Palace
Betsky's house is a mansion built at the end of the 18th century by the order of Ivan Ivanovich Betsky. The building was built according to the project of an unknown architect. Historians at different times have suggested the authorship of J.-B. Vallen-Delamot, VI Bazhenov, Yu. M. Felten, I.E. Starova. The sculptural group that crowned the facade of the Millionnaya was executed by Kozlovsky. The first owner of the house was I. I. Betskoi, the personal secretary of Catherine II, the director of the Landed Gentry Corps, the president of the Academy of Arts, the head of the Imperial Office of House and Garden Buildings, the member of the Commission on the stone structure of St. Petersburg and Moscow, the founder of the Smolny Institute, the Educational House.
Modern height - in three floors with a half-story on the basement - originally had only a building facing the embankment, and corner towers; between the towers was a hanging garden. The two-story wing, facing the Mars Field, ended with a portico.
In the 1790s Krylov rented an apartment in this house. Here was a bookshop of Plavilschikova and the printing house of the famous fabulist. After the death of Betsky, the house was inherited by his apprentice Sokolova, and in 1828 the building was inherited by the families of the chief policeman Gorgoli and Prince Dolgorukiy.
In the 1830s. the estate of Betsky was donated by Nicholas I to his nephew - Prince Oldenburg, statesman and well-known benefactor. After the transfer of the building into the ownership of Oldenburg, on the order of the prince, a restructuring was undertaken with the participation of Stasov. Instead of a hanging garden, a dance hall was set up, a gallery was built along the Lebyazhyi groove and a western wing was added. The works were mostly completed by 1841. After the reconstruction, the complex acquired a modern look. Also in the building was built a Lutheran chapel of Christ the Savior, and in several decades - the Orthodox Trinity Church.
Currently, the palace is the St. Petersburg State University of Culture and Arts.