Elizabeth of Russia, daughter of Peter the Great could be named as the founder of Russian Theater. During her reign, many theater and troupes formed by the direct order of her. One of these theaters is the Alexandrinsky Theater at the heart of Saint Petersburg.
The Alexandrinsky Theater locates at the Ostrovsky Square on the famous Nevsky Prospekt. The theater named after the Nicholas I’s wife, Alexandra Feodorovna, and currently it’s one of the UNESCO’s world heritage sites in St. Petersburg.
The Alexandrinsky Theater designed and built by the well-known Italian architect, Carlo Rossi. However, since the origin of the theater dates back years before Rossi, many architects such as Thomas de Thomon and Carl Mauduit gave their designs to build the theater and some of them even got accepted, but for many reasons, they start the construction. The French architect Thomas de Thomson's design interrupted because of the French’s invasion of Russia in 1812. The Mauduit’s design got approved too, but the architect himself didn’t so Carlo Rossi selected to finish the task. He completed the theater’s construction in the style of imperial buildings and neoclassical architecture in 1832. There’s a statue of Apollo on the roof of the main façade of theater.
The Imperial troupe of Petersburg moved to the recently built building in 1834 to perform their marvelous plays on its stages. The Imperial Troupe only performed for the Imperial family. In the mid-18th century, the building went under enormous restoration, and its capacity boosted to over 1300 people. Since then many dramas, operas, and ballets performed on its stage. Several famous artists of Russia performed their first work on its stages such as Alexandr Griboyedov, Anton Chekhov, and Ostrovsky.
The Alexandrinsky Theater's origin dates back to more than 180 years ago, and during its existence, many great artists performed on its stages. Also, there are many famous international or Russian figures such as politicians, artists, poets, and writers stepped into this theater and praised the artists who performed on its stages.
In the Soviet era, the theater name changed to The Pushkin state drama theater, but the original name was preserved among the people. Alexandrinsky known to be the home of Russian Drama and from the beginning of its existence, it’s still performing Russian and international classic drama on its stages.
The Alexandrinsky Theater closed for restoration in 2005, the goal was to restore the historical exterior and improve the interior and equipment which achieved a year later. The opening ceremony was on the 250th national Dramatic Theater's day.
Today, besides its amazing architecture which caught many tourists’ attention in the Nevsky Prospekt, or the astonishing performances on its stages, there are other attractions in the Alexandrinsky Theater that can be recognized by the people.
On the third floor of the building, there are eight halls dedicated to the theater museum in which costumes, furniture, and property of the theater display for the public. There is also a section for the theater history which can be interesting for the people who loves theater or history in general.
The cafeteria which is at the New Stage building is a great place for drinking a warm cup of coffee or tea and also as the administrators declare, it’s a public sitting room in which meetings with directors, press conferences, theater’s reviews, and many more things occur. There’s also a small bookshop that sells the books about theater and performing art.
In overall, even if you don’t have plans to witness the glory of this building's interior, or attending one of its great dramas that perform on its stages, it’s better to know about all the buildings’ architecture history on the Nevsky Prospekt before visiting, since this street would be on every St. Petersburg tour’s plan. It will help people to fully enjoy their St. Petersburg tour or their travel to Russia in general.
