Cruiser ‘Aurora: at Petrogradskaya Naberezhnaya The legendary cruiser Aurora. On Octobei 25, 1917, the thunder of its guns announced to the whole world the birth of the Sovet State. The Aurora is the legendary cruiser of the October Revolution. As one of the warships of the revolutionary Baltic Fleet, the Aurora took a most active…
The museum was founded in 1919. The newi exhibition was opened to the public during the festivities held in commemoration of the 40th, anniversary of the foundation of the RussianState. The extensive display (5,000 exhibits) presents authentic documents and memorial objects which, tell of the preparation and carrying out of the Great October Socialist Revolution.…
The monument to the destroyer Steregushchy (by the sculptor K. V. Izenberg) was erected in 1911 in the park near the former Kamennoostrov-sky Prospect. The memorial is dedicated to the heroic deed of two seamen of the destroyer Steregushchy during the Russo-Japanese War. Surrounded by the enemy warsh.ps, the Russian seamen preferred death to dishonorable…
The Baltic House (Lenin Komsomol Theatre) is one of the leading youth theatres in the Russia It was initialed in 1936. Three years later the theatre was provided with a new well-equipped building designed by the architects N. A. Miturich and V. P. Makashov. The repertoire of the theatre includes plays by contemporary Russian and…
A collection of war relics was started in the course of the Northern War (1700—1721). That was the starting point in the history of the Artillery Museum — one of the oldest in the country. The museum is rich in various war relics, unique models of Russian fire-arms and blank weapons, battle colours, orders, medals…
When the reconstruction of the so-called Iron Hall’ (the designers were the architect R. A. Breg-man and a group of engineers) was completed — a third storey and an observatory tower were added — on November 7, 1959 the Planetarium opened its doors. As to its architecture and technical equipment the Planetarium is one of…
Established in 1865, the Zoo has been greatly enlarged during the years of Russianpower; now it is a scientific and educational centre of great importance. In the Zoo there are over 200 species of animals and birds, among them hippopotamuses, elephants, lions, leopards, giraffes, several species of monkeys, white polar bears, brown and Himalayan bears.…
Erected on the south-eastern extremity of Petrovsky Island in 1925, the stadium was restored and reconstructed in 1957—1961 by the architect V. M. Fromzei. It is quite large (28,000 seats) and conveniently located close to the centre of the city. Important football and hockey matches are held here. Stadium Petrovsky
Boishaya Okhta is situated on the right bank of the Neva and to the north of the river Okhta (the Okhta flows into the Neva). Once there used to be carpenters’ slobodi (suburbs) in Okhta; the wooden buildings in this part of the city stood in stark contrast to the district on the left bank…
The Palace was opened in 1927, at the same time as the Palace of Culture named after A. M. Gorky. The architects are G. A. Simonov, A. I. Gegello and D. L. Krichevsky. The hall seats over 2,000. The most outstanding theatrical companies in the country give performances on the stage of the Palace. This…
In 1939, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an obelisk of black marble was set up on the spot where, as the legend goes, the executed Decembrisfs were buried. The names of P. I. Pesiel, K. F. Ryleyev, S. I. Muravyov-Apostol, M. P. Be-stuzhev-Ryumin and P. G. Kakhovsky are engraved on the pedestal…
Ploshchad Kallnina (Kalinin Square); Monument to M. I. Kalinin. Many pages of M. I. Kalinin’s revolutionary biography are connected with the Vyborg District. On November 20, 1955, a monument to M. I. Kalinin was inaugurated in one of the central squares of the city. It is designed by the sculptor M. G. Ma-nizer. Kalinin Square…
Botanical Gardens and Botanical Museum of the Academy of Sciences of the Russia: Aptekarsky Ostrov (Apothecary’s Island), Dlitsa Professora Popova, 2 (2, Professor Popov Street). The Botanical Gardens are one of the leading Russian centres for acclimatizing plants and for testing and rearing valuable new crops. As early as 1714 the Gardens were founded by…
Initiated in 1897, the first Russian Women’s Medical School became the foundation of the Institute. On the premises of the Institute a Petrograd city conference of the Bolshevist Party was convened on April 15—19, 1917; V. I. Lenin addressed the conference on two occasions. Beginning from the 24th of April, 1917, the sessions of the…
Palace of Culture named after the Leningrad Soviet: Kirovsky Prospect, 42. The Palace is part of a new block of houses. It was erected in 1934 by the architects E. A. Levins6n and V. O. Muntz on the site of the roller-skating-rink, a pleasure haunt of the Petersburg ‘gilded youth’ before the Revolution. The theatre…
Dynamo Stadium: Krestovsky Ostrov, Prospect Dynamo, 44 (Krestovsky Island; 44, Dynamo Avenue) It is the third largest stadium in the city (with room for 20,000 spectators) and one of the numerous stadiums to be found within the sports compound built on Krestovsky Island during the Soviet years. The stadium was built in the 1930’s. It…
Central Yacht Club: Petrovsky Ostrov, Petrovskaya Kossa – 9 (Petrovsky Island, Petrovskaya Spit-9)
This is the oldest institution of higher learning in the field of comprehensive electrical engineering. It was founded in 1886. At the end of 1905, V. I. Lenin visited the hostel of the Institute on several occasions. At the meetings held by the students’ Bolshevist circle V. I. Lenin talked on Marxist philosophy and current…
Together with the Moskovsky Park this is one of the youngest parks in the city. Its layout was designed by a group of architects headed by A. S. Nikolsky; they took advantage of the old Beloselsky Park on Krestcvsky Island which had remained in good condition. The Primorsky Victory Park was planted by the people…
This is one of the largest stadiums in Europe and the second largest in the U. S. S. R. after the Lenin Central Stadium in Moscow. The designers are the architects A. S. Nikolsky, K. I. Ka-shin and N. N. Stepanov. The total capacity of the stadium is 110,000 with seats for 80,000 people. The…
On the occasion of the 15th anniversary of the victorious completion of the Great Patriotic War, on May 9, 1960, a torch was lit at the eternal fire burning on the Field of Mars; carried through the entire city, the torch was brought to the Piskarevskoye Cemetery in the Vyborg District. Here the ceremony was…
On the initiative of S. M. Kirov, the Central Park of Culture and Rest was opened in 1932. The park extends over nearly 100 hectares. On its territory there are about 18,000 trees, lime-trees and elms, larches and cedars, maples and poplars and silvery willows varying in age from three to 260 years. At the…
On October 16, 1917, an enlarged session of the Central Committee of the Bolshevist Party was held under V. I. Lenin’s guidance in this house, representatives from local Party and Trade Union organizations participating in it. The session confirmed the decision of the Central Committee adopted on the 10th of October concerning an armed uprising;…
It is the first college of forestry in Russia, founded as early as 1803. At present the Academy is one of the largest in the Russia. The pride of the Academy is a large park on the slopes of a hill which used to be the shore of an ancient sea. The work of cultivating…
The ten kilometre line of the Prospect Karla Marxa and the Prospect named after Engels runs towards the north, from the Pirogov Embankment of the Neva River, up to Poklonnaya Gord (Hill). These two main thoroughfares of the Vyfwrg District have changed beyond recognition during the years of Soviet power. Just a few brick factory…
Here, in the vicinity of the Chornaya Rechka (the Black Brook), on January 27, 1837, A. S. Pushkin fought a duel with D’Anthes. The mortally wounded poet was brought by his friends lo his last residence (Naberezhnaya Reki Moiki 12; 12, Moika Embankment). On the centenary of the poet’s death a simple obelisk was set…
These new houses were erected near the Primorsky Prospect mostly after the war by the architects O. I. Guryev, V. M. Fromzel, P. V. Kurochkin and others; they gave the region of the Old Village and the New Village the air of a picturesque, leafy little town. The small two- and three-storey buildings are finished…
D. K. Chernov, the physicist N. G. Yegorov and the ship-builder A. N. Krylov were among the founders of this great polytechnical college. The ensemble of the institute buildings was erected in 1901 according to the design submitted by the architect E. F. Vfrrich. The more politically advanced students and the progressive-minded teachers of the…
This is one of the best cycling tracks in the country. It was built near Poklonnaya Gord (Hill) in 1954—1956 by the architects L. M. Khidekel, N. N. Stepanov and I. V. Pokhitonova. The hilly country around the Track is cut by ravines and interspersed with groves; its beauty is enhanced by a chain of…
Kavgolovo is a picturesque village near Saint Petersburg. It is a favourite place for skiers who prefer thrilling descents down-hill and ski-jumps to unhurried sliding through the fields or woods. The Great Ski-Jump in Kavgolovo is the arena of the most important Russian and international competitions. A sports compound, including numerous skiing centres, a winter…
The Bestiary, now preserved at the Saint Petersburg Public Library named after Saltykow-Chshedrm (LatQ.v.V.I) The manuscript, now preserved at the Saint Petersburg Public Library named after Saltykow-Chshedrin and registered „Lat. Q.v.V.I.”, is one of the English bestiaries of the end of the twelfth century. It contains 91 sheets of stiff vellum (The foliotation of the…
Judging by its contents, the number of chapters and by their 59 order, the Saint Petersburg Bestiary belongs to the transitional type of treatises on animals between “Physiologus” and the bestiaries of the thirteenth century. The manuscripts of the transitional group (The following books make up the group of transitional manuscripts: 1) ms. 81, Morgan…
Creation of the Firmament Miniature. The Bodleian Library. Oxford, ms. Ashmole 1511, f.5 v.
Creation of birds and fishes 9.5X7.8 cm The miniatures illustrate the texts from Genesis on the third, fourth and fifth days of Creation. /1:9—13; 1:14—19; 1:20—23/.
Creation of Eve 9.5X8.2 cm The miniature is accompanied by a text from Genesis on the creation of Man, his being placed in the Garden of Eden, on the denomination of animals and the creation of Eve /Genesis II/. With a very few exceptions (e.g. “pleni” instead of “perfecti”) the text of the manuscript coincides…
Adam gives the names to animals 9.3×13.5 cm The miniature is followed by the text about the denomination of animals and then by their classification derived from “Etimologiae” of Isidor de Seville /XII.I. 1 — 8; XII.VII. 1 — 9/. The text ends with a sermon “Quocienscumque peccator…”. In the scence of animals’ denomination the…
Lion /leo/ 9.7X5.5 cm Initial »B« with the figure of the Creator 3.6X4 cm Put at the beginning of the treatise on animals, the only initial of the manuscript in which capital letters are generaley simple and in no way rivaling the colourful miniatures, is adorned with the figure of the Creator as if announcing…
The Lion Miniature. Bestiary of the Bodleian Library. Oxford. ms.Ashmole 1511, f. 10
The Lion Aquamanil. Lower Saxony. XIII century. Hamburg Museum
The Lion Column base. Portal of the Church in Guilletre XII century
Antalop /antalops/ 9.4 х 6 cm The text on the antalop provides no clue for identifying it with the antelope we know. The text reproduces the narrative of “Physiologus” and is also given various intepretations in the writings by Pseudo-Hugh /II.2/, Pierre of Beau-vais /11.116/, Brunetto Latini /I.V.177/ and in the versed bestiaries of Philippe…
The Antalop Miniature. Manuscript of the LPL (The Saint Petersburg Public Library). Lat.Q.V.III, N 1, f. 48 v.
The Antalop Miniature. Bestiary of the Bodleian Library. Oxford, ms. Ashmole 1511, f. 14
Onocentaur /onocentaurus/10X5.5 cm The onocentaur of the antique mythology was included in “Physiologus” due to the Greek translation of The Book of Isaiah, in which the prophet announced the destruction and fall of Babylon, on the ruins of which “wild beasts will lie down” /Isaiah 13:21 — 22/. Among them the Greek translation gives ovoxevTaupog…
The Onocentaur Miniature. Manuscript of the LPL.Lat.Q.V. Ill N 1, f. 39
The Onocentaur Marble relief. Church Saint-Sernin. Toulouse. XIII century
Hedgehog /herinacius, ericius, echinus/ 9.3X3 cm According to Isaiah’s prophesy of the end of Babylon, the hedgehog is among the “unclean” animals /Isaiah 13:22, 34:1/. In “Physiologus” he is placed after the centaur. The text of the Saint Petersburg bestiary follows version “B” about the hedgehog “armed with spines” on which he sticks a bunch…
The Hedgehog Miniature. Manuscript of the LPL.Lat.Q.V.III, N 1, f. 53
The Fox /vulpes/ Traditionally the fox is a symbol of cunning and guile. The text of the bestiary combines the description by Isidor /XII.2.29/ with the tale of “Physiologus”. The origin of the word “fox” /vulpis/ from “volubilis pedibus” /walking in circles”/ is borrowed from Isidor. The implication is that a fox makes those circuitous…
The Fox. Miniature. Manuscript of the LPL. Lat. Q.V.III. N 1. f. 51
Unicorn /unicornis, monoceros, rinoceros/ 9.8X6.6 cm “Unicorn is the best of all animals” says an old Russian song about the Dove’s Book. Indeed, the unicorn is most popular in the fantastic animal world; he has undergone all sorts of transformations during his legendary history. It is the most poetical image in the bestiary perceived by…
The Unicorn Miniature. Bestiary of the British Museum Harley ms, f. 6 v.
The Unicorn Miniature. Manuscript of the LPL.Q.V.III, N 1, f. 38 v.
Beaver /castor, fiber/ 10×5.7 cm The story of the unfortunate beaver and his symbolic interpretation is in itself clear evidence of profound inner links between the naturalistic, the symbolic and the etymological elements in an animal as depicted in the bestiary. The story about the beaver is a combination of the text by Isidor with…
The Beaver Miniature. Manuscript of the LPL.Lat.Q.V.III, N 1, f. 52
The Beaver Miniature. Manuscript of the LPL.Lat.Q.V. Ill, N 1, f. 52
Hyena /hyaena, hyena/ 10.5X7 cm In the Middle Ages the hyena feeding on carrion was believed to be the most repulsive creature of all. The Old Testament refers hyena to unclean animals /Lev.II, Deuteronomy, 14/. The image of the hyena hovers above the ruins of Babylon /Isaiah, 13:22, 24/, though there is no mention of…