From the days that Peter the Great had moved the capital to its newly founded city of St. Petersburg in 1703, many people have contributed to building the city. St. Petersburg remained the imperial capital of Russia for two centuries, and after the October Revolution in 1917, when the Bolshevik government moved the capital back to Moscow, it remained one of the important cities of Russia. St. Petersburg has been recognized as the cultural center of Russia since the beginning, with halls, such as Mariinsky Theatre and Alexanderinsky Theatre hosting Russian ballet, opera, drama, and classic concerts; art and cultural museums, such as the State Hermitage Museum, Museum of Applied Art, and Faberge Museum displaying Russian art and culture; historical museum, such as Kunstkamera and Russian State Museum depicting the history and social life in Russia.
St. Petersburg is also one of the most beautiful cities of Russia, with loads of gardens and parks inside the city, such as the Summer Garden, the Mikhailovsky Garden, and Alexander Garden, and gardens in the suburban area, such as the Peterhof’s Upper Garden and Nizhny Park, Pushkin and Pavlovsk’s parks, and Oranienbaum. These parks and gardens have helped St. Petersburg to become one of the most beautiful cities in Russia, but they’re not the only reason behind St. Petersburg’s beauty; the architecture of the city also has many admirers among millions of people who have visited St. Petersburg on their travel to Russia.
Peter the Great was one of the most open-minded emperors of Russia because unlike his predecessors, he was open to bringing the western culture into Russia; Peter the Great had built one of the most beautiful cities in Russia by bringing various artists from the European countries to help him in building his new capital. One of the first group of artists who have been invited to Russia by Peter the Great were architects. Among all the artists who were invited to Russia, French and Italian architects were the most prominent ones, and you can still find their participation and impact all over the city if you visit St. Petersburg on your tour to Russia. We have already told you about the most prominent Italian architects in St. Petersburg, and now we’re going to pick our notable French architects in St. Petersburg how have helped Peter the Great to create his precious capital.
Jean-Baptiste le Blond
Among all the people, especially the French architects who have worked hard to make St. Petersburg what it is today, Jean-Baptiste le Blond would be placed on the top of the list, despite his short contribution in St. Petersburg. He had arrived in St. Petersburg sometime around 1716 by invitation, and he instantly fascinated Peter the Great with his talent and creativity, which made the emperor gave him the title of General Architect, who was in charge of planning, constructing, and decorating St. Petersburg, Peterhof, and Strelna. Jean-Baptiste le Blond had planned the upper garden in Peterhof and the Summer Garden, besides the amount of work he had done in planning the architectural development in St. Petersburg and decorating the city. He had done all of these works in less than three years, while several prominent figures, including Alexander Menishkov, who was the governor of St. Petersburg at the time or Carlo Rastrelli, didn’t approve him or his method. Unfortunately, Jean-Baptiste le Blond died in 1719, but you can still witness his exceptional work by visiting St. Petersburg on your Russia tour. The Summer Garden and Upper Garden in Peterhof are only part of Russia attractive places in St. Petersburg tour that Jean-Baptiste le Blond had done among his other contributions in urban planning of St. Petersburg, Peterhof, and Strelna.
Jean-Baptiste Vallin de la Mothe
When we’re calling the top prominent French architects in St. Petersburg, after Jean-Baptiste le Blond, we have to name Jean-Baptiste Vallin de la Mothe next because, during the surge of neoclassicism in St. Petersburg, he was one of the first and top architects, who have worked there. Vallin de la Mothe arrived at St. Petersburg in 1759 to tech architecture in the Academy of Art, but he started to collaborate with other architects the moment he stepped foot in St. Petersburg. Vallin de la Mothe never supervise his designs, that’s why there is at least one other name on the projects he had completed, such as New Holland, which he collaborated with the Russian architect Savva Chevakinsky. His first significant works were the completion of Bolshoi Gostiny Dvor, which Antonio Rinaldi had worked on previously, and the Catholic Church of St. Catherine. His most valued work in St. Petersburg is the Academy of Art building, in which he collaborated with Alexander Kokorinov. Besides the buildings, Jean-Baptiste Vallin de la Mothe had also taught at the Academy of Art, in which he instructed the minds of various future Russian architects, including Vasiliy Bazhenov, Ivan Starov, and many others. By the time that he returned to France, the neoclassicism had dominated St. Petersburg with several significant buildings, which you can visit on your tour to Russia. Most of Jean-Baptiste Vallin de la Mothe projects have also survived to this day, which you can visit when you travel to Russia, including New Holland, Yusupov Palace, Bolshoi Gostiny Dvor, Small Hermitage, Academy of Art, and several interior designs in Winter Palace. One of the main reasons behind his success in St. Petersburg was the fact that Catherine the Great admired his area of expertise, which was neoclassicism.
Jean-Francois Thomas de Thomon
Some of the French architects in St. Petersburg didn’t do a lot of works, however, their works were so important that we have to put their name on our list, such as Jean-Francois Thomas de Thomon, who fled to Russia after the Revolution of 1789 in France. Thomas de Thomon was invited to St. Petersburg to teach at the Imperial Academy of Art, and his first major project in St. Petersburg was reconstruction of Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre (Now demolished and occupied by St. Petersburg Conservatory), which placed him on the highest rank of architects in St. Petersburg; however, his first and the most major project of him was the Strelka, in which he had designed the Old Exchange building, the square in front of it, and the two magnificent Rostral Columns. Though Thomas de Thomon had designed several other projects, including the fountain in front of Kazan Cathedral, Mausoleum of Paul I in Pavlovsk, and many other fountains, the Sterlka complex would be his best and top works in St. Petersburg. Thomas de Thoman had died during the reconstruction of the Kammeny Theatre after a fire struck it and buried in the Smolenskoe Cemetery. While he didn’t have many projects in St. Petersburg, his Strekla complex is still one of the major St. Petersburg attractive places, which you can visit on your tour to Russia.
Auguste de Montferrand
Among all the French architects who had worked in St. Petersburg, Auguste de Montferrand was one of the exceptional talents. Although he had only completed one building in St. Petersburg, his work has become one of the top Russia attractive places in the St. Petersburg tour. Auguste de Montferrand was the architect if well-known St. Isaac’s Cathedral, which is one of the top orthodox cathedrals in St. Petersburg that you can visit on your tour to Russia. St. Isaac’s Cathedral took almost forty years to be completed, and De Montferrand had supervised every minute of that work; however, during the construction, he was commissioned several other jobs, including building the Alexander Column in Palace Square, which was a dedication to his mentor, Alexander I; monument to Nicholas I, which was a commission from Alexander II, and several reconstructions works, but the St. Isaac’s Cathedral is the only building he had built in St. Petersburg that you can visit on your Russia Tour.
As you can see, various French prominent architects have worked in St. Petersburg to make it what it is today, and these names are only small parts of that group. We at the Star Travel Company recommend our tourist visit our weblog to find out more about the top Russia attractive places, including the places they can visit on their tour to St. Petersburg, or places you can go when you visit Moscow, and many other tips and pieces of advice that we can give you about how to Travel to Russia.
