constructed instead. Though contrasting with the Winter Palace in style & colour the General Staff forms with it a complicated unity. A colossal passage arch, 28 metres high and 17 metres wide, is in the central part of the building.
A sculptural group on its top representing the Chariot of Glory commemorates the victory over Napoleon in the war of 1812 (Vasily Demuth-Malinovsky & Stepan Pimenov). Now we're driving towards the Spit of Vasilievsky island. We're crossing the Palace bridge, which was built in 1912-15 by Pshenisky. After 1917 it was called the Republic bridge & in 1944 it was renamed the Palace bridge. Now we're on the Spit of Vasilievsky island. Here we'll have our first stop. At the beginning I'd like to tell a few words about this very place. We're on Exchange square, one of the most beautiful squares of the city. It lies on Vasilievsky island, one of the largest islands within the city limits. From here you may have a good view of the Neva, the magnificent view of the embankments & also of the Peter-and-Paul Fortress, the most important historic landmark of the city, lying on Zayachy(Hare's) island. The unique architectural ensemble of Exchange Square with the building of the Stock Exchange rising in the centre, was designed & built in 1805—10 by Thomas de Thomon as traditionally classic. The outlook of the Exchange can be traced back to an ancient Greek temple: rectangular in form, it has a high ground floor and 44 solemn doric order columns put up around it. Both pediments of the Exchange have compositions by two well-known Russian sculptors — «Navigation & Two rivers» by Feodosy Shchedrin and ”Neptune & the Neva & Volkhov rivers” by Ivan Prokofiev. For a long time the building housed the St-Petersburg Stock Exchange & has kept its original name during the recent 50 years. It houses the collections of the Naval Museum, which have a two century history & are of great interest. The Neva bank, which had been low, was transformed when a semicircular square with a moorage was designed & raised by Thomas de Thomon at the same time with the construction of the Exchange.
Two
monumental constructions make the square look especially picturesque, their heavy shapes & vivid red-brick paint contrast sharply with the classical regularity of the ensemble in their background. These are Rostral columns, 32 metres high, graced with metallic rostra (ship prows). The colossal figures at the columns' pedestals symbolise four great Russian rivers: the Volga, Dnieper, Volkhov & Neva. There are stairs inside leading to the observation points at their tops where big gas burners are installed. They are lit on great festive days only & visitors are let in during summertime. The columns served as beacons in the past when the square was used as a port & merchant vessels arriving in St-Petersburg from the Baltic Sea moored here. Other buildings in the ensemble of the square were also initially intended for quite prosaic purposes. First of all these two warehouses put up to the right & to the left of the Exchange by the architect Giovanni Luchini in 1826-32. The Zoological Museum & the Museum of Geology are housed there nowadays. Almost at the same time, in 1829-32, the Customhouse was built by Luchini beside the northern warehouse. Now it houses the rich & unique collections of the Literary Museum of the Institute for Studies in Russian literature (Pushkinsky Dom).
with the Alexander Column designed by Monferrand, which was putup in the centre of the square to commemorate Russian victory over Napoleon in the war of 1812.This unique construction is 47.5 metres high. A granite monolith of 25.5 metres high was brought from Finland & it took 2000 soldiers & 400 artisans to put it on its basement. It stands on its basement without any special support thanks to the enormous weight of more than 600 tons. On the top there is a statue of an angel stepping on the snake & raising a cross. (Designed by the sculptor Boris Orlovsky) The column was named after Emperor Alexander I and the angel's face resembles his. In the past Palace Square was used as the military parade ground.
It took a long time to form the architectural ensemble of Palace Square. After the construction of the Winter Palace in 1762 the square in front of it remained disordered space with some houses built at random to the south. According to the daring design by Carlo Rossi they were torn down & the immense building of General Staff, 600 metres long, was constructed instead. Though contrasting with the Winter Palace in style & colour the General Staff forms with it a complicated unity. A colossal passage arch, 28 metres high and 17 metres wide, is in the central part of the building.
A sculptural group on its top representing the Chariot of Glory commemorates the victory over Napoleon in the war of 1812 (Vasily Demuth-Malinovsky & Stepan Pimenov). Now we're driving towards the Spit of Vasilievsky island. We're crossing the Palace bridge, which was built in 1912-15 by Pshenisky. After 1917 it was called the Republic bridge & in 1944 it was renamed the Palace bridge. Now we're on the Spit of Vasilievsky island. Here we'll have our first stop. At the beginning I'd like to tell a few words about this very place. We're on Exchange square, one of the most beautiful squares of the city. It lies on Vasilievsky island, one of the largest islands within the city limits. From here you may have a good view of the Neva, the magnificent view of the embankments & also of the Peter-and-Paul Fortress, the most important historic landmark of the city, lying on Zayachy(Hare's) island. The unique architectural ensemble of Exchange Square with the building of the Stock Exchange rising in the centre, was designed & built in 1805—10 by Thomas de Thomon as traditionally classic. The outlook of the Exchange can be traced back to an ancient Greek temple: rectangular in form, it has a high ground floor and 44 solemn doric order columns put up around it. Both pediments of the Exchange have compositions by two well-known Russian sculptors — «Navigation & Two rivers» by Feodosy Shchedrin and ”Neptune & the Neva & Volkhov rivers” by Ivan Prokofiev. For a long time the building housed the St-Petersburg Stock Exchange & has kept its original name during the recent 50 years. It houses the collections of the Naval Museum, which have a two century history & are of great interest. The Neva bank, which had been low, was transformed when a semicircular square with a moorage was designed & raised by Thomas de Thomon at the same time with the construction of the Exchange.
Two
monumental constructions make the square look especially picturesque, their heavy shapes & vivid red-brick paint contrast sharply with the classical regularity of the ensemble in their background. These are Rostral columns, 32 metres high, graced with metallic rostra (ship prows). The colossal figures at the columns' pedestals symbolise four great Russian rivers: the Volga, Dnieper, Volkhov & Neva. There are stairs inside leading to the observation points at their tops where big gas burners are installed. They are lit on great festive days only & visitors are let in during summertime. The columns served as beacons in the past when the square was used as a port & merchant vessels arriving in St-Petersburg from the Baltic Sea moored here. Other buildings in the ensemble of the square were also initially intended for quite prosaic purposes. First of all these two warehouses put up to the right & to the left of the Exchange by the architect Giovanni Luchini in 1826-32. The Zoological Museum & the Museum of Geology are housed there nowadays. Almost at the same time, in 1829-32, the Customhouse was built by Luchini beside the northern warehouse. Now it houses the rich & unique collections of the Literary Museum of the Institute for Studies in Russian literature (Pushkinsky Dom).