Gostiny Dvor

The growth of the city contributed to the activation of trade, while special attention was paid to the appearance of establishments intended for this purpose. In August 1832, the director of Pavlovsk petitioned for the gradual reconstruction of shops used during fairs, which had “become completely dilapidated.” According to the report, Mikhail Pavlovich decreed: I approve, but it is desirable that the reconstruction be done on both sides (south and north), because without this, it will be an eyesore on one side only. If this cannot be done in one year, then at least in two.”

In 1836, a glassware shop opened in the city, and three years later there were 23 stores and shops, two taverns, one hotel, and two inns.

In 1843, a large plot with houses on the right side of Peschany Lane (now Rosa Luxemburg Street) between Pravlenskaya Street (now Vasenko) and Konyushennaya Street, opposite Pravlenskaya Square, was acquired by a tailor master, or according to other sources, a merchant named Mütter, from his brother, the baker master Mütter. At the same time, he applied to the city administration for permission to build a Gostiny Dvor (Merchant Yard) on his plot.

The development of the project for the new trading building in Pavlovsk was entrusted to architect Stakenschneider, who created several versions, two of which are known. The approved version was confirmed by the Grand Duke on August 13, 1844, and construction began then. The project shows identical two-story wings with central risalits and triangular pediments at the corners on Pravlenskaya and Konyushennaya streets, and between them, as a separate entity, the Gostiny Dvor. The building was constructed of stone, two stories high, with a central risalit topped by a triangular pediment. The entire first floor of the Gostiny Dvor was intended for trading premises but had no external galleries. Its 13 wide windows with semicircular tops and stucco frames faced the street, while entrances to the premises were arranged from the courtyard side. The second floor in the central part had 6 paired semicircular windows with frames, and on the sides, 10 paired rectangular windows of lesser height on each side. Residential quarters and warehouses were built in the courtyard area behind the building.

The buildings with the land were sold by Mütter in 1847 to St. Petersburg honorary citizen and merchant Kalugin, who rented out the premises for trade and housing. It is known that in 1855 the shops of merchant Glushkov, selling colonial goods, and a pharmacy were located there. In 1899, the wife of pharmacist Edelstein received permission to open a shop there selling pharmaceutical, muscatel, perfumery, and haberdashery goods. In the 20th century, merchants Zhukov (who ran dairy, meat, and grocery trade) and Nizhegorodov (engaged in iron and muscatel trade) traded in the Gostiny Dvor, while the RIGHT wing housed Rosenblat’s watch workshop with a shop and a small tobacco shop.

In 1848, by decision of the owner of Pavlovsk, fairs and bazaars were abolished, all wooden buildings on Pravlenskaya Square were demolished, and an oak garden was planted. Nevertheless, the market with stalls continued to exist along Peschany Lane near the Gostiny Dvor.

After the revolution, trade in this old building and on the street around it continued until the mid-1930s. The former Gostiny Dvor building housed two stores: Household Store No. 1 and Food Store GORPO No. 2.

During the occupation, the building was damaged, and after its restoration, the shops reopened. In 1957, the building underwent major repairs and reconstruction: a third floor was added, and the exterior facade was significantly altered. At the same time, new wings were built at the corners, which had been planned by Stakenschneider’s project but not realized. Now, apartments occupy the upper floors, shops remain on the ground floor as before, and the right wing houses an art gallery.

Sources:

https://vpavlovsk.ru/gostinij-dvor/