Ostrovsky Square is one of the underrated squares in St. Petersburg tour, in which you can find several important buildings, including Alexandrinsky theatre, Russian National Library, the Head Office of Oktyabrskaya Railway, Anichkov Palace, and one of the most impressive monuments to Catherine the Great. This square would be one of the public places that you must visit during your travel to Russia. However, it may be included on your Russia tour, if you want to see a Russian ballet performance on your trip to Russia since Alexanderinsky Theatre is the second most famous theatre hall in St. Petersburg. The Square complex is a masterwork by one of the most prominent Italian architects in St. Petersburg, Carlo Rossi.
Among all the city squares in St. Petersburg, Russia, The Ostrovsky Square is one of the most important and interesting ones. Besides all the important buildings around this Square, including the Alexandrinsky Theatre, the Russian National Library, The Theatre Museum, and Anichkov Palace, The Ostrovsky Square is the vital connection between Nevsky prospect, Fontanka River Embankment, Carlo Rossi Street, and Lomonosov Square. On top of that, it's also one of the most beautiful and historical squares in St. Petersburg that you can visit during your travel to Russia. Like many other urban complexes in St. Petersburg, Ostrovsky Square designed by one of the top Italian architects in St. Petersburg, Carlo Rossi, who had designed The Arts Square and Senate Square as well. The same as other squares, the complete area, including streets and buildings around them are also the design of his brilliant mind. For example, just like in the Arts Square that he went and designed the Mikhailovsky Palace, and the Senate Square, in which he had reconstructed the Senate and Synod Building, on Ostrovsky Square, he put Alexanderinsky Theatre as the centerpiece of his plan for this area. In the middle of the 18th century, all the territories from the Sadovaya Ulitsa to the Fontanka River was belonged to the Anichkov Palace, which included the palace, its gardens, fountains, and ponds. However, at the beginning of the 19th century, in 1818, the Anichkov's estate had replanned, which had created a space between the Anichkov Garden and newly-constructed Public Library, designed by Carlo Rossi.
That free space between two of the major attractions of Russia tour in St. Petersburg was ideal for a small city square, for that reason, Carlo Rossi was once again commissioned to design another architectural complex in St. Petersburg. Whenever Rossi commissioned to create an architectural complex, he chose a centerpiece for his design, and on that project, he had chosen Alexandrinsky Theatre as the centerpiece of Ostrovsky Square. The Theatre took about ten years to be completed. Rossi had used six columns, several theatrical ornaments, and multiple sculptors to decorate the façade of the theatre. One of the main features of the Ostrovsky Square, which you will visit during your travel to Russia, is the monument to Catherine the Great. This monument was installed at the center of the square in 1873. Mikhail Mikeshin had created this monument to honor Catherine the Great and all of her works to shape the culture, art, and develop the society of St. Petersburg during her reign. The main part of the monument is a standing statue of Catherine the Great on a stand, which is surrounded by various prominent figures of her era. Besides the centerpiece of his design and the area in front of it, Carlo Rossi went and reconstructed the area around his design as well, including the Theatre Stree, which later changed to Carlo Rossi Street in honor of his work. Several other buildings had constructed on the square from the end of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century, such as the Russian revival building of the Basin Apartment and the Society of the Moscow-Vindavo-Rybinsk Railway, which was a fine example of the neoclassical architecture.
In the modern era, various architects have attempted to add a new building to the square that can blend in the theme of Carlo Rossi's design. Though at first, it was supposed to house a modern and luxurious hotel, it's now the offices of a Gazprom subsidiary. The same as the Arts Square, which was initially called the Mikhailovsky Square after the centerpiece of the project, the Ostrovsky Square was also called the Alexandrinsky Square after the Alexanderinsky Theatre at first. However, the square's name had changed in 1923, in honor of the work of Alexander Ostrovsky, one of the greatest Russian playwright of the 19th century. This Square is one of the places that you should visit on your tour to Russia, especially if you want to see a Russian ballet or theatre performance on your tour to Russia, you can attend one of the Alexanderinsky Theatre's programs. The Theatre Museum next to the Alexanderinsky Theatre is another reason that makes this square as one of your destination on your tour to St. Petersburg.
Alexandrinsky Theatre
Alexandrinsky Theatre is the second well-known theater in St. Petersburg after the Mariinsky Theatre, and it's one of the oldest theatrical troupe in Russia. The neoclassical design of its building and the fact that it's the centerpiece of one of the most beautiful architectural complexes in the St. Petersburg tour makes it quite important in architecture tour to Russia. However, since it is also one of the most famous theaters in Russia, it's a good place for people who want to see a performance of Russian ballet or other forms of performance art on their tour to Russia. The façade of the building features a statue of Apollo's chariot for the pediment and two theatrical muses, the Melpomene muse of tragedy and Thalia the muse of comedy. Carlo Rossi's design for the Alexanderinsky Theatre granted him a special box inside the theater next to Emperor's box, since Nicholas I was quite impressed by the work he had done in the project.
Monument to Catherine the Great
Catherine the Great reign have always been called the golden age of Russia because of her efforts and work to improve the life and education of people, and developing the culture of St. Petersburg. One of the most impressive monuments to her has been installed on the Ostrovsky Square since 1873. Mikhail Meshkin, one of the prominent Russian artists of that time, had designed and created this monument. One of the interesting features of this monument is that Catherine the Great is surrounded by some of the most prominent figures of that time, including Alexander Suvorov, Peter Rumyantsev, Alexei Orlov, Gavrila Derzhavin, and Dashkova. Catherine the Great had greatly admired art, literature, culture, and beautiful things, having her monument installed on Ostrovsky Square, which is surrounded by Alexanderinsky Theatre, Russian National Library, Theatre Museum, etc. might be the best action toward remembering her memories. You can visit this monument on your tour to Russia. If you're interested in finding out other monuments to the prominent leaders of Imperial Russia, you can head out to our website at the Star Travel Group and check out our travel to Russia guides.
Theater Museum
Theatre Museum locates next to Alexanderinsky Theatre. It's one of the branches of The State Museum of Theatre and Music, which we at the Star Travel Group would recommend a visit to this museum to people who have decided to see an art performance on their tour to St. Petersburg. Since it took only 45 minutes to one hour to fully tour around this museum, it would be the perfect plan to arrive at Ostrovsky Square an hour sooner than your show begins.
If you like to learn more about other Russia attractive places that you can visit during your Russia tour, you can always read our posts at our weblog at the Star Travel Group website. We have provided some other useful facts and tips on how to travel to Russia, as well as introducing our top picks on shopping centers in Russia and the best traditional Russian meals that you can try during your journey through Russia.
