The Spirit of Saint Petersburg

TR ANSAERO

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BELL TOWER OF SMOLNY C AT H E D R A L

Address: 1 Rastrelli pl. Street, Chernyshevskaya Station Opening hours: daily, except Wed, from 10:30 to 18:00 OBSERVATION DECKS ARE 50 METERS ABOVE GROUND, ON THE TWO BELL TOWERS; THE SOUTH SIDE OVERLOOKS CENTRAL DISTRICT, SMOLNY INSTITUTE, BOLSHEOKHTINSKY BRIDGE AND THE NEVA RIVER, THE NORTH  KRESTY PRISON AND THE WHOLE OF THE PETROGRAD DISTRICT.

The Spirit of Saint Petersburg SIX SPECIAL LANDMARKS WITHOUT WHICH YOUR IMPRESSION OF SAINT PETERSBURG WILL CERTAINLY NOT BE COMPLETE. ASYA DUNAEVSKAYA

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SHAMIL GAR AEV

THE RING HOUSE

One of the oldest apartment buildings in Saint Petersburg is found at the intersection of Fontanka River and Gorokhovaya Street. At the beginning of the 19th century this curved classical structure was purchased by Stepan, Dmitry and Ivan Ustinovs, who were praporshiks of the Semenovsky Life-Guards Regiment.

EUGENY PETRUSHANSKY, GETTY IMAGES/FOTOBANK

They rebuilt and turned it into a three-storey multi-family residence. As a further investment they later erected another structure in the house’s empty yard. Thus, in 1822 this threestorey ring house burst onto the Saint Petersburg scene as the first spherical apartment building in the city. The architect was handed a task of building a house in the yard’s

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open space that wouldn’t block the sunlight in the already existing structure and would create a private courtyard. It was a three-storey building with eight apartments and two porches – four apartments in each part – and perfectly round in shape. Two arches placed opposite each other led into the courtyard.

Address: 92 Fontanka River Embankment, Pushkinskaya and Sennaya Ploshchad Stations

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JOHN LENNON STREET

There is a place filled with distinct St. Petersburg atmosphere just a two-minute walk from Moskovsky station. Artcenter “Pushkinskaya, 10”.

The center originated in 1989, when local artists, musicians and other artists occupied a vacated house as squatters.

By the late 1990s the Museum of Nonconformist Art had been established here, with a bookstore, an art buffet and an Experimental Sound Gallery (ESG-21) which opened later. However, few people know that as far back as the 1960s there was an unofficial Beatles museum in one of the building’s apartments. The museum’s keeper is Russia’s ultimate Beatles fan, collector and artist Nikolay (Kolya) Vasin, the author of “Rock on the Russian Bones”, a global encyclopedia of the Beatles movement in Russia. Over time Mr. Vasin revamped his museum into a “John Lennon temple of love, peace and music” and

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started actively campaigning for a real John Lennon’s temple.

Mr. Vasin’s accomplishments include addressing the municipal commission on St. Petersburg’s toponymy with the suggestion of renaming Marat Street into John Lennon Street.

A person named John Lennon did reside on Marat Street in the past, however, it was an English 18th-century diplomat.

The commission rejected the idea, which didn’t stop the Beatles fan – he made a plaque with a street name and hung it on a wing in the art-center’s yard. In 2006 marking Lennon’s birthday sculptor Stepan Mokrousov carved bas-reliefs of a yellow submarine and The Fab Four on the same wall.

Address: 10 Pushkinskaya Street, Ploshchad Vosstaniya Station

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TEARS OF SOCIALISM

Officially known as Communal House of Artists and Engineers, this is the nickname of the building constructed by architect Andrey Ol. These engineers and writers shared the costs of its construction in 1929 as part of a “fight against the old way of life”.

The avant-garde construction took two years to complete and whatever material could be found was put to use. As a result the house walls were very thin and far from soundproof. There were no kitchens or bathrooms in the 52 apartments. Lack of kitchens was explained by the fact the literary talent didn’t waste time

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on cooking as it had matters of more importance to attend.

Instead, a canteen was introduced which could accomodate 200 and accepted food tickets. The house had shared restrooms, a nursery, toilets, showers and a hair salon.

In addition, it had its own library, and what’s even more valuable, a solarium and small bicycle park on the roof. However, “the house of joy” as it was seldom and jokingly called, soon became “the most ridiculous house in Leningrad” in the words of famous Soviet poet Olga Bergholz, a resident of the house for many years.

It was gradually reconstructed, first by the residents themselves who were partitioning tiny corners off for kitchens and buying burners. Then in the 1960s, the corridor system was renovated and real kitchens and bathrooms were introduced. The façade has not changed though, its tiny cage balconies fitting nicely with modern-day reality.

Address: 10 Rubinshtein Street, Dostoyevskaya Station

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MOSAIC YARD

A masterpiece of collective children’s art and one of the youngest landmarks in Saint Petersburg, Mosaic Yard only emerged in 1984. Monumentalist Vladimir Lubenko collected student works from the Small Academy of Art, creating an original open air museum. Everything in this place – from benches, paths and the sun

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MAKARONNIKI R E S TAU R A N T Address: 16 Dobrolyubov Avenue, Sportivnaya Station Opening hours: daily from 12:00 to 00:00 MAKARONNIKI RESTAURANT OFFERS A PANORAMIC VIEW AND CAN BE FOUND ON THE ROOF OF ARENA HALL BUSINESS CENTER. THE VACANT PART OF THE ROOF INCLUDES AN OPEN TERRACE WITH GREENERY, TREES, POUFS AND HAMMOCKS. VASILYEVSKY ISLAND, PETROVSKY STAIUM AND TUCHKOV BRIDGE CAN BE SEEN FROM ABOVE.

dial to the ground floors, sculptures and playground – is decorated with mosaics. The new art space immediately captured the attention of art schools from the US, France, England, and Germany, with their students streaming to St. Petersburg to admire the beauty and ponder over the artistic influences at play. Some see Friedensreich Hundertwasser behind these works (the overall design and color gamut is typical of his works), others notice shades of Antonio Gaudi – benches along the space feature figures of people and lions, just like the benches his Park Guell in Barcelona.

Address: 2 Tchaikovsky Street, Chernyshevskaya Station

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BUCK HOUSE

The apartment house of the railway engineer and social activist Julian Buck is one of the best Modern style buildings of St. Petersburg with a huge “well-yard”. Architect Boris Girshovich supervised the project in 1905. This is a building with

a luxurious five-storey façade, sweeping internal staircases and colorful stained glass windows by “M. Frank and Co”.

On the inner side the house is lined with balconies, while front and rear wings on the second and fifth floors connect via two air tunnels – this device brought the owner extra money: it gave the option of accessing the wing through the main entrance, and increased rental costs for the apartments, located in the wing.

In 2001, the Committee on State Control, Use and Protection of Historical and Cultural Landmarks included Buck House in the list of newly discovered objects of historical, scientific, artistic or other cultural value.

Address: 24 Kirochnaya Street, Chernyshevskaya Station

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PEHL’S DRUGSTORE AND THE GRIFFINS’ TOWER

The history of Pehl’s pharmaceutical factory began in 1850, when Wilhelm Friedrich

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ST ISA AC’S C AT H E D R A L COLONNADE Address: 4 Isaakievskaya pl. Street, Admiralteyskaya Station Opening hours: daily from 10:30 to 22:30 (to 4:30 in the summer, except Wed) A SPIRAL, 262STEP STAIRCASE LEADS TO THE COLONNADE OF THE CITY’S GREATEST CATHEDRAL, AN ELEVATOR IS AVAILABLE. THE SYNOD, VASILYEVSKY ISLAND, THE WINTER PALACE, THE ADMIRALTY, THE SENATE, THE ACADEMY OF FINE ARTS AND THE MENSHIKOV PALACE CAN BE SEEN FROM ABOVE.

TERRASSA R E S TAU R A N T Address: 3 Kazanskaya Street, Gostiny Dvor Station Opening hours: Mon-Fri from 11:00 to the last customer’s departure, Sat-Sun from 12:00 to the last customer’s departure.

YET ANOTHER OFFSPRING OF GINZA PROJECT. THE RESTAURANT’S OPEN AIR VERANDA INCLUDES WICKER CHAIRS, TABLES WITH WHITE TABLECLOTHS AND A VIEW OF THE NEVSKY AVENUE, KAZAN CATHEDRAL AND SINGER HOUSE.

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E TAG I Address: 74 Ligovsky Avenue, Ligovsky Prospekt Station Opening hours: daily from 9:00 to 21:00 THE ROOF OF THE FORMER BAKERY, OVERLOOKING LIGOVSKY AVENUE AND CENTRAL DISTRICT, TRANSFORMED INTO A MODERN ART CENTER AND OFFERS COFFEE, POUFS AND A VIEW THROUGH A TELESCOPE.

of the Pehl dynasty acquired the building from its previous owner. Ever since the small drugstore has been constantly evolving, with Wilhelm’s son Alexander turning it into a large complex, which included an organotherapy institute; biological, physiological, bacteriological and urological laboratories; a pharmaceutical factory; a dispensary; a research department and a scientific library. After the 1917 revolution the pharmacy was nationalized and since 2006 it has been run by a private pharmaceutical company, which restored the original look of the building.

However, recently tourists have been mainly attracted by a peculiar tower in the pharmacy’s yard – the 11-meter brick chimney with no windows and doors is sometimes called the Griffins’ Tower. The most feasible theory regarding the purpose of this tower is that it’s a chimney of the Pehl’s pharmaceutical laboratory. According to an urban legend Wilhlem Pehl conducted alchemic experiments in the tower, trying to

convert mercury into gold. Griffins guarded his secrets. And when they returned to their nest, their reflections could be seen in the windows of neighboring houses.

Address: 16 7th Line of Vasilyevsky Island, Vasileostrovskaya Station

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LEMONADE ANTICAFE

Lemonade has no signboard – the tiny vegan cafe simply sits atop the roof of a number 9 house on Belinsky Street. Modern dance studio Bye-Bye Ballet, art house movie “No popcorn”, designer

showrooms , workshops and the dramatic art center “Easy People” are also located in this building. The café, in other words, fits nicely with the general mood of the local public.

In the summer of 2013 Lemonade café moved from the attic to the roof, changed its format and turned into an anticafé – where visitors do not pay for food or drinks, of which frankly there isn’t much (tea, coffee, lemonades and sweets), but for their time at the café.

Guests are offered benches, a small lawn and the view of the Church of Ss. Simeon and Anna and Liteyny Avenue.

You can bring your own food, wrap yourself in a blanket with a good book from the ever-expanding library or just play board games. Friendly music bands play here on the weekends. A minute’s stay during the day at Lemonade costs two roubles on weekdays and two-and-a-half – in the evening and on the weekends.

Address: 9 Belinsky Street, Gostiny Dvor Station