Alexander Nevsky Square (St. Petersburg): history, description, metro and map

Grand Duke Alexander Nevsky is the spiritual patron of St. Petersburg. The fate of this great man is connected with an unseen thread with the fate of the city. It was Prince Alexander who first fought with the enemy on the banks of the Neva River, it was he who managed to liberate this land from enemy invaders, where then after the order of Peter I the great city of St. Petersburg was erected.

The Alexander Nevsky Monastery

Alexander Nevsky Square is an important place for the city. And the history of the square goes back to the distant Petrine era. In the hot summer of 1710, Peter I, visiting his possessions, stopped on the picturesque bank of the river Chernaya (today it is the river Monastyrka). This place was not only stunningly beautiful, but also, according to tradition, it was here that the Swedes in the distant 1240 conquered Grand Duke Alexander Nevsky. Therefore, in memory of this feat of the Russian people, Peter decided to build the Alexander Nevsky Monastery in this place. Peter considered himself the continuer of the Alexander Nevsky case (whom he declared the spiritual patron of the city) as he strove to approach the shores of the Baltic Sea. And therefore the center of the new Russian capital was to become the Alexander Nevsky Lavra. And in 1722 laid the first stone in the construction of the complex. But because of the unsuccessfully designed building on the walls of the monastery went huge cracks. By order of Peter, the walls were dismantled to the ground, and the work was turned off. And only in 1774 the construction of the monastery and laurels resumed.

History of construction of the square

After the construction of the Alexander Nevsky Monastery in front of the building as such, there was no square. It was not very well-groomed space, which decided to ennoble the Empress Catherine II. And in spite of the fact that the main street of the city - Nevsky Prospect - came to the monastery complex, this place was notorious. Initially, to the square of the Alexander Nevsky Monastery, almost in a dense adjoined barns, houses of citizens, almshouses and even brothels. The townspeople were afraid to walk here in the dark, because they often became victims of robbers, and, according to legend, there was a huge number of rats. The space in front of the monastery was not illuminated in any way, mud around reigned. By order of the Empress, nearby structures were demolished and made a traffic junction. The construction and decoration of the square was entrusted to Starov Ivan Yegorovich. The architect designed the area not of a semi-circular shape, as was customary at that time, but a drop-shaped one. The space behind the Holy Gates had a regular round shape, and Starov combined these two squares into one complex. Thanks to this idea of the author, a smooth transition was made from the Trinity Church to the axis of Nevsky Prospekt.

Area in the pre-war years

In the early twenties, Alexander Nevsky Square was renamed Red. This name was worn until 1952. It should be noted that in the early twenties, as well as several centuries ago, a high architectural style coexisted with poverty and squalor. Alexander Nevsky Square was surrounded by brick barns, in which grain was stored, the area still was not illuminated, there was no embankment.

Area in the post-war years

During the war, Leningrad was subjected to mass bombings. The city was in a deplorable state. In 1947, it was decided to reconstruct the Alexander Nevsky Square (the map is presented in the article). Architects proposed on the different sides of the square to build two identical buildings in the style of neoclassicism. In their opinion, this style should be combined with the Alexander Nevsky Monastery complex. But the buildings turned out different, although they were very much like each other. Now it is at home No. 175 and No. 184. And in 1965 the movement along the Alexander Nevsky Bridge was opened. This allowed to connect the two banks and open a direct exit to Nevsky Prospekt. In these years the embankment was decorated, a modern traffic junction was built. Also on pl. Alexander Nevsky was built hotel "Moscow", whose architects are Shcherbin VN, Goldgore VS, Varshavskaya LK. The metro station "Alexander Nevsky Square-2" was opened. Old warehouses were demolished.

Alexander Nevsky Square (St. Petersburg) today

The last significant intervention in the reconstruction of the square was in the early 2000s. So, in 2002, on the day of the Great Victory, a monument to Alexander Nevsky was opened . The author of the project was the sculptor V. Kozenyuk. He worked on his creation for more than thirty years. According to the artist's intention, the monument should have been a single ensemble with the Bronze Horseman. Both monuments are facing the same direction, but one is at the beginning, and the other is at the end of Nevsky Prospekt. In 2005, on the pedestal of the monument to Alexander Nevsky was installed a bas-relief with scenes from the Battle of the Ice. And in 2007 the reconstruction of the hotel "Moscow" began. The Alexander Nevsky Square (St. Petersburg) was transformed. In 2008, the same-name shopping complex was opened in the courtyard of the hotel.

The metro station "Alexander Nevsky Square-2"

This station is located on the right-bank line between Novocherkasskaya and Ligovsky Prospect stations. It was opened in 1985. The above-ground structure of the metro station "Alexander Nevsky Square" is a five-story industrial and residential complex of the underground. The lobby of the station was built according to the project of architects Romashkina-Timanova NV, Getskina AS The lobby forms a semicircular volume of the building. The walls of the station are decorated with large stained-glass windows. Thanks to them the interior space visually increases. The walls of the lobby are faced with the Saarem dolomite, also light marble was used in the decoration of the walls, and the floor is covered with Karelian granite. The ceiling is a dome with radially-folded reinforced concrete structures. The diameter is about twenty-eight meters. The underground part is located at a depth of 60 meters. It was built according to the project of architects Shcherbina VN, Buldakova GN The inner space forms a colonnade in two rows. These columns have bevels at the bottom. The base of the track walls is finished with polished granite. The rest is covered with aluminum plates in the form of armor scales. At the station, at the end of the building, there is an empty niche. According to the authors' intention in it was to be a statue of Alexander Nevsky. First, the author of the sculpture was to become Gorevoy E. V., then the sculptor Anikushkin MK. But these plans were not destined to happen.

How to get there

Alexander Nevsky Square is located at the entrance to the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, at the end of Nevsky Prospekt, to which the metro station "Alexander Nevsky Square-2" goes.