Ever wondered about a street wider than a canal? Welcome to Bolshoy Prospekt on Vasilevsky Island. This isn’t just any street. It’s the oldest and most important thoroughfare on the island a testament to St Petersburg’s history spanning three centuries.
Originally planned as a shipping canal its impressive width over 85 meters speaks to that ambitious vision. Peter the Great’s chief advisor Alexander Menshikov initiated the road’s creation. He wanted a convenient route from his palace to the Gulf of Finland. This simple road became so useful that architect Domenico Trezzini incorporated it into Vasilevsky Island’s grand design.
Initially known as Bolshoy Kanal or Grand Canal it reflected Peter the Great’s dream of a city crisscrossed by waterways. That dream never fully materialized. The street was renamed Bolshaya Perspektiva or Grand Avenue. Later still it evolved into the Bolshoy Prospekt we know today.
The avenue slowly expanded east between 1730 and 1760. Wooden buildings lined its length. St Petersburg’s German community settled at its western end. They constructed the Lutheran Church of St Catherine between 1768 and 1771. A few hundred meters away the Cathedral of St Andrew rose under the direction of German architect Alexander Vist.
The 1780s brought paving stones. The Andreevsky Market one of St Petersburg’s first stone trade buildings emerged during this decade. By the 19th century green spaces appeared. They initially belonged to private owners but were soon incorporated into the public realm. The resulting lush foliage transformed the street into a verdant boulevard one of only a few in St Petersburg. Tall buildings however began to appear by the 1830s.
Among these buildings you can see the Soloshich Building the Junker Building the Alexander Bryullov Building and the riding school of the Finnish Regiment. Famous figures like Fyodor Dostoevsky Nikolay Chernyshevsky Ilya Repin and Nicholas Roerich resided on Bolshoy Prospekt at various times. The street became home to the first kindergarten in St Petersburg in 1868.
The 20th century saw further development extending to 25-ya Liniya. Many prominent architects including Leontiy Benois Viktor Schroter and Karl Schmidt contributed to its architectural landscape. The neo-Byzantine Church of the Merciful Mother of God was erected in the 1890s. It later became a swimming pool for training rescue divers.
After the Revolution Bolshoy Prospekt became a crucial administrative and social hub. It housed the District Committee of the Communist Party and later the District Soviet. It was even renamed Prospekt Proletarskoy Pobedy or Avenue of the Victory of the Proletariat. The Siege of Leningrad left its mark on the street notably at No 6 the home of the Savichev family where young Tanya Savicheva wrote her famous diary.
Today Bolshoy Prospekt VO its historic name reinstated stands as a major tourist route. It remains a captivating blend of history architecture and stories waiting to be discovered. Walk down its length and you’ll feel the spirit of St Petersburg’s past present and future.