712 Liteyny pr., 53

59.936788966306, 30.347926864082 (OpenStreetMap, Google Maps, Yandex Maps)

Gateway leading to Anna Akhmatova museum. Wall behind the “MUSEUM” installation
Date under the word “perception” (ощущенье)
21 августа 1963 года
Historical background Checkpoint picture 712 Checkpoint picture 712
In 1712, Peter the Great granted Field Marshal Boris Sheremetev a land plot located near the Fontanka River. Since then, and up until 1918, the palace constructed on the plot belonged to a noble family of the Sheremetevs.
The palace that has come to be known as the Fountain House was built by architects Savva Chevakinsky and Fyodor Argunov (Sheremetev’s serf). Some researches credit the original design to Yeropkin and Rastrelli. The Northern wing is located in the yard and features a gate decorated with the coat of arms of the Sheremetev family. It was built in 1864 against the design of Nicholas Benois. Count Sergey Dmitrievich Sheremetev was the last owner of the palace. He was a member of the State Council, an honorary academician, historian, collector and researcher of Old Russian manuscripts and ancient books, and the founder of the Society of Lovers of Ancient Writing.
Following the revolution, the palace served as a Museum of Noble Life, which existed until 1931. Anna Akhmatova and Nikolay Punin lived in this palace for many thirty years, although not continuously. First they stayed in the Northern wing, and later moved to the Southern one. It was here that Akhmatova composed numerous renowned poems. Not all of them were written down. She was afraid of repressions, besides she was being watched. That is why the poetess entrusted some of her verses only to her closest friends, who memorised them. This is how the ‘Requiem’ and the ‘Poem without a Hero’, which Akhmatova herself called a symphony of generation’s fate, survived.
In 1989, Anna Akhmatova Literary and Memorial Museum was opened in the palace's southern garden wing. Incidentally, Lev Gumilev’s Museum and Memorial Apartment in Kolomenskaya Ulitsa is its branch.
716 ul. Pestelya, 14

59.942926966306, 30.347386870721 (OpenStreetMap, Google Maps, Yandex Maps)

Art object to the left of staircase No. 5
Number of characters depicted
2; 4; 6
Historical background Checkpoint picture 716
It is currently not possible to identify the original owners of the land plot at the intersection of modern Ulitsa Pestelya and Liteyny Prospekt, as well as the designers of the initial site development project. However, we know that between 1858 and 1875 a three-storey stone revenue house located on this plot belonged to one Ritter. Earlier, the land was owned by Junior Captain Valentin Kosikovsky. Apparently, two floors were added to the building during his tenure. Various researchers credit the superstructure design to Nikolai Yefimov or Yegor Dimmert.
In 1876, the building was further renovated by the architect Julius Dutel, who expanded it alongside Ulitsa Pestelya (then Panteleimonovskaya Ulitsa). From that point on, the revenue house, which at that time belonged to A. Tupikov, acquired its modern eclectic look.
Up until 1927, the building housed the Byloye Publishing House and the Union of Leningrad Cooperative Book Publishers. Afterwards, the ground floor of the house was occupied by a pharmacy for almost fifty years.
718 Italyanskaya ul., 6/4

59.936348, 30.334574 (OpenStreetMap, Google Maps, Yandex Maps)

Gates leading up to the Matryoshka Museum. Plaque over the intercom next to the gates
The longest word starting with “M”
MATRYOSHKA
Historical background Checkpoint picture 718
The building in Italianskaya Ulitsa was built in 1832 for manufacturer named Zhukov against the design of Andrey Bolotov. The façades were designed by Carlo Rossi. Since 1844, it belonged to the philanthropist brothers Mikhail and Matvey Vielgorsky. Both brothers were fond of music: Matvey Yuryevich was an chief master of the court and a skilful cellist, while Mikhail Yuryevich, an active State Councillor, played viola and violin, composed music and was considered a ‘brilliant amateur’.
Mikhail Yuryevich was in charge of cultural and musical life of the city and even raised funds to organise receptions for celebrities from the music world. Mikhail Vielgorsky popularised symphonic music and was one of the originators of the Concert Society, the Philharmonic Society and wind orchestras. Composer Hector Berlioz called the Salon of the Vielgorsky brothers ‘the minor Ministry of Fine Arts’.
In the 1940s, the building of the ‘minor ministry’, designed by architect Kedrinsky, was rebuilt and merged with an adjacent house with a common façade. Later the building was occupied by a kindergarten, and in 1993 part of the premises of the Vielgorskys’ house were inherited by the Russian Grammar School (Gymnasium) of the State Russian Museum.
/Кarl Bryullov. ‘Portrait of a Musician M. Vielgorsky’, 1828./
732 Mikhaylovskaya ul., 1

59.935840966306, 30.330683863057 (OpenStreetMap, Google Maps, Yandex Maps)

Façade facing Mikhaylovskaya ul.
Number of atlases on the 3rd floor level
16
Historical background Checkpoint picture 732 Checkpoint picture 732
The layout plan of the plot located near the Gostiny Dvor was developed by Carlo Rossi, the architect of the General Staff, Senate and Synod buildings, through which Saint Petersburg gained the image worthy of the European capital in the first half of the 19th century.
During 1870s, several buildings in Mikhailovskaya Ulitsa were rebuilt by architect Ludwig Fontana to form the Hotel d’Europe. Fontana was engaged in major repairs and reconstruction of dozens of houses throughout St. Petersburg. In 1910s, Fyodor Lidval extended the hotel building with a fourth floor. He also partly redesigned interior environment, including the grand staircase.
Following the Revolution, the hotel became known as the ‘House of Soviet Employees’, and later it housed a shelter for homeless children. In Soviet times, between 1934 and 1989, the Hotel ‘Evropeyskaya’ was located here. In 1991, it was renamed the Grand Hotel Europe, and in 2009 it was declared the most luxurious hotel in the world.
Famous people, including Pyotr Tchaikovsky, Ivan Turgenev, Ivan Aivazovsky, Anatoly Lunacharsky, Vladimir Mayakovsky, Maxim Gorky, Vsevolod Meyerhold, Sergei Prokofiev, Dmitry Shostakovich, Isaac Dunaevsky, Igor Stravinsky, Konstantin Paustovsky, Claude Debussy, Johann Strauss, King Gustaf V of Sweden, Herbert Wells, and Bernard Shaw used to stay here.
742 Stremyannaya ul., 18

59.93084, 30.35325 (OpenStreetMap, Google Maps, Yandex Maps)

Plaque with historical information about the street in English next to the gates
During which activity did groom-servants accompany their Mistress?
hunting
Historical background Checkpoint picture 742
Number 20, Stremyannaya Ulitsa, was built in 1902 by architects Herman Grimm and Gustav von Goli at the expense of the Society for Religious and Moral Education.
The Society was founded soon after the assassination of Alexander II in order to prevent further incidents of this kind, or, to put it another way, ‘to counteract anarchy, socialism, atheism and Protestant teachings’. Archpriest Mikhail Sokolov, the rector of the Kazan Cathedral, headed the society. Among the members of the Society there were famous people of conservative views, including Konstantin Pobedonostsev. In 1918, the Society tried to resist the Bolsheviks’ appropriation of the Aleksandr Nevsky Lavra by holding a Cross Procession. The Lavra remained open, but a few months later the Chairman of the Society was shot, and it soon ceased to exist.
Since 1965 and up to the present day the building houses a library. Over the past years it has changed its name four times.
749 Grafsky per., 5

59.930580966306, 30.34597685737 (OpenStreetMap, Google Maps, Yandex Maps)

Bust to Adam Mickiewicz in front of the building. Inscription on the pedestal
The longest word in Latin alphabet
Mickiewicz
Historical background
School No. 216 named after Adam Mickiewicz with in-depth study of Polish language has been established in Grafsky Pereulok in 1991. Next to the school there is a portrait sculpture of a famous Polish poet and writer.
Mickiewicz was a man of thorny destiny. When studying at the University of Vilnius (then Vilensky), he became one of the founders of the ‘Philomath Society’. First it was just a student association, and later it evolved into a patriotic political union. Nationalistic views of the Society were inconsistent with the internal policy of the Russian Empire. Six years later, in 1823, the members of the Society were arrested and prosecuted. A total of 108 members of student societies were involved in the process, making it the largest student political trial in Europe at that time. Several defendants, including Mickiewicz, were sentenced to exile in the inland areas of Russia.
Mickiewicz spent several years in Odessa, Moscow and St. Petersburg, whereupon he embarked on a journey across Europe, hopelessly struggling to return to Poland. While in Rome in 1848, Mickiewicz created the Polish Legion, which fought for the freedom of Lombardy. Later on, together with a group of the French and immigrants, he founded the ‘La Tribune des Peuples’, a periodical featuring a radical social programme. Following the intervention of the Russian embassy, the magazine publication stopped. After the French coup d'état of 1851 Mickiewicz was kept under police supervision. The last patriotic action by the poet was an attempt to form Polish legions to fight Russia after France engaged in the Crimean War. To this end, in September 1855 he arrived in Istanbul, where he unexpectedly died. He was buried in France, in the Polish cemetery in Montmorency. In 1900, the ashes of Mickiewicz were solemnly transported to Poland and laid to rest in a sarcophagus in the Wawel Cathedral.
Mickiewicz’s collected book ‘Poetry’, published in 1822, marked the beginning of Polish romanticism. ‘Konrad von Wallenrode. Historical Novella from Lithuanian and Prussian History’ is a nonpareil example of historical romantic poem of 14th century. Pan Tadeusz is a ‘national poem’, unique from a literary point of view, reflecting the world of the Polish gentry immediately in advance of Napoleon’s army invasion.

U architektów sławne jest przysłowie,
Że ludzi ręką był Rzym budowany,
A Wenecyją stawili bogowie;
Ale kto widział Petersburg, ten powie,
Że budowały go chyba szatany.

There is a famous proverb among architects,
That Rome was built by human hand,
And the gods made Venice;
But whoever saw St. Petersburg will say,
That it must have been built by Satan.
751 A section of the passageway between the 1st Lavrsky Bridge and Necropolis of the Masters of Arts

59.922792966306, 30.386925848954 (OpenStreetMap, Google Maps, Yandex Maps)

Sign next to the wall with the City Museum of Urban Sculpture invitation. Text in English
Widow's surname
Lanskaya
Historical background Checkpoint picture 751
It was Peter the Great who chose the site for a future monastery back in 1704. In 1715, the construction of the stone building of the church was started upon the project by Domenico Trezzini. In 1723, the tsar ordered to transfer the relics of Holy Blessed Prince Aleksandr Nevsky to the monastery. They were placed in the newly built Holy Trinity Cathedral. In 1756–1758, a new wooden Annunciation Church was built to the north of the old one which was taken down back then. It served as a parish church up until 1787, when it was taken down as well. After that, Lazarevskaya church reconstruction took place (1787–1789). In 1783–1786 the Holy Gate of the monastery was erected, that is, the gatehouse church in the honour of the icon of the Virgin of Consolation of All Sorrows. Meanwhile, stone fences were erected setting the ultimate boundaries of the Lazarevsky Cemetery which occupied the entire territory of the former monastery yard. On December 8, 1797, by the Imperial Edict of Emperor Paul I issued to the Holy Governing Synod, the Aleksandr Nevsky Monastery was renamed to Lavra.
Soon after the founding of the monastery, a convent school was established. It formed the basis of all educational institutions in the capital. In the same year, 1797, it became the Aleksandr Nevsky Theological Academy.
In 1932, it was decided to construct the Masters of Arts Necropolis at the site of Tikhvin Cemetery, founded by the Lavra in 1823. The arrangement of Necropolis involved relocation of monuments from several cemeteries, including the Sergius Desert cemetery, Farforovskoye, Mitrofanievskoye, Malookhtinskoye, Vyborgskoye (Roman Catholic), Smolenskoye (Orthodox, Lutheran, and Armenian), Volkovskoye (Orthodox and Lutheran), Novodevichie, Nikolskyoye and Georgievskoye cemetery (at Bolshaya Okhta). Numerous graves were destroyed at the cemetery during that period, as the authorities considered them historically insignificant.
Nikolai Gnedich who translated the ‘Iliad’, Fyodor Dostoevsky, poetess Elisabeth Kulmann, Arkhip Kuindzhi, Mikhail Glinka, Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov, Modest Musorgsky, Pyotr Tchaikovsky and many others are buried here.
761 pl. Lomonosova, 2

59.92917, 30.334749 (OpenStreetMap, Google Maps, Yandex Maps)

“European Walkway” stand in the public garden opposite the building. Information in English
Number of times theatre is spelled "theater"
3;2;1
Historical background Checkpoint picture 761
In the 1830’s, Carlo Rossi, a prominent architect and a recognised master of the capital’s architectural ensembles, was commissioned by Emperor Nicholas I to develop the Fontanka embankment design. He designed the Aleksandrinsky Theatre built in 1832, as well as several other buildings that together formed a uniform architectural composition.
The Aleksandrinsky Theatre marks the beginning of Ulitsa Zodchego Rossi, unique for its proportions. Its width 22 metres, equals the height of the buildings on both sides. Moreover, the length is 220 metres: ten times the width. Ulitsa Zodchego Rossi connects Aleksandrinsky Theatre with the square, which is also furnished in the Empire style. In the same manner as the nearest bridge, this square was named after the first owner of the land, Count Chernyshev, the servant of Peter the Great. It was not until 1948 that the square received the name of Mikhail Lomonosov, although a small bust of the scientist by P. Zabello was installed in the square as early as in 1892.
765 Admiralteysky pr., 6

59.936703, 30.311209 (OpenStreetMap, Google Maps, Yandex Maps)

Entrance from the avenue. Sign with information about the museum in English
Second line from the bottom
Security Agencies
Historical background Checkpoint picture 765
In 1788, a plot of land located near the Admiralty was bought by the Privy Counsellor Ivan Vietinghoff, then the President of the Medical College. Giacomo Quarenghi was commissioned to build Vietinghoff’s house. Ten years prior to that, Quarenghi was appointed to the post of Catherine II’s court architect, and had already proven himself. Several dozens of buildings designed by him have survived until our time. They include the Smolny Institute, the Yusupov Palace, and the Academy of Sciences.
After Vietinghoff the house was bought by Count Samoilov, the nephew of Prince Potyomkin, and shortly after that the building was taken over by the state. Until 1876, the building housed the Chambers of the Criminal and Civil Court, the District Police and County Court, the Court Council, the Provincial Government, the Treasury Chamber, the Archives of the Provincial Government, the Treasury Chamber and the Court Chambers, the Welfare Board, the Provincial Surveyor and his drawing room, the Provincial Printing House, the County Treasury and the money store rooms. In 1877, after the reconstruction of the interior design, the building was handed over to the Town Council.
The house survived the October Revolution and was taken over by the All-Russian Special Commission for Combating Counter-revolution, Sabotage, and Speculation headed by Felix Dzerzhinsky. In 1918, the government moved from to Moscow, and in 1930’s the building became residential. In 1970–1980’s, the building came under the jurisdiction of Glavleningradstroy. The Department of the Automated System for Planning, Control and Regulation of Construction was located in its premises.
792 Malookhtinsky pr., 94

59.922705, 30.406787 (OpenStreetMap, Google Maps, Yandex Maps)

Number of large round columns at the level of the 4th-5th floors
16
Historical background Checkpoint picture 792
Number 94, Malookhtinsky Prospekt, was built in 1939 against the design of Simonov, Rubanenko and Cherkassky. Like many houses in this quarter built between 1935 and 1950, it is a typical representative of the ‘Stalin’s Empire’. Architectural zest of the houses is monumental arches connecting the adjacent buildings. One theory is that Brodsky’s poem ‘From the Outskirts to the Centre’, lyricising about ‘a thousand arches’ of the Malaya Okhta, is dedicated to this very architectural peculiarity. However, alternative theory suggests that the poem refers to the vaults of the Bolsheokhtinsky Bridge. Be that as it may, to mark the occasion, a small memorial sign to the poet was erected in one of the yards on Ulitsa Stakhanovtsev.