Petersburg: Great Names

For Browsing

Talented, great, and unhappy

Kharms is watching us from his house

11 Mayakovskogo St., Saint Petersburg, Russia, 191014

On the day of remembrance for the brilliant absurdist writer Daniil Kharms, a huge portrait of him appeared on the wall of building No. 11 on Mayakovsky Street in Saint Petersburg.

Kharms is looking at us from his house

11 Mayakovskogo St., Saint Petersburg, Russia, 191014

On the day of remembrance for the brilliant absurdist writer Daniil Kharms, a huge portrait of him appeared on the wall of building No. 11 on Mayakovsky Street in Saint Petersburg.

The Heart of Kutuzov

Kazan Square, 2, Saint Petersburg, Russia, 191186

The scouts suddenly on the neighboring hill, Saw a stern monument, The graves of friends and Kutuzov's heart, By the old Saxon road. "Obelisk" by M. Fradkin and E. Dolmatovsky

Legends of the Mikhailovsky Castle

Sadovaya St., 2, Saint Petersburg, Russia, 191023

There is no place in Saint Petersburg more mysterious and mystical than the Mikhailovsky Castle. Everything is unusual—the very appearance of the fortress-like building, the color of its facade, and, of course, the tragic history of its owner, the Russian Emperor Paul I, who shared the fate of his father Peter III, dying as a result of a palace coup in his bedroom within the walls of his castle.

A Jew of Peter the Great or the First Bathhouse Scandal of Russia

Nevsky Ave., 39A, Saint Petersburg, Russia, 191023

The first "bathhouse scandal" in Russian history occurred in 1727, and its protagonist was Anton Devier, the General Police Master of Saint Petersburg, the first and highest-ranking official in law enforcement. The fact that he was also Jewish makes the situation even more intriguing.

Bironovshchina or Lipmanovshchina

Moika River Embankment, 12, Saint Petersburg, Russia, 191186

The Jews of Anna Ioannovna

The Best Diplomat of Peter the Great

Bolshaya Morskaya St., 20, Saint Petersburg, Russia, 191186

For where do I need you! The career of Petr Pavlovich Shafirov seems utterly incredible. A baptized Jew finds his way to the court of Peter I, becomes a diplomat, heads the postal service, mining and metallurgy, oversees foreign trade, saves the tsar and tsarina from Turkish captivity, becomes one of the richest and most powerful people in the empire, and then, one fine day, loses everything.

Samoyed King

Dvortsovaya Embankment, 2E, Saint Petersburg, Leningrad Region, Russia, 191186

He helped Peter I shave the beards of the boyars, became a king, and was exiled.

Cagliostro in Petersburg

Gagarinskaya St., 1, Saint Petersburg, Russia, 191187

For most of us, Count Cagliostro is known from the film *Formula of Love* and is perceived as a fantastic character. Meanwhile, the person known by the name Cagliostro is a completely real figure. In Russia, or more precisely in St. Petersburg, Cagliostro visited twice.

The Origins of Russian Freemasonry

Bolshaya Morskaya St., 38, Saint Petersburg, Russia, 190000

In the mansion of Elagin on Bolshaya Morskaya, the Masonic "Lodge of the Muses" was originally held, in which Ivan Perfilievich was listed as the "master of the chair" (magister).

Explosion on Aptekarsky Island

Aptekarskaya Embankment, 6a, Saint Petersburg, Russia, 197022

The assassination attempt was carried out by the St. Petersburg organization of the "Union of Socialist-Revolutionary Maximalists," formed in early 1906. Stolypin provoked the hatred of the revolutionary segment of society by brutally suppressing the revolutionary movement.

Yelagin Palace

1st Elagin Bridge, 1, Saint Petersburg, Russia, 197183

What brush, what chisel, Will depict the Yelagin Palace… Attributed to A.S. Pushkin

Yuri Knorozov was confident that he was a genius. And he was absolutely right.

Granitnaya St., 10, Saint Petersburg, Russia, 195196

Yuri Knorozov, a brilliant scientist, is the object of genuine cult reverence in Mexico and Guatemala. There, monuments are erected in his honor and he is taught about in schools, while at home he is virtually unknown and died of pneumonia in a hospital corridor. His decipherment of the ancient Mayan Indian script became an invaluable contribution to global science and laid the foundation for mathematical methods in the study of undeciphered scripts. Remarkably, this discovery was made by a scientist who never left the Soviet Union.

Yuri Knorozov - employee of the Kunstkamera

Universitetskaya Embankment, 1, Saint Petersburg, Russia, 199034

"In this building from 1953 to 1999 worked the ethnographer and decipherer of Maya script Yuri Knorozov" — such a plaque will appear on the Kunstkamera building on the side of Tamozhenny Lane. And behind the plaque lies the century-old story of a man who not only deciphered one code but found the key to all systems and codes.

S. Yu. Witte Mansion - Andrey Petrov Children's Music School

Kamennoostrovsky Ave, 5, Saint Petersburg, Russia, 197046

On Kamennoostrovsky Prospect, next to the Lidval house, stands a modest white and blue mansion. This mansion is associated with Sergey Yulyevich Witte – one of the most significant figures in Russian history.

Income House of E. K. Barsova

Kronverksky Ave., 23, Saint Petersburg, Russia, 197101

The income house purchased by Elena Konstantinovna Barsova was built in 1911–1912 according to the design of civil engineer Evgeny Lvovich Morozov. From 1914 to 1924, until his departure to Italy, Maxim Gorky lived in the income house with his common-law wife Maria Fyodorovna Andreyeva. They occupied two apartments located on the 6th floor.

The grave of Suvorov in the Annunciation Burial Vault of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra

nab. Monastyrki River, 1, Saint Petersburg, Russia, 191167

**"On the Death of Suvorov"** O eternity! cease your eternal noise of disputes Who among all heroes in the world was the greatest. Into your sanctuary today has entered, Suvorov. G. R. Derzhavin, May 1800