Petrograd Modern

What can you expect?

The route starts from the Gorkovskaya metro station, and the first building that you should pay attention to is hardly recognized as modern. After all, the ancient Mausoleum of Gur-Emir in Samarkand served as a model for construction. However, it is in this style that the St. Petersburg Cathedral Mosque was built.

Returning a little back, you can visit the Museum of Political History of Russia, and at the same time admire the architecture and interiors of two buildings standing next to it - the palace of the ballerina Matilda Kshesinskaya and the mansion of Baron Brant.

But your path lies north. On Kamennoostrovsky Prospekt, opposite the metro station, stands the Lidval apartment building, one of the first Art Nouveau buildings on the Petrograd side. Built at the turn of the century, in 1907 it was recognized as a laureate of the contest “The Best Facade of St. Petersburg”.

The ensemble of the Austrian square deserves a separate story. Of the five components of its buildings, four were built at the beginning of the 20th century, and one is Soviet (guess which one). And the square got its name only in 1992 - for the similarity of the architectural style with Viennese modernism.

Further, on the left side, there is a whole small town - the House of Three Benoits, a huge residential complex with intricate gateways and courtyards overlooking four streets at once. At the entrance to Kronverkskaya street you will see a monument to the composer D.I. Shostakovich, who also lived in this house.

On the right side of Kamennoostrovsky Prospekt, we advise you to pay attention to the classical building, although it is from a different era - the Imperial Alexander Lyceum. This name was given to the famous Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum after moving in 1843 from Tsarskoye Selo to St. Petersburg. If Pushkin was born 40 years later, he would study here.

Take a walk along Rentgen Street to the mansion of engineer Chaev. It was built by the architect V.P. Apyshkova (creator of the Bolsheokhtinsky bridge) and is a palace of Kshesinskaya in miniature.

At the intersection of Kamennoostrovsky and Bolshoi Avenues you will see a house similar to a medieval English castle. This is the apartment building of the architect Rosenstein. The project involved the architect Belogrud, who was fond of the Middle Ages - hence the stylization.

Further, on the left side, there is a remarkable building in the style that has replaced Art Nouveau. This is a monument of the era of constructivism - Palace of Culture of the Leningrad City Council, built in the 1930s. And in 1910-1930, on this stretch of land was located the majestic palace of sports - Sporting Palace. It united the largest cinema in the city, a restaurant and a roller-skating hall (“skating ring”).

And ahead, behind the Big and Small Avenues, you will find an Italian palazzo that is unexpected for our northern latitudes - the home of the Emir of Bukhara Abdul-Ahad Khan. It was he who funded the construction of the Cathedral Mosque, with which our journey began. The historical circle has closed; at the metro station "Petrogradskaya" your route ends.