Admiralty Building

If you have walked down Nevskiey Prospekt towards Palace square in the past few days, you may have noticed a dramatic change to the city skyline in that area. Finally, after months of restoration work, the city’s grand Admiralty building (Здание Главного Адмиралтейства) is once again free of scaffolding and construction equipment. Today, the building houses the headquarters of the Russian navy and fits seamlessly with the other golden spire buildings in St. Petersburg.

The building we see today is not the original naval headquarters. Back in the early 1700s, Peter the Great wanted the city to exemplify the importance of the Russian navy. Therefore, the  Admiralty  was one of the first buildings in the new capital and had a much more practical, military appearance. The first building looked much more like a fortified shipyard surrounded by a moat. However, nearly a century later in 1806, the building was redesigned to include the imperial edifice and gold spire that we see today.

So now with the snow starting to fall and city’s skyline restored, go take a walk along the Neva and enjoy the view!