The Admiralty

The Admiralty is an architectural masterpiece and a symbol of the north ern capital. Its spire can be seen from a long distance and all the prin cipal thoroughfares of the city including Nevsky Prospekt, are fo cused on it. The contemporary building of the Admiralty is the third one. The first Admiralty, founded by Peter the Great as a shipyard and citadel, was rebuilt by Ivan Korobov in the 1730s. In 1806-23 a new stately edifice based on Korobov's building was erected in the Empire style to a design by Andreyan Zakharov. The three sides of the Admiralty overlook three major areas in the centre of the city - Palace, St Isaac's and Decembrists' Squares and serve as important formative elements in their outlines. Thanks to pavilions, arches and sculptural decorations the Admiralty produces a different impression from various sides.

The building of the Main Admiralty. Architects: Ivan Korobov, 1728-35; Andreyan Zakharov,
sculptors: Ivan Terebenev, Feodosy Shchedrin, 1806-23

It is impossible to imagine St Petersburg without its monuments, memorials, statues and other examples of urban sculpture. One of the most notable among them is the monument to Nicholas I erected on St Isaac's Square to a project by Auguste de Montferrand in 1856-59- The sculptor Peter Klodt designed the six-metre bron2e equestrian statue of the Emperor so that it rests only on two points of support, which is extremely rare with monuments of this kind. The Tsar, in the tightly fitted uniform of an officer of the Horse Guards Regiment, seems to prance on the drilling ground before the formed up lines of the regiment. On the four sides of the many-tiered pedestal made of Finnish granite, Serdobolye stone, Shoksha porphyry and Carrara marble are surmounted the allegorical figures of Wisdom, Power, Justice and Faith, in which Nicholas Fs contemporaries recognized the features of his consort and three daughters. The large images in high relief illustrate episodes of his reign and the most complimentary opinions about the monarch. The overall silhouette and scale of the monument perfectly harmonizes with the space of the square.

The shaping of the present-day appearance of St Isaac's Square was completed only in the 1910s when the German architect Peter Behrens erected the building of the German embassy and Fiodor Lidval completed in 1912 the construction of the Astoria Hotel on the opposite side of the square. The leading master of the Northern Art Nou-veau succeeded in blending innovatory features with an adherence to the St Petersburg traditions. Art Nouveau elements are well combined with Classical details in the architectural design and interior decor of this elegant building. Fiodor Lidval succeeded in creating an illusion of a lower height for the six-storeyed building with an attic, too high for the square. He attained that by including into his design a powerful cornice over the last but one, fifth storey; while the smoothly tapering angle enabled him to integrate the new edifice with the panorama of the square and to shape the entry to it from Large Morskaya Street.

The Yusupov Palace

The Astoria Hotel welcomed its first residents in 1912 and from the first years of its existence won a reputation of the most convenient and comfortable hotel in the northern capital on a par with the best foreign hotels. It is favourably located in the central part of the city, not far from the Neva, and near administrative and business quarters, amidst superb architectural landmarks. It is convenient both for tourists and businessmen coming to establish commercial contacts. Thousands of guests to the city have a good memory about this hotel after their visits to the city.