There are many sights and historical buildings in St. Petersburg. One of them is the building of the Twelve Collegia. The beautiful building has a long history and is worthy of the attention of tourists.
Location
The address of the building of the Twelve Colleges in St. Petersburg is Universitetskaya Embankment, house seven. Such a magnificent structure is simply impossible not to notice. It is one of the oldest on Vasilievsky Island. An interesting fact is that for almost two centuries it has housed the State University of St. Petersburg. Of course, the building was originally intended for completely different purposes. The history of the building of the Twelve Colleges in St. Petersburg is closely connected with the development of the state. His style is a prime example of the architecture of the early eighteenth century. Currently, the building is a monument of federal significance.
How to get to the historical monument?
You can get to the building of the Twelve Colleges in St. Petersburg by buses No. 24 and No. 7 and by trolley buses No. 11, 1 and 10. The public transport stop is located practically at the building.
Legend or truth?
Petersburgers and tourists probably drew attention to the fact that the building of the Twelve Colleges has an unusual location. It would seem that it should have been built along the Neva. But no. It is located to the river end. Such an unusual location led to the emergence of the legend of the cunning Menshikov. Peter I ordered the governor of St. Petersburg to build a new collegium building along the Neva. And use the remaining free land at your own discretion. According to legend, the enterprising Menshikov decided to turn the building with a facade to the arrow of the island, and not to the river. And on a free plot of land he erected a palace for himself. After Peter I saw the result, he dragged Menshikov by the collar along the entire structure. Legend has it that the king stopped near each college and beat the favorite with his notorious club. But it was too late to change anything.
Of course, this whole story is nothing more than fiction, since it runs counter to historical facts. The fact is that the Menshikov Palace was erected in 1710. And this means that at the time of the construction of the palace, the Twelve Collegia buildings were not even in the project. At this time, Peter decided to move the center of St. Petersburg to Vasilyevsky Island, which was covered with forest, after which the coast was gradually built up with new buildings.
Historical excursion
The decision to erect the Twelve Collegia building was not made spontaneously; it was dictated by state necessity. In 1711, the Senate was formed, consisting of nine senators. The new state body was to manage state affairs during the absence of the sovereign - Peter I. Subsequently, the Senate became the highest executive and administrative body of state power. In 1718, colleges that were supposed to control all sectors of the economy came to replace the more efficient management of the economy. In December of that year, vice presidents and the president of the collegia were appointed by order. A year later, the organization’s staff and general rules for internal organization were determined. For this reason, a building was needed in which absolutely all structures could be placed. Therefore, the emperor issued an order on August 12, 1721 to erect the building of the Twelve Colleges (photo is given in the article). True, the construction was completed after his death.
Building project
It is worth noting that initially the Senate and the new collegiums were located in the building on Troitskaya Square, which was built according to the project of Domenico Trezzini. The first building was the same type of two-story building, covered with tiles.
Trezini also became the architect of the new building. The building of the Twelve Colleges was conceived according to the principle of the previous structure. The eastern facade was to become the front and be turned to the College Square. However, this square at the beginning of the twentieth century generally ceased to exist, since another institute was built in its place. In 1716, the first version of the Domenico Trezzini project appeared . The building of the Twelve Colleges had at first a completely different look. But two years later a completely different option appeared, since the architect made significant adjustments. So, for example, it was decided to create a canal arrow on the western side, and to build an extended building along it. In it, according to the idea of the architect, colleges should be placed.
It is worth noting that initially there were nine colleges - the Admiralty, chamber chambers, foreign colleges, staff headquarters, berg colleges and others. Later, another tenth appeared. Peter in 1721 established the Synod, which he decided to place near the collegiums, like the Senate itself.
For the architect of the Twelve Colleges building, placing a group of identical buildings on the same line was nothing new. Indeed, before his arrival in Petersburg, Trezzini lived in Copenhagen, in which the Exchange building was built in 1625 on exactly the same principle. In addition, the architect was previously in Moscow, where the order buildings were placed in one line.
According to the existing plan, construction was started in 1722. At the beginning of next year, the architect reported to Peter that the construction of four colleges had already begun, and some of the materials had been prepared.
Building construction
Peter I carefully supervised the construction of the Twelve Collegia building in St. Petersburg. He introduced his corrections to the plan in 1723. Moreover, a few months later a decree was issued on how the facades design options would be chosen. Various options for the masters should have been presented, among which the emperor wanted to choose the most suitable, in his opinion. In the future, adjustments to the construction were made quite often. It so happened that even with the construction started, Peter organized a competition for the best version of the new building. In fact, it was the first architectural competition in Russia. Such masters as Rastrelli, Pino, Zvitten, Trezinri himself, Michetti, Gerbel, Chiaverin took part in it. The results of this event were summed up in 1724. As a result, the first floor was built according to the initial design of Trezzini, but the appearance of the second and third floors was changed after processing the competitive version of Schwertfeger.
From February 1724, the Senate entrusted the construction management to the new architect, Schwertfeger. A new competition two years after the start of construction work became possible only because these works were incredibly slow. If at the beginning of 1722 a foundation was made for the building of the military college, then for the other colleges they just started driving in piles. Only in 1723, piles began to hammer throughout the construction site. In the same year, Peter handed over the construction of each building to the colleges themselves in order to expedite the process. But unfortunately, no changes have occurred. By the beginning of 1725, only the foundations were completed and the walls of the first floor were partially rebuilt. It was for this reason that it was possible to make changes thanks to the results of the architectural competition.
Completion of work
The construction of a new building went faster only after the decree of Catherine I of 1726. Soon, masonry work was completed. By the end of 1727 rafters were installed, and after half a year all the buildings were closed. In the summer of 1732, in some buildings, which by that time had been completed, the berg, commerce, justice, and manufactory colleges began their activities.
However, the interior decoration continued for the next ten years. In the premises, stoves and fireplaces were built, as well as painting, locksmith and carpentry work. It is worth noting that from the original interiors, at present, you can see only the appearance of the Peter Hall. Its decoration in 1736 was dealt with by Ignazio Rossi. During the construction period, it was planned that the main facade would overlook Colleges Square, as we already mentioned. It is because of the participation of the building in the ensemble of the square that it does not face the University Embankment, but looks at it only with the butt. According to the idea of Peter, College Square was to become the main one in the city. But after his death, the city center was moved to the Admiralty Island. In the future, the area generally ceased to exist.
The fate of the building
Dignitaries drove into the new building as the completion of construction work of a building. In addition to power institutes, shopping malls on the ground floors were located here. At that time, the building was the longest among the administrative buildings of that time. Its length is almost 393 meters, its height is about 15 meters, and its width is more than 17 meters. The number of colleges was constantly changing. Initially, there were nine, then it became - 12, then 11.
Officials occupied the building until 1804. The government had some difficulties by this time. The fact is that the emperor - the supreme power, was located on the left coast of the Neva, and the performers of his will were located on Vasilyevsky Island. The situation was complicated during periods of ice drift and floods, when communication between the islands was simply interrupted. All this led to the fact that officials gradually began to leave their residence. In 1804, the building was partially given to the Pedagogical Institute. Subsequently, St. Petersburg University was established on its basis in 1819. Until 1859, two educational institutions worked in the building. But gradually the institute was abolished and only the university remained.
Building decoration
The building had three floors in height and consisted of twelve buildings that are adjacent to each other. An open gallery passed through the entire first floor, and statues were installed in niches. Outside, the facade was decorated with numerous decorative elements. Each college had its own emblem. Along the building there were balconies decorated with forged openwork lattices. Each building had a separate entrance.
The western facade had a more modest decor. Along it was an open two-tier gallery. The color of the building was two-tone. On the main red-orange background, white decor stood out spectacularly. What was the interior design of the premises is hard to say. Specialists judge the decoration of the entire building only by the Peter Hall, which has survived to this day.
Historic building style
Specialists characterize the style of the building of the Twelve Colleges in St. Petersburg as Russian Baroque. More often they say that the building is made in the style of Peter's Baroque. A huge contribution to the construction and appearance of the building was made by the architect Trezzini. According to his projects, the building of the Twelve Colleges, the Peter and Paul Cathedral, the Summer Palace of Peter the Great and a number of buildings of St. Petersburg were erected.
Despite the fact that for some time the control over the construction was shifted to another architect, later the same Trezzini returned to management. And the construction was already completed by his son, Giuseppe.
Further conversions
After the building was transferred to the university, there was a need for its partial reconstruction. In the center was built the Church of Peter and Paul, a ceremonial gathering hall, decorated with white marble columns and choirs, a staircase and a front door. On the second floor of the building was a four-hundred-meter gallery, which was glazed with Venetian glass. This gallery is known as the Bois de Boulogne. It is also called the second Nevsky Prospect. Furniture for the premises was made according to the sketches of Shchedrin. A garden was laid out along the building, which was fenced from the street with cast-iron grates. In 1838, the university was inaugurated after renovation.
Famous scientists working in the walls of the building
The university is associated with the big names of famous scientists of Russia. At different times Sechenov, Butlerov, Lesgaft, Popov and, of course, Mendeleev taught and studied here. The building still has a memorial archive museum of Mendeleev, which lived and worked in it from 1866 to 1890. And in 1923, a street passing by the building was even named after him. Petersburg University.
Those who want to get an impression of the initial interior decoration of the Twelve Collegia buildings should visit the Senate (Petrovsky Hall) University that has survived to this day, preserving the magnificent baroque decor of the 18th century and the spirit of the era of the early days of St. Petersburg that left us. It preserved the lush decoration and decor, designed by Ignatti Rossi. Two corner fireplaces with sculptural decoration create a special atmosphere.
Instead of an afterword
The building of the Twelve Colleges is one of the historical architectural monuments of St. Petersburg, which is worth seeing with your own eyes. The appearance of the building has not changed much since the time of construction, so the appearance gives an idea of the spirit of past eras.