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Narva Triumphal Arch/Нарвские триумфальные ворота

The foundation of Narva Triumphal Arch started in 1827, to the honor of heroes of 1812’s War. As planned, it should be the first thing, that soldiers will see, returning from Europe. Author is Giacomo Quarenghi. The first version was made from wood and alabaster, in a month. By the opposite sides there are seats for viewers and orchestra. On the top of the arch it’s the Goddness of Fame seating, who is running a chariot of 6 horses. Horses, by the way, were the first serious work of very known sculpturist - Klodt. Russian troops passed through this gate 4 times.

Because of materials used in a construction, arch rapidly went bad, so governor Miloradovich offered to reconstruct the bulding, Nikolai the First agreed and the reconstruction began.

Vasiliy Stasov became the new architect. He decided to preserve the idea and view. Wood and alabastra were replaced with bricks, covered with copper sheets. In a reconstruction process, Rome’s warriors were changed to classic Russian heroes. Also, there was a label engraved «Started on August 26, 1827. Opened on August 17, 1834». Entire Imperor Family came to opening ceremony.

The city legend

The bas-relief is decoraded with statues of Russian warriers. Locals say that there is a ghost inside of it, which was scaring pedestrians in a midnight. He was raising hands up, trying to say hi to people or maybe to frighten them.

In the beginning of XX century somebody spreaded a rumor, saying that there a witch on the top of the arch instead the Goddness. That witch, by his opinion, was sending a curse to Russia. But some people thought that it is a sorcerer man. So people were coming to the arch and peering at goddness for a long time.
Moscow gates/Москоские ворота
History of creating

Initially, an idea to install Moscow Triumphal Gates was offered by Catherine the II. Inspired by drawings of architect Clerisso, who was making a pictures of antic ruins, she made an order for a model of the gates. But when the model was done, she was afraid that the building would cost too much money, so the idea was declined.

The topic of erecting those gates was continued after the winning in Russian-Turkish War. It was a competition opened, so almost every single engineer and architect answered with their solutions. But Nikolai the First declined them all, because he thought that it was too expensive or too ugly and etc. So, architect Stasov was selected, who has the successful experience with Narva Triumphal Arch.

‘Liteiniy’ factory started to produce the gates in 1834 and it was completed to 1838.

Interesting facts

Initially sculptirust Orlovsky shown 7 models of sculptures instead of 1, what was fixed in contract. The commission decided to punish him. Only Stasov's intervention saved him.
Zayachy (Hare) Island
History of Saint-Petersburg starts here. May 27, 1703 Peter the Great laid the first brick into the Fortress Saint-Pitergurh, which was renamed to Petropavlovskaya later.

Initially the island was called Cheerful island, but after the strongest flood, covered a small village, people started to call it like Devil’s island.

The island is not only location of first building in the city, but also - it’s the place of the first channel for supplying the garrison with water during the siege. Furthermore, it was the first bridge erected in the city - the Bridge of Ioan.

The island was covered with military buildings, and there were only two non-military buildings - a mint and a church. Also, the Petropavlovskya fortress was a jail for rebels and criminals. In times of Pavel the First, there were a Secret House built. It was a 26-seat jail for extra-dangerous criminals.
Behind the Petropavlovsky Cathedral, there is the special building, where Peter the Great kept his boat, that one, which was used to study marine science.

And of course: the city legend

There is an interesting legend about renaming Devil’s Island to Zayachy(hare's literally) and here is it.
Once during a flood, Peter the Great sailed on his ship past this island and suddenly the hare, fleeing from the flood, jumped to him. Peter rescued him and then ordered everyone to call this island as Hare’s island.
Amber room/Янтарная комната
History of creating

Prussian monarch Fridrich the First, ordered to update the interier in the beginning of XVIII century. So he invited well-known designer Andreas Shluter to help with. Shluter shown him a gorgeous amber chamber in 1709. But it was destroyed because of bad mounting soon, so Fridrich kicked Slutter out from the country.

After Fridrich the First’s death, his son - Fridrich Wilhelm inherited the power. In 1716 he decided to trasfer the amber room to Peter the Great as a dimplomatic gift. But Peter didn’t have time to erect it, so all of the amber was just left in the Summer palace.

Some time above that, Elizabeth found amber and ordered architect Rastrelly to construct and append it, and then Rastrelly turned the small chamber to an entire room. The room took the area of 100 squared meters, but amount of amber was only for 40 meters, that’s why he placed the amber in between mirrors. Elizabeth started to hold receptions here in 1746.

Because of the fragility of the amber, the room was reconstructed many times. The capital restauration shell began in 1941, but the Second World War ruined those plans. Sadly, the German soldiers took the room to Keninsberg and It was lost somewhere.

After war, in 1970, the Soviets’s government decided to restore the room from scratch, so they allocated huge amount of money for this (but, of cource, transhes were extremely unstable and irregular). In 2000 Germany transferred a part of found Amber Room to Russia.

Interesting facts

Restauration process took 23 years
11 millions dollars was spent
It’s 6 tons of amber
The biggest amber weights 1kg
Marly Palace/Дворец Марли
History of creating

Peter the Great, after his journey to Europe, decided to make a palace to he honor of the French King’s residence in Marli Le Roi. So, Peter invited an architect Johann Braunstein. Braunstein presented a project of Marly ponds and a small palace. It’s noticable that initially the palace should be a single-floor bulding, but during the process, Peter offerred to make the second floor. The result was a building in the shape of a cube. Marly Palace is not so flush as other buildings in the Petergof or the Saint-Petersburg. It was used fot receptions, but in XVIII century it got a memorial functionality. Peter’s belongings were kept here for a long time after his death, but then it was transferred to the Hermitage.

In 1899 the walls went cracked, so it was decided to put the palace on a new foundation. Restorers completely disassembled the whole palace and, when the labor with its foundation was finished, compiled it back.

During the World War Second the palace were destroyed by the delayed-action bomb and it was restored only in 1955.

Now it is a museum, where you can find real stuff of Peter the Great.
Memorial of Nikolay the First/Памятник Николаю Первому

History of creating

After Nikolay’s death, the government decided to make a memorial to his honor. The building started in 1856, according to a project by August Monserrah. The opening ceremony happened in 1859. Also, the «horse-specialist» - Clodt took a part in creating of the memorial: he create a sculpture of the favorite Emperor’s horse - Alamarbek.
The engeneering solution is just amazing for XIX century, because the Emperor with horse are installed on only two supports. The pedestral is decorate with four female statues, who personifies the Power, the Wisdom, the Justice and the Faith.
In the days of the World War Second, the memorial was covered with awning, to protect it. And it worked!

The interesting facts

There is a legend, saying that the prototypes of female sculptures were the Emperor’s wife and daughters.

Nilolay the First was imitating to Peter the Great and wanted to be like him. Modern historicals called him the despot and murderer of freedom. The most known Russian poet - Pushkin - wrote about him: «There is a lot from a warrant officer in him, and just a little from Peter the Great».
House Of Peter I

The house was built by the soldiers of the Semyonovsky regiment, there were rumors that Peter I. helped them in this. Although the king's participation in construction works is more like a beautiful legend, it is known that the construction of The building was completed in three days and lasted from 24 to 26 May 1703. At that time it was the only civil building in the whole “new city” of St. Petersburg. Despite the status of “royal residence”, the House of Peter I is a simple hut. The walls of the House are made of pine timber, the roof is covered with a gonte. Of the decorations - the facade, skillfully stylized “under the brick”, and a tiny cannon mortars with wooden cores on the roof skate. The façade admired the king's contemporaries: the Petersburgers called it “red houses”, and visitors often described this House in their memories. The area of the building is 60 square meters, and the ceilings, despite the growth of the king, only 2 meters high. Perhaps Peter's love for small cozy rooms was due to the fact that the first years of his life he spent in a modest chamber with his mother. The interior decoration of the house is no less modest: the walls and ceiling are tightened with sail, on the doors and windows are painted with floral bouquets. A flagpole was installed in the yard, and when Peter stayed here, the king's standard decorated with a two-headed eagle fluttered on the flagpole. At the entrance, visitors immediately get into the canteen, from which you can go to the office, dining room or bedroom. The house is not heated, but a tiled stove was built in the king's office. All the atmosphere of Peter's times has been preserved in the rooms. Of particular interest is the bronze plate, which indicates the height of the king - 2 meters 4 centimeters. Even during the lifetime of Peter I, the House was declared an architectural monument. In the middle of the XIX century he was “dressed” in a brick case, and in 1875 he was placed in front of him a bust of Peter the Great, which was performed by famous sculptors P. P. Zabello and E. F. Gilles.
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Bosse Mansion

This plot in 1790-1840 was owned by a merchant family, and then here built a mansion G. A. Bosse is one of the most talented architects of the city. The facade of the house does not attract attention, decorated with a Renaissance motif. But everything is not so simple - the facade facing the garden forms an amazing architectural ensemble - it is difficult to check that it is part of one house. The architect did not live in this house — but here were Golitsyny. In 1860 the mansion was led by barons, and in 1870 it passed to the family of the son of the Decembrist M. C. Volkonsky. In 1849 geologists were temporarily housed here, who were responsible for minerals and raw materials in the country. The best geologists of the time worked here. After the revolution, the house housed first a children's library, then a theater, also a children's theater, even a branch factories and a training plant visited here. Since 1990, this building is known as the Bosse Concert Hall. It is planned to create a museum here.
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Monument To Ostap Bender

Guess who? Monument to Ostap Bender, according to eyewitnesses, is also endowed with magical power. But, the great combinator, loves individual approach. To help you find luck in all your endeavors, you need to rub his nose tip and ask for help. Well, if the desire came true, what is called, without departing from the box office, it can be noted in a nearby restaurant. And even if it will not come true or come true not soon, do not be upset, probably that time in Ostap Bender was a hard day! In addition to the fulfillment of desires, he is the favorite of tourists who in the summer tirelessly touch him, sit on his chair and photographed. Glory sometimes and the statue is a burden.


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House Of I.F. Gromov

At the corner of the Palace embankment and Marmara Lane stands the palace of Dmitry Cantemir, the Moldavian nobleman and “Volosha lord”, who bought the plot here. The palace was built by Bartolomeo Rastrelli in the 1720s. Later, in the seventies of the XIX century, the former palace of Cantemir is bought by the merchant Gromov - the richest industrialist and timber merchant who hires architect Karl to design his luxurious home Karlovic Rahau, who was in those years one of the best in his business. When changing the house, it completely changes the decor. For example, there are two rectangular bay windows supporting caryatids waist sculptures, and interior rooms are decorated in Gothic and rococo style. And then at the corner of Millionnaya Street and Marble Lane there are three figures, thanks to which the house and got such fame. One of the muses, the one that embodies fertility, holds in his hands the horn of abundance with fruits and flowers, and in her legs lies the mask of Bacchus (the god of winemaking), the muse of art plays the lyre, and in the hands of the muse navigation rests paddle and caducus rod, a symbol of trade. At present, this house is occupied by one of the buildings of the University of Culture.
Museum Of The Arctic And Antarctic

The Museum of the Arctic and Antarctic is a place where visitors will be helped to feel the spirit of the explorer of the extreme latitudes. It contains a real northern amphibian airplane, numerous dioramas of polar landscapes with their inhabitants, personal belongings of the conquerors of the North, the layout of the drifting station, stuffed polar bear, polar bear, polar animals and birds. $ In the exposition there is a pointer with the distance from the station “Mirny” to different places of the Earth and even to the moon. Visitors can look at the natural Arctic water aged about two hundred thousand years — our polar explorers kindly provided samples of it. There are symbolic keys to the Arctic and Antarctica. There are among the exhibits and models of relief maps of the seabed and land. In the photos and paintings you can see a bizarre aurora. The collection also contains works of Russian traveler Fedor Konyukhov, paintings and graphic works by Borisov and Ruban, Martynov and Fomenko. Separate halls of the museum are devoted to the history of development of the Northern sea route and the “Cheluskinskaya epic”, the history of exploits of Soviet polar aviators, Chukchi and Eskimo art of cutting and engraving on bones. For those who are interested in the history of the poles, the museum has everything: photos, documents, maps, artifacts, layouts, expedition equipment and publications in print media. Every new discovery in the extreme northern and southern regions of the planet is reflected in a permanent exhibition. The stories of polar explorers, for example, surgeon Rogozov, who himself removed appendicitis without anesthesia, looking in the mirror, are impressive — this fact is captured in the photos. Vladimir Vysotsky this event inspired the creation of the song. Visiting the museum, imbued with the weight and responsibility of working in extreme conditions, you realize that every polar explorer is worthy to be called a hero. In the museum kiosk you can buy popular scientific and journalistic literature, museum catalogues and works of art relevant subjects. The museum was a department of the All-Union Arctic Institute. Cost: adults — 300 rubles, students — 150-225 rubles, schoolchildren, pensioners — 80 rubles, pre-school children — free of charge. About other discounts and benefits can be found on the official website of the museum. In summer, the museum is open with two days off (Monday and Sunday) from 10:00 to 18:00, and the ticket office is open until 17:30. In winter, the day off is Monday. Exposure of the Russian Museum of the Arctic and Antarctic

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Duma Street

Duma stretches (although this is perhaps loudly said) from Nevsky Prospekt to Lomonosov Street. Until the middle of the XVIII century Duma was called the Living Room, as nearby was (and is still) Gostiny Dvor. But then the merchant guild created the City Duma — the city self-government body — the building for which was erected on the Gostiny. The Duma divided the street into two parts: Duma street and Perinnaya line. At the beginning of the XXI century Lomonosov Street and Duma Street became a place of active and diverse club life. Entrance to local clubs is generally free and drinks are relatively cheap. If you suddenly overtake the desire to dance, this is also not a problem.
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Quinji Apartment Museum

Kuindzhi's works became popular almost immediately — the artist did not have to go through the stage of an unrecognized genius. In 1880, Prince Constantine acquired the painting “Moonlight night on the Dnieper” for a huge amount of 5,000 rubles. To date, the artist's creative heritage is not too extensive — some of his works are presented in only a few museums. Among them are museums of Yaroslavl, Kiev, Minsk, Penza and Samara. You will see world-famous masterpieces in the Tretyakov Gallery. The main creative fund of Quinji is kept in the Russian Museum. The house, where the Quinji Apartment Museum is located, was built in 1842. There was opened a workshop with a magnificent view of St. Petersburg. It was here in 1897 that Quinji settled. At different times in the house lived Mikhail Klodt, Ivan Kramskoy and other famous painters. For visitors of the museum apartments there are an office, a living room, a dining room and a workshop of the artist. In one of the rooms you will see a desk, an easel, an armchair and other furniture belonging to Quinji. In this apartment the painter repeatedly collected capable students and revealed them the secrets of skill. The exposition of the museum is devoted to his teaching work, which he was engaged in in 1894 — 1897 at the Academy of Arts of St. Petersburg. He taught young people landscape painting, led the workshop and achieved great success in this field. Kuindzhi managed to grow a whole generation of unique masters, the brightest representative of whom Nikolai Roerich. Kuindzhi Memorial Apartment is currently one of the departments of the Research Museum of the Russian Academy of Arts. The initiative of its creation was taken by the maestro's pupil Nikolai Roerich, but it was possible to open a permanent exhibition only in 1991 — to the 150th anniversary of the birth of the master of landscape painting. The museum area is 265 square meters, the apartment is visited annually by about 2,000 guests. It contains more than 500 valuable exhibits. The museum has an art studio for children, lecture cycles and seminars.

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