RUSSIAN BAROQUE BLOSSOMING

In 1737 after the destructive fires of the year 1736 and summer of 1737 the "Committee on St.-Petersburg Construction Works Supervising" was organized. This Committee supervised the building construction in the whole city and the city facilities development. The most prominent city constructor and one of the most educated and civilized persons of the time, P.M. Yeropkin was the member of the Committee. In 1737-1740 he developed the real and well thought-out plan of the city reconstruction and development, used during the next decades. Three-radial planning system of the central city part, initiated by the architects of the Peter the Great's times, was the basis of the named plan. According this system in 1738 Gorokhovaya street was laid between the main avenues of the city - Nevsky (1711) and Voznessensky. The main city planning elements, its streets and squares, were made according the named plan and are preserved till our times.

In 1740-1750-s the reassessed forms and techniques of the Western baroque and national architectural traditions combined in the distinctive national style - Russian baroque were applied in the architecture.This style was fully realized in the works of the architect V.V.Rastrelli. Grandiose dimensions, rich fantasy, complexity and at the same time clarity of the structure are the characteristic features of the Winter Palace (1754-1764), and the Palaces of Vorontsov (1749-1757) and Stroganov (1752-1754) have the very special and festive look. The most perfect construction of the genius is the Ensemble of the Smolny Monastery (1748-1764 , completed in 1831-1836-s by V.I.Stasov). This is not only the best treasure in the creative work of Rastrelli, but the most "Russian" among his works. He was the "mirror" of the epoch and the "stamp" of his personal taste and experience could be seen in the works of his students and contemporaries. Several masters with the good reputation worked in Petersburg along with the hundreds of unknown architects, belonging to the school of Rastrelli. First of all, the son of the famous Domenico Trezzini - Pietro Antonio Trezzini, who was the specialist in church construction.He played the main role in Alexander Nevsky Monastery designing.The Fyodor-Nickolsky Church was built according his project (1754). The Russian contemporary of Rastrelli, his student S.I.Chevakinsky was more prominent and with the greater talent. His Nickolsky Cathedral ( 1753-1762-s) is one of the most famous Russian baroque samples.

The monumental buildings according the projects of Rastrelli and his contemporaries are famous with their rich decoration and festive splendid appearance. Their distinctive style is the combination of the classical architectural forms and national Russian decorative art.