From Wasteland to Cultural Quarter: Theater Square in St. Petersburg

2024 Author: Harold Hamphrey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:06

Teatralnaya Square in St. Petersburg began with a huge wasteland between the Moika, Griboedovsky and Kryukov canals. The merchant from Holland, Semyon Brumberg, who lived on the nearby Proviantskaya Street, installed saw mills in the middle of the 18th century. The energy of windmills and watermills was used to saw logs and make building materials. For some time, the wasteland area was named Brumberg (1765-1770).

However, a few years later, after the construction of the entertainment booth, it began to be called the Carousel Place. Here you could ride the rides and watch horse performances in a large wooden amphitheater with benches. Horse games (which were then called "carousels") were held in a round arena, similar to a circus.

When the booth fell into disrepair, the building of the first Russian musical theater was erected in its place. The large stone building was designed by the leading city architect Antonio Rinaldi, one of the authors of St. Isaac's Cathedral. Three times a week, the metropolitan beau monde of that time gathered for performances. theater several timesburned down and rebuilt several times. The space in front of it, without further ado, began to be called "Stone Theater Square" or "Big Square in front of the Stone Theater".

The modern name - Theater Square - was fixed only in 1812. At the end of the century, on the site of the Stone Theater, the architect Vladimir Nikola designed and built the building of the first higher musical educational institution in Russia - the St. Petersburg Conservatory. Its graduates were Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Sergei Prokofiev, Dmitry Shostakovich, Georgy Sviridov. Rimsky-Korsakov and Rubinstein taught here. Today, the conservatory still accepts musically gifted young people.

The name "Teatralnaya" was retained behind the square due to the fact that in the 40s of the 19th century, the so-called circus theater was built opposite the old theater, which was designed by the architect Albert Cavos. He provided the building with a round stage, suitable for both circus performances and theatrical performances.

Unfortunately, the building burned down. 12 years later, it was rebuilt and received a sonorous name, now known throughout the world - the Mariinsky Theater, in honor of the wife of Russian Emperor Alexander II, Maria Feodorovna. In the Soviet years, the theater was named after S. M. Kirov. Sharp-tongued Petersburgers dubbed him TOBIK (Kirov Opera and Ballet Theatre). His address (Teatralnaya Square St. Petersburg, building 1) is known to many theater lovers around the world. Here, at the Mariinsky Theater, Chaliapin and Ulanova, Pavlova and Nureyev shone.

At the end of the 19th centuryTheater Square was reconstructed, monuments to the composer-"storyteller" Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov and Mikhail Glinka, the founder of Russian classics, appeared on it. Interestingly, the composer's opera "A Life for the Tsar" became the premiere performance at both the Kamenny and Mariinsky theatres.

Teatralnaya Square is surrounded by residential buildings and administrative buildings, which are also architectural monuments of the 19th century. So, the mansion at the address: Theater Square, house number 4, belonged to the St. Petersburg architect Yegor Sokolov and was erected according to his project. Later, other people owned the house. Shortly before his death, the famous artist Mikhail Vrubel lived in apartment No. 18 for a year. It was in this building that the painter worked on the paintings "Pearl" and "After the Concert".

House number 8 belonged to a nobleman, writer and translator Nikita Vsevolozhsky. It was in this building that members of the famous literary society "Green Lamp", including A. S. Pushkin, gathered for their meetings. In one of the halls of the mansion, by the light of a green lamp, the future Decembrists and freethinkers discussed art, history and politics.

An outstanding person lived in house number 14 - Nikolai Semenovich Mordvinov, Russian naval commander and statesman. He was considered the best economist of the early 19th century. He was the only member of the Criminal Court over the Decembrists who did not sign the death warrant for them. The building was visited by Zhukovsky and Karamzin, the future Decembrists and Lermontov. In the house for a long timethere was Children's Hospital No. 17, it is currently being rebuilt into a four-star hotel with underground parking.

Many buildings on Theater Square belong to the so-called tenement houses, that is, multi-apartment buildings, the premises in which were rented out and brought a good income to the owner. At various times, apartments in these apartment buildings were rented by people who are the pride of Russian history and culture. Thus, the well-known artist and director Vsevolod Meyerhold lived in the tenement house of S. I. Andreev (Teatralnaya Square, 2) for five years, and the ballerina Avdotya Istomina, whose "soul filled flight "Sang Pushkin.

The square keeps the memory of the people who walked on it. She still has a special spirit. House number 10 houses the Italian Institute of Culture, and even cafes and restaurants are aimed at lovers of classical music and painting. Their interiors are intelligent (piano, chess, paintings, discreet pastel colors), and the names are fascinating: "The Nutcracker", "Sadko", "Noble Nest", "Behind the Scenes", "La Boheme".

It is planned that in the coming years, Theater Square will become a real "cultural quarter" of the second Russian capital: the second stage of the Mariinsky Theater is being built, in 2015-16 it is planned to open a metro station of the same name on the square.