Avsteria Traktir

Categories / City Services/Restaurants, Cafes, Cafeterias
AVSTERIA. Also know as the Osteria; traktir from the Italian meaning "public house"; austeritas, from the Latin meaning "gloomy, dark, rough". The first drinking- and gambling-house in St. Petersburg, opened circa 1704 in a 2-story clay-walled building on Troitskaya Square, close to the first Gostiny Dvor (see Gostiny Dvors), left of the Petrovsky Bridge. It was known also as the Four Frigates Drinking House, and the Main Imperial Public House. The word "avsteria" appeared in Russia in the early 18th century after a tradition established by Peter I, in which he discussed state affairs while drinking and eating. At the Avsteria, wine, vodka, beer, tobacco and cards were offered, and its customers were shipwrights, skippers and sailors. Peter I used to visit the Avsteria. After the 1720s, the Avsteria was not mentioned in any historical sources. The Austeria Restaurant was opened in 1976 on the grounds of the Peter and Paul Fortress.

Reference: Алянский Ю. Л. Увеселительные заведения старого Петербурга. СПб., 1996. С. 17; Ковалевский В. Душа деянием жива. СПб., 1999. С. 52.

I. A. Bogdanov. Peter I, Emperor
Troitskaya Square/Saint Petersburg, city
Петропавловская крепость
Ковалевский В. Душа деянием жива. СПб., 1999
Алянский Ю. Л. Увеселительные заведения старого Петербурга. СПб., 1996 Gostiny Dvor
St. Peter and Paul fortress
1704