We continue our walk. Although it's not a direct
continuation, it's still the same part of the city as in the previous two
albums.
New Holland. In one of the winter albums I actually
forgot to make a photo of the most important features: the arch.
Now I'm correcting the omission.
Just to remind you, New Holland was built
in 1765-1780 according to drawings made by S. I. Chevakinskii and J. B.
Vallen-Delamotte (who built the arch).
The material is red brick. The
columns are made from blocs of hammered granite.
Here, on Krasnoflotskii Bridge, Moika
meets the Kryukov Canal. In the distance, one can see St. Isaac's
Cathedral.
The Yusupov Palace by the Moika.
It was built in the 1760s by J.B. Vallen-Delamotte, and rebuilt in
1830-1838 by L.A. Mikhailov. As I already wrote in the Chapter on
Palaces, the Yusupov Palace was built for Count P.I. Shuvalov, and later
became the property of Prince N.B. Yusupov. During the night from 16 to
17 October 1916, Grigorii E. Rasputin was murdered in the Palace. The
conspirators were Prince F.F. Yusupov-Sumarokov-Elston, Grand Duke
Dmitrii Pavlovich, V.M. Purishkevich, A.S. Sukhotin and S.S. Lazavert.
From 1925 the House of Teachers has been located here. Nowadays,
excursions are allowed into the Palace (I don't know whether this
applies right now, there is a large reconstruction going on.)
It's rather interesting inside: the halls are differently made and
decorated in different styles. There is a house theatre, which is richly
decorated.
This is just a part of the Moika.
On the other bank, I by chance photographed, as I was told later, the
house of the architect August Montferrand, who built St. Isaac's
Cathedral and the Alexander Column. The house was built in the early
19th century. Montferrand lived there from 1834 to his death in 1858.
The address is Moika Embankment no. 86.
Later, the house was sold to other owners. After the Revolution, the
State Institute for Planning the Organisation and Construction of
Reservoirs moved in, and is perhaps still there.
To the left one can see the Pochtamtskii Bridge.
Further on, on the corner of Moika and
Bolshaia Morskaia St. (previously, Herzen St), is the House of Culture
for Communications Workers.
In the 1860s, a Reformed Church was built
here, drawn by the architect G.A. Bosse.
In the 1930s, it was rebuilt by P.M. Grinberg and G.S. Rants into the
House of Culture for Communication Workers. The exterior of the building
was completely changed, in Constructivist style.
It would be interesting to know whether
the sculptures appeared during the reconstruction in the 1930s, or
later.
