Owls of the income house of V. V. Korelin

Apraksin Lane, 1, Saint Petersburg, Russia, 191023

At first, the architect intended to design the house in an antique style. On the blueprints, a massive Doric arcade-gallery stretches into the distance, deep into the modestly sized courtyard, while at the corner rises a belvedere tower resembling an ancient Roman temple with porticoes on all four sides. However, in reality, the Greek columns transformed into faceted Romanesque pillars, and on either side of the passage arch settled owls popular in Northern Art Nouveau.

Petersburg: The Hunt for Owls in Architectural Decor

At first, the architect intended to design the house in an antique style. On the blueprints, a massive Doric arcade-gallery stretches into the distance, deep into the modestly sized courtyard, and at the corner rises a belvedere tower resembling an ancient Roman temple with porticos on all four sides. However, in reality, the Greek columns turned into faceted Romanesque pillars, and on either side of the passage arch perched owls popular in Northern Art Nouveau.

When finishing the facades, Lishnevsky used very remarkable decor. Numerous bay windows are supported by mascarons depicting bearded old men with very colorful facial expressions, and atop their heads are perched cherubic putti. On the facade, you can see men and women in antique garments, as well as plant ornamentation. From beneath the cornice hang the beards and mustaches of mysterious old men with their tongues sticking out.

You can learn more about the house here: https://reveal.world/story/dom-v-v-korelina

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Owls of the Barsova Income House

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

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Right at the entrance of this house, an owl awaits you.

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Sadovaya St., 55-57, Saint Petersburg, Russia, 190068

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Here you can see orcs, goblins, ghouls, and monstrous owls as tall as a human; the facade and interiors of the house—Lishnevsky's fantasy—are richly decorated with fairy-tale monsters.

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A monolithic building in the Northern Modern style with pointed Gothic portals and a courtyard well. Also, there are owl figures on the facade located on either side of the main portal, and it is precisely because of them that the building is known as the House with Owls. This kind of decoration places it alongside Northern Modern style houses in Riga, Helsinki, and Stockholm.

Owls of the Protasov House (House of M. V. Voeykova)

Nevsky Ave., 70, Saint Petersburg, Russia, 191025

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Civil engineer S. I. Minash designed the building in the style of "Northern" Art Nouveau. Characteristic features of "Northern" Art Nouveau include the cladding of the lower floors with talc-chlorite stone, stylized images of owls and other birds, and hexagonal windows narrowing upwards. A glass cylinder is embedded along the central axis of the facade. The western rectangular section was set into a pointed arch portal, flanked by reliefs depicting owls. The keystone was decorated with the head of a bird with a predatory beak and stylized plumage, repeated in the decoration of the eastern hexagonal entrance narrowing upwards. The entrance to the shop, spanning the entire height of the doorway, is adorned with giant owls.

Owls on the building of the A. F. Devriens publishing house

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The building's facade is decorated with the inscription "A. F. Devriens Publishing House," dates, and two owls (symbols of "Northern Modernism").

Owls of the Badaev House

19 Vosstaniya Street, Saint Petersburg, Russia, 191036

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On the level of the fifth floor, on the side of Vosstaniya Street, three owls have nestled, one of which is above the round window of the balcony, and the other two are on the sides, at the base of the columns.

Owl of the income house of G. F. Kiselev - Hotel of the Department of Culture - Hotel of the Bolshoi Puppet Theater

12 Nekrasova St., Saint Petersburg, Russia, 191014

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The faceless facade of the house was attempted to be decorated by an unknown architect with stucco inserts, of which only the image of an owl and stylized flowers at the base of the bay window have survived.

Income House on Zhukovsky Street – Owls and Others

Zhukovskogo St., 47, Saint Petersburg, Russia, 191014

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Among the Art Nouveau houses in St. Petersburg, the building located at 47 Zhukovsky Street has one of the most comical decorations. The building is adorned with amusing mascarons. But the funniest element is the pair of crocodile-dragons at the top of the right risalit. The decor also features several owls decorating the windows in a floral pattern and the gate portal.

The House on Vosstaniya Street and Its Owls

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A modern 8-story residential building in the style of retrospectivism with 30 apartments at the intersection of Vosstaniya Street and Manezhny Lane. Styled in Art Nouveau.

Vitebsky Station - owls on the tower

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Travelers departing from Vitebsky Station have their own wise bird. The vertical dominant feature of the building is a tall clock tower with an impressive picturesque silhouette. You are usually in a hurry, rushing along, but if you take a moment to look at the clock on the tower, you can see an owl above it, spreading its wings. It is ready to take flight and invites you on a journey. Architects Brzozovsky, Ostrovsky, and Minash were well-known experts and lovers of owls. The modern-style station building was opened on August 1, 1904.

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In 1911–1912, a house in the Art Nouveau style was built according to the design of Karl Karlovich Schmidt, a representative of the "brick style" architecture. The client was the wealthy sugar factory owner Leopold Egorovich Koenig. The house turned out to be quite heavy-looking, with a round tower on the roof featuring windows that face all around. The main facade is decorated with two stylized images of large owls with long beaks, supporting the windowsills with their wings.

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The picturesque and multicolored house of Staff Captain Muyaki is adorned with ornate stucco, intricate balcony railings, and an unusual bas-relief featuring owls pecking at the heads of long-haired girls. By the way, the latter clearly do not like it.

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Right opposite the owl of the Vitebsk railway station, on building number 45 on Zagorodny Prospect, there are also owls. This building was constructed by architect Moshinsky in 1907 at the request of the widow of Lieutenant General Stahlman, and three years later it was purchased by Musin-Pushkin.

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Architect – K.A. Shulman. Built in 1901 in the Northern Modern style. This is the only building by the famous Finnish architect in Saint Petersburg; other buildings designed by him can be seen in Vyborg. One of the distinctive features of Northern Modern is the decoration of buildings with figures of animals, mythological creatures, and plant ornaments.

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The facade of the neighboring house No. 7 stands out from the general streetscape. It was built in 1913–1914 by civil engineer Vladimir Nikolaevich Smirnov for the merchant Mikhailov.

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This house zoo is the most famous building by Minash in the style of "Northern Modernism," its facade inhabited by various animals. On the scale of the Petrograd Side, it is truly a special building, and it may seem that there is no other like it in all of Petersburg. In reality, however, the building cannot be called unique in the full sense of the word, since its decor is partly inspired by the reliefs on the facade of the Bubyr house on Stremyannaya Street, 11.

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Совы можно увидеть в декоративном молдинге, обрамляющем нижнюю часть эркеров.

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One of the interesting Art Nouveau buildings is located on Malyy Prospekt of the Petrograd Side. It is the former house of the Partnership for the Arrangement of Housing of the Petrovsky Commercial School. Under the window openings of the fifth floor runs a molded frieze with an alternating pattern of drooping laurel leaves and mascarons depicting owls; below is a shield with the head of Medusa Gorgon, an attribute of the goddess Athena, and the head of the god Hermes — symbols of trade, embodying wealth.

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The Kornilov Income House was built in 1910 according to the design of architect and artist Baranovsky, by architect Alexander Baranovsky. It is guarded by a frowning and serious eagle owl with outstretched wings high up in the portico.

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The massive yet compact volume of the residential building resembles a castle. Its walls seem designed to serve as a fortress, protecting the residents' family peace from the hustle and bustle of the city.

Owl at the Academy of Arts

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The owl adorning the Academy of Arts on Vasilievsky Island sits on its roof alongside Minerva and three geniuses of the arts. Its history, rich with drama and restoration, reflects not only the fate of the sculpture but also the painting of the era of art and culture in Saint Petersburg.

Owls on Egyptian sphinxes

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On each of the sphinxes, a large number of ancient inscriptions are carved. Almost all of them were translated in 1912 by the famous orientalist Struve. The texts contain praise for King Amenhotep. Among the hieroglyphics, one can see the pictogram of an "owl."

Owl of the Manege of the Cadet Corps

Universitetskaya Embankment, 13, Saint Petersburg, Russia, 199034

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The owl is located in the semicircular pediment to the right of the head of Medusa Gorgon.

Owls on the entrance doors of the income house of R. A. Diderichs

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The doors with carved wooden owls at the top of the house at 104 Bolshoy Prospekt P.S. belong to the Dideriks income house, built according to the project of architect A. Bubyr in 1912-1914.

Income house of G.G. Zollikofer - owls of the fourth floor

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Above the fourth floor, among the fir trees and pine cones, owls have nestled.

Income House of V. P. Kanchielov - Athena and the Owl

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The medallions with Athena and the owl are located between the third and fourth floors, but they can be seen.

Private income house of Bubyr and owl on stained glass

Stremyannaya St., 11, Saint Petersburg, Russia, 191025

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In the house, there is an interesting stained glass window titled "The Guardians" featuring an owl and crows – by the artist N. M. Goncharova.

Hauger's Income House (Owl on the Bas-Relief)

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The house is unusual because it is composed of two houses (hence its double name - the V. K. Hauger House - the A. S. Zalshupin Income House). This is easy to notice – the floors are located at different heights – the windows on the right side are higher than those on the left, and the apartment numbers are divided between the two houses – odd numbers in one, even numbers in the other.