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Adamini House

Adamini House in St. Petersburg

Address:

7, Marsovo Pole

Metro stations:

Nevsky Prospekt / Gostiny Dvor

Description

The magnificent house, towering on the corner of the Mars Field and the Moyka River Embankment, was named after the architect Adamini, who built it in 1823-1827. It so happened that for a very long time the section on which the building now stands was empty. Only in 1756 the wooden building of the Volnyy Russian Theater, also known as the Knipper Theater, was built here. However, it lasted only a short time — when Paul I came to power, the house was demolished, as it prevented the parades that the emperor loved so much. And again, the site turned into a wasteland for many years, until it was acquired by the merchant Antonov, who ordered Adamini to build his mansion here.

The building designed by the architect perfectly fit into the architecture and surrounding landscape of this Petersburg corner: on the one hand it completes the architectural ensemble of the western side of the Mars Field , and on the other closes the perspective of the Griboyedov Canal.

This house is truly unique: its walls are painted in a calm yellow color and rusticated at the level of the first floor, the middle, pushed forward, some of the facades are highlighted with gables and columns of a composite order. A white stucco frieze, made according to Adamini’s sketches, winds around the whole building. The ground floor is framed by arched windows, richly decorated with white decor on top, and on the rounded corner of the building there are pilasters resting on a balcony lying on consoles.

One of the first inhabitants of the house of Adamini was Baron P. Schilling von Kanstadt - a famous scientist of that time, who possessed deep knowledge in various areas of science. He invented a mine with an electric fuse and insulated electrical cables, and soon a keyboard electromagnetic telegraph, the first demonstration in the world with the participation of Nicholas I himself took place just at the building on the corner of the Mars Field and the Moika embankment on October 9, 1832. Telegraph demonstrations continued before the Christmas holidays. Pavel Lvovich maintained friendly relations with many famous writers. V.A. Zhukovsky, I.A. Krylov, P.A. Vyazemsky and A.S. Pushkin were not rarely his guests. The Baron died in the house of Adamini on July 25, 1837.

After the death of Antonov and his widow, the Department udelov was located in the house of Adamini, and since the beginning of the 20th century various exhibitions of works of art and concerts have been held here.

In 1914, in the apartment No. 6 began the work of the Art Bureau of N. E. Dobychina. Visitors' the Bureau was attracted by a bright sign that could be seen from Nevsky prospect. She was drawn by P. Ostroumova-Lebedeva. Dobychina held regular art exhibitions, including groups "Jack of diamonds", "World of art". At the end of 1915 opened " Last futuristic exhibition of paintings 0,10 (zero-ten)". In the halls of the art salon for the first time it was possible to see the portraits of Meyerhold, Akhmatova, Lurie, the paintings of Mark Chagall, K. S. Malevich, K. S. Petrov-Vodkin, V. Khodasevich. In addition, the administration of the Bureau rranged concerts. It was here that Prokofiev's works were first publicly performed.

It is noteworthy that in 1915 the first exhibition of Russian avant-garde artists was organized in the building, among which were works by Rozanova, Malevich and Tatlin.

Since July 1916, one of the apartments in the house of Adamini was rented by the writer Leonid Nikolaevich Andreev. His home of four rooms was located in the corner of the building. Six long windows of a large room overlooked the Mars Field. Of these, Andreev was anxiously watching the revolt of the Pavlovsky regiment. The writer was visited by F. K. Sologub, F. I. Chaliapin, and other famous personalities. The neighbor of Andreev was a historian and theorist of art Akim Lvovich Volynsky. For some time, the futurist poet V. V. Kamensky, the artists S. Yu. Sudeikin and O. A. Glebova-Sudeikin, the mother and brother of the director N. N. Evreinov, lived in the house of Adamini.

Since 1916, the "Prival komediantov" Cabaret was located in the house of Adamini. Its founder was B. K. Pronin, among the artistic leaders was M. A. Kuzmin. The cabaret was opened on April 18, 1916 by A. Schnitzler’s play "Sharf Kolombiny" . Previously, this institution was known as "Podval brodyachey sobaki" , located on Italyanskaya street. Banker D.L. Rubinstein paid for placement on the Mars Field. Like its predecessor, it was popular with celebrities. The guests came to the "Halt comedians" by 9 o'clock in the evening. Entry was allowed only on the recommendation of regular visitors. V.E. Meyerhold, A.A. Blok, A.A. Akhmatova, V.V. Mayakovsky, A.V. Lunacharsky, M. Gorky have been here. Here, for the first time, Alexander Blok's poem “The Twelve” was performed by L. D. Block.

The ceilings and walls of the Basement of Comedians were painted by artists B. D. Grigoriev, S. Yu. Sudeikin and A. E. Yakovlev. According to the sketch of I. Fomin, a huge fireplace was built. At the entrance stood two Arab mannequins with burning cigars in their mouths. To the right of the entrance was an auditorium, to the left - a tavern, a corner of "gluttonous, hungry and frozen". In the niche of the wall of the tavern were the dolls of Columbine, Pierrot and Harlequin.

In 1921-1922, the poet A. A. Akhmatova lived in the apartment of her friend, actress Olga Glebova-Sudeikina. In the late 1920s, the composer IO Dunaevsky lived in the house of Adamini.

In the first days of the Second World War, high-explosive bombs struck Adamini’s house, but as early as 1946 it was rebuilt according to the project of A. Ginsberg. Since then and to this day, the building remains residential.

There are five plaques on the facade of the Adamini House. They are dedicated to the writer V. F. Panova, the writer Yu. P. German, the chief architect of Leningrad N. V. Baranov, P. L. Schilling, and the writer L. N. Rakhmanov who lived in it.

In the house of Adamini, the film crew of director Alexei Balabanova shot one of the scenes of the film "Brother". Here there was a meeting of the heroes of Sergey Bodrov and Viktor Sukhorukov.

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