19th century St. Petersburg through the eyes of Alfred Lawrence (PHOTOS)
This photographer took one of the earliest chronicles of the city back in the 1860s and 1870s. Sadly, many buildings and structures have since been lost.
The Great fountain in Peterhof, 1860. The palace and the park were heavily damaged during World War II, but were one of the few to have since been restored.
The ‘Chinese’ bridge in the ‘Tsarskoye Selo’ residence outside St. Petersburg, 1860s
The Catherine Palace in ‘Tsarskoye Selo’, 1860s
The railway station in Pavlovsk outside Petersburg, 1860, one of the first Russian railway stations, which was destroyed during World War II, after Pavlovsk was occupied by the Nazis.
The Winter Palace and Alexander Column on Palace Square, 1870s
Monument to Emperor Nicholas I, 1863-1864 (unveiled several years before the photo was actually taken)
The big Kalinkin Bridge (now Old Kalinkin Bridge), 1860s
The chain bridge at the Summer Garden, 1860s. Fyodor Dostoevsky used to walk this bridge, which was dismantled and rebuilt in the early 20th century.
The coast of Krestovsky Island, 1860s. Until the 20th century, this place was not even part of the city limits, but now, there is a dense building and the huge ‘Gazprom (Zenit) Arena’.
Peter's Trinity Cathedral, 1860s. Built during the reign of Peter the Great, this wooden church was an easy target for demolition in the Soviet era.
The Alexandrinsky Theater, 1860s
The St. Alexander Nevsky Lavra, 1865-1868
‘Gostiny Dvor’, 1860s. The chapel seen in the background was also demolished during the Soviet era.
Varshavsky (Warsaw) Railway Station, 1860s. At that time, it was a new station for the newly built railway connecting the Russian Empire with Europe. Today, there is a shopping and entertainment center in this building.
Nikolaevsky Bridge, 1867-1869. Now, it’s rebuilt and called Blagoveshchensky (Annucation). And the Annunciation Church, lost in Soviet times, is visible on the right.
‘A young man defeated by a horse’ is one of the four statues of Peter Klodt's sculpture group on the Anichkov Bridge, 1870s. The photo shows an eager street vendor with goods on Nevsky Prospekt.
The Catholic Basilica of St. Catherine on Nevsky Prospekt, 1870s. A “dentist” advertisement is visible on the right (‘зубной врач’).
The Greek Church on Greek Square, 1870s. During World War II, it was badly damaged after a bomb hit the dome and, in 1962, city authorities decided to demolish it. This was witnessed firsthand by poet Joseph Brodsky, who responded with the poem ‘Stop in the Desert’.
