Mountain building (school, institute)

The building of the Mining Institute on Vasilievsky Island, next to the Blagoveshchensky Bridge, occupies the first block from the Gulf of Finland, developed in the 1720s with residential houses based on a standard design by Domenico Trezzini. Five two-story residential buildings on basements with high porches were built here. Founded in 1773 by Catherine II, the Mining School was housed in two houses purchased from Count Sheremetev. By that time, they had been combined into one building located at the corner of the embankment and the 22nd line. In 1773-1774, these houses were redesigned to meet the needs of the educational institution. It completes the city panorama in the Neva water area, visible from the Winter Palace, and is the first to greet guests arriving by sea to the northern capital.

The transformation of the Mining School into the Mining Cadet Corps in 1804 led to a sharp increase in the number of students and staff, and the old scattered two-story houses became cramped and inconvenient, and the "composition of the buildings did not correspond to the dignity and importance of the institution." Therefore, a decision was made to build a new main building with a front facade on the embankment. The chief architect was appointed A. N. Voronikhin, with A. E. Staubert as his assistant. In 1806, Voronikhin prepared the project and estimate, approved by the emperor. From 1806 to 1811, the front part of the new building was constructed. The recently acquired two-story buildings were brought under one roof without disturbing their load-bearing structures. Thus, to this day, the walls of the 1720s buildings can be seen from the courtyard side. The Russian architect Voronikhin designed a new monumental building in the neoclassical style, stretched along the Neva riverbank for an entire block, with the "main facade" facing the river. Thanks to this approach, the construction of the building was completed in a short time from 1806 to 1811. The architect managed to unite the entire main facade into a single building with broken outlines and connect it with the side facades of the Corps.

The foundation of the building was laid on May 27, 1806; by autumn 1808, the entire building was roughly completed and covered with an iron roof, and in spring 1809, the finishing and decoration of the building began. For the erection of columns and decoration of the building, the master stonemason and contractor Samson Sukhanov was invited. In 1807–1808, his team carved, fluted, and installed twelve columns made of "Pudov stone," with "circular pads" from "Putilov slabs." Part of the "column pieces" left over after the construction of the Kazan Cathedral was also used for their erection. Sukhanov's team also carved and laid the plinth from "Putilov slabs," and the master himself carved the capitals for the columns and pilasters from "Pudov stone." In May 1809, Samson Sukhanov signed a contract for the supply and finishing of "the best single-layer Pudov stone during the summer for making two sculptural groups and two bas-reliefs on the friezes."

The construction and decoration of the Mining Corps building were completed in 1811. On the Neva embankment at the "sea gates" of the capital, a building in the form of an ancient Greek temple rose, with a protruding central part — a risalit with a raised mountain-shaped roof and slightly set-back wide wings. The main entrance to the new building was highlighted by a classical portico with massive Doric columns supporting a high heavy triangular pediment. Next to it are sculptures "Hercules strangling Antaeus" and "The Abduction of Proserpina" by Pimenov and Demut-Malinovsky. The upper part of the walls on the sides of the portico is decorated with bas-relief friezes five sazhen long and one and a half arshins high, depicting scenes from the life of the god of fire and crafts, Vulcan, allegorically emphasizing the importance of mining. The right bas-relief shows "Apollo coming to Vulcan for his chariot," and the left shows "Venus demanding armor from Mars."

Sources:

https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Здание_Санкт-Петербургского_горного_института

https://walkspb.ru/istoriya-peterburga/zd/leit-shmidt49