The Cathedral of Apostle St. Andrew the First Called Arch

1. The Cathedral of Apostle St. Andrew the First Called Arch.

A. Vist (1764-1780), Vasilievskiy Ostrov, 6-ya liniya, 11

UNIVERSITY EMBANKMENT

Walk down the street which runs along the Senate-Synod ensemble towards the Neva River and cross over to the embankment at the stoplight. Try to find a vantage point which offers you an unobstructed view of the opposite bank, for there are a number of remarkable sites to look at.

Immediately opposite the Senate-Synod ensemble, for instance, lies the Menshikovsky Palace. Alexander Menshikov, a favorite of Peter, built his palace on this site upon being granted ownership of all of Vasilyevsky Island in 1707. Although it now appears rather plain-looking, in the days of Peter the Great, it was one of the most luxurious buildings in all of the city. The czar, who hated official meetings, often arranged for them to be held here.

To the left of Menshikovsky Palace, an extensive stand of trees marks the location of an obelisk, hidden from view, which commemorates a Russian victory over the Turks in a war fought between 1768-74. To the left of this, at the foot of one of the bridges which span the Neva, stands the Academy of Arts. Originally founded in 1757, it has played a crucial role in the training of Russian painters, sculptors, and architects. In our day, it houses not only an art school, but also one of the nation»s oldest art museums.

Directly in front of the academy there are steps leading from street-level down to the Neva. Flanking them lie two sphinxes purchased by Russia in the 19th Century. Discovered in 1820, they probably, date from the 15th Century B. C. Archaeologists believe that the features of Pharoah Amenhotep III are carved on their faces. The Russian writer Andrei Muravyov saw the statues while traveling through Egypt. Much impressed, he lobbied for their purchase by his government. Czar Nicholas I granted his permission and a special ship brought the treasures to St. Petersburg in 1832.

Now look up the Neva in the other direction until you catch sight of one of the orange-colored rostral columns you visited earlier. To the left of it stands the former Kunstkammer, a blue and white building crowned with an eight-sided turret and high dome. Here the private collections of Peter the Great were housed and exhibited. This assembly included rare books, valuable minerals, exotic plants and animals, as well as preserved specimens of anatomical variation — some quite hideous. A number of these can still be seen in the Chamber of Curiosities located inside this building in the Museum of Ethnography. Later, the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences used the site.

After the Academy outgrew the facilities of the Kunstkammer, the Academy of Sciences building was constructed next door. Designed by Giacomo Quarenghi and featuring an eight-column portico, it was constructed between 1783-88. In 1934 most of the Academy»s departments were transferred to Moscow. The departments of literature and language remained.

Finally, immediately to the left of the Academy of Sciences stands the red and white building which marks the location of St. Petersburg University. Designed by Domenico Trezzini and built between 1722-41, the complex of twelve adjacent structures housed ministries of the government until the University occupied the site in 1819. From this vantage point, only the short, southernmost end can be seen.

2. The Russian Academy of Arts (The Research Museum of the Russian

Academy of Arts)

Arch. A. Kokorinov, J.-B. Vallin de Lamothe (1764-1788), Universitetskaya naberezhnaya, 17

Many prominent Russian artists graduated from the Russian Academy of Fine Arts and the Repin Institute. The museum»s exhibitions, displayed in the former building of the Academy, feature graduation and study projects completed by students of the Academy, a number of works by the Academy»s teaching staff and various paintings related to the history of the Academy. Although this is hardly the most impressive art collection in town, you will still find some excellent pieces and gain an interesting insight into St. Petersburg»s artistic education of the past. The museum also features temporary exhibitions of works by prominent local artists in the Titian Hall and the annual art exhibition of the Academy, which is now based in Moscow.

3. The Egyptian sphinxes Universitetskaya naberezhnaya, 17

SPHINXES. Mythical creatures with the body of lion and a human head. In the second half of the 18th century, marble sphinxes were installed in the Private Garden in Gatchina and at the Osinovaya Roscha estate. Cast-iron sphinxes were installed in the Stroganov Palace courtyard. Miniature granite sphinxes were placed at the Kushelev-Bezborodko residential landing (end of the 18th century). At the beginning of the 19th century, stylised Egyptian sphinxes were created in the workshop of sculptor P.P. Sokolov. In 1825-1826, a pair of cast-iron sphinxes decorated the Egyptian Bridge across the Fontanka River. It is likely that the two sphinxes situated in the yard at Mozhaiskaya Street were cast according to the same model; in the 1980s they were installed on the new boat landing stage on Kamenny Island. In 1832, original sphinxes were brought from ancient Thebes in Egypt to St. Petersburg (15th century B.C.), and were installed at the landing near the Academy of Fine Arts (1832-1834, architect K.A. Ton). The sphinx image was given an original treatment by artist M. M. Shemyakin in his Monument To Victims of Political Repression on Robespierre Embankment (see Monument to the Victims of Political Repression).

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