Birzhevaya Square

Categories / City Topography/Urban Network/Squares
BIRZHEVAYA SQUARE, translated as Exchange Square, in 1937-89 - Pushkinskaya Square. The square lies on the spit of Vasilievsky Island between Universitetskaya Embankment and Makarova Embankment. It appeared in the early 18th century with wind mills and Vasily Korchmin's artillery battery situated nearby. The Stroganov family's house was built in 1716 (not preserved) to accommodate the Academic Gymnasium and Academic University in the mid-to-late 18th century. The so-called Illumination Theatre was situated at the head in the mid-18th century. As designed by architect J. F. Thomas de Thomon in the early 1800s, the square was given a semi-circular shape by adding soil to the bank. The major focus was on the Stock Exchange Building constructed in 1805-16 and now accommodating the Naval Museum. A granite embankment leading down to the Neva was erected in 1804-10. There are two Rostral Columns standing symmetrically on the edges of the square. Two warehouses, the southern and northern, were built symmetrical and similar in appearance at 2 and 6 Birzhevaya Square in 1826-32. Today, the southern warehouse accommodates the Zoological Museum and the northern warehouse - the Museum of Soil Science. A park was set up by landscaper P. I. Wiese in 1896 and redesigned by architect L. A. Ilyin in 1926. Two five-span bridges - Dvortsovy Bridge and Birzhevoy Bridge - built in 1916 and 1960 emphasise the symmetry of the square. In honour of the 300th anniversary of St. Petersburg, an anchor of the early 18th century found in the district of the Harbour was laid in the park of Birzhevaya Square in 2003.

Reference: Никитенко Г. Ю., Соболь В. Д. Василеостровский район: Энцикл. улиц С.-Петербурга. 2-е изд., испр. и доп. СПб., 2002. С. 30-34.

G. Y. Nikitenko. Ilyin Lev Alexandrovich
Korchmin Vasily
the Stroganovs
Thomas de Thomon Jean-Francois
Wiese Vladimir Ivanovich
Birzhevaya Square/Saint Petersburg, city, house 6
Birzhevaya Square/Saint Petersburg, city, house 2
Birzhevaya Square/Saint Petersburg, city
Makarova Embankment/Saint Petersburg, city
Universitetskaya Embankment/Saint Petersburg, city
Никитенко Г. Ю., Соболь В. Д. Василеостровский район: Энцикл. улиц С.-Петербурга. 2-е изд., испр. и доп. СПб., 2002 Rostral Columns
Museum of Zoology
Dokuchaev Central Museum of Soil Science
1810