Everything you need to know about our street!
Our language school in St. Petersburg is located on Zhukovskovo ulitsa (улица Жуковского). The street is 890 meters long and is near Ploshad Vostaniya (площадь Восстания) where the Moscow train station is. While the street is not one of the most famous streets in St. Petersburg, like almost all the streets of St. Petersburg, it is a beautiful place with some interesting stories connected to it.
The history
The street was called Малая Итальянская улица (Little Italian street) until 1902 as is next to the Italian garden. When it was first built, they only built on the side where there are even-numbered houses as the other side as the other side (the side that Liden and Denz is now on!) belonged to a military regiment. Most of the houses were single-story houses for petty officers and small merchants. The government started selling the land on the other side of the street and people started building fancier two-story houses. However, even though the houses were “villas”, the residents were not very rich in the 19th century, as they were still mostly unimportant officials and smaller merchants. To this day, the street has not changed much. The pavement has been changed to asphalt and the restaurants, cafes and stores have changed, but it still has a rather old, calm atmosphere.
New name
In 1902 the street was renamed in honor of Vasiliy Zhukovskiy, a famous Russian poet, playwright and writer. He was one of the founders of Romanticism in Russian Poetry. He was the son of a Turkish girl, Salma who was captured and given as a gift to Bunin. Salma, later was given permission to live freely in Russia and became the mistress of Bunin. Vasily Zhukovskiy was her only surviving child. He was actually expelled from school as a child do to his “inability”, and after that went to live with his half-sister, whom he later called the guardian of his childhood. His sister’s house was the first place he took an interest in writing and decided that he wanted to become a playwright. He later went on to study at University in Moscow where he studied Russian and German literature.He went on to write many works and become one of the literary mentors of Pushkin.
Places of interest on this street
Our school is located near the begıinning of street and there are several places of interest on or very near the street. Here are a few:
Restaurants /cafes
Pizza 22 cm (Zhukovskovo 45) – a little further down the street you’ll find a cute place where they cook true wood fired Neapolitan pizza
Bao Mochi (Zhukovskovo 2) – although it is slightly more expensive than the canteen across the street, it is still very reasonable and offers a wide range of Asian food, including business lunches for 330-440 rubles
Буше – Bushe (Vocctaniya 10, just off Zhukovskovo) – a cute, cozy cafe that is the perfect place to try Russians deserts and rest after classes.
Californication (ulitsa Zhukovskogo, 15) – extremely tasty poke & bowls and great atmosphere.
Bars
Pinch (Belinckovo 5) – A comfortable bar to hang out in that offers a wide selection of drinks.
2Taco&co (Zhukovskovo 13) – A restaurant/bar that offers an assortment of Mexican food and drinks
Dead Poets (Zhukovskovo 12) – A cozy bar very near to our school with a large range of beer and some quirky Russian takes on cocktails.
Other places
Anna Nova – Art Gallery (Zhukovskovo 28) – an art Gallery of contemporary art that offers different exhibitions and events. You can check their official website here.
Museum of Anna Akhmatova (Just off of Zhukovskovo Street on Liteyniy 53) – a small museum in honour of Anna Akhmatova.
Chocolate Museum (Zhukovskovo 18) – although more of a shop than a museum, if you want to spend a few minutes looking at chocolate art or if you want to buy a unique suvenir for a friend.
Italyanskiy Sad (on Liteyniy) – a small, peaceful park. There is not a lot to do here, but it is a good quiet place to rest if you want a break from the city.
Желтая Вешалка – Yellow hanger (Zhukovskovo 39) – if you are looking for a cheap place to buy secondhand clothes check out this place
Book store “Подписные издания” (Liteyniy 57) – most of the books here are in Russian, but it is the perfect place to browse books. They even have a coffee shop and a balcony on the top floor where you can sit and read for as long as you like.
Respublika (At the intersection of Liteyniy and Nevsky) – although slightly farther away from Zhukovskovo street, this is an excellent place to know about as it offers some English books and a wide range of stationary. If you fill it up your notebook with Russian notes or need a new pen, this is the perfect place.
Of course there is much to explore on and around our street. Come to Liden & Denz to explore it for yourself!
