Admiralty, Saint Petersburg
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The Admiralty building is the former headquarters of the Admiralty Board and the Imperial Russian Navy in Central St. Petersburg, Russia and the current headquarters of the Russian Navy.[1]
The edifice was rebuilt in the nineteenth century to support the tsar's maritime ambitions. The original design was a fortified shipyard which was later surrounded by five bastions and further protected by a moat.[2]
The Empire Style edifice visible today lining the Admiralty Quay was constructed to Andreyan Zakharov's design between 1806 and 1823.[2] Located at the western end of the Nevsky Prospekt, The Admiralty with its gilded spire topped by a golden weather-vane in the shape of a small sail warship (Korablik), is one of the city's most conspicuous landmarks and the focal point of old St. Petersburg's three main streets - Nevsky Prospect, Gorokhovaya Street, and Voznesensky Avenue - underscoring the importance Peter I placed on Russia's Navy.
Until merger and relocation to the town of Pushkin in 1998 the building housed one of the Soviet and Russian naval engineering schools [ru] which since 1927 was named after Felix Dzerzhinsky.
Vladimir Nabokov, writer and native of St. Petersburg, wrote a short story in May 1933 entitled "The Admiralty Spire."
See also
- Admiralty Embankment with the Lions at the Dvortsovaya pier
References
- ^ "Russian Navy HQ Moves to St. Petersburg", RIA Novosti, October 31, 2012
- ^ a b Bleckman, Boris; et al. "The Admiralty". nevsky-prospekt.com. Archived from the original on 23 August 2011. Retrieved 27 October 2011.
External links
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59°56′15″N 30°18′31″E / 59.937601°N 30.308576°E / 59.937601; 30.308576