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

The house project was designed by V. F. Ivanov for Valentin Petrovich Kanchielov, who also owned a huge income house on the opposite side of the street, with another facade facing the Catherine Canal (Griboedov Canal Embankment, 100). A beautiful, elegant facade in the Art Nouveau style.

During construction, the project was slightly modified, and the facade became even more expressive.

A tall gable appeared, giving the facade monumentality. The decorative details became more restrained, now closer to "Northern Art Nouveau." Currently, the facade is distorted. Some decorative details have disappeared—and most importantly, the tall gable is gone, and the building has lost its monumentality. However, for the most part (though not entirely), the elegant decoration has been preserved.

Medallions with Athena and an owl are located between the third and fourth floors, but they can still be seen. Athena’s owl, or Minerva’s owl, serves as a symbol of knowledge, wisdom, insight, and erudition throughout the Western world. In ancient Greek mythology, the little owl traditionally represented or accompanied Athena, the virgin goddess of wisdom, who is also Minerva, identified in Roman mythology with Athena. The image was metaphorically used in modern philosophy as well: the aphorism by Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel about Minerva’s owl, which takes flight (or spreads its wings) only at dusk, symbolizes the impossibility for humans to fully comprehend the present state of affairs.

In 1914, the 3rd City Charity for the Poor was located here. By 1915, the charity oversaw 8 institutions: two cheap canteens, a permanent shelter, a second temporary shelter, a nursery, a free children’s canteen, a sewing workshop, and a shoemaking workshop. Funding was provided by the State Duma and, of course, private donations.

Sources:

https://alfa-delta.livejournal.com/141195.html

https://www.citywalls.ru/house2121.html