La belle epoque architecture of St Petersburg

La belle epoque architecture of St Petersburg
Fyodor Dostoyevsky, St. Petersburg’s most renowned novelist, in perhaps his greatest novel “The Brothers Karamazov” wrote about three brothers who represent three worlds. In particular, the intellectual, the spiritual, and the sensual. In fact, these three worlds describe the northern capital of Russia as well. Whether you are walking along the North’s many picturesque canals, or the wide Neva River during a dreamy white night, you see the unique beauty of the city. Or, delighting in the world-class art collection at the Hermitage Museum, you are sure to appreciate the rich culture of the city on the Neva. Victorian style houses, where not one house is identical to the one next door, all this makes you feel the uniqueness of St. Petersburg.

In Russia, one of the most prominent monuments and typical modernist house is “Singer” (now “House of Books”) on the Nevsky Prospect in St. Petersburg. On the one hand, the building is not connected with the surrounding ensemble that is considered urban planning mistake, on the other hand, is an example of a successful plan in difficult conditions of overpopulated area (1902-1904, architect PY Suzor). Another striking example – Eliseev store, located nearby (1902-1903, architect GV Baranovsky). The example of La belle epoque monuments is the hotel “Astoria” in St. Petersburg (FI Lidval 1913-1914). In St. Petersburg among the stations in this respect stands Vitebsk railway station building (author – Brzhozovsky SA).

Despite the importance of the architectural monuments of the history of modern architecture and culture of Russia as a whole at the moment there is no full-fledged museum dedicated to La belle epoque style. Many buildings are unavailable not only for civilians, but also for researchers. Dozens of buildings are on the verge of collapse, as for some reason are not listed in the register of monuments protected by the state. The last major scandal associated with the fire in the apartment of house (work by Kekushev), the building has been abandoned for a long time, according to some reports the La belle epoque house was illegally occupied by illegal workers from neighboring countries.

La belle epoque architecture of St Petersburg

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