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Italian-born Carlo Ivanovich Rossi,
1775-1849, was brought to Saint Petersburg as a child by his ballerina mother.
His father is unknown, and he lived with the Italian architect Breno, who
volunteered to educate the young Rossi. After finishing in the Russian schools,
he went to Italy for post-graduate studies, but then came back to live all his
life in Russia. His delicate adaptation of classical motifs, better than that
of all those who preceded him, produced the best of the so-called Russian
empire style. Rossi was an artist-architect, very much concerned with the
decorative elements of each building and with its association and harmony with
those around it. Almost everything that he planned formed a part of a
magnificent city planning scheme which the former Russian capital continues to
be proud of. He gave a new look to entire architectural ensembles that included
not only buildings but squares and streets too.
One of the first of Rossi's successful designs was the palace on the Yelaghin
(Elaghin) isle in Saint Petersburg, which Alexander first built for his mother
in 1818-1822. Here he masterfully linked the rather simple palace with the old
oak garden, with its view of the sea, and produced a very picturesque ensemble.
Next was Mikhailovskii palace, built in 1819-1825 for the Grand-Duke Mikhail
Pavlovich, which the architect wanted to form part of a larger ensemble that
was supposed to include the square and the buildings at the foot of Mikailov
Street. Rossi's plan was not fully realized, and part of the palace was even
reconstructed later. In 1897 the palace received paintings by Russian masters
and became known as the Russian Museum of Emperor Alexander III; it was renamed
State Russian Museum after the revolution.
Another interesting ensemble designed by Rossi is the Alexandrinskii Theater,
completed in 1832, and the buildings and squares around it. His monumental
plans were not fully executed, and instead we have now in front of the theater
a smaller square with a bronze monument of Catherine II, the work of the
sculptors Mikeshin and Opekushin. To the left is the Public Library, enlarged
and redecorated by Rossi, and behind it the former theater street, now renamed
Rossi street, with two identical buildings, one on each side. Rossi street
connects the theater and the Lomosov square, which was also part of Rossi's
original design. The theater was named after the wife of Nicholas I, and the
name was changed by the Bolsheviks to A. S. Puxhkin Memorial State Academic
Theater of Drama.
On the former site of the mansion of Prince Menshikov, Rossi built in
1829-1833, two huge buildings, the Senate and the Sinod, and joined them with
an arch with a gate under it. Both buildings frame from the west the vast
Senate Square. This was Rossi's last work, after which poor health prevented
him from actively participating in further embellishment of the capital of his
adopted country. Before he retired Rossi designed the Palace Square and built a
very impressive building for the General Staff of the Russian army. This
enormous semi-circular three-story building, almost 2000 feet long and with 768
windows, borders the Palace Square from the south and is opposite the Winter
Palace located on the northern side of the square. In the middle of the
building Rossi opened a double arcade that connects the Square with Grand
Morskaya Street and Nevskii Avenue. The arcade is also known a s Victory Gate
because its top is decorated with a bronze chariot of Victory drawn by six
horses, with two warriors, one on each side, holding the bridles. Several other
sculptures and bas-reliefs decorate the walls of the arcade, which is over
seventy feet high and almost sixty feet long. In the middle of the Palace
Square stands the Alexander Column, made of one piece of rose granite from
Finland, designed by the French architect Montferrand. It was erected in 1834
by Nicholas I to commemorate the victory of his brother over Napoleon. This
enormous monolith, 98 feet high and 13 feet wide, is probably one of the
highest in the world. Though a story says that vodka was mixed with the mortar
to prevent the base from freezing, the monolith actually stands on a granite
block over 25 feet high. The column has on its top a bronze capital 13 feet
high, on which an angel of the same height, holds in his left hand a
twenty-foot long cross. Classic architecture obviously enchanted both the
patrons and the architects, and the result was the enormous, slightly austere
and very impressive Palace Square, one of several architectural triumphs built
in the former Russian capital . For photos of all these buildings please go to
peteburg.
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