Monuments to Italian architects on Manezhnaya Ploshchad
Around the fountain in the centre of Manezhnaya Ploshchad stand four bronze busts of four of the greatest architects ever to work in St. Petersburg, all of them of Italian origin.
These statues were presented to St. Petersburg to mark the city's tercentenary by the city of Milan in 2003. As the Italian senator Roberto Antonioni said at their official unveiling: "The contribution of Italian architects, artists and craftsmen in the 18th and 19th centuries to the creation of this new capital was immeasurable." It's certainly true that almost half of the great buildings of central St. Petersburg were designed by Italians, and that the four architects represented here - Bartolomeo Rastrelli, Giacomo Quarenghi, Antonio Rinaldi and Carlo Rossi - did more than any to shape the face of the city during the hundred years that the modern centre was created.
| Metro: | Gostiny Dvor |
|---|---|
| Getting there: | Use the exit from Gostiny Dvor Metro Station for Sadovaya Ulitsa. Exit via the pedestrian underpass onto the north side of Nevsky Prospekt (the far end of the underpass and to the right). Walk right along Nevsky Prospekt and take the first left onto Malaya Sadovaya Ulitsa. Walk to the end of the street, and Manezhnaya Ploshchad is to your left. |
| What's nearby? | Italyanskaya Ultisa |
