The city of St. Petersburg as the former capital of Russia before the October 1917 Revolution, counted as one of the principal historical cities of Russia. There are several extraordinary museums in this city that attract massive attention toward itself. But aside from the museums, the city architecture is quite attractive for people who love history since the city identified as an enormous museum itself. There are many historical structures from different architectural periods in history that survived until this day. Various people sign for some unique Saint Petersburg tour only to see the buildings and their architectural glory beside the other attractions.
One of the oldest parts of the St. Petersburg locates in the eastern part of the Vasilyevsky Island. There are several important buildings in Russia history located in this part of the city such as the Kunstkamera, the Academy of Sciences, and the Menshikov Palace. This district was supposed to be the center of the new Russia capital and for this very reason, several important buildings constructed around it by the order of Peter the Great including the Old Stock Exchange Building, the Kunstkamera, and the Twelve Colleges.
The Twelve Colleges which is one of the largest structures following the Petrine style of Baroque architecture that survived in St. Petersburg was intended to be the new government headquarter. Peter the Great ordered the construction of these buildings for his government which was the Senate, the Synod, the nine main ministries, and the additional ministry for trade.
The center of the new capital formed on the other side of the Neva River, since there was no permanent bridge to connect the Vasilyevsky Island and the mainland, the new government buildings' position wasn’t good enough anymore, so the higher departments sought for new offices on the other side of the Neva River. That was the end of Peter the Great’s plan to form the new capital’s center on Vasilyevsky Island.
Following this defeat, a great part of the Twelve Colleges turned to Pedagogical Institute of Saint Petersburg University in 1804, but the institute was not found until 1819. The Twelve Colleges went under enormous interior reconstruction to readjust for its new purposes. During this reconstruction, most of the interior re-designed and the only parts that remain untouched were the sculptures, murals, frieze, and the fireplaces in the Petrovsky Hall. The new Assembly lobby and the staircase were added after the reconstruction.
This 400-meter long building which is located at the eastern part of the island was designed by the famous Italian architect, Domenico Trezzini in 1722. He who was the architect of Peter and Paul Fortress designed these separated buildings in a special order to be looked like one gigantic structure. The construction continued for 22 years. During this time, several architects supervised the process such as Mikhail Zemtsov, and Trezini’s nephew. One of the differences about this building which didn’t fit with the city well was the fact that the main façade wasn't facing the Neva River. This building which is one of the largest structures that follows Petrine styles of Baroque architecture that survived till this day is now occupied by the St. Petersburg University’s administration. It also houses the Geology and Earth Sciences as well.
Currently, visitors have access to some public halls and two small museums in the building, the university history museum, and the Dmitry Medvedev memorial apartment museum. However, for security reasons, accessing the Medvedev’s museum require permission from the university administration.
Still, the main attraction of this place is the astonishing architecture of the building that caught so many visitors’ attention on Vasilyevsky Island. We recommend you to visit this place in your Saint Petersburg tour schedule if you've got enough time to wander around the Vasilyevsky Island.
