Walks around Saint-Petersburg#55. Large Gostiny Dvor on Nevsky Prospekt.

We are with you again on Nevsky Prospekt. In the most central and lively place of Nevsky Prospekt there is a monument of history and architecture of the 18th century - the Large Gostiny Dvor. The Large Gostiny Dvor occupies the huge territory of the central part of St. Petersburg, bounded by Nevsky Prospekt, Sadovaya Street, Lomonosov Street and Perinnaya Line. The architect and author of the project, who supervised the construction was the Frenchman Jean Baptiste Wallen-Delamot.
Construction took a long time from 1761 to 1785 years. The area of the whole shopping complex is 78,000 square meters, and the retail space is located on 13,000 square meters.

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The central entrance from Nevsky Prospekt.

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The corner of Nevsky and Sadovaya.

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The Neva line.

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The garden (Sadovaya) line.

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Perinnaya line.

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Many Gostiny Dvors appeared in St. Petersburg almost from the moment of building the city center. The first such yard was built not far from the place of existing Large Gostiny Dvor by the architect Nikolai Fedorovich Gerbel. But in 1738 this yard burned down.
Then in 1748, under the decree of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna (the daughter of Peter the Great), they began to work out a draft for the construction of a trading yard. In 1750, dozens of projects were considered, even the project of the famous Italian architect Antonio Rinaldi was rejected. As a result, in 1757, the project of the Russian architect of Italian origin Bartolomeo Francesco Rastrelli was won and approved. For this project, the building was to be decorated with stucco molding. sculptures and luxury do not yield to the palaces.
But the financing of construction was delayed and, as a result, the project was revised. In the end, the author of the construction was Jean Baptiste Wallen-Delamot. He retained the layout of Rastrelli, but changed the appearance of the building. Construction was carried out more than 20 years and was completed in 1785.

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The painting by Benjamin Patersen "The Large Gostiny Dvor at the intersection of Nevsky and Sadovaya." 1802 year.

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Painting by Ivan Alekseevich Ivanov "View of the Gostiny Dvor in St. Petersburg".
1815 year.

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Large Gostiny Dvor on Nevsky Prospekt. Photo of 1892.

The Gostiny Dvor was created as the largest trading building in the Russian Empire. In 1840, Gostiny Dvor was the first building in St. Petersburg to carry out gas lighting.
In 1886 - 1887, the main facade of the building on Nevsky Prospect was changed and decorated with Russian architect Nikolai Leontievich Benois.

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The old postcard of the Gostiny Dvor at the end of the 19th century with private shops.

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The main staircase at the corner of the Nevskaya and Perinnaya lines.

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Open gallery of the second floor of the Nevsky line.

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Since 1948 the building of the Large Gostiny Dvor has been recognized as a monument of history and architecture under the protection of the state.

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We met you with the building of the Large Gostiny Dvor in St. Petersburg.
Thank you for your participation in the excursion around St. Petersburg. I'm waiting for you again on the streets of the city.