Wednesday Walk. The Palace and the Courtyard

over 3 years ago

The weather was grey and dreary. The gray clouds hung low overhead, the gray asphalt was underfoot, and the snow that had fallen the day before had partially melted and seemed gray as well. In other words, it was an ordinary winter day.

I started my walk on the Moika River embankment. I walked up to the fence of the Bobrinsky Palace to take the first picture. The fence is decorated with antique busts. These busts look great in any weather, even in one like this.

I walked along this fence and turned onto Galernaya Street. The gate of the Bobrinsky Palace on the street side was closed for the winter holidays. But I took advantage of the fact that my smartphone could easily get through the bars and took a couple of pictures of the palace's facade.

The Bobrinsky Palace was built in the second half of the 18th century by the architect Luigi Rusca. Classes of the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences of the University are held in the premises of the palace now.

I continued walking down Galernaya Street and noticed an old plate with apartment numbers.

I like the convex shape of these plates, modern ones are made flat, without relief, and they look boring. To the right of this old plaque is an even older artifact. The oval medallion, completely smeared with paint, is an even older apartment license plate. The common plate with apartment numbers is an invention of the 20th century. It used to be that each apartment hung its own medallion.

I saw the gate of one of the courtyards open and decided to go inside in search of a story. I found a very nice veranda. It looked abandoned and clearly in need of urgent repair.

I walked out onto the Neva River embankment. Near the entrance to one of the buildings I saw unusual New Year's decorations.

The urns were used instead of vases for spruce branches with red balls. Is it a symbol? What did the designer want to say?

The Neva River is covered with ice near its banks, but the middle of the river remains free. The current carries individual ice floes. I stopped at the Annunciation Bridge to get a shot of the Neva panorama for a nice ending to this walk.