Eastern and Central Europe (Eyewitness Travel Guides)

ST PETERSBURG 143

biting sat ires on the

archetypal Petersburg

bureaucrat. The composer,

Pyotr Tchaikovsky, died in

the apartment at No. 13

shortly after the completion of

his Pathétique sym phony in

1893. It is believed that he
      com mitted suicide, after an
      alleged homo sexual affair.
      Novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky
      lived in No. 23. He was
      arrested here for his parti-
      cipation in the socialist
      Petrashevsky circle. Today,
      the street continues to exude
      a 19th-century feel despite the
      many shops and businesses.

The Alexander Column and the General Staff Building, Palace Square

gathered troops fired on

thousands of unarmed demon-

s trators. Then, on 7 November

1917, Lenin’s Bolshevik sup-

porters secured the Revolution

by attacking the Winter Palace

(see pp150–51) from the

square. It still remains a

popular venue for political

meetings, rallies and events

such as rock concerts.

The resplendent square is

the work of the archi tect Carlo

Rossi, the city’s last great expo-

nents of Neo-Classicism. On

the southern side of the

square is Rossi’s magnificent

General Staff Building, the

head quarters of the Russian

Army. The two graceful, curv-

ing wings – the eastern one

now a branch of the

Hermitage – are connected by

a double arch leading to

Bolshaya Morskaya ulitsa. The

arch is crowned by the sculp-

ture, Victory in her Chariot

(1829). To the eastern side of

this ensemble is the Guards

Headquarters, designed by

Aleksandr Bryullov in the 19th

century. To the west lies The

Admiralty. The Alexander

Column in the centre of the

square is dedicated to Tsar

Alexander I for his role in the

triumph over Napoleon. On

the pedestal are inscribed the

words “To Alexander I, from

a grateful Russia”. The red

granite pillar is balanced by

its 600-tonne (661-tons)

weight, making it the largest

free-standing monument in

the world. The column,

designed by Montferrand, was

erected between 1830 and

1834. It is topped by a bronze
      angel, and together they stand
      47 m (154 ft) high.

Nicholas I (r. 1825–55),
although a few of its earlier
buildings date from the 18th
century. The monu ment to
Nicholas I at its centre was
designed by Montferrand.
Erected in 1859 and sculpted
by Pyotr Klodt, it depicts the
tsar in the uniform of one of
Russia’s most prestigious regi-
ments, the Kavalergardskiy
guards. The pedestal is
embellished with allegorical
sculp tures of his daughters
and wife, who represent faith,
wisdom, jus tice and might.
To the west lies the Myatlev
House, a Neo-Classical man-
sion dating from the 1760s.
French encyclopedist, Denis
Diderot, stayed here between
1773 and 1774. In the 1920s it
became the premises of the
State Institute of Artistic Culture
where some of Russia’s most
influential avant-garde artists
including Kazimir Malevich
and Vladimir Tatlin worked.
The former German embassy,
designed by Peter Behrens,
lies alongside. The southern
end of the square is dominat ed
by the Mariinskiy Palace which
now houses the city hall.

Malaya Morskaya

Ulitsa 7

Малая Морская улица
Malaya morskaya ulitsa

Map C4. @ 3, 10, 22, 27.
 5, 22.

Malaya Morskaya ulitsa was
recently renamed ulitsa
Gogolya after the great writer,
Nikolai Gogol, who lived at
No. 17 between 1833 and

1836. It was here that Gogol
      wrote The Diary of a
      Madman and The Nose, two

Palace Square 8

Дворцовая площадь

Dvortsovaya ploshchad

Map C3. @ 7, 10, K-47, K-169,

K-190, K-209, K-228.  1, 7, 10.

The Palace Square has played

a unique role in Russian his-

tory. It was the setting for

military parades before the

Revolution. In January 1905,

it was the scene of the massa-

cre of “Bloody Sunday”, when

St Isaac’s Cathedral and the statue of Nicholas I, St Isaac’s Square