Malaya Sadovaya St., 8, Saint Petersburg, Russia, 191023
The plot at the corner of Malaya Sadovaya (house 1) and Italian Street (house 25) belonged in the mid-18th century to Count Ivan Shuvalov. This determined the first name of the current Malaya Sadovaya — Shuvalov or Shuvalovsky Lane, since a mansion was built there for Count Ivan Shuvalov, favorite of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna and the first curator of Moscow State University. At the same time, the name New Lane also existed. From 1836, the name Malaya Sadovaya Street appeared. In 1873, a monument to Catherine II was opened in line with Malaya Sadovaya on the opposite side of Nevsky Prospect, and on April 16, 1887, Malaya Sadovaya was renamed "Ekaterininskaya" (Catherine Street). This name lasted until the revolution. In September 1918, a number of streets and squares in the city center were renamed. Ekaterininskaya Street became Proletkult Street (in house 2 in 1918, the cultural and educational and literary-artistic organization "Proletarian Culture" was located). However, at the end of the war and after it, most of these toponyms were restored to their historical names, and on June 28, 1948, Proletkult Street once again became Malaya Sadovaya.
On Malaya Sadovaya Street, there are two small, inconspicuous monuments: to the cat Elisei and the cat Vasilisa. According to one, the most popular version, the two figurines facing each other on Malaya Sadovaya are a monument to Yaroslavl cats. The countless hordes of rats became a terrible danger for the starving blockade survivors, attacking half-dead people. City rats, accustomed to feeding on human waste, lost their main food source since people could not afford to throw away even a crumb of bread. Hungry rats became one of the terrible nightmares of the blockade survivors: in search of food, they attacked half-dead people, and their migratory flows to grain elevators could not be stopped even by tank caterpillars. Soon after the blockade was broken, a strategic shipment was sent to Leningrad — 4 wagons of smoky cats from the Yaroslavl region (smoky cats were considered the best rat catchers). Eyewitnesses said the cats were snatched up instantly, with queues forming for them. In January 1944, a kitten in Leningrad cost 500 rubles, while a kilogram of bread was sold by hand for 50 rubles. As soon as the blockade was lifted, another cat mobilization took place. This time cats were recruited in Siberia specifically for the needs of the Hermitage and other Leningrad palaces and museums: 5,000 cats from Omsk, Tyumen, and Irkutsk were sent to Leningrad, who honorably fulfilled their task — clearing the Hermitage of rodents.
On January 25, 2000, in memory of these events, a figurine of the Cat Elisei was installed on Malaya Sadovaya Street.
The cat is 33 cm tall and weighs 25 kg. Cat Elisei sits proudly on the corner of house No. 8 on Malaya Sadovaya Street, watching the people walking below. But since the Cat soon became "bored" alone, St. Petersburg historian Sergey Lebedev proposed placing the figure of the Cat’s companion, the cat Vasilisa, on the cornice of one of the houses on the same Malaya Sadovaya. She settled on the cornice of the second floor of house No. 3 on Malaya Sadovaya. Small and graceful, slightly bending her front paw and raising her tail, she coquettishly looks upwards.
The two life-sized animal sculptures were modeled and cast in metal by the famous animal sculptor Vladimir Petrovichev.
There is a belief that whoever manages to toss a coin to the cats will surely be lucky. But even if all the coins are spent in unsuccessful attempts to toss them onto the "pedestal" of Elisei or Vasilisa, there is no need to be upset. Whispering any fantasies into the keyhole is allowed, and completely free of charge. It is said that if you spin the sphere with your hand — the fountain will grant a wish. Wishes are also granted by the dog Gavryusha, but you need to write your wish on a leaf of paper and put it in the mailbox hanging on the wall next to the monument. And if you are lucky, you can hear early in the morning or late at night how the cats — Vasilisa and Elisei, located opposite each other right on the houses — are talking to each other.
The fate of the founder of the photographer dynasty Karl is also unusual. Being a child from a wealthy and respected German family, he unexpectedly for everyone climbed aboard a steamer sailing to Russia. Here he studied photography from the basics and, apparently possessing a commercial streak, opened his own workshop and became famous throughout Petersburg. The master's sons followed in their father's footsteps. By the way, the studio is still located in the same building, and the bronze Karl and his dog are dearly loved by tourists and locals alike.
A fountain of interesting design with a large marble sphere in the center. This is an exact copy of a Peterhof structure, and the author is none other than Lomonosov. The heating systems are arranged so that there is never ice around. The sphere rotates under the influence of water. But if you stand with your back to Nevsky Prospect, stop the sphere, and look closely into it, you will see a pattern of a black keyhole, as if for an old-fashioned key, intricately composed of silhouettes and openings of houses. Who knows whether this was intended when installed or happened by chance, but checking wishes with this strange hole has become another ritual when visiting Malaya Sadovaya.
At the corner of Malaya Sadovaya (house 3) and Nevsky Prospect (house 54) in the 18th century stood the Demidov house (architect unknown). In the 19th century, the house was rebuilt twice. The first time in 1841 it was extended according to the project of architect Pel. The second time in 1882–1883, Suvorov completely rebuilt the house with changes to the facades. By that time, the house passed into the ownership of Ushakov and became known as Ushakov’s income house. In 1843, the singer Pauline Viardot lived in this house. In 2002, commemorative plaques "Blockade Radio" and "Blockade Hairdresser" were installed on the building.
At the corner of Malaya Sadovaya (house 8) and Nevsky (house 56) is the Eliseevsky store (architect Baranovsky). From the semi-basement of this house in early 1881, Narodnaya Volya members dug a tunnel preparing an assassination attempt on Alexander II. On March 1, 1881, the assassination was prepared but did not take place because the emperor did not pass through Malaya Sadovaya that day. Currently, the service entrance of the Comedy Theater is located approximately at this place.
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