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146-496: The first Beloselsky-Belozersky Palace was built on Nevsky Prospekt in 1747 for Prince Mikhail Andreevich Beloselsky (1702–1755) during the reign of Elizabeth of Russia ; the building, far smaller than it is today, was designed in the French style with a large private garden and a launch onto the canal, stuccoed and painted in imitation of Parisian limestone. Inherited by his son - Prince Alexander Mikhailovich Beloselsky (1752–1809) - it

292-468: A "well used, half worn out, blasé young man." Marie was outraged by Empress Alexandra's abrupt refusal. In 1909, Marie's husband died. She was devastated by his death and wore mourning clothes for the rest of her life. During World War I , Marie whole-heartedly supported Russia. Born a German princess, she was troubled by the outbreak of WW I but decided that she was now a Russian. She reflected: "Neither in my heart nor my mind have I found anything which

438-462: A Russian Grand Duke needed to convert to Russian Orthodoxy before Marie, so Marie's decision was shocking and unprecedented. Lord Augustus Loftus noted, "It is a matter of surprise here for a Foreign Princess married to a Grand Duke to retain her own religion but it is a process to which they will have to accustom themselves or they will find no wives for the Russian Grand Dukes. I think it is

584-419: A Russian-based story. She told Glyn: "Everyone always writes books about our peasants. Come and write one about how real people live." Glyn produced a piece of fiction called His Hour, which she dedicated to Marie, saying "her kind appreciation of the finished work is a source of the deepest gratification to me." Glyn modeled one of the characters, Princess Ardacheff, after Marie. Like her husband, Marie loved

730-466: A beautiful and huge building at the end of this road, there is a beautiful and rather tall spitz, which goes directly opposite the avenue Friedrich-Wilhelm von Berchholtz, Diary entry from 4  [ O.S. 1721 ]  July a By the end of the first quarter of the 18th century, the buildings of the Great Perspective were few. In the beginning, there were several small houses, on

876-461: A better Emperor than Maria Feodorovna's husband, Alexander III of Russia . After the Borki train disaster in which Alexander III, Maria Feodorovna, and their children narrowly escaped death, Marie allegedly said, "We shall never have such a chance again." Marie had an antagonistic relationship with Emperor Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra , because of her ambitions for her own sons. On 14 June 1897,

1022-506: A boulevard into three alleys was laid out on the site of a moat and a rampart. At the same time, ensembles appeared, designed by architect Carlo Rossi. The ensemble Palace Square connects to Nevsky Prospekt through the Triumphal Arch General Staff Building . Another Rossi ensemble at Arts Square connects with the main highway, Mikhailovskaya Street. The third ensemble, Ostrovsky Square, is open to Nevsky Prospekt and

1168-519: A chamber junker in the duke's retinue Karl-Friedrich of Holstein-Gottorp : At about six in the evening we arrived safely in St. Petersburg, which has changed so much since my departure from there that I did not recognize it at all. From the very beginning we entered a long and wide alley, (a small part of the road not far from the Admiralty), and justly called the avenue, because its end is almost invisible. It

1314-414: A commoner, which led Emperor Nicholas to strip him of his military command, imperial honors, and right as the heir presumptive to serve as regent for Tsesarevich Alexei should Emperor Nicholas die prematurely. According to the laws of the succession, Marie's oldest son Kirill, the heir presumptive now that Grand Duke Michael was ineligible and his own father, Vladimir, was dead, would become regent should

1460-485: A continuous chain of swamps. In 1712 the monks of the monastery began to pave the road from the monastery to the Novgorod tract, by 1718 it was completed ( ' ... paved and managed' ). A fairly simple technology was used to overcome the bog swamps: they cut down the forest, uprooted the stumps. Drainage ditches were dug to drain excess water and drain the swamps. fascines were laid along the road, covering them with sand. It

1606-472: A daughter-in-law of Alexander II of Russia . The present palace is said to look similar to the nearby Rastrelliesque Stroganov Palace which is further up the Nevsky Prospect, on the corner of Moika canal. David Jensen was asked to produce a replica of it. After their major renovations in 1847–48, the palace — complete with piano nobile , concert hall, Van Loo paintings, and palace church — acquired

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1752-552: A dazzling Rococo appearance. When the son of Princess Elena Pavlovna, Prince Konstantin Esperovich Beloselsky-Belozersky gained his majority he inherited the palace and lived there with his wife (née Nadezhda Dimitrievna Skobeleva) and their many children. More often living at their estate on Krestovsky Island (Krestovsky Ostrov), where they had renovated a grand manorial home to a small palace and where they could enjoy country living inside of St. Petersburg and as

1898-402: A head as smooth as a silver dish is delighted with Nevsky Prospect. And the ladies! Oh, the ladies are even more pleased with Nevsky Prospect. And who doesn't like it? As soon as you climb onto Nevsky Prospekt, it already smells of promenades. One may have some necessary, indispensable business, but, having walked on to Nevsky Prospekt, you will surely forget about any sort of business at all. Here

2044-512: A healthy practice and it will do them good." In a letter to Hamilton Fish , Eugene Schuyler wrote “The Grand Duchess will retain the Lutheran religion. This is worthy of note, as hitherto the Russian laws have required the wives of all grand dukes to adopt the orthodox Russian faith.” Marie set the precedent for brides who did not have to convert to Russian Orthodoxy to marry Russian Grand Dukes. At

2190-452: A high "cellar" semi-storey, processed by rustic. The central part of the facade is highlighted by an attic; next to it there was a gate that served as an entrance to the courtyard. The houses were distinguished by different pediments and attics , arrangement of windows, drawing of pilasters , platband s and decorative details. Such buildings appeared in the late 1730s – early 1740s along the highway between Moika and Fontanka. Land plots for

2336-465: A horse by a man, created according to the project of the sculptor Peter Clodt . By the middle of the 19th century, Nevsky Prospekt became one of the most comfortable streets. Poor people gathered at the corner of Nevsky and Vladimirsky Prospekt for hiring daily workers , who christened this place "a lousy stock exchange". With the distance from the Fontanka, the volume and height of the houses decreased. On

2482-454: A huge regular garden with fountains enclosed by a stone wall , gazebos, greenhouses, ponds and covered walkways. The construction of the palace began in 1741 according to Zemtsov's drawings, and was completed in the 1750s Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli . Anichkov Palace is the oldest building on Nevsky Prospekt, preserved to this day. In the 1740s, the site at the corner with the Moika River

2628-528: A letter to the late Empress Maria's brother, Louis III, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine : “The Tsar has commanded us as his subjects to be friendly with this wife; if not he would force us to it. You can imagine the internal conflict that agitates us all, and the perpetual struggle between feelings, duty, and external pressure.” Marie had a distant relationship with her sister-in-law, Maria Feodorovna . Maria Feodorovna disliked Marie because of her German origins. Marie openly declared that her husband would make

2774-740: A paper showing that the Grand Duchess had given up her Protestant religion and had embraced the Orthodox." Marie lived at the Vladimir Palace situated on the Palace Embankment on the Neva River . Marie was famous for being one of the best hostesses in the capital. During the reign of her nephew Emperor Nicholas II , her Grand Ducal court was the most cosmopolitan and popular one in the capital. The painter Henry Jones Thaddeus recalled that she

2920-416: A partial or complete reconstruction of the historical façade. The buildings were deliberately brought to accidents by the owners or were recognized as such illegally, the dismantling of buildings was carried out without permits. The appearance of some in the early 2010s was distorted due to the construction of attics (houses no. 3, 64). From 1999 to 2004, a comprehensive reconstruction of Nevsky Prospekt from

3066-512: A regional Soviet until 1991, when it was designated a municipal cultural centre. the Rococo interiors of the palace sustained considerable damage during World War II ; they were restored to their original state in 1954 and now host chamber concerts for small audiences. It now also hosts a large wax works exhibition. Fire broke out inside the palace's roof early on 28 February 2012. Russian news media, television and sightseers reported this. Apparently,

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3212-436: A series of 30 sheets. By order of Emperor Paul I in 1800, two boulevards were created along Nevsky Prospekt in the section from Moika to Fontanka. In 1802–1803 they were replaced by one boulevard of lindens, designed by the architect I. E. Stamov by garden masters F. Lyamin and M. Prokopin. The level of the boulevard became higher than the pavement; stepped slopes were added opposite bridges and cross streets. Two years later,

3358-459: A slight tendency to pugginess." At the coronation of her brother-in-law Alexander III , her niece, Marie of Edinburgh , noted that "she is not thin enough for classical lines but she wears her clothes better than any other woman present; her shoulders are superb and as white as cream; there is a smartness about her that no one else can attain." In 1910, author Elinor Glyn wrote that Marie was "a most stately, magnificent looking princess." Marie

3504-509: A soft and quiet ride and existed on Nevsky Prospekt until 1924, when the asphalt was replaced. In 1806, one of the first metal bridges was thrown across the Moika – Police Bridge designed by V. I. Hesse. Before that, the Moika was clad in granite. By 1841, the Anichkov Bridge was rebuilt: it was expanded, four granite towers were removed, a cast-iron lattice and horse groups on the theme of taming

3650-564: A voluntary British Red Cross hospital set up to treat Russian soldiers. It was staffed by British doctors and nurses, and led by Lady Muriel Paget and Lady Sybil Grey (they also established field hospitals in Volhynia, Bukovina and the Carpathians, in today's Ukraine). Grand Duke Dmitry sold it on the eve of the Russian Revolution ; two years later it was nationalised and went on to house

3796-523: Is a main street ( high street ) located in the federal city of St. Petersburg in Russia . Its name comes from the Alexander Nevsky Lavra , the monastery which stands at the eastern end of the street, and which commemorates the Russian hero Prince Saint Alexander Nevsky (1221–1263). Following his founding of Saint Petersburg in 1703, Tsar Peter I planned the course of the street as the beginning of

3942-550: Is an integral part of it. The first buildings of the ensemble appeared in 1816–18, two light pavilions with sculptures of warriors in armor, connected by a fence of strict design. In 1828–32, Rossi added a huge (90 meters long) new building to the building of the Public Library, creating a harmonious whole structure. At the same time, the Alexandrinsky Theater was being built at the back of the square. The theater building

4088-689: Is believed that the more difficult section ("monastery") was completed first. Translation in English of the quote about the Nevskaya perspective: Large promising road, Large perspective, Nevskaya perspective – the name of Nevsky prospect in those years ... starting from the Admiralty itself and continuing to the Alexandronevsky monastery, built ... in 1713 Andrew Ivanovich Bogdanov , Historical, geographical and topographic description of St. Petersburg from

4234-490: Is from this point on in time the family is known as the Beloselsky-Belozersky Белосельский-Белозерский . The Rurikid princely double name Beloselsky-Belozersky is also given to their palace. Alexander Mikhailovich' second wife, Anna Grigorievna (born Kozitskaya; her father was Secretary of State to Catherine II, Gregory Vasilievich Kozitsky ; he was also rector of Moscow University. Anna Grigorievna's portrait by

4380-592: Is not utterly devoted to my Russian fatherland... it is my forty years’ residence in Russia— all the happiness I have known here, all the dreams that have come to me, all the affection and kindness I have received— which has given me a wholly Russian soul.” She hated Wilhelm II, German Emperor and denounced him in the strongest terms: "I am only a Mecklenburger on one point: in my hatred for the Emperor William. He represents what I have been taught from my childhood to detest

4526-427: Is nothing better than Nevsky Prospect, at least in St. Petersburg; for the city, it is everything. How it shines– the beauty of our capital! I know that none of its pale and bureaucratic residents would exchange Nevsky Prospekt for any number of riches. Not only he who is twenty-five years old, with a wonderful mustache and an astonishingly tailored frock coat, but even someone with white hair popping out on their chin and

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4672-506: Is now located, in 1765, according to the project of the architect Fyodor Demertsov  [ ru ] Znamenskaya Church appeared. On the site of the current Oktyabrskaya Hotel since 1743, the Elephant Dvor was located, where elephants were housed, donated by the Persian shah the royal court. Later on this place was a hunter's yard with a wooden Ober-Jaegermeister 's house Further on

4818-493: Is the only place where people don't go out of necessity, where their needs and mercantile interest, which embraces the whole of Petersburg, has not driven them. Duchess Marie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin Duchess Marie of Mecklenburg-Schwerin , later Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna, Grand Duchess Vladimir "Miechen" of Russia ( Russian : Мари́я Па́вловна; 14 May [ O.S. 2 May] 1854 – 6 September 1920), also known as Maria Pavlovna

4964-583: The Krestovsky island as well as further additions to the Beloselsky-Belozersky palace. The palace passed down the family line to Esper Alexandrovich Beloselsky-Belozersky (son of Alexander Mikhailovitch) who died at a young age. His widow, Princess Elena Pavlovna Beloselskaya-Belozerskaya (née Bibikova) was the owner of the palace until the majority of Konstantin Esperovich Beloselsky-Belozersky (the only son of Esper Alexandrovich and Elena Pavlovna). It

5110-601: The Moika was erected in 1720. The crossing was the city border in 1703–1726, taxes gathered here, for this there was Mytny Dvor , next to which was Gostiny Dvor . Even earlier, a bridge was built across the Fontanka, in 1715 Emperor Peter I issued a decree: "Over the Big Neva on the Fountain River, there is a prospect to create a bridge." By May 1716, the work was completed, and a wooden girder bridge on pile supports blocked both

5256-689: The Russian Orthodox Church . Vladimir's mother, Empress Maria Alexandrovna was disappointed by Marie's refusal to convert: She herself had converted from Lutheranism to Russian Orthodoxy, and she thought that the Russian Orthodox church was “quite good enough for any daughter-in-law of hers.” She told Vladimir that she hoped that Marie would "become Russian in body and soul," indicating her hope that Marie would convert. Emperor Alexander II finally agreed to let Vladimir marry Marie without insisting on her conversion to Orthodoxy. Every bride of

5402-410: The "Big Perspective". In 1721-23, on the banks of the Fontanka, a stone palace was erected for Empress Ekaterina Alekseevna, and during his reign, they laid out a regular garden called Italian. The garden occupied a huge space along the route of modern Nevsky Prospekt from Fontanka to modern Vosstaniya streets. One way or another, Nevsky Prospect emerged in the second half of the 1710s. The glades from

5548-491: The 1720s, the initial section of the road running along Admiralty Meadow was landscaped: four rows of birches were planted on the sides, which were regularly trimmed, the road was paved with stones. In 1723, the avenue was the first in Russia to receive street lighting : oil lanterns were installed, later benches for passers-by appeared under them. Translation in English of the quote: Description of this alley, made in 1721 by

5694-421: The 1760s, have survived to this day. Various churches of different faiths appear, the construction of which was carried out on the left side. In 1780, Saint Catherine's Armenian Church appeared, according to the project of the architect Yury Felten , and in 1783 – Catholic Church of Saint Catherine according to the project Jean-Baptiste Vallin de la Mothe and Antonio Rinaldi . Each of these churches stands in

5840-519: The 19th century changed the situation. eclecticism came to replace classicism in architecture. Such structures include the Beloselsky-Belozersky Palace , designed by architect Andrei Stackenschneider in 1846–48 at the corner with the Fontanka. It was the last private palace on Nevsky to be built. During this period, apartment buildings were built on the avenue. Flats or apartments were rented out for profit. The first floors overlooking

5986-586: The Admiralty and from the Lavra together formed the future Nevsky Prospect. It is precisely the fact that the two roads were laid independently of each other that explains the break in the highway in the area of modern Vosstaniya Square. The avenue immediately became a major highway in demand and, after building bridges over water obstacles, completely replaced the old path. The large perspective turned out to be about 4 miles long (4.5 kilometers), and 9 fathoms wide (about 20 meters). A wooden drawbridge Green bridge across

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6132-407: The Admiralty to Vosstaniya Square was underway: paving with granite slabs of sidewalks was carried out, communications and engineering networks were changed. In 2005–2006, the facades of almost all buildings were decorated with artistic lighting. In 2008, a lane for public transport was separated from the Admiralty to Vosstaniya Square. On the sidewalks from Vosstaniya Square to Alexander Nevsky Square,

6278-619: The Alexander Nevsky Lavra was completed. In 1790, Trinity Cathedral was built according to the project of Ivan Starov . According to his designs, a round square was created in front of the entrance to the Lavra, bounded on the southern side by a curved stone fence, with the Gate Church in the center. The entrance to the square from the side of the avenue was designed by two two-story houses (now No. 179 and No. 190). The final design of Nevsky Prospekt as an avenue-ensemble took shape in

6424-625: The Anichkov Bridge at the entrance to the city, the other at the bridge across the Moika), the event itself was quite pompous. The construction of the first large stone buildings began. The most significant of them was the Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, erected in 1733–1737 according to the project Mikhail Zemtsov on the site of the park in front of the current Kazan Cathedral. The temple

6570-602: The Boston Daily Globe reported that she had "consulted a gypsy fortune teller, who had predicted that one of her sons would sit on the throne of Russia." At this time, Empress Alexandra had given birth to her third daughter Grand Duchess Maria . As girls were ineligible for the Imperial Throne, Emperor Nicholas' heirs were his two unmarried, childless brothers and his uncle Vladimir, Marie's husband. In 1912, Emperor Nicholas's only living brother Grand Duke Michael married

6716-711: The Elder , was the eldest daughter of Grand Duke Friedrich Franz II of Mecklenburg-Schwerin by his first wife, Princess Augusta Reuss of Köstritz . A prominent hostess in Saint Petersburg following her marriage in 1874 to the Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia , she was known by many as the "grandest of the grand duchesses". Marie was noted for her attractiveness and sense of style. When Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn visited Germany in search of brides, Queen Victoria noted that Marie

6862-546: The Emperor Alexander III was erected in the center. The history of public transport in St Petersburg began on Nevsky Prospekt. On 27 August 1863, route 1 horse-drawn railway was opened from Nikolaevsky (now Moscow) railway station past Palace Square to Old Saint Petersburg Stock Exchange and Rostral Columns . In the late 1880s, a steam railway was laid from Znamenskaya Square along Staro-Nevsky and further outside

7008-535: The Emperor and the palace was the only private commission of Stackenscheider in the city. The princess remarried to Prince Vasili Viktorovich Kochubey, son of Viktor Kochubey , and grandson of the first Prince Kotchubey, Viktor Pavlovich (See: Elena Pavlovna Kotchubey\Princess Kotschubey as painted by Franz Xavier Winterhalter, 1805–1875, located in The Walters Art Museum Baltimore, Maryland USA). Upon

7154-574: The Emperor die before Alexei turned 21. However, Emperor Nicholas overruled the existing law and nominated his oldest daughter Grand Duchess Olga as regent with his wife Empress Alexandra as guardian during Alexei's minority. Marie was furious, but Emperor Nicholas refused to change his mind. In 1916, Marie approached Empress Alexandra about a potential marriage between Grand Duchess Olga and her second son Grand Duke Boris Vladimirovich . Empress Alexandra refused Marie's proposal, claiming that she could not let "a pure, fresh girl, 18 years his junior" marry

7300-516: The Fontanka. On the right side were the houses of the Anichkov settlement, where the soldiers of the Admiralty Workers' Battalion lived under the command of Lieutenant Colonel M. O. Anichkov . This battalion in 1715 built a wooden bridge across the Fontanka, called Anichkov Bridge . Behind this narrow access bridge, from 1726, there was a wooden guard house, documents were checked and the barrier

7446-468: The Grand Duchess was the centre of the animated and brilliant conversation. She was talking to persons whom she had never before met; and she did not make a single mistake.” Author Elinor Glyn reflected that Marie "had a very highly cultivated and far-seeing mind, with a delightful sense of humour, and was adored by everyone." Marie was interested in literature. In late 1909, she invited the popular British novelist Elinor Glyn to come to Russia to write

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7592-683: The Hotel La Souveraine), she died on 6 September 1920, aged 66, surrounded by her family at Contrexéville . Marie had a passion for jewels, and her collection was renowned. It included a 100 carat emerald once owned by her great-great-great-grandmother, Empress Catherine the Great and the 5 carat ruby of Josephine de Beauharnais . In 1899, she and Vladimir received a number of jewels for their silver wedding anniversary. Nicholas II of Russia and Alexandra Feodorovna (Alix of Hesse) gave them “an aigrette and diadem composed of magnificent diamonds." It

7738-404: The Imperial Throne, Nicholas agreed to reinstate Cyril's Imperial titles, and the latter's wife was acknowledged as HIH Grand Duchess Viktoria Fedorovna. Marie was a doting grandmother. At least once a year, her daughter Elena would bring her children to visit. Marie's favorite was Princess Marina of Greece and Denmark . Meriel Buchanan heard Marie say "Marina is the cleverest one," "Marina has

7884-412: The Orthodox religion.” However, some believed that the ambitious Marie acted to improve the chances of her own sons ascending the throne. After Emperor Nicholas II's sickly son Tsesarevich Alexei and unmarried, childless brother Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich of Russia , Marie's husband and her sons were in line for the throne. In 1916, Vladimir Purishkevich wrote in his diary: "I shall never forget

8030-546: The Public Library and the Rossi pavilions. The square near the Kazan Cathedral, which appeared at the end of the 19th century, is decorated in a more tactful style – lawns, bushes and a small fountain in the center. The only square of Nevsky Prospekt, formed during the period of capitalist development, is Znamenskaya Square . Its formation was associated with the appearance in 1851 of the railway from St. Petersburg to Moscow and

8176-665: The Revolution. They were sold on behalf of the Vladimir heirs; some of the proceeds were used to restore the Grand Duchess's tomb in Contrexéville. Marie's eldest surviving son, Grand Duke Cyril Vladimirovich of Russia married, in 1905, his first cousin Victoria Melita of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha , daughter of Vladimir's sister the Duchess of Edinburgh and of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha . Other than

8322-703: The Romanov policies. Sergei Alexandrovich was assassinated by a terrorist bomb at the Kremlin on February 17, 1905. The palace was then the property of his widow who became a nun in 1909. She went to live at the Marfo-Mariinsky Convent and willed the palace to her ward Grand Duke Dmitri. During the First World War, from January 1916 until January 1918, the palace was the base of the Anglo-Russian Hospital ,

8468-523: The Russian Emperor's daughter-in-law, Marie took on a new style Her Imperial Highness . Marie and Vladimir had four sons and one daughter. Upon her marriage she took the Russian name of Maria Pavlovna. She was Emperor Paul I of Russia 's great-great-granddaughter, and she wished to emphasize her exalted ancestry with the patronymic "Pavlovna." For three years, Marie and Vladimir could not marry, because Marie refused to convert from Lutheranism to

8614-491: The St. Petersburg Trade Bank (house number 7/9). In the 1910s, several more similar buildings were erected: the building of the commercial bank "Junker and Co." by the architect V. I. Van der Gucht (No. 12), building St. Petersburg Private Commercial Bank , designed by architect V.P. Zeidler (No. 1). As capitalism developed on Nevsky Prospekt, new offices and boards of various companies were opened, insurance and joint-stock companies , commissions . The largest enterprises of

8760-632: The Tsar's abdication and replacement by his son Tsesarevich Alexei, and her son, Grand Duke Kirill or Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich , as regent. There is no documentary evidence to support this, though the Duma president Mikhail Rodzianko famously reported that she said that the Empress must be "annihilated". Marie was the last of the Romanovs to escape Revolutionary Russia and the first to die in exile. She remained in

8906-537: The United Kingdom purchased a Bolin tiara of diamond loops with pearl drops, later worn by Queen Elizabeth II , although the original gold frame has been replaced by Garrard with one of platinum; Her niece by marriage, Queen Marie, Queen Consort of Romania purchased a sapphire kokoshnik-style tiara by Cartier and Nancy Leeds (later Princess Christopher of Greece) , the ruby parure. Some of her emeralds were purchased by Barbara Hutton . It had been rumored that some of

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9052-520: The Winter Palace explosion of February 1880. Revolutionaries had planted 125 pounds of dynamite in the dining room, and the Imperial family narrowly avoided death only because Alexander II had unusually gone to dinner late. She told painter Henry Jones Thaddeus about her experience. She explained that she was late for dinner because one of her children was ill. At the palace, Alexander II delayed going to

9198-519: The architect Andrey Kvasov , which appeared in 1762, decided to improve the center of the capital, to streamline its development. Stone houses up to 6 fathoms (about 13 meters) high were to be erected along the Neva perspective, in a line, "with one continuous facade". Intensive construction began, primarily on previously empty plots and on the site of demolished wooden houses. The height of the buildings increased to two or three floors, and classicism replaced

9344-451: The arts. After her husband's death, Marie succeeded him as president of the Academy of Fine Arts. Marie was addicted to gambling. The painter Henry Jones Thaddeus attended one of Marie's parties, where she insisted that her guests play roulette. When she and her husband traveled abroad, she liked to frequent the casinos of Monte Carlo. During Nicholas II's reign, she defied a prohibition on

9490-604: The asphalt pavement was replaced with a granite one Nevsky Prospect is a venue for mass celebrations. On New Year , Victory Day (May 9) City Day (May 27) and other memorable dates, the avenue from Fontanka to Palace Square turns into a pedestrian zone. September 12 – on the Day of the Holy Faithful Prince Alexander Nevsky , along the main thoroughfare of the city there is a traditional religious procession from Kazan Cathedral to Alexander Nevsky Square During

9636-518: The avenue from Moika to Fontanka, the first in Russia, was illuminated electric incandescent lamps . Two years later, electricity appeared on the section from Fontanka to Znamenskaya Square. On Nevsky Prospekt in 1882, the first telephone exchange in Russia appeared, which was located in house No. 26. From the tower installed at the top, wires were stretched in all directions. In the 1990s, houses Nos. 15 , 55, 59, 68 , 114 and 116 were completely dismantled. New buildings were erected in their place with

9782-647: The avenue were occupied by shop windows, for example at the Optical-mechanical workshop "Oscar Richter" . New types of shops appeared on the avenue, which began to be called "passages", the most famous of which was opposite the Gostiny Dvor. The building was designed by architect R.A. Zhelyazevich between 1846 and 1848. Bank buildings have become a common type of specialized structure. House number 62, built in 1896–98 for St. Petersburg-Azov Commercial Bank by architect B.I. Girshovich . In 1874, Alexandrovsky Garden

9928-410: The avenue. By a decree of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna of 1748, it was decided to replace the wooden building with a stone one at the expense of merchants according to the project of the architect Rastrelli, which was later replaced by the project of Jean-Baptiste Vallin de la Mothe in the style of classicism. The Gostiny Dvor was built from 1761 to 1785, indented from the red line, which gave a good view of

10074-435: The back of the block, in front of them are small courtyards, which are framed on both sides by two residential buildings facing the red line. In the second half of the 18th century, commercial enterprises began to appear on the main street of the capital. In the 1730s, a wooden predecessor to the modern Gostiny Dvor appeared. One-story squat benches under a common high roof, with an open gallery in front of them, stretched along

10220-641: The baroque. One of the first such samples is Chicherin House built on the site of the demolished wooden Winter Palace of Elizabeth, at the corner of Nevsky and Moika near the Police Bridge. On the left side of the avenue from the Admiralty to Bolshaya Morskaya Street and between the present Sadovaya Street and Anichkov Bridge, previously empty quarters in the second half of the 18th century were built up with philistine houses according to "exemplary" projects developed by Kvasov ... Two such houses, No. 8 and No. 10, built in

10366-568: The beginning of its establishment, from 1703 to 1751. 10. Admiralty Island The first section of the highway from Moika to Fontanka was laid from 1710 to 1715, and then work continued on the section from Moika to the Admiralty. Along the Glukhoi channel (the current Griboyedov Canal) and further to modern Sadovaya Street, the so-called Resettlement Settlements arose, in which "artisans" with families were settled, transferred from Central Russia to St. Petersburg under construction by decree of 1710. Between

10512-563: The boulevard next to the Kazan Cathedral under construction was liquidated, and in 1819 it was completely abandoned in the middle of the avenue, replacing it with ordinary plantings of trees along the new granite sidewalks of the avenue. Landings were interrupted at the Catherine Canal and cross streets. The entire row planting existed until 1841, when by order of the emperor Nicholas I it was liquidated, all trees were transplanted into Summer Garden . Ordinary plantings were restored in 1897 on

10658-453: The building from afar. Other stone trading structures appeared nearby, for example, the Silver Rows, which opened in 1787. Nearby, architect Giacomo Ferrari erected City Duma building with a tower at the corner with Nevsky Prospekt. By the end of the 18th century, both sides of the highway beyond the Fontanka were almost built up. In the place where the metro station "Ploschad Vosstaniya"

10804-460: The channel itself and the swampy floodplain. In 1726 a guardhouse was erected and the city border was moved here. The great prospect became the main road: it was along it, as stated in the Senate decree of 1726, "there is always both arrival and departure of foreign and Russian subjects from everywhere to St. Petersburg." The government invested money in the improvement and cleanliness of the highway. In

10950-521: The chapel of the Winter Palace . It was not as lavish as the wedding of Vladimir's sister Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna of Russia to the Duke of Edinburgh . Lord Augustus Loftus noted, "Every thing went off very well; although the marriage was not so resplendent as that of the Duke of Edinburgh . At this season of the year this town is a desert and therefore only those came who were obliged to come." As

11096-418: The charity with state money and money from her personal wealth. Like many other Romanovs, Marie feared that Empress Alexandra would "be the sole ruler of Russia" after Nicholas took supreme command of the Russian armies on 23 August 1915 (O.S.), hoping this would lift morale. It was widely speculated that along with her sons, she contemplated a coup against the Emperor in the winter of 1916–17, that would force

11242-477: The city had their shops here. By 1917, 29 banks and credit institutions out of 64 existing then in Saint Petersburg, 10 out of 14 banking houses, 22 out of 29 bank offices were located on Nevsky Prospekt. Moreover, the largest banks of the country prevailed on Nevsky: Volga-Kama Commercial Bank (No. 38), Russo-Asiatic Bank (No. 62) and many others. Nevsky Prospekt became the business and financial center of

11388-451: The city's inhabitants who continued to use the pre-revolutionary name. During the siege of Leningrad (1941–1944) some walls on the north side of Nevsky Prospect were stencilled with the inscription " Citizens! During shelling this side of the street is the most dangerous ", warning passers-by of the areas most at risk from German artillery bombardment. In 1962, the inscription was recreated on school building No. 210 on Nevsky Prospect through

11534-493: The city. As the city guidebooks describe the avenue, it has turned into a "life artery", "the center of splendor, luxury and grace of the capital". "Everything brilliant, precious, luxurious is combined here, which only St. Petersburg trade and industry can flaunt." The most famous and largest shopping center was Gostiny Dvor. By the end of the 19th century, gas lighting and even electric air heating large mirrored windows appeared in some shops. There were up to 300 retail premises,

11680-525: The city. The first run St. Petersburg land tram started in September 1907 from Alexandrovsky Garden , and on November 11 the first bus on the route Aleksandrovsky Sad – Baltiyskiy vokzal . After a long break under Soviet rule in 1926, bus traffic was resumed along the avenue along the route Uritskogo Square (Palace Square) – Zagorodny Avenue – square Uprising . By the beginning of the 20th century, modern had gained popularity. In this style in 1902–1904

11826-442: The construction of houses on the avenue were acquired by state councilors, generals, wealthy merchants, factory owners, courtiers. Soon, members of the royal family and their entourage began to receive land, and the construction of palaces began. The first such structure was Anichkov Palace , intended for Elizaveta Petrovna , with a whole palace and park ensemble that arose on the site from Fontanka to present-day Sadovaya Street, with

11972-500: The construction of the building Nikolaevsky railway station at the corner with Ligovsky canal designed by the architect Konstantin Thon . On the contrary, in the early 1850s, the building of one of the largest in the city Severnaya Hotel was built by the architect A.P. Gemilian. The other two sides of the square were built up with "tenement houses" and hotels. As a result, the area got the shape trapezoid . In 1909, Equestrian monument to

12118-434: The damage was contained and the only damage was to the attic and the main areas of the palace were untouched. Concerts and special events still take place in the palace, as has been the case since the building became the property of the city of St. Petersburg. Nevsky Prospekt Nevsky Prospect (Russian: Не́вский проспе́кт , romanized : Nevsky Prospekt , IPA: [ˈnʲɛfskʲɪj prɐˈspʲɛkt] )

12264-465: The dining room to ask about her child. She recalled that, "At this moment the most awful explosion rents the air. The dining-room vanished from our view, and we were plunged into impenetrable darkness. A poisonous gas filled the room, suffocating us, as well as adding to our horror." She reflected that "It really seemed as if the hand of Providence had delayed the Czar’s arrival; otherwise we should have shared

12410-476: The early Soviet years (1918–44) the name of Nevsky Prospect was changed, first and briefly to "Proletkult Street" (Ulitsa Proletkul'ta) in honor of that Soviet artistic organization . Following the demise of Proletkult already around 1920 the name was changed again, this time to "Avenue of the 25th of October", alluding to the day of the October Revolution : the name never took on in the daily language of

12556-457: The fact that first cousin marriages were not allowed, she was also the former wife of Ernst Louis, Grand Duke of Hesse, the brother of the Empress. This marriage was not approved by Nicholas II and Cyril was stripped of his imperial titles. The treatment of her son created strife between her husband and the Emperor. However, after several deaths in the family put Cyril third in the line of succession to

12702-525: The famous Battle of the Neva took place there in 1240, where the Russian squad led by the Novgorod prince Alexander Nevsky defeated the Swedes. Near the monastery, there was a whole settlement with wooden houses for workers and servants, as well as a garden and a vegetable garden with numerous outbuildings: carpentry, blacksmiths and cattle yards, a mill, a cellar, and trade shops. It became necessary to connect

12848-1321: The feverish life of the avenue in his story "Nevsky Prospekt" , published in 1835. Fyodor Dostoevsky often employed Nevsky Prospekt as a setting in his works, such as Crime and Punishment (1866) and The Double: A Petersburg Poem (1846). The café-restaurant which the famous writers of the 19th-century Golden Age of the Russian literature frequented still remains as "Literary Cafe" on Nevsky Prospect. Нет ничего лучше Невского проспекта, по крайней мере в Петербурге; для него он составляет всё. Чем не блестит эта улица — красавица нашей столицы! Я знаю, что ни один из бледных и чиновных её жителей не променяет на все блага Невского проспекта. Не только кто имеет двадцать пять лет от роду, прекрасные усы и удивительно сшитый сюртук, но даже тот, у кого на подбородке выскакивают белые волоса и голова гладка, как серебряное блюдо, и тот в восторге от Невского проспекта. А дамы! О, дамам ещё больше приятен Невский проспект. Да и кому же он не приятен? Едва только взойдешь на Невский проспект, как уже пахнет одним гуляньем. Хотя бы имел какое-нибудь нужное, необходимое дело, но, взошедши на него, верно, позабудешь о всяком деле. Здесь единственное место, где показываются люди не по необходимости, куда не загнала их надобность и меркантильный интерес, объемлющий весь Петербург. There

12994-405: The first floors, often in semi-dark rooms, there were cheap entertainments such as Puppet Theater or wax rooms. The closer to Znamenskaya Square, the more often you come across wooden houses with large yards and vegetable gardens. And the so-called Staro-Nevsky Prospekt with low wooden houses, fences and vast vacant lots looked completely out of the blue. The construction fever in the second half of

13140-506: The first third of the 19th century. At this time, the masters of high classicism were creating. In 1799, a competition was announced for the construction of a cathedral on the site of the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin, which was won by the former serf of the Stroganov counts, Andrey Voronikhin . Kazan Cathedral was built from 1801 to 1811 and was consecrated on 15 September 1811, and in 1813

13286-672: The first two floors and therefore sometimes occupied the entire facade of the building up to the roof. In clear weather on the sidewalks of the Nevsky metropolitan beau monde . At the service of wealthy citizens were fashionable hairdressers, tailors, the best photo studios, fashionable restaurants, cafes, pastry shops, and all kinds of clubs. By the end of the 19th century, the end pavement was extended to Znamenskaya Square. Many technical innovations were first tested on Nevsky. From April 17 (29) to May 2 (14), 1879, experiments on electric street lighting were carried out on Alexandria Square, organized by

13432-489: The flame spread to the neighboring wooden buildings. The fire raged for several hours, and as a result, several quarters of philistine wooden houses near the Admiralty burned down. The second fire happened a year later, destroying most of the buildings in the center of St Petersburg. After that, according to the Commission on the St. Petersburg Building, wooden houses on Nevsky were no longer built. The Neva perspective became

13578-522: The foster parents of Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich of Russia and Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna , Sergei's niece and nephew through his younger brother. Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich was a radical conservative and his policies made him a polarizing figure. As the governor of Moscow he became victim of the violence of the 1905 uprisings in Moscow, one of the earliest concerted efforts by revolutionaries and leftist organizations fomenting unrest and uprising against

13724-543: The founder of the same above noted Urals' fortune and originator of the Tverdychev-Myasnikov's family partnership). She decided to update and reconstruct the palace to suit her taste. She had the old building knocked down and had a new palace built (1846–48) designed by Andreas Stackensneider the court architect of Nicholas I of Russia . In order to do this, the princess had to petition Emperor Nicholas I for permission to commission his services. She got permission from

13870-856: The grand neoclassical Kazan Cathedral , the Art Nouveau Bookhouse (originally the Singer House), Elisseeff Emporium , half a dozen 18th-century churches, a monument to Catherine the Great , the Great Gostiny Dvor , the Passage , the Russian National Library , the Alexandrinsky Theatre , and the Anichkov Bridge with its horse statues. Nevsky Prospekt is a part of UNESCO World Heritage list. Nikolai Gogol described

14016-499: The illusion of dewdrops shaken from a stem” whenever they were moved, a ruby tiara, a kokoshnik tiara with a 137-carat sapphire in the center, and a large stomacher with a 162-carat sapphire. Following the Revolution, a family friend Albert Stopford rescued the jewels from her Palace safe and smuggled them out of Russia. After the Duchess's death, they were sold by her children to support their lives in exile. Queen Mary, Queen Consort of

14162-535: The indignity of delousing. She finally agreed to leave when the general of the White Army warned her that his side was losing the civil war. Maria, her son Andrei, Andrei's mistress Mathilde Kschessinska , and Andrei and Mathilde's son Vladimir, boarded an Italian ship headed to Venice on 13 February 1920. Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna of Russia encountered Maria at the port of Novorossiysk in early 1920: "Disregarding peril and hardship, she stubbornly kept to all

14308-520: The initiative of poet Mikhail Dudin . The inscription, and other examples across the city, are considered war memorials and are frequently the site of commemorations of the siege. In January 2019 Governor of Saint Petersburg Alexander Beglov laid flowers at the inscription on Nevsky Prospect. At the end of the siege of Leningrad, in January 1944, the name Nevsky Prospect was formally restored and has remained ever since. The Nevsky today functions as

14454-411: The left side was the "new carriage row" – stone sheds where you could buy carriages , Strollers , sleighs and other carriages. On the right side in the so-called "carts" sold old carts, harness, as well as other goods "simple needs for each household." In this part, and before the Lavra, the Nevskaya perspective did not look like a parade. By the end of the 18th century, the formation of the ensemble of

14600-481: The main thoroughfare in Saint Petersburg . The majority of the city's shopping and nightlife takes place on or immediately off Nevsky Prospekt. The street is served by the stations Admiralteyskaya , Nevsky Prospekt , Gostiny Dvor , Mayakovskaya , Ploshchad Vosstaniya and Ploshchad Alexandra Nevskogo I of Saint Petersburg Metro . Major sights include the Rastrelliesque Stroganov Palace ,

14746-404: The most important factor that influenced the change in the layout of the entire settlement. She, together with Vosnesensky Prospect and Gorokhovaya Street , became part of the famous Admiralty "trident", which was approved by the Commission on the St. Petersburg building under the leadership of Pyotr Yeropkin . As a result, a powerful organizing structure was imposed on the disordered layout, and

14892-474: The most—the tyranny of the Hohenzollerns. Yes, it is the Hohenzollerns who have perverted, demoralized, degraded and humiliated Germany and gradually destroyed in her all elements of idealism and generosity, refinement and charity.” The French ambassador Maurice Paléologue was impressed by Marie's “long diatribe which made me feel all the sentiments of inveterate hatred, of mute and tenacious detestation which

15038-408: The partnership P.N. Yablochkova . At night, from 10 pm to midnight, the public was shown experiments of "instant extinguishing and ignition" of four electric lanterns out of 12. On the day of the end of the experiment, the monument to the Empress was illuminated with reflectors . On the Moika near the Police Bridge, the first power plant in St. Petersburg was mounted on a barge. On 30 December 1883,

15184-533: The playing of roulette and baccarat in private homes, and she was temporarily banned from Court. Marie Alexandrine Elisabeth Eleonore was born a duchess of the Grand Ducal House of Mecklenburg to Frederick Francis II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin - the then Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin and his first wife, Princess Augusta Reuss of Köstritz (1822–1862) - in the Schloss Ludwigslust . She

15330-403: The present Malaya Morskaya Street . It was a temporary structure until the completion of the construction of the stone Winter Palace on the banks of the Neva; it was dismantled after the death of Elizaveta Petrovna. With the appearance of the royal residence and palaces of nobles on the avenue, more attention was paid to landscaping. By the decree of Elizabeth Petrovna in 1756, it was forbidden for

15476-491: The reconstruction and opening of their famous palace to the public, the Beloselsky-Belozersky Palace gained a reputation as being one of the most lavish palaces in Russia and also as being the venue of the most lavish balls and concerts in St. Petersburg. Elena Pavlovna also gained the reputation as the best hostess in St Petersburg - a role which would later be taken on by Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna of Russia ,

15622-422: The right side at the corner of the Moika there was a Mytny Dvor, behind the Moika there were salt barns. On the site of the modern Gostiny Dvor, a birch grove was green, then there were "perevedenskie settlements" consisting of wooden houses. The vast territory on the left side of the road from Moika to Fontanka was owned by Empress Catherine I, was low, swampy and undeveloped. The suburb of St Petersburg began behind

15768-477: The road from the cathedral church to the Admiralty in a prospective way. The road was supposed to abut against the vertical dominant – Trinity Cathedral of the Alexander Nevsky Monastery . For a number of reasons, it was not possible to realize this idea – the cathedral did not become a dominant feature and the road was not straightened. The idea of straightening the street was returned in the 1730s and

15914-709: The road to Novgorod and Moscow . The avenue runs from the Admiralty in the west to the Moscow Railway Station and, after veering slightly southwards at Vosstaniya Square , to the Alexander Nevsky Lavra . On September 5, 1704, Admiralty of the Saint Petersburg was laid on the left side of the Neva River . The area adjacent to the fortress began to be built up. In the area of modern Bolshaya Morskaya  [ fr ] and Malaya Morskaya  [ fr ] streets, settlements of ship craftsmen appeared, which were wooden houses and huts with front gardens . On

16060-477: The route was drawn along modern Goncharnaya and Telezhnaya streets. The original section of the avenue was given the name Staro-Nevsky. Later in the 1760s , the two directions were merged and Nevsky Prospekt got its modern look. After a four-year stay in Moscow , in 1732 the courtyard of Anna Ioannovna returned to St Petersburg. For this event, the avenue was renovated and two triumphal arches were built on it (one at

16206-503: The same fate [as the dining room]." Marie was close to her father-in-law, Alexander II. She recalled that he was "devoted to her" and "kindness itself." However, she incurred his anger by refusing to accept his second wife, Catherine Dolgorukov . She privately criticized Alexander II for his obsession with Catherine: "The creature... seems to have him bound as in a spell, to make him deaf and blind." She resented him for forcing his family to accept Catherine, and she expressed her anger in

16352-418: The second, a theater. Another building with a solid glazed facade appeared in 1911–1912, it was built by the architect M.S. Lalevich for the owner of a large company of fur products Mertens (house number 21). A little closer to the Admiralty at the corner of Malaya Morskaya Street according to the project of the architect M. M. Peretyatkovich a building appeared, built by order of the financier Wawelberg for

16498-536: The settlements and the Nevskaya Proseka, there was a strip of swampy forest, forbidden to felling on pain of severe punishment and even for walking. The left side of the avenue from Moika to Fontanka, occupied by the gardens of the Empress Ekaterina Alekseevna , was guarded by sentries. Periodically, rampant searches were carried out, those who were found to have felled trees were beaten by batog at

16644-471: The site of Palace Square a "Sea" market appeared, with huts and chests, wagons with firewood and hay stood. The area near the Admiralty became one of the most densely populated parts of the city. In the early 1710s, a monastery (the future Alexander Nevsky Lavra ) appeared on the left side of the Neva at the confluence of the Chernaya Rechka (now it is Monastyrka River). At the time, it was assumed that

16790-417: The sites in front of the Kazan Cathedral (liquidated two years later in connection with the construction of the square) and Gostiny Dvor. In 1832, the pavement on the avenue was replaced with a paved one butts – with hexagonal wooden blocks. This type of end pavement, invented by engineer V.P. Guryev, was first used here, then became widespread in many cities Europe and America . The side paving provided

16936-495: The small and once independent states of Germany have for the despotic house of Prussia.” Marie supervised many projects for the Russian army. She oversaw hospital trains for the troops. Albert Stopford admired Marie's efficiency and skill in organizing, claiming that Marie "spar[ed] herself no trouble" and was "quite thorough." She developed a charity to give complete outfits and money to disabled Russian soldiers who were sent home. Granted permission from Emperor Nicholas, she ran

17082-529: The staff was almost 5 thousand people. "Passage" numbered up to 60 shops. The trade turnover of stores on Nevsky was in the millions. Rich merchants had not only shops on the central street of the city, but also tenement houses and hotels. For example, in addition to four stores (No. 47, 59, 71, 76), the V.I. Solovyov trade partnership owned the Palkin restaurant at No. 47, Bolshaya Severnaya Hotel and its branch in house number 51. The advertisement could no longer fit on

17228-412: The status of the city center was finally entrenched for the Admiralty side. Since 1739, the main stone building was carried out on Nevsky Prospekt. It was carried out according to a strict plan, the houses were displayed with the main facades on the red line  [ ru ; nl ] and were built according to standard "model" drawings developed by M.G. Zemtsov. These were one-story buildings, built on

17374-648: The stones in Elizabeth Taylor's Bulgari Emerald necklace were from the Vladimir collection but this has been disproved by jeweler historian Vincent Meylan. In 2008 a collection of cufflinks , cigarette cases and other small jewellery items belonging to the Vladimir family were discovered in the archives of the Swedish foreign ministry, having presumably been deposited at the Swedish Embassy in St Petersburg following

17520-488: The story of Ivan Grigorevich Scheglovitov, former Minister of Justice. He said that one day Grand Duke Boris Vladimirovich asked him whether the descendants of the Vladimir line have any legal rights to the throne and if not, why not? Scheglovitov . . . told him that the Grand Dukes had no rights whatsoever because their mother continued in the Lutheran faith even after marriage. Boris left him but came back sometime later with

17666-454: The sweetest nature," and "Marina is the most affectionate." Marie gave her granddaughters "dresses, dolls, prams, bicycles, a pony and carriage and jewellery suitable for their ages, such as silver muff-chains, watches, strings of pearls and diamonds and turquoise pendants.” She despised Kate Fox, the nurse to Elena's children. When Kate spanked her grandchildren, she was furious and complained that "that dreadful woman knocks them about." During

17812-498: The time of Marie's marriage, Alice, Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine wrote to her mother, Queen Victoria , "My mother-in-law tells me that since Miechen has been allowed to retain her religion, this right will of course be conceded to all Princesses in the future.” Many years later, Alice's daughter Princess Elisabeth of Hesse and by Rhine would use Marie's precedent to retain her Lutheran faith and marry Marie's brother-in-law, Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia . Marie

17958-481: The townsfolk to hang clothes on the trees to dry. The pavement was laid with stones of various shapes, sizes and colors, making up squares, triangles and stripes. By the end of the 18th century, the embankments of the Fontanka and the Catherine Canal were dressed in granite, and the stone bridges Kazansky and Anichkov were thrown across them. Birches were removed, and the Nevskaya perspective became wider and more spacious. The new urban planning commission headed by

18104-462: The trimmings of bygone splendour and glory. And somehow she carried it off... When even generals found themselves lucky to find a horse cart and an old nag to bring them to safety, Aunt Miechen made a long journey in her own train. It was battered all right--but it was hers. For the first time in my life I found it a pleasure to kiss her..." She made her way from Venice to Switzerland and then to France, where her health failed. Staying at her villa (now

18250-425: The two city centers with the old Novgorodsky tract (which ran approximately along the route of the modern Ligovsky prospect ), which led inland. By imperial command, the construction of clearings began, which went through the swampy forest. The most swampy areas were in the area of modern Kazansky Cathedral, Mikhailovskaya Street, especially in the area between Ligovsky Prospect and Alexander Nevsky Lavra, which were

18396-513: The vast Beloselsky-Belozersky Palace was a huge drain on the family resources, they decided to sell their Nevsky Prospect palace. The palace was put up for sale around the time of the engagement of Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia to Princess Elisabeth of Hesse and the Rhine in 1883. The couple, who needed a suitable residence in the city, found the building and it was made their principal residence after its purchase by Sergei Alexandrovich. It

18542-558: The war-torn Caucasus with her two younger sons throughout 1917 and 1918, still hoping to make her eldest son Kirill Vladimirovich the Tsar. As the Bolsheviks approached, the group finally escaped aboard a fishing boat to Anapa in 1918. Maria spent fourteen months in Anapa, refusing to join her son Boris in leaving Russia. When opportunities for escape via Constantinople presented themselves she refused to leave for fear she would be subjected to

18688-641: The well-known French and Russian court portrait painter Élisabeth Louise Vigée Le Brun is in Washington DC's National Museum of Women in the Arts ) was an heiress of a great fortune through her mother, Ekaterina Ivanovna Myasnikova (major south Urals area metals and mining heiress from the Myasnikov-Tverdychev families, e.g. Yuryuzan , Ust-Katav , Katav-Ivanovsk , Nizhnyi Tagil , Beloretsk ). This allowed further purchases of land in St. Petersburg, including

18834-403: Was "said to be very pretty." When they first met, her future husband Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia admired her "wonderfully expressive eyes." At her wedding, Thomas W. Knox observed that "Vladimir's bride is good-looking, solid, well-formed, with plump and finely rounded shoulders; a neck neither long nor short; regularly formed features, with the exception of the nose, which has

18980-500: Was a rectangular building stretched along the avenue, similar in composition to Peter and Paul Cathedral . On the opposite side, in 1730, the Lutheran Church of St Peter appeared, located in the depths of the site. Two symmetrical residential buildings (which have not survived to this day) overlooked the avenue. All buildings on the shady side of the early 18th century were destroyed in the fire of 1736. Mytny Dvor caught fire, then

19126-418: Was built the building of the trading house company "Singer" at the corner with the Catherine Canal according to the project of architect Pavel Suzor . In the same years (1903–1907), according to the project of the architect G. V. Baranovsky the building of another trade house – Eliseev Brothers (merchants) was erected. On the first floor, behind the mirrored windows, there is a huge trading hall, and on

19272-422: Was buried under its vaults Field Marshal Mikhail Kutuzov . On 29 December 1837, the opening of monuments to Kutuzov and Barclay de Tolly to the generals Michael Andreas Barclay de Tolly and Mikhail Kutuzov on the square in front of the cathedral, created by the sculptor Boris Orlovsky . In 1806–23, the Admiralty was rebuilt. At the same time, work was underway to improve the surrounding areas. In 1816–1818,

19418-610: Was eight years old when her mother died in 1862. Her father married twice more. She studied singing with Gustav Graben-Hoffmann . Marie married Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich of Russia , the third son of Alexander II of Russia . She was one of the very few Royals with Slavic patriline to ever marry a male dynast of the House of Romanov . Previously, she had been engaged to George Albert I, Prince of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt , but broke it off as soon as she met Vladimir. Marie and Vladimir married on 28 August 1874. The wedding took place in

19564-471: Was famous for her wittiness and sociability. Meriel Buchanan attended one of Marie's dinner parties at Vladimir Palace, and she wrote that Marie "know[s] exactly what to say to each individual person, an inimitable gift which royalties do not always possess, but which she had at her command in the fullest sense.” When she visited Sofia , Bulgaria , she impressed A.A. Mossolov, head of the court Chancellery, with her wit and vivacity. He wrote: "For three hours,

19710-471: Was from Elena Pavlovna that the palace gained its present lavish appearance. In addition to the Beloselsky-Belozersky wealth, stemming from their south Urals metal works, Elena Pavlovna also inherited a fortune from her own family, the Bibikovs (and from her father's mother, born Tatiana Jakovna Tverdychev, whose father was the brother of the original Urals mining and metals entrepreneur Ivan Borisovich Tverdychev,

19856-405: Was furious when her sister-in-law Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna of Russia converted to Russian Orthodoxy after her marriage. Grand Duchess Elizabeth predicted Marie's response, and she asked her father Louis IV, Grand Duke of Hesse and by Rhine : "Please do not yet tell anybody at Darmstadt until I write again when Miechen [Marie] knows." In 1908, Marie converted to Orthodoxy. The decision

20002-538: Was he that bought a plot of land in 1800 which allowed the building to be greatly extended. Prince Alexander Mikhailovich was a close friend, supporter and devoted servant of Paul I of Russia . Through his Ukaze (Decree) in year 1800, Paul I assured the revival of the ancient title of Princes of Belozersk by authorizing Alexander Mikhailovich Beloselsky to use and add the Belozersky title and name to him and his descendants (other branches of Belozersk Princes had died out). It

20148-443: Was he who gave the palace its present red exterior. Under the ownership of Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, the palace had yet another extensive remodelling and the interior was redone. The redecorating included adding a vast library and a Slavic revival chapel. The couple never had children of their own, but their Il’yinskoye estate was usually filled with parties that Elizabeth organized especially for children. They eventually became

20294-401: Was laid only in a few years and exclusively by the hands of captured Swedes. Despite the fact that the trees planted on both sides of it in three or four rows are still small, it is unusually beautiful in its enormous length and the purity in which it is kept (captured Swedes must clean it every Saturday), and it makes a wonderful appearance , which I have not seen anywhere else. On the Admiralty,

20440-416: Was occupied by a two-story house Barons Stroganovs . In 1752 it burned down and in its place, according to the design of the architect FB Rastrelli, was built Stroganov Palace with an extensive courtyard. A large wooden Winter Palace, built by Rastrelli for the royal family, grew nearby in 1755. The palace occupied the territory of two modern quarters, with its main facade facing Nevsky Prospekt from Moika to

20586-456: Was one of the best for its time in terms of planning, stage equipment and skill of external and internal decoration. In the 1830s, artist Vasily Sadovnikov made a series of lithographs depicting both sides of Nevsky Prospekt from Admiralteyskaya Square to Anichkov Bridge, known as the "Panorama of Nevsky Prospekt" (1830–1835). Made in watercolors, almost 16 meters long, it was translated into lithographic stone and published by A. M. Prevost in

20732-506: Was raised. A canal was laid along the route of the current Ligovsky Prospekt, which supplied water to the Summer Garden fountains. Further, the territory was covered with forest and almost not developed. Buildings appeared only closer to the monastery, where land was allotted "in a line along the promising road" for the workers and employees of the monastery. The construction of the avenue did not end there. In 1723, Peter I ordered to 'lay'

20878-460: Was reported that "the three stones of the aigrette alone are worth a fortune.” Each grand duke and grand duchess gave them a golden plate, which formed a collection of 36 plates, “the most magnificent service that can be imagined.” Marie was a major client of Cartier , and she bought many jewels from them. These jewels included an aigrette tiara with "three curving aigrette bundles, set with Indian-cut briolettes like cascades of blossom" that "evoked

21024-420: Was solemnly opened on the site of Admiralty Square, and over time, its overgrown trees covered the facade of the Admiralty building. In the center of Alexandrovskaya Square in 1873, a monument to Empress Catherine ΙΙ was opened, around which a garden was laid out and tall trees were planted. And today the square is like a large green area, which has occupied almost all the free space, leaving small driveways along

21170-426: Was the "ideal hostess" and that "Her Imperial Highness was the life and soul of the company, the most brilliant contributor to the general discussion." Meriel Buchanan attended Marie's dinner party at Vladimir Palace, and she wrote, "Here one always met only the prettiest and smartest women, the most distinguished men, the most entertaining members of the diplomatic body." During Alexander II's reign, Marie survived

21316-647: Was unexpected because she had been Lutheran for 35 years. Meriel Buchanan , daughter of a British ambassador to Russia, defended Marie's conversion as sincere: “For some time past the Grand Duchess had turned more and more to the colour and ceremonial of the Russian Church. She had prayed to the Virgin for the safety of her son [Kirill] when he was injured [during the Russo-Japanese War ], and seeing in his escape from death an answer to these prayers, she finally adopted

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