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THE OSTROVSKOGO SQUARE
The Ostrovskogo (Ostrovsky) Square is one of the remarkable ensembles created by the brilliant architect Rossi. The central construction of the square ensemble is the Alexandrinsky Theatre - the famous "Alexandrinka" - built in 1828-1832.
There is a bas-relief on the attic of the building - the flying figures of Glories with laurel wreaths and branches in their hands facing lyre framed in oak leaves. There is a relief of garlands and masks along the façade of the theatre, on the level of capitals of columns. The building is crowned by a chariot run by the arts patron Apollo with a lyre and a wreath in his hands. The statues of the theaterical art muses placed in bays and decorating now the façades - Melpomene, Thalia, and Clio - were made in1932 and installed at the same time.
Simultaneously with the construction of the theatre, they erected the building of the Public Library. According to Rossi-s idea, the main façade of the library faces the square in front of the theatre. The colonnade stretching along almost all the façade of the building is decorated with statues of scholars of antiquity placed between the columns. There are ten of them in total: Herodotus, Euclid, Cicero, Tacitus, Plato, Homer, Virgil, Euripides, Demosthenes, and Hippocrates. There is the Russian National Library in this building now.
Behind the building of the Alexandrinsky Theatre Rossi built a street (which was named in his honour) with very beautiful buildings.
There is a monument to Catherine the Second in the center of the square. The monument was installed in the square of the Alexandrinsky Theatre in 1873. The project of the monument was drawn up by artist-sculptor M. A. Chizhov. The monument to Catherine the Second is surrounded by sculptural portraits of her confidants: Suvorov, Rumyantsev, Derzhavin, Chichagov, Bezborodko, Potemkin, Orlov, Chesmensky, E. Dashkova. The square in front of the Alexandrinsky Theatre is called Yekaterininsky (Catherine’s).
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