Great Architects: Jean Thomas de Thomon

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Jean Thomas de Thomon (1760â€“1813) was a French architect. At the invitation of Prince A. M. Golitsyn, he came to Russia (1799), where he received the title of academician at the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts (1800) and professor of architecture (1810). From 1802, he served as a court architect. By order of Empress Maria Feodorovna, he created a garden temple-mausoleum in memory of Paul I in Pavlovsk (1807â€“1809). In the capital itself, buildings were rebuilt according to the master's designs, including the Laval House (now the building of the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation, English Embankment, 4), the famous Stock Exchange (Central Naval Museum, Birzhevaya Square, 4), and fountains that existed at the time along the road to Tsarskoye Selo were put into operation. Several noble mansions were also built in Saint Petersburg. He published the drawings of his main structures in a separate collection; in addition, he wrote and printed a treatise on art history with accompanying engravings, drawings, and plans. Unfortunately, no portraits of the architect have been preserved.

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

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

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

The Bolshoi Theatre (Stone Theatre) of Saint Petersburg, which cost the lives and health of two great architects

Teatralnaya Square, 3, Saint Petersburg, Russia, 190000

Great Architects: Antonio Rinaldi

Great Architects: Jean Thomas de Thomon

The Bolshoi Theatre (Stone Theatre) was a St. Petersburg theatre that existed from 1784 to 1886; since 1886, it has been the St. Petersburg Conservatory. It was the first permanent theatre in Saint Petersburg, the largest in Russia, and one of the largest theatrical buildings in Europe from the 18th to the first half of the 19th century. It was located on Theatre Square in Saint Petersburg. In 1886, the Stone Theatre building was partially dismantled and rebuilt into the modern building of the St. Petersburg Conservatory.

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

Monument to Beloved Parents

Unnamed Road, Saint Petersburg, Russia, 196621

Petersburg, Suburbs: The Secrets of Pavlovsk

Imperial Parks: Pavlovsk

Great Architects: Jean Thomas de Thomon

Originally, this was a memorial pavilion for Sister Maria Fyodorovna - Frederika.

Jermaine

Jean-François Thomas de Thomon - History and Place of Burial

Great Architects: Jean Thomas de Thomon

French draftsman and architect who worked in Russia. A representative of early Alexandrian Classicism of the early 19th century. Academician and professor of the Imperial Academy of Arts.

Jermaine

The House of Countess A.G. Laval

English Embankment, 4, Saint Petersburg, Russia, 190000

Petersburg: Unusual and Interesting Houses

Great Architects: Jean Thomas de Thomon

Great Architects: Andrey Nikiforovich Voronikhin

On the English Embankment, there are many magnificent mansions, but one of the most remarkable is the former mansion of Countess A. G. Laval. "Wealth, splendor! A tall house on the Neva's shore, a staircase carpeted, lions at the entrance…" — this is how the poet Nikolai Alekseevich Nekrasov described this house in his poem *Russian Women*.

Jermaine