Samson Sukhanov: Master of Stonework

How bright, how emerald-dark In the shade of its dense gardens, And how sparkling, and how transparent Is the water-dripping Peterhof.” P.A. Vyazemsky

Jermaine

Saw tower

Krasnogo Molodtsa, Saint Petersburg, Russia, 196625

Petersburg, Suburbs: The Secrets of Pavlovsk

Imperial Parks: Pavlovsk

The Saw Tower is one of the poetic pavilions in the park, designed in a pastoral-romantic style. The pavilion was a tribute to the fashion of its time and served as a place for brief rest during a long walk through the park.

Jermaine

Saw Tower

Krasnogo Molodtsa, Saint Petersburg, Russia, 196625

Samson Sukhanov: Master of Stonework

Petersburg, Suburbs: The Secrets of Pavlovsk

Imperial Parks: Pavlovsk

Jermaine

The Hanging Garden and the Stairway of the Gods in Tsarskoye Selo

Catherine Park / Catherine Park, Saint Petersburg, Russia, 196601

Samson Sukhanov: Master of Stonework

Imperial Parks of Tsarskoye Selo - Catherine Park

An unusual monument of classical architecture, resembling the romantic ruins of an ancient Roman bridge

Jermaine

Kazan Cathedral - import substitution

Kazan Square, 2, Saint Petersburg, Russia, 191186

Petersburg: Stories of Nevsky Prospect

Samson Sukhanov: Master of Stonework

Petersburg: Unusual and Interesting Houses

Great Architects: Andrey Nikiforovich Voronikhin

This marks the beginning of the golden period of Russian architecture, and Petersburg finally takes on the appearance of the capital of a great empire. Nevsky Prospect becomes not just a "perspective." One of the largest cathedrals in Saint Petersburg. Built on Nevsky Prospect between 1801 and 1811 by architect Andrey Voronikhin in the style of Russian classicism to house the revered copy of the miraculous icon of the Kazan Mother of God. After the Patriotic War of 1812, it gained significance as a monument to Russian military glory. In 1813, the commander Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov was buried here, and the keys to captured cities and other military trophies were placed inside. The cathedral gave its name to Kazanskaya Square, Kazanskaya Street, Kazansky Island in the Neva delta, and the Kazansky Bridge at the intersection of Nevsky Prospect and the Griboedov Canal.

Jermaine

Physical Cabinet or Masonic Sanctuary of Count Stroganov

Nevsky Ave., 17, Saint Petersburg, Russia, 191186

Petersburg: Stories of Nevsky Prospect

Samson Sukhanov: Master of Stonework

Petersburg: In the Footsteps of the Masons

Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor Kuznetsov, in the book *"The Stroganov Palace,"* suggested that besides the alchemical laboratory, a Masonic lodge gathered in this study. There was a Masonic sanctuary, and the Commission for the Construction of the Kazan Cathedral held its meetings there.

Jermaine

Mountain building (school, institute)

Lieutenant Schmidt Embankment, 49, Saint Petersburg, Russia, 199034

Petersburg: Unusual Monuments and Places

Samson Sukhanov: Master of Stonework

The Mining School — the oldest higher technical educational institution in Saint Petersburg — was founded by the decree of Catherine II on October 21 (November 1), 1773.

Jermaine

Arrow of Vasilievsky Island

Birzhevaya Square, Saint Petersburg, Russia, 199034

Samson Sukhanov: Master of Stonework

Petersburg: A Walk on Vasilievsky Island

Great Architects: Jean Thomas de Thomon

The Strelka of Vasilyevsky Island is the calling card of Petersburg. Everyone who falls under the charm of this place loves to take photos near the huge granite spheres crowning the descents to the water. The eastern tip of the Strelka was decorated by architect de Thomon with a descent to the Neva and adorned with elegant, gently sloping granite ramps. Flowing smoothly around the Rostral Columns, they descend right to the water. At the very water’s edge, on pedestals, rest stone spheres astonishing in their perfection. It is said that master stonemason Samson Xenofontovich Sukhanov carved these geometrically precise spheres by eye, without using any measuring instruments and almost with a single strike.

Jermaine

Tsar bathtub

Krasnoselskoe Highway, 85, Saint Petersburg, Russia, 196603

Samson Sukhanov: Master of Stonework

This work by a Russian artist deserves even more attention, as since the time of the Egyptians nothing so colossal made of granite is known.

Jermaine

Admiralty Needle

Admiralteysky Lane, 1, Saint Petersburg, Russia, 190195

Petersburg: Unusual Monuments and Places

Petersburg: Stories of Nevsky Prospect

Samson Sukhanov: Master of Stonework

The Admiralty in Saint Petersburg is one of the most famous and beautiful landmarks of the Northern capital.

Jermaine

The House with Lions – An Introduction to Monferrand

1 Voznesensky Ave, Saint Petersburg, Russia, 190000

Samson Sukhanov: Master of Stonework

The first completed building by Monferrand in the Russian capital was the Lobanov-Rostovsky House, or the House with Lions, on Admiralty Prospect. It was during the construction of this house that Samson Sukhanov met the future creator of St. Isaac's Cathedral.

Jermaine

House with Lions – Introduction to Monferrand

1 Voznesensky Ave, Saint Petersburg, Russia, 190000

Samson Sukhanov: Master of Stonework

Jermaine

St. Isaac's Cathedral - the beginning of the ruin of the master stoneworker

Isaakievskaya Square, 4, Saint Petersburg, Russia, 190000

Samson Sukhanov: Master of Stonework

Sukhanov delivered only eleven columns; the commission for the construction of St. Isaac's Cathedral awarded the contract for the manufacture of the remaining columns to Arkhip Shikhin, violating the agreement with Sukhanov and thereby causing him irreparable losses. The construction of the cathedral was completed in 1858. In the same year, Auguste Montferrand passed away. Samson Sukhanov was unable to fulfill several contracts and went bankrupt. The master died in obscurity and poverty even before the completion of the cathedral's construction.

Jermaine

St. Isaac's Cathedral - the beginning of the ruin of the master of stonework

Isaakievskaya Square, 4, Saint Petersburg, Russia, 190000

Samson Sukhanov: Master of Stonework

Jermaine

The Benefactor Husband or The Mausoleum of Paul I

Saint Petersburg, Russia, 196625

Samson Sukhanov: Master of Stonework

Petersburg, Suburbs: The Secrets of Pavlovsk

Imperial Parks: Pavlovsk

Great Architects: Jean Thomas de Thomon

The Mausoleum of Paul I is not the emperor’s tomb. Paul I, like all members of the imperial family, is buried in the Peter and Paul Cathedral in Saint Petersburg. In one of her letters, Empress Maria Feodorovna refers to it as a "Monument," and in the contract with the architect Carlo Domenico Visconti, she calls it a "Temple." The modern name is "To the Benefactor-Spouse" or "Mausoleum of Paul I."

Jermaine

Fountain "Four Sphinxes" or "Four Witches"

Pulkovskoye Highway, 74, Saint Petersburg, Russia, 196140

Petersburg: Unusual Monuments and Places

Samson Sukhanov: Master of Stonework

Petersburg: Egyptian Motifs

Great Architects: Jean Thomas de Thomon

At the corners of the rectangular pedestal stood sphinxes, which had "the body of a lion and the head and chest of a girl." Many architects believed that "in terms of originality and artistic value, the Tomonovsky fountain with sphinxes near Pulkovo Hill is unparalleled." The sphinxes were also made of granite; earlier they appeared to be bronze, then, when they turned green from dampness and were covered with moss, the locals nicknamed them the "Fountain of Witches" or the "Four Witches." Now they have been cleaned, but the name has stuck.

Jermaine

Molvinskaya Column

Liflyandskaya St., 12, Saint Petersburg, Russia, 198099

Samson Sukhanov: Master of Stonework

Great Architects: Auguste Montferrand

At the entrance to Yekateringof Park stands a six-meter column made of red granite—a work by Auguste Montferrand. On the grounds of the current 19th-century St. Petersburg park "Yekateringof," the only preserved monument is the six-meter Molvinskaya Column, located on the right bank of the Tarakanovka near the Molvinsky Bridge. The monument appeared on the territory of Yekateringof Park in the summer or early autumn, but no later than November 1824.

Jermaine

Rostral Columns

Birzhevaya Square, 1 building 2, Saint Petersburg, Russia, 199034

Petersburg: Unusual Monuments and Places

Samson Sukhanov: Master of Stonework

Great Architects: Jean Thomas de Thomon

One of the symbols of Saint Petersburg is an integral part of the ensemble of the Spit of Vasilievsky Island. Two rostral columns were erected between 1805 and 1810 according to the design of the French architect Thomas de Thomon, who decorated them with ship prows on both sides of Vasilievsky Island.

Jermaine