Troitskaya Square

Categories / City Topography/Urban Network/Squares
TROITSKAYA SQUARE, called Kommuny Square from 1918 to 1923, then known as Revolyutsii Square until 1991, between Kamennoostrovsky Avenue and Kuybysheva Street. The square appeared in the early 18th century on Gorodskoy (present-day Petrogradsky) Island, near Peter and Paul Fortress. The street owes its name to St. Peter's Cathedral of Holy Trinity (Troitse-Petrovsky Cathedral), taken down in 1933. In the first quarter of the 18th century, Troitskaya Square was the focal point of St. Petersburg; together with adjacent embankment (present-day Petrovskaya Embankment) it located Gostiny Dvor (Merchants' Court), the customs house, a marketplace (until 1710), the Avsteriya Inn, a printing house, the Senate, the Holy Synod and the Collegiums. A commercial port was situated nearby. In the 1730s, Troitskaya Square lost its importance as a centre of the city. In the early 19th century Troitskie "victual stores" were constructed on the side of the Neva (and were employed as storehouses; architect L. Rusca). In the 1820s the square gained lamp posts with fittings and rails; they were reconstructed in the 1950s under the supervision of architect A.L. Rotach. In 1844-45, Alexandrovsky Park was laid out north-westward of Troitskaya Square. The Troitsky Bridge spanned the Neva in 1897-1903, and granite embankment was built on the side of the Bolshaya Neva River. In 1929-33, house No. 1 was constructed (see House of Former Tsarist Political Prisoners), as were house No. 3 (for Lenniiproekt, the Scientific Research and Designing Institute for Residential Construction and Civil Engineering) and house No. 5 in 1956, connected with an arched passage (architects O.I. Guryev, V.M. Fromzel et al.). In the early 18th century Troitskaya Square was a regular place for major state ceremonies, festivals and military parades; it was also the place where fireworks were arranged and public executions held. Here on 9 January 1905, troops opened fire on a peaceful procession of workers (see Bloody Sunday). From March through July 1917 meetings and demonstrations were held on the square and in front of the mansion of Kschessinska. In 2002, Solovetsky Stone was set in the public garden on Troitskaya Square. In 2002-03, the Holy Trinity Chapel was erected by the bridge (architect A. Kitsula).

References: Филиппов С. Площадь Революции. Л., 1979; Заварихин С. П. Первая площадь Петербурга: (опыт ист.-градостроит. анализа) // Петербургские чтения. СПб., 1993. Вып. 1. С. 41-44.

G. Y. Nikitenko. Fromzel Viktor Matveevich
Guryev Oleg Ivanovich
Kitsula A.
Rotach Alexander Lukich
Rusca Luigi (Aloisy Ivanovich)
Kamennoostrovsky Ave/Saint Petersburg, city
Kuibysheva St./Saint Petersburg, city
Petrovskaya Embankment/Saint Petersburg, city
Troitskaya Square/Saint Petersburg, city
Troitskaya Square/Saint Petersburg, city, house 5
Troitskaya Square/Saint Petersburg, city, house 1
Troitskaya Square/Saint Petersburg, city, house 3
Филиппов С. Площадь Революции. Л., 1979
Заварихин С. П. Первая площадь Петербурга: (опыт ист.-градостроит. анализа) // Петербургские чтения: Науч. конф., посвящ. 290-летию С.-Петербурга. СПб., 1993 St. Peter and Paul fortress
St. Peter and Paul fortress
Avsteria Traktir
House of Tsarist Political Prisoners
Solovetsky Stone, monument
1703
1704
1714
1733
1956
1990
2002