Admiralty

Peter the Great laid the foundation of the Admiralty Yard, a shipyard and a fortress, on the left bank of the Neva on November 5, 1704. The bastions of the Peter and Paul Fortress had already been built on the opposite bank with their 300 cannons guarding the entrance to the river.

After the construction of the Admiralty had started, the island washed by the Neva, the Moika and the canals was named the Admiralty Island. Only those connected with the shipyard or who served in the Navy had the right to settle there.

First among them was the tsar, or "Peter Alexeyev, a shipbuilding master", as the monarch called himself. Unlike other Russian tsars, Peter was unusually active. Most of all he liked to call at the docks. If he had a minute to spare, he would do some work at the bench. The Russian emperor had the reputation of being an excellent ship carpenter, one of the best in Europe. His first Winter Palace was erected on the same bank of the Neva, close to the shipyard.

In accordance with the rules of military engineering of that time, no buildings were constructed in the area adjacent to the Admiralty. It was what they called an esplanade, an open terrain in front of the fortification. Subsequently, two squares were formed here -- Palace Square and Senate (Decembrists') Square. Beyond the esplanade were settlements where ship-builders lived.

In the 18th century, the area east of the Admiralty remained wasteland for a long time and was known as the "Big Meadow".

According to the standards of that time, the Admiralty Yard was a large industrial enterprise employing up to 10,000 workers. During Peter's reign, 262 vessels were built here, including 23 battleships.

Peter concerned himself with training ship-builders. There was a Russian School at the shipyard where future shipbuilders learnt their trade. Specialists of a higher qualification were educated at the Marine Academy, which was also in this part of the city. Instructions on what should be taught were written by Peter himself.

Over the years the city rapidly developed, orientating itself on the Admiralty spire in the centre. With time, however, the tower grew old and dilapidated and no longer met the standard of the city's main landmark. In 1833, architect Ivan Korobov was commissioned to rebuild the Admiralty. The work took five years. The wooden tower was replaced by a stone one with a dome and a spire with a caravelle on top.

The construction and reconstruction of the Admiralty was continued by Andreyan Zakharov. He created a building which continues to fascinate people today with its faultless proportions and beauty. The dome and the spire of the previous tower were preserved. The entire edifice carries with it the idea of Russia's glory as a sea power.

The attic of the Admiralty tower has a 22-metre high relief composition, "Initiating the Fleet in Russia", which depicts Neptune, the god of the sea, handing over to Peter his trident, the symbol of his power over the sea. There are 28 statues on top of the upper columns of the tower, personifying, among other things, the four seasons of the year, the four elements (fire, air, water and the earth), and the four main directions of the wind.

Vladimir Pilyavsky, a leading St. Petersburg architect. took care of the Admiralty building during the 1941-1944 siege. After each enemy raid he doctored the wounds inflicted on the building. At one time an enemy shell hit the bas-relief figure of Themis, the goddess of justice. Pilyavsky knew that if water got inside through the hole, it would freeze and tear the statue to pieces. Weak from hunger, Vladimir Pilyavsky and sculptor Nikolai Troumpyansky nevertheless climbed up to the portico defying the icy-cold wind. A fragment of the culprit shell lay nearby. The sculptor wrapped it in a piece of newspaper and put inside the statue. Then he patched the hole up.

When repairing the spire in 1977, the restorers discovered in the hollow sphere a copy of the Peterburgskiye Vedomosti (Petersburg News) newspaper dated October 25, 1886. And they put into the golden sphere a fresh issue of Laningradskaya Pravda on which they wrote the names of those who had returned to this building its erstwhile beauty. The sphere has become sort of a mailbox. The spire was regilted and the caravelle weather-vane restored to its place on top of the spire using helicopters.

The Admiralty spire with the caravelle on top is the symbol of St. Petersburg. Today the Admiralty accommodates the Dzerzhinsky Higher Naval Engineering School.