Malaya Sadovaya Street

Located just a short walk away from Liden & Denz’s main office on Inzhenernaya Ulitsa (Инженерная Улица), runs another short street named Malaya Sadovaya Street (Малая Садовая Улица). In fact the shortest street in St. Petersburg, this little walking street offers some of the most peaceful  and quintessentially Italian architecture that the city’s center is famous for.

Located between Nevsky Prospekt (Невский проспект) and Italianskaya Ulitsa (Итальянская улица), the street is capped at one end by Catherine Square on one end and Manege Square on the other, with many different cafés, terraces and fountains in between.

The land around the street was originally owned by the 18th century Russian noblemen named Ivan Shuvalov, for whom the street was first named. However, at this same time, there were already two streets that had similar names. Therefore, the street was renamed to its present day (despite being renamed numerous times in the past century) Malaya Sadovaya or “Little Garden” street name in 1836.

The street is home to many notable buildings as well, such as:

– The Shuvalov Mansion, (Дворец Шувалова), located at the corner of Malaya Sadovaya and Italianskaya Ulitsa, was completed in 1756 once housed the Russian Imperial Ministry of Justice.

– The Radio House, (Ленинградский Дом Радио), which once housed Radio Leningrad during the 900 day siege of the city.

– The Elisseevskiy Store, (Елисеевский магазин), a beautiful large retail store on the corner of Nevsky Prospekt, featuring one of the finest examples of Art Nouveau in the city and a whimsical store front window display.