Monument to Catherine the Great

Alexandrinsky Theatre

The Alexandrinsky Theatre is the second most famous theatre in St. Petersburg, home of the oldest theatre company in Russia, and one of the finest works of the great neoclassical architect Carlo Rossi, at the centre of a remarkable ensemble of buildings created by him on and around Ploshchad Ostrovskogo that Petersburgers consider one of the architectural jewels of the city.

The theatre's origins date back to 1756, when Empress Elizabeth issued a decree to found the Russian Theatre for the Presentation of Tragedies and Comedies, Russia's first professional theatre. However, it was over seven decades before the company took up residence in Rossi's superb building. The first theatre on the site was a wooden building adapted from a pavilion in the gardens of the Anichkov Palace by Vincenzo Brenna in 1801 for the Italian impresario Antonio Casassi. This was soon bought by the state, and renamed the Maly ("small") Theatre.

The building proved too small, however, for the rapidly growing number of theatergoers in St. Petersburg. The decision was taken to replace the building with a larger, stone theatre, and French architect Thomas de Thomon presented his design in 1811. The invasion of Russia by Napoleon's forces prevented this project being realized, and another architect of French origin, Carl Mauduit, was the next to propose designs, not just for the new theatre but for the whole area between Nevsky Prospekt and Ulitsa Lomonosova, Sadovaya Ulitsa and the Fontanka River. Although his plans were approved in 1816, he proved unequal to the task, and Carlo Rossi took over the assignment.

It was a project that would occupy the Italian for over twenty years. The theatre, completed in 1832, became the central and dominant structure in his designs, which included the Russian National Library and the Directorate of the Imperial Theatres (next to the Alexandrinsky and now home to the Museum of Theatrical and Musical Art). Named in honour of Alexandra Fyodorovna, wife of Nicholas I, the Alexandrinsky Theatre was painted in the yellow-and-white colour scheme that became de rigueur for neoclassical buildings in St. Petersburg. The building was decorated with sculptures by Stepan Pimenov and Vasily Demuth Malinovsky, who had also provided decoration for Rossi's General Staff Building. For the Alexandrinsky's main facade they created a statue of Apollo's chariot for the pediment, and figures of Melpomene and Thalia, the muses of tragedy and comedy respectively, for the niches. So impressed was Nicholas I with Rossi's work that the architect was granted his own box in the theatre in perpetuity. Unfortunately, financial difficulties obliged him to rent out the box, and when the Emperor discovered, his right was soon forfeited.

Inside the theatre, the carving of the Tsar's Box and a few other boxes are all that remain from Rossi's planned decorations, many of which were never realized. The rest of the original interiors were remodeled in the second half of the 19th century. With space for an audience of 1,378, the Alexandrinsky was one of the biggest theatres in Europe when it opened, and praised for its superb acoustics. Initially it was used for performances of drama, opera and ballet by the Imperial Theatre Companies, and it was only after the completion of the Mariinsky Theatre that it began to specialize only in drama. As such, it was the site of the premieres of many of the greatest works in the canon of Russian drama, including the plays of Alexander Griboedov, Alexander Ostrovsky, and Anton Chekhov.

In the Soviet era, the theatre came to be known as the Pushkin State Drama Theatre, still its second official title. Among the great directors to work at the theatre were Vsevolod Meyerhold and Georgy Tovstonogov. Their successor is the current Artistic Director, Valery Fokin, one of the most respected and influential directors currently working in Russian theatre. Reopened after extensive renovations in 2006, the Alexandrinsky Theatre is rightly considered the home of Russian drama, and continues to produce lavish and technically impeccable performances of Russian and world theatre classics.

Monument to Catherine the Great

This monument to Catherine the Great was unveiled in 1873. The Empress was adored by the people of St. Petersburg for all her efforts to improve the life and education provided by the city and her reign has long seen been known as the "golden age" of Russia. The statue of Catherine is surrounded by delicately carved figures of the most prominent individuals of her reign: politicians and poets, military men and courtiers. The monument is located in the middle of a small, grass-covered square, just off Nevsky Prospekt, which is lined by the Anichkov Palace, the Alexandrinsky Drama Theater and the Russian National Library. As one of the country's most enlightened monarchs, Catherine could not have chosen a better spot herself.

Detail of the pedestal of the statue of Catherine the Great in Saint-Petersburg, Russia Detail of the pedestal of the statue of Catherine the GreatThe monument was designed by the Russian artist M.O. Mikeshin and created by the best sculptors and architects of the day. Catherine the Great is dressed in her official gown and holds a scepter in her right hand and an olive wreath in her left hand. The pedestal is decorated with the symbols of royal power. Among the dignitaries, who's likenesses have been carved on the statue's pedestal, are Alexander Suvorov, perhaps the most famous general in Russian history, Prince Potiomkin, the general and politician, Ekaterina Dashkova, the first woman to chair the Russian Academy of Sciences (in the 18th century!!!) and the celebrated poet Gavrila Derzhavin.

Eliseev grocery store

The grocery store was founded at the beggining of the XXth century by Grigory Eliseev and was bearing the name of the family, which was one of the richest and the most influential families in the country at that time. The history of the Eliseev family is really interesting and can serve as an example of self-motivation, industry and success.

It all started in the XIX century, when the forefather of the family, Peter, simple serf and a gardener, in the full swing of Russian winter offered some fresh wild strawberry to his landlord count Sheremetev at one of the Christmas dinners. Sheremetev and his guests were so impressed with this fact that granted Eliseev his freedom and some travelling allowance to start his new life. Arriving with his wife and children to Saint-Petersburg from Moscow literary on foot, Eliseev quickly set off to work to provide for his family. He went to the Nevsky prospect (the main street of the city) to sell oranges to aristocrats strolling along the street. The idea was such a great novelty and was so quickly accepted by the inhabitants, that Eliseev soon was able to save some decent sum of money to open a small shop selling different fruit from hot countries. Following Peter, his son, Grigory Eliseev took up the business and grew rich enough to release his brothers from serfdom. The brothers started traveling to the colonial countries buying different goods for their shop. The business was picking up, and Eliseevs entered the merchants, building up rules and structure of the new Russian estate.

In 1901 Eliseev brothers built a huge grocery store in art nouveau style on the Nevsky prospect, which was offering colonial produce. The store operated untill the very revolution of 1917. After the overthrow of the monarchy the store was nationalized and its founder had to flee from the country to France. His children though didn’t manage to save during bloody reign of soviet regime: some of them were shot during Stalin’s purges and some – disappeared in the concentration camps… The Eliseev store was renaimed into “Grocery Store №1″.Eliseev-20th century

Despite the intention of the soviet governement to leave no traces of the former luxury of the store, its soul and atmosphere, the Eliseev grocery store has become the integral part of Saint-Petersburg chronicle. People continued to call it Eliseev store; and high standarts of food selling being still maintained. Even at the time of great deficit in the country the store kept impressing Leningraders with its rich choice of goods and beauty of decoration. Moreover it has always managed to retain its reputation of mark of quality.Original glass cases, bronze lamps, crystal chandeliers and stained-glass windows reproduce the interiour of the beggining of the 20th century. As before you can find here different colonial goods, such as caviar and selmon, jamon and cheeses. You will also definitely enjoy bread, buns and rolls, produced at their own bakery. On the ground floor, where they used to have fruits and food storage, you can visit a nice cafe called Storage № 5, while on the second floor there is a luxurious restaurant, which tables you will have to book in advance. In the center of the store you’ll have the opportunity to slow down for a second and drink a cup of coffee with some of the delicious sweets made here.

The Passage

The Passage is an elite department store on Nevsky Avenue in Saint Petersburg, Russia.The site where the Passage sprawls had been devoted to trade since the city's foundation in the early 18th century. It had been occupied by various shops and warehouses (Little Gostiny Dvor, Schukin Dvor, Apraksin Dvor) until 1846, when Count Essen-Stenbock-Fermor acquired the grounds to build an elite shopping mall for the highest echelons of the Russian nobility and bourgeoisie.

The name came from a vast gallery between Nevsky Avenue and Italianskaya Street which provided the main passage through the mall. The gallery was covered over by an arching glass and steel roof, thus giving it a claim to being one of the world's first shopping malls, along with Passage du Caire in Paris (1798) Burlington Arcade in London, Galerie Vivienne in Paris (1823) and Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert in Brussels.

The three-storey building of the Passage opened its doors to consumers on May 9, 1848. It was one of the first structures in Russia to employ gas for lighting. Another innovation was an underground floor, where an electric station would be installed in 1900. Although the store specialized in jewellery, expensive clothes and other luxury goods, crowds of common people flocked to see the most fashionable shop of the Russian Empire. A fee of 50 kopecks had to be introduced in order to limit admissions.

Stenbock-Fermor conceived of the Passage as more than a mere shopping mall, but also as a cultural and social centre for the people of St Petersburg. The edifice contained coffee-houses, confectioneries, panorama installations, an anatomical museum, a wax museum, and even a small zoo, described by Dostoyevsky in his extravaganza "Crocodile, or Passage through the Passage". The concert hall became renowned as a setting for literary readings attended by the likes of Dostoevsky, Turgenev, and Taras Shevchenko.20th century[edit]

In 1897 the ownership of the Passage passed from Stenbock-Fermor's heirs to Princess Nadezhda Boryatinsky. A great fire in 1898 necessitated a major renovation, funded by the Crédit Lyonnais, a bank which leased a large portion of the store as its offices. In 1900, the building was revamped, with the addition of a further storey, and refaced in Radom sandstone. The new owner transformed the former concert hall into a theatre employing Vera Komissarzhevskaya as its artistic director. To draw even more consumers to the store, the Soleille, one of the largest cinemas in the Russian capital, was opened in the complex in 1908.

After the Russian Revolution of 1917 and the following several years of disorder, the store was reopened as the Passage Supermarket in 1922. It continued in this capacity until 1933, when the municipal authorities declared the Passage a "model department store", the only one in Leningrad (as the former St Petersburg was then known) and one of only three such stores in the Soviet Union. The renovated "palace of Soviet trade" (as the media touted it) opened in 1934 and offered about 30,000 types of goods, all manufactured in the USSR. The Children's World section became especially popular with the inhabitants of Leningrad.The Passage remained a showcase of the Soviet industry until the onset of World War II. During the Siege of Leningrad, the shop was closed but the majority of employees chose to remain day and night. The building's glass roof was subjected to intensive bombing, but amazingly the interior sustained little damage. The Passage was restored and reopened for business in 1947. Since 1961, this historic department store has been specializing in goods for women.21st century[edit]

The Passage is now privately owned by employees and shareholders. Updates and renovations throughout the entire building were done to meet modern international standards. Expanded showrooms welcomed more customers. Passage established relations with new trade and business partners, such as Escada, and other international department stores. One of the first upscale food markets in Russia, with a wide variety of international produce, opened in the basement. New restaurant opened on the upper level with the panoramic view of the Nevsky Prospect.

Gostiny Dvor

St. Petersburg's largest department store, Gostiny Dvor is one of Nevsky Prospekt's most famous landmarks, and has been at the centre of trade in the city for 250 years.

A Gostiny Dvor ("Guests' Court" in translation) was once a feature of all large Russian towns. The Russian equivalent of an eastern bazaar, these buildings were retail points, warehouses, and living quarters for merchants arriving from far-flung corners of Russia and beyond. In St. Petersburg, Bolshoy Gostiny Dvor was the largest of several such buildings, many of which have survived to the present day.

It was the idea of Empress Elizabeth to build a single, central arcade that would become the main trading site of the Russian imperial capital - the Bolshoy ("big") Gostiny Dvor. Several prominent architects presented their plans for the building during the 1750s, including Antonio Rinaldi and Bartoloemeo Rastrelli, but it was eventually early neoclassical designs by Jean-Baptiste Vallin de la Mothe that were chosen. Construction of the building took over twenty years, from 1761 to 1785.

The building is an irregular rectangle of two-storey arcades surrounding an inner courtyard, with porticoes at each external corner and a large central portico facing Nevsky Prospekt. The relative paucity of the building's decoration may in part have been due to financial considerations, as Rastrelli's ornate plans were rejected on considerations of cost. In 1887, the Nevsky Prospekt facade was significantly altered by Nikolay Benois, who added a dome above the central portico, and decorated the walls with plasterwork and statuary. This was removed during reconstruction after the Second World War, and the building was restored to the elegant simplicity of de la Mothe's designs.

The original bazaar consisted of around 100 stores covering 53 000 square meters. Stores were divided into rows according to the type of produce, including cloth, furs, silver, shoes, etc. The external rows were for retail trade, while wholesale trade was conducted in the courtyard. The second floor was reserved for storage. Russian merchants traded in the Eastern manner, with touts to draw customers into their stores, and prices agreed through haggling. The latter custom gradually disappeared, however, as more and more European merchants, particularly Dutch, came to Gostiny Dvor, introducing the marking of all goods with fixed prices.At the end of the 18th century, Giacomo Quarenghi was responsible for adding two auxiliary buildings to the west of the Bolshoy Gostiny Dvor on Dumskaya Ulitsa - the Perinnye Ryady ("Feather rows"), where only women traded, and the Maly ("Small") Gostiny Dvor, which specialized in the sale of furniture. The former building was demolished during construction of Nevsky Prospekt and then reconstructed 2000-2002.

After the October Revolution, the Bolshoy Gostiny Dvor was left boarded up for several years and then severely damaged in bombing during the Second World War. Restored and reconstructed from 1945 to 1955, the building was transformed from 178 separate stores into one large department store with the removal of its internal walls. Bolshoy Gostiny Dvor now has 15 000 square meters of retail space occupied by 122 different departments, and is still St. Petersburg's main department store, the first place to look for anything from knitting needles to party supplies.