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THE ADMIRALTY
If you walk along the coast of the Neva River, you will certainly come across the building of the Admiralty built on the project by the architect A. Zakharov in 1805-1817. Its central tower with gilt spire has remained from the old Admiralty of the Peter’s epoch. It was built by Ivan Korobkov, one of the first Russian architects sent by Peter the Great to study abroad.
The Admiralty’s steeple has become one of the emblems of the city. The Peter’s Admiralty planned by Peter as a ship-building yard and a fortress was founded on the 5th of November of 1704. It presented small wooden buildings. In the 30s of the XVIIIth century a stone tower instead of the wooden one was erected by I. Korobkov. The Admiralty was rebuilt thrice during the XVIIIth-XIXth centuries. In the year of 1805, under the direction of the architect A. Zakharov, a stone building consisting of two houses was constructed. The façade of the main house equaled 406 meters; there was a tower, an arms colonnade and a spire with the length of 72 meters on which they installed a weathercock in the form of a boat weighting 65 kilograms and gilt by pure gold.
The main bas-relief decorating the tower depicts the God of seas Neptune handing over his trident to Peter as the sign of dominion of Russia over seas. There are sculpture groups of sea nymphs holding the celestial sphere on the sides of the arch. Higher, on the corners of the tower, there are stone statues of four heroes of the antiquity: Achilles, Aiax, Pyrrhus and Alexander Macedonian. Twenty eight statues above the columns embody four elements (Fire, Water, Air, and Earth), four seasons of the year, winds of four directions, the protectress of navigators Goddess Isis and the muse of astronomy Urania.
The main building ended by the spire is decorated by a wide bas-relief bar "the Russian Navy Institution". There is Peter the First in the center, and the God of seas Neptune presenting his trident. To the right there is a woman under a bay-tree with a crown on her head (it embodies Russia); she holds the Hercules’s club - the symbol of power - in her right hand, and the horn of plenty - in her left hand. The God of trade and navigation Mercury touches the horn of plenty with his rod. There are also sea divinities blowing the glory to the right and to the left; the construction of ships is on against the background of the fortress.
Two hundred keystones above the windows of the first and the second floors are decorated by masks personifying lords of the seas Neptune, Amphitryon, sea divinities - Triton and Nereid. The sculptures of two pavilions facing the embankment of the Neva River add to the decors of the Admiralty. Figures with crossed banners above passages have something in common with the bas-reliefs above the main arch. The pavilions are completed by images of three interweaving dolphins supporting flagstaffs.
As it was planned, there were ships in dockyards in front of the Admiralty. At the beginning of the XXth century they started placing navy institutions in the Admiralty.
The building of the Admiralty is a wonderful monument to Russian architecture preserved up to these days without noticeable changes.
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