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From Russia With Love
The Unique Culture of St. Petersburg By Megan L. Fowler
Imagine a city more than three centuries old. Three centuries of art, architecture, battles, devastating floods, royalty, beauty and, most important, history. Imagine a city that stands between numerous waterways and is carved by placid canals. A city architecturally planned street by street. Picture grand palaces, waterfront promenades and a culture that in many ways shaped that of its country. This is St. Petersburg, a city better known as the northern capital of Russia.
When one thinks of Russia, a vision of gray stone streets, cold-hardened structures and pale faces wrapped in dull-colored cloths initially comes to mind. But then the opposite makes its appearance: grand castles, royal balls, dark fur hats, the magnificent ballet and, of course, the exquisite jewelry and Faberg矅ggs. Russia is all of these things, and in the center of it all stands a city unlike any other in the world.
In 1710 the capital of Russia was transferred to St. Petersburg from Moscow, and in 1712 the Tsar Family, together with the government, moved to the city.
Tresini's designs were also used for construction of the Summer Palace of Peter the Great and the Alexander Nevsky Monastery. During that same period, the Menshikov Palace and the Kunstamera were constructed, while sculptor and architect B.F. Rastrelli also worked to develop the city. It is these three architects who developed the specific style of St. Petersburg baroque.
"The city was created by architects street by street and not by people house by house," says Regina Khidekel, a Russia-born art historian now living in New York. "The city is planned and was given a structure including the rivers and waterfronts."
Khidekel remembers how upset she was when she and her husband, Mark, a well-known architect in St. Petersburg, moved to New York, and there were no waterfronts. "I was used to wonderful boardwalks and promenades," she says.
After the death of Peter the Great in 1725, the city's development halted until 1741 when Empress Elizabeth took the throne. Her reign is credited for reconnecting the city to Peter's customs. During that period the Russian baroque style of St. Petersburg was personified in the Winter Palace, Smolny Monastery (B. Rastrelli) and St. Nicolay Church (S. Chevakinsky).
