Ciniselli Circus

The Monument to Peter I (Russian: памятник Петру I) is a bronze equestrian monument of Peter the Great in front of the St. Michael's Castle in Saint Petersburg, Russia. In 1716, emperor Peter the Great commissioned the Italian sculptor Carlo Bartolomeo Rastrelli to design an equestrian statue in commemoration of the Russian victories over Sweden in the Great Northern War. Rastrelli worked for eight years with a model of the monument before it was approved by the emperor in 1724. But as the emperor died the following year, work halted and the sculpture's casting was only completed after the sculptor's death, by 1747, only to remain in a local warehouse, and not to be erected until 53 years later. In the meantime, Catherine the Great had ordered another monument in memory of her predecessor Peter the Great - the Bronze Horseman, the most famous statue of Peter the Great in St Petersburg. At the base of the Bronze Horseman, Catherine even linked her name with Peter the Great, an expression of Catherine's attitude toward her predecessor and her view of her own place in the line of great Russian rulers. Catherine, who, having gained her position through a palace coup, had no legal claim to the throne, was anxious to appear as Peter's rightful heir. Only in 1800, during the reign of emperor Paul I, was the Monument to Peter I finally erected. It was placed on a pedestal faced with green, red and white-shaded Finnish marble that is decorated with bas-reliefs depicting scenes of two Russian victories over Sweden during the Great Northern War, the Battle of Poltava and the Battle of Hangö, and also an allegorical composition with trophies. The Russian victories at Poltava and near Hangö, Finland helped Russia become the dominant power in the north of the continent. Peter the Great led his troops to both victories. By order of emperor Paul I, the inscription "To Great Grandfather from Great Grandson" (Прадеду - правнук) was made on the pedestal, a subtle but obvious allusion to the Latin "Petro Primo Catherina Secunda", the dedication by Catherine the Great on the Bronze Horseman. During World War II, the equestrian statue of Peter I was removed from its pedestal and sheltered from the 900-day German siege of the city. In 1945, the statue was restored and returned to its pedestal.

The Third Section of His Imperial Majesty's Own Chancellery (Russian: Tretiye Otdeleniye, or III отделение собственной Е.И.В канцелярии III otdeleniye sobstvennoy E.I.V. kantselyarii - in full: Третье отделение Собственной Его Императорского Величества канцелярии Tretye otdeleniye Sobstvennoy Yego Yimperatorskogo Velichestva kantselyarii, sometimes translated as Third Department) was a secret-police department set up in Imperial Russia. Inheritor of the Tayny Prikaz, Privy Chancellery and Specialty Chancellery, it effectively served as the Imperial regime's secret police for much of its existence. The organization was relatively small. When founded in July 1826 by Emperor Nicholas I it included only sixteen investigators. Their number increased to forty in 1855. The Third Section disbanded in 1880, replaced by the Police Department and the Okhrana.

Michael Manege (Mikhailovsky manezh; Russian: Михайловский манеж) is the Neoclassical building of an early 19th-century riding academy in the historic center of Saint Petersburg, Russia. It was converted into an indoor sporting arena in 1949 and was renamed Zimniy Stadion (Russian: Зимний стадион, lit. "Winter Stadium").

Manezhnaya Square (Russian: Манежная площадь, romanized Manezhnaya ploschad) is a square in the Tsentralny District of Saint Petersburg. In some guidebooks this square may be also named a Riding-School Square: "riding school" is one of the variants in which French: manège and Russian: манеж, romanized: manezh may be translated. The shape of Manezhnaya Square is close to the right-angled triangle. Its longest cathetus, the southern side of Manezhnaya Square is formed with Italyanskaya Street, which runs parallel to Nevsky Prospect, at about hundred meters north of it. The shortest cathetus is Karavannaya Street, which forms the eastern side of the square running from Nevky prospect to the north. Another street connecting the square to Nevsky is Malaya Sadovaya which intersects Italyanskaya Street at the western corner of the square. Here converges the third, longest side — the "hypotenuse" of this triangle square. Driveways flanking one of the buildings on this side of the square merge behind it into a boulevard, Klenovaya alley, which runs from Manezhnaya Square to Mikhailovsky Castle.

Saint Michael's Castle (Russian: Миха́йловский за́мок, Mikhailovsky zamok), also called the Mikhailovsky Castle or the Engineers' Castle (Russian: Инженерный замок, Inzhenerny zamok), is a former royal residence in the historic centre of Saint Petersburg, Russia. Saint Michael's Castle was built as a residence for Emperor Paul I of Russia by architects Vincenzo Brenna and Vasily Bazhenov in 1797–1801. It was named for St Michael the Archangel, patron saint of the royal family. The castle looks different from each side, as the architects used motifs of various architectural styles such as French Classicism, Italian Renaissance and Gothic. Saint Michael's Castle was built to the south of the Summer Garden and replaced the small wooden palace of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna. Afraid of intrigues and assassination plots, Emperor Paul I disliked the Winter Palace where he never felt safe. Due to his personal fascination with medieval knights and his constant fear of assassination, the new royal residence was built like a castle around an octagonal courtyard. The building with rounded corners was surrounded by the waters of the Moika River, the Fontanka River and two specially dug canals (the Church Canal and the Sunday Canal), transforming the castle area into an artificial island which could only be reached by drawbridges. Construction began on 26 February (N.S. 9 March), 1797 and the castle was solemnly consecrated on 8 November 1800, i.e. on St Michael's Day in the Eastern Orthodox calendar, though finishing work on the interior continued until March 1801. In 1800, the bronze equestrian Monument to Peter the Great was set up in front of the castle. This statue had been designed during Peter the Great's lifetime and later, with the casting being completed in 1747 by the architect Bartolomeo Rastrelli. By order of Paul I, the inscription "From Great Grandson to Great Grandfather" was made on the pedestal that is decorated with bas-reliefs depicting scenes of two Russian victories over Sweden during the Great Northern War. Paul I was assassinated only 40 nights after he moved into his newly built castle. He was murdered on 12 March 1801, in his own bedroom, by a group of dismissed officers headed by General Bennigsen. The conspirators forced him to a table, and tried to compel him to sign his abdication. Paul offered some resistance, and one of the assassins struck him with a sword, and he was then strangled and trampled to death. He was succeeded by his son, Emperor Alexander I, who was actually in the palace at the time and was informed of his accession by General Nicholas Zubov, one of the assassins. After Paul's death, the imperial family returned to the Winter Palace; Saint Michael's Castle was abandoned and in 1823 was given to the army's Main Engineering School (later to become the Nikolayevskaya Engineering Academy and now the Military Engineering-Technical University). From then on, the building was known as the Engineers' Castle. Between 1838 and 1843, the Russian writer Fyodor Dostoyevsky studied as a cadet at the Main Engineering School. In the early 1990s, Saint Michael's Castle became a branch of the Russian Museum and now houses its Portrait Gallery, featuring official portraits of the Russian Emperors and Empresses and various dignitaries and celebrities from the late 17th to the early 20th century.

The Summer Palace (Russian: Ле́тний дворе́ц) is either of the two wooden Baroque palaces built by Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli on Tsaritsa's Meadow behind the Summer Garden in St. Petersburg. Neither building survives.

The Naryshkin-Shuvalov Palace (Russian: Дворец Нарышкиных-Шуваловых), also known as the Shuvalov Palace, is a Neoclassical building on the Fontanka Embankment in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Once home to the noble Naryshkin and Shuvalov families, the palace has housed the Fabergé Museum since 2013. This building should not be confused with the Shuvalov Mansion nearby at 25 Italyanskaya Street.

"Chizhyk-Pyzhik" (Russian: Чи́жик-Пы́жик) is a Russian satirical folk song which runs as follows: Чижик-пыжик, где ты был?На Фонтанке водку пил. Выпил рюмку, выпил две – Закружилось в голове. Chizhik-Pyzhik, gdje ty byl? Na fontankje vodku pil. Vypil rjumku, vypil dvje – Zakruzhilosj v golovje. Chizhik-Pyzhik, where've you been? Drank vodka on the Fontanka. Took a shot, took another – Got dizzy. The origin of the song in unclear. According to one urban legend, the rhyme refers to the students of the Imperial School of Jurisprudence, who frequented a pub belonging to the merchant Nefedov on the Fontanka Quay in Saint Petersburg. The school was founded by Duke Peter of Oldenburg in the nearby house #6. The students of the college wore uniforms with yellow and green colors, which resembled the colors of the bird called the siskin (Russian: чиж, chizh; hypocoristic: Russian: чижик, chizhik), and hats from fur of young reindeer (Russian: пыжик, pyzhik). Because of that, they were nicknamed Chizhiks-Pyzhiks. Its extremely simple melody (mi-do-mi-do-fa-mi-RE, sol-sol-sol-(la-ti)-do-do-DO) is suitable for teaching small children to play piano (with a suitable "nursery" lyrics).Several Russian classical composers, including Sergey Prokofyev, Isaak Dunaevsky and Rimsky-Korsakov, were inspired with Chizhik.

Panteleymonovsky Bridge (Russian: Пантелеймо́новский мост) is a bridge across the Fontanka River in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The bridge was erected in 1823 and was named after Panteleymonovskaya Street (now Pestelya Street), which in turn was named after the nearby Church of St. Panteleimon (Pantaleon).From 1915 until 1923 it was known as "Gangutskiy Bridge". In 1923 it was renamed as "Pestel Bridge" after Decembrist Pavel Pestel. In 1991 the original name was reinstated. The bridge is located at the confluence of the Moika River and the Fontanka. It is 43 meters long and 23.7 meters wide.

The First Engineer Bridge (Russian: Первый Инженерный мост, Pervy Inzhenerny most) is one of several bridges that span the Moika River in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The bridge is one of a group of four bridges located near the Mars Field, and opposite the main entrance to the Summer Garden, spanning the Moika River, the Fontanka River, and the Swan Canal in the historic center of the city. The First Engineer Bridge is one of the most decorative of Saint Petersburg's more than 500 bridges. The original small wooden bridge, called the Summer Bridge and rumored to have been designed by the architect Bartolomeo Rastrelli, was built in the 1760s. This bridge was replaced with the current cast-iron bridge, in 1824-1825, and renamed the First Engineer Bridge, in 1829, after the nearby Engineers' Castle (originally called St Michael's or Mikhailovsky Castle). Engineer Pierre-Dominique Bazaine (1786-1838) (Пётр Петрович Базен) designed and constructed the bridge in a similar fashion to the Big Stables Bridge (Bolshoy Konyushenny Bridge), a bridge located further west on the Moika River, using pre-fabricated hollow wedges. Bazaine also managed to reduce the use of expensive cast-iron in the bridge's construction to one-third of the total mass of the bridge, by innovatively designing the sidewalks with the use of special bracket supports. The siding is decorated in Doric style by architect Joseph Charlemagne. The beams have a curved and perforated appearance, and the bridge's rectangular orifices are bordered with flat frames, giving the bridge an appearance of lightness and transparency. The bridge's sidewalk tiles were designed as a cornice and are supported by rich ornamental bracket figures. Intricately inscribed plaques with grooves extend from the figures on frieze planes, in the style of Doric triglyph coverings. The triglyphs cover the joints of the side plaques. Cast-iron arches span closely behind. The railings, also designed by Charlemagne, comprise several sections of short pilums, placed between bouquets of decorations and inscriptions of round shields, with bas-relief images of the heads of Medusa, with the Gorgon's snaky locks for hair. In 1994, a small bronze statue of Chizhik-Pyzhik was installed on a ledge in the embankment, opposite the Imperial School of Jurisprudence near the First Engineer Bridge. The statue has since been repeatedly stolen.

The Fountain House is a palace in Russia built by the Sheremetev family, named after the nearby Fontanka river. Since its erection in 1712 the building was reconstructed several times by famous architects G. Dmitryev, Savva Chevakinsky, Fyodor Argunov, and Ivan Starov. It is also known as the Sheremetev Palace.

The Saint Petersburg Stieglitz State Academy of Art and Design (Санкт-Петербургская художественно-промышленная академия имени А. Л. Штиглица; abbreviated as СПГХПА) is the oldest school of design in Russia. It occupies a parcel of land immediately to the east of the Summer Garden in Saint Petersburg.