Alexandrinsky Theatre

The building was erected by Carl Rossi in 1828-1832 and named in honour of the empress Alexandra Fyodorovna; the company itself is older — the Russian state theatre was established by a decree of 1756. The main facade with its six-column loggia is crowned by the quadriga of Apollo by Stepan Pimenov, with figures of the muses set in the niches. Rossi intended the ceilings of the hall to be metal, and that turned into a scandal: the engineering committee headed by General Bazaine considered the structure unreliable, and the architect answered that if the vaults collapsed he should be hanged from the first rafter. Behind the theatre Rossi laid out a street of ideal proportions, which now bears his name: the width of the roadway equals the height of the houses, exactly twenty-two metres, and the length is ten times greater. The stage remembers the 1836 premiere of The Government Inspector, the failure of The Seagull in 1896, after which Chekhov swore off writing for the theatre, and Meyerhold's Masquerade with sets by Golovin, which came out on 25 February 1917, days before the fall of the monarchy. The five-tier auditorium has kept its Empire decoration with gold and blue velvet.

On the map