Twelve Collegiums Building

Categories / Architecture/Architectural Monuments/Public Buildings and Edifices
TWELVE COLLEGIUMS BUILDING (7 Universitetskaya Embankment), an example of Baroque architecture, built in 1722-42 (main architect Domenico Trezzini, with the participation of architects G. Trezzini, M.G. Zemtsov and Т. Schwertfeger) to accommodate high-level public institutions, like the Senate, the Synod, and the Collegiums. The Twelve Collegiums Building was constructed according to a plan conceived by Emperor Peter the Great, which suggested the formation of the capital's civic centre on Vasilievsky Island. The elongated building (about 400 meters long), its front facing the Neva River, seems to be divided into a row of recurring sections, each partitioned with fire walls and spanning several detached roofs. Such a technique goes back to the examples of 17th century architecture, though the front decoration is typical of Peter the Great's Baroque. Trezzini's and Emperor Peter the Great's idea was to have the building's lengthy eastern facade give shape to the parade ground on the Vasilievsky Island Spit. A two-story gallery was added to the west side along the building's full length (architect G. Trezzini). The ornamental interior decoration, preserved in Peter's hall, was executed in 1736 by the Rossi Brothers (stoneworkers and sculptors) C. van Boles (cabinetmaker), and G. Musikiysky (painter). In 1835, the Twelve Collegiums Building came under the control of St. Petersburg University and was partially rebuilt (1834-38, architect A.F. Shchedrin). The open arcade was glazed, a garden was laid out along the front facade, and the front staircases, as well as a white-columned assembly hall, were built in the building's central part. During an archaeological examination held in 2001 under the supervision of P.E. Sorokin, the pavement of the in front of the southern part of the front facade, which dated back to the first half of the 18th century, was partially removed and converted into a museum exhibit. See illustrations on P. 226.

References: Грозмани [Иогансен] М. В. Строительство и первоначальный облик здания 12 коллегий - ныне главного здания Ленинградского ... университета... // Вестн. ЛГУ. 1953. № 6. С. 107-129; Иогансен М. В. Работы Доменико Трезини по планировке и застройке Стрелки Васильевского острова в Петербурге // Русское искусство XVIII века: Материалы и исслед. М., 1973. С. 45-55.

M. Buylov. Boles Harmann van
Musikiysky Grigory Semenovich
Peter I, Emperor
Schwertfeger Theodor
Shchedrin Apollon Feodosievich
Sorokin Peter Egorovich
the Rossis, painters
Trezzini Domenico
Trezzini Giuseppe
Zemtsov Mikhail Grigorievich
Universitetskaya Embankment/Saint Petersburg, city, house 7
Грозмани [Иогансен] М. В. Строительство и первоначальный облик здания 12 коллегий - ныне главного здания Ленинградского ... университета... // Вестн. ЛГУ, 1953
Иогансен М. В. Работы Доменико Трезини по планировке и застройке Стрелки Васильевского острова в Петербурге // Русское искусство XVIII века: Материалы и исслед. М., 1973 Senate
Synod
Spit of Vasilievsky Island
1722
1742