St. Petersburg has many famous city squares, which each of them has played an essential role in the history of St. Petersburg and shaping the culture of the society in St. Petersburg. You can already read about two of them, The Palace Square and the Arts Square, on our weblog. Now we're going to introduce another vital city square on our weblog, the Theatre Square, which has been one of the cultural centers of St. Petersburg from the foundation of St. Petersburg.
Theatre Square is one of the oldest city squares in St. Petersburg. The history of this square dates back to the 1730s when it was known as Brumbergskaya because of the nearby Sawmills factory, Brumberg sawmills. In the middle of the 18th century, Brumbergskaya became an entertainment center for the people of St. Petersburg. All kinds of entertainment were held there, such as multiple comedy shows. The Palace Square's fanciful Carousel had moved to the square, which also changed the name of the place to Carousel. However, the real story of the Theatre Square had begun in 1783, when Catherine the Great commissioned Italian architect Antonio Rinaldi to build the "Stone Theatre" or "Bolshoi Theatre" in Carousel. The construction of the Stone Theatre immediately turned the Carousel Square from an entertainment center for the people of St. Petersburg into a cultural center for the high-class members of the society. Young officers of the military, government generals, members of the royal family, members of noble families, including countesses and counts, would have frequently visited the Stone Theatre up to three or four times a week. The number of high-class members of the society who had visited this place throughout the weeks was so much that the square was consistently packed with carriages.
At the beginning of the 19th century, in the 1810s, the square became known as the Theatre Square. An interesting fact about this square is that during winters because there were a lot of cabs at the Theatre Square waiting for their riders outside the theatre, people could see lots of outdoor pavilion burning with fire to heat the street. It's believed that Russian burn these pavilions on purpose because there was no other way to heat the street at that time, and people couldn't live in the extreme cold nights of St. Petersburg's winter. For over a century, the stone theatre was the center of culture and entertainment for the high-class and middle-class members of the St. Petersburg Society. It was considered as one of the major St. Petersburg attractive places in Russia tour for foreign visitors. However, it has been restored and reconstructed several times, until the end of 19th century. During those times, it finally decided that theatre wouldn't get another reconstruction, mainly because there was another theatre hall building on Theatre Square. Mariinsky Theatre became the main cultural center on the Theatre Square, while St. Petersburg Conservatory building used part of the Stone building walls to be constructed. In the middle of the 19th century, the Italian circus troupe Gverry had erected a wooden building on the empty site of the Stone Theatre, which got an overwhelming welcome from the people of St. Petersburg to the point that Albert Kavos had built a stone building on the site for them. However, soon the circus lost the interest of the people and the building used for more dramatic performances. Once again, Albert Kavos was commissioned to reconstruct the building, this time as theater hall, which later became the Mariinsky Theatre. The Mariinsky Theatre became one of the major theatre halls in the history of the Russian Empire era, and to this day, it hasn't been altered a lot besides some parts of its interior. It is one of the major attractions of St. Petersburg in Russia tour, which many interested tourists to see a performance of drama, opera, or even Russian ballet would visit during their tour to Russia. The Mariinsky Theatre and St. Petersburg Conservatory is not the only major buildings on this cultural centers; there is also a Byzantine-style building, which attracts the attention of the visitors, the Buchholz House and House of Morgan, which you can visit on your tour to Russia. Theatre Square also houses two monuments to two major Russian composers of all time, Rimsky-Korsakov and Glinka.
Mariinsky Theatre
Mariinsky Theatre acquired its name from Alexander II's wife, Maria Alexandrovna. Albert Kavos had chosen a simple neoclassical for its exterior design and spent most of his imagination and talent on designing the auditorium and its decoration. The history of Mariinsky Theatre began with the sudden rise and soon fallen of Italian circus troupe Guerra in St. Petersburg. The Italian troupe had at first a wooden building on the Theatre Square, and with the overwhelming welcome that they received from the public, they replace the building with a stone one. However, they soon fall out of favor of the public, but their building turned into a theater hall, which later became the Mariinsky Theatre. So even before the Mariinsky Theatre had built, that site considered as one of the major attractions of Russia tour in St. Petersburg. When it was decided to demolish the Bolshoi Theatre, Mariinsky Theatre had become the main theatre hall in St. Petersburg and become the most important theatre in the country even when Moscow Bolshoi Theatre gained an excellent reputation for its works. We at the Star Travel Group recommend our tourists who want to see an amazing performance of art on their tour to Russia, visit this theatre hall on the Theatre Square.
St. Petersburg Conservatory
Another famous building on the Theatre Square is the St. Petersburg Conservatory, which was founded in 1862 by composer Anton Rubinstein. This conservatory has seen many prominent students throughout history, among which many had become internationally known artists. From the artists who had studied in this conservatory, we can name a few, such as the most prominent and well-known Russian composer, Peter Tchaikovsky, who his name has been carved first into a marble plaque on the building. We can also point out to Rimsky-Korsakov and Glinka, which their monuments can be found in the small park of Theatre Square.
Besides the Mariinsky Theatre, the Yusupov Palace and The Museum of St. Petersburg Art (20th-21st centuries) are also near the Theatre Square, which you will visit during your tour to Russia. We at the Star Travel Group recommend our tourists who have decided to visit St. Petersburg on their travel to Russia read our weblog because they can find several tips and pieces of advice about how to travel to Russia or about the top Russia attractive places that they should visit during their journey.
