ARCHITECTURE OF SAINT PETERSBURG HOSPITALS: FROM PETROVSKY BAROQUE TO HI-TECH. PART II. CLASSICISM

Abstract

This article continues a research project dedicated to the hospital architecture of St. Petersburg from a historical perspective: from Peter the Great’s baroque to high-tech. The second
article in the series views the classicism style, which established itself in the city’s architecture in the 60–70s of XVIII century. The central place in this article is given to the history of construction
and the architectural and urban appearance of the Mariinsky Hospital — one of the best examples of St. Petersburg classicism. The history of creation, artistic and architectural compositional features of the Kalinkinskaya and Obukhovskaya hospitals, the main building of the Military Medical Academy, etc. are also viewed. Attention is paid to architectural and artistic design and reconstruction of buildings that were not originally intended for hospital needs: such as hospital for the mentally ill of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker in the Strait and Workhouse, Marine Hospital
in the house of Princess Shakhovskaya near the Kalinkin Bridge on the Fontanka river, Midwifery Institute building in the mansion of Prince Dolgorukov, Elizabethan commune of sisters of mercy
in the Kushelev-Bezborodko estate, hospital of St. Mary Magdalene in the house of the merchant I.V. Kusova. Also, an evolution of hospital construction during the period under review is noted:
when the central corridor system, which had become a traditional method of constructing barrackstype hospitals was abandoned, and the layout of hospital buildings with a side corridor  appeared, which has enormous hygienic advantages. Most of the classical-style hospitals built in the second half of the 18th — first third of the 19th centuries not only continue to provide medical care to St. Petersburg residents, but are also still an adornment of the northern capital, giving its noble restraint and refined elegance.