Невский проспект: История главной улицы Санкт-Петербурга

Thoroughfare in Saint Petersburg, Russia
the main street of Saint Petersburg

Nevsky Prospect 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 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 Rue Bolchaïa Morskaïa and Rue Malaïa Morskaïa streets, settlements of ship craftsmen appeared, which were wooden houses and huts with front gardens. On 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 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. 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 is believed that the more difficult section ("monastery") was completed first. 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. 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). The crossing was the city border in 1703–1726, taxes gathered here, for this there was Mytny Dvor, next to which was Gostiny Dvor. The Neva perspective became 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 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 Rooilijn and were built according to standard "model" drawings developed by M. G. Zemtsov. These were one story buildings, built on 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 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 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 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 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, 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 the sites in front of the Kazan Cathedral (liquidated two years later in connection with the construction of the square) and Gostiny Dvor. In 1874, Alexandrovsky Garden 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 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. By the beginning of the 20th century, modern had gained popularity. In this style in 1902–1904 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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, 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 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.