Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Architecture
Peter the Great's intention was to build a city that rivalled Paris and Rome for ar-
chitectural splendour. He envisioned grand avenues, weaving waterways and
magnificent palaces. While he did not live to see this dream become a reality, he
made a pretty good start. And his successors, especially Empresses Anna, Eliza-
beth and Catherine the Great, carried out their own even more elaborate versions
of their forebear's plan. Today, central St Petersburg is a veritable museum of
18th- and 19th-century architecture, with enough baroque, classical and empire-
style extravagances to keep you ogling indefinitely.
PETRINE BAROQUE
completed in 1704 and still intact today. Peter recruited Domenico Trezzini from
Switzerland to oversee early projects. It was Trezzini, more than any other architect,
who created the style known as Petrine Baroque, which was heavily influenced by
Dutch architecture, of which Peter was enamoured. Trezzini's buildings included the
land.
Initially, most funding was diverted to the war against Sweden, meaning there
wasn't enough money to create the European-style city that Peter dreamed of. Once
Russia's victory was secured in 1709, the city began to see feverish development. In
1711, the Grand Perspective (later Nevsky pr) was initially built as a road to transport
building supplies from Russia's interior. Nevsky pr was supposed to be a perfectly
straight avenue heading to Novgorod. The existing kink (at pl Vosstaniya) is attributed
to a miscalculation by builders.
Stone construction was banned outside the new capital, in order to ensure that there
would be enough masons free to work on the city. Peter ordered Trezzini to create a
unified city plan designed around Vasilyevsky Island. He also recruited Frenchman
Jean Baptiste Alexander LeBlond from Paris. The two architects focused their efforts
on Vasilyevsky Island, even though most people preferred to live across the river on
