Alms-houses (entry)

Categories / Social Life/Charity
Categories / Religion. Church/Reigious Organizations
ALMS-HOUSES, boarding institutions for poor, ill and aged people. The first alms-houses set up in St. Petersburg were attached to churches, the first ones being theHoly Ascension Church in Shpalernaya Street (1713) and St. Sampson’s Church (the 1730s) on Vyborgskaya Side. Later, alms-houses appeared attached to chapels at Smolenskoe Cemetery and Volkovskoe Cemetery. As a rule, these small alms-houses (for 10-30 people) were supported only by donations, and clergymen and family members of people who lived there. Old Believers also arranged alms-houses near their cemeteries (Volkovskaya alms-house, 1784; Malookhtinskaya alms-house, 1792). In 1760, alms-houses attached to orthodox churches were subordinated to the Board of Social Care and the state started providing for them. In 1781, the city alms-houses were opened, providing for some 3,000 residents of various confessions by the end of the 19th century. At 1 Smolnogo Street, from 1803, there was the Home of Widows, supervised by the Department of Institutions of the Empress Maria. The Home for the Poor was also subordinated to the said Department, while Isidorovsky home for Cripples, the alms-house of Saltykova at 8 Utkin Lane, the Kozmins Home at 25 Kondratyevsky Avenue and other institutions were subordinated to the Imperial Philanthropic Society. Many cripples and paupers were kept in alms-houses arranged by private individuals, corporate societies and parish communities. For instance, the Eliseev family financed the Elizavetinskaya alms-house at 30-32 Third Line of Vasilievsky Island and the Eliseev Charitable Institutions, now at 3 Metallistov Avenue. The society of Tradesmen financed the Nikolaevsky Care Home, 20 Rasstannaya Street, the Society of Bourgeoisie financed Charitable institutions at 95 Moskovsky Avenue, and the Society of Theatres financed the Refuge for Actors at 5 Petrovsky Avenue. Domestic chapels functioned in almost all the alms-houses. From the middle of the 19th century parish alms-houses Homes of Diligence of Petrovsky Society and Nevsky Societies and diocesan alms-houses (Alexander Nevsky care home, Alexander-Mariinsky care home) started to appear. Alms-houses were included into the structure of all the Orthodox and Non-Orthodox parish charitable institutions. In 1918, all the alms-houses were transferred to the state; some of them survive to the present day under other names.

Reference: Исаков П. Н. Справочная книжка о благотворительных учреждениях и заведениях С.-Петербурга. СПб., 1911; Справочник о благотворительных учреждениях, действующих в городе С.-Петербурге. СПб., 1913.

V. V. Antonov. Alexander Nevsky, Duke
Antonov Viktor Vasilievich
Elizaveta Petrovna, Empress
Maria Fedorovna, Empress
Nicholas I, Emperor
Peter I, Emperor
Saltykova
the Eliseevs
the Kozmins
3d Line of Vasilievsky Island/Saint Petersburg, city, house 32
3d Line of Vasilievsky Island/Saint Petersburg, city, house 30
Kondratevsky Ave/Saint Petersburg, city, house 25
Metallistov Ave/Saint Petersburg, city, house 3
Moskovsky Ave/Saint Petersburg, city, house 95
Petrovsky Ave/Saint Petersburg, city, house 5
Rasstannaya St./Saint Petersburg, city, house 20
Shpalernaya St./Saint Petersburg, city
Smolnogo St./Saint Petersburg, city, house 1
Utkin Ave/Saint Petersburg, city, house 8
Выборгская сторона
Справочник о благотворительных учреждениях, действующих в городе С.-Петербурге. СПб., 1913
Исаков П. Н. Справочная книжка о благотворительных учреждениях и заведениях С.-Петербурга. СПб., 1911 Smolenskoe Cemeteries
Volkovskoe Cemeteries
City Hospices
Widows' House
Empress Maria's Department of Institutions
Old Believers
Public Assistance Board
Isidore's House for Paupers