788 
PETERSBURG. 
line for the public offices, which, in 1718, were alfo tranf- 
lated hither. The principal families, likewife, were or¬ 
dered to make this their refidence, and build houfes ac¬ 
cording to their abilities. But all this occafioned an irre¬ 
gularity in the buildings; for the fituation of the town 
was not precifely laid out till the year 1721. The nobi¬ 
lity and burghers had been directed to build their houfes 
on the ifland of Peteriburg; and not a few buildings, 
both public and private, were accordingly erefled there. 
But afterw'ards, the emperor determined that the whole 
town ftiould Hand on the ifland of Wafili-Oftrow'. The 
ftreets were marked out; canals were dug ; the ifland 
was to be fortified with 57 baftions, and the nobility had 
their houfes to begin a fecond time. Notwithftanding 
thefe changes, no metropolis in Europe can come in com¬ 
petition with Peteriburg, with regard to regularity and 
embellifliment. The diameter of the city, from eafl to 
•weft, from the Volkrefentkoi monaftery, is nine verfts ; 
and from fouth to north, from the town fofle acrofs Ka- 
mennoi-oftrof to the Nevka, eight verfts; the circumfe¬ 
rence, taking the Vyborg fide by the right bank of the 
Neva, meafures twenty-four verfts, or fomewhat more 
than twenty Engliffi miles. Of this fpace, however, 
much muft be fubtrafted for the water 5 and the land is 
not yet completely built upon. 
By the police ordinance of the year 1782, Peteriburg is 
divided into ten precinfts, each containing feveral quar¬ 
ters. The fcite of thefe primary divilions is generally 
determined by the natural boundaries formed by the 
river and its fubordinate channels. The fpace between 
the left bank of the Neva and the river Moika is called 
the firft Admiralty Quarter; between the Moika and the 
Katarina canal the fecond; and between the Katarina canal 
and the Fontanka, the third. The part lying beyond the 
Fontanka, along the Neva, is denominated the Styckhof ; 
below the Styckhof, along the Fontanka, lies the Mof- 
koflkoi; and along the Ligova canal, the Rojeftvenlkoi, 
to which the Yasmfkoi quarter adjoins. Then follow 
the Vaffilieofftroi, the Peterlburgfkoi, and the Vyborglkoi. 
What the Quartier du Palais Royal is to Paris, the Firft 
Admiralty Quarter is to St. Peteriburg; the heart of the 
city, in which luxury and opulence have eftabliflied their 
feat, difiufing themfelves around with increafing energy 
to the remoteft borders of the town; the centre of 
amufement and bufinefs, the brilliant refort of pleafure 
and falhion. Within its circuit are between twenty and 
thirty ftru&ures of the firft magnitude, of which the im¬ 
perial winter-palace is the molt confpicuous. The co- 
loflal dimenlions of this edifice, being five hundred 
Englifli feet in length, and three hundred and fifty in 
breadth, the magnificence which reigns within and 
around it, the treafures of coftly works of art and curio- 
fities of every kind that are here collected, render it the 
molt ftriking objeft of the city. The exterior of this 
palace, which, including the Hermitage, occupies the 
fpace of a finall town, is impofing by its huge and pon¬ 
derous mafs, though not remarkable for elegance of ar- 
chitefture. The ftyle and the exuberance of decoration 
fufficiently betray the period when it came into being. 
The whole height, amounting to feventy feet, comprifes 
only a bafement-floor, with one grand ftory and an en- 
trefol. The fituation of this palace is truly majeftic. In 
front of it Hands a magnificent crefcent of lofty and fu- 
perb edifices, forming a larger fpan than is to be feen in 
any other capital, and behind it flows the beautiful Neva 
•within its granite banks. The left wing to which the 
Hermitage adjoins, has, by means of a projeblion, the 
profpeft up the great Millione, one of the fineft ftreets of 
the city ; and on the right Hands the admiralty. 
The Hermitage is, ftriftly fpeaking, formed by three 
divifions of buildings fronting the riverNeva, to the eaft- 
ward of the winter-palace, from which you enter it 
through St. George’s Hall. This hall, though not a part 
of the Hermitage, deferves a place in this fketch. A 
more fplendid, or fo large a faloon, there is not in Europe. 
Its dimenlions coloflal; its materials variegated marble; 
a gallery for mufic and fpe&ators on great occafions. 
The gallery has a rich baluftrade, which, with the cor¬ 
nice, capitals, and bafe of the columns that fupport it, 
are of bronze. The throne magnificent, crimfon velvet 
and gold ; the chandeliers beyond defcription for fize and 
luftre ; the floor inlaid Mofaic of coloured ftones and mo¬ 
ther-of-pearl. At each end are entre-Jalles for the court- 
officers, guards, and fervants, in the fame ftyle. Through 
this hall, you enter the Hermitage, and find yourfelf in a 
long gallery, between which and a correfponding one on 
the other fide is the fummer-garden, built on vaulted 
arches, open to the Iky, and having a loofe wire net 
drawn over it, to prevent the efcape of its winged inha¬ 
bitants. The fouth end of the galleries leads to the 
apartments in the winter-palace; indeed, at one time, 
thefe apartments might be laid to conftitute the palace 
of prince Potemkin. The oppofite or eaftern gallery, 
when the emprefs Catharine grew old and feeble, was con¬ 
verted into a Hope admirably conftrufted, going down to 
the apartments devoted to public-affairs, drawing-rooms, 
levees, &c. this reiterated Hope allowing her, in her laft 
years, to walk up and down without encountering any 
flairs, or to be wheeled up and down in a chair. A de¬ 
fcription of the Hope may not be unacceptable to our 
readers, as many of the residences of the rich are large 
enough to adopt its comforts when ill-health or age may 
require them. Say its length was 100 feet, its breadth 
20 feet: divide the breadth equally in three parts, the 
whole length, fo that one-third of the floor forms a very 
eafy defcent, fay of one inch in ten : then take the other 
third for the return ; then again, if required; fo that in four 
returns you get to the bottom, on inclined planes, not 
in the lead abrupt. Indeed, in walking down or up, it 
was almoft imperceptible. 
It was in this vaft palace, raifed by the emprefs Eliza¬ 
beth, though firft inhabited by Catharine II. that the 
latter monarch difplayed, through her long reign, that 
magnificence and liberality which made her court the ad¬ 
miration of foreigners, and obtained for her thejuft eu- 
logiums of all literary travellers. It was here likewife 
that fhe ended her days on the 4th of November, 1796. 
The fummer-gardens likewife, or the principal public 
promenade, lie within the bounds of this Admiralty 
Quarter. By their original deftination they belonged to 
the imperial Jammer-palace, a fpacious wooden edifice, 
fince demoliftied; but are now entirely devoted to the 
public. They are well laid out, and ornamented with 
fountains and ftatues. The baluftrade by which they are 
entered, is a truly furprifing work of art; it runs in a 
line with the houfes on the bank of the Neva, and con- 
fifts of thirty-fix mafly columns of granite, connected to¬ 
gether by an iron palifade of exquifite workmanlhip, de- 
ligned and executed by a Swede. The columns are two 
fathoms in height, and their diameter exceeds three 
feet, the fliafts refting on granite pedeftals of fix cubic 
feet, and the pillars are decorated at top by a regular in¬ 
terchange of urns and vafes. The huge mafles of ftone, 
the wonderful ingenuity difplayed in the iron-work, the 
ornaments of which are highly gilt, the connexion of 
the whole with the fuperb edifices ranging at either ex¬ 
tremity, and the view of the Neva with its noble granite 
quay, fill the beholder with aftoniffiment and delight. 
The winter-garden is about fifty feet fquare, in which 
there is a regular fupply of exotic native plants and 
flowxrs, forming at the fame time an aviary peopled with 
the mod beautiful and rare birds, either for fong or plu¬ 
mage, that are to be met with in the four quarters of the 
globe. Often would the emprefs amufe herfelf by feed¬ 
ing them, and then purfue her walk through the hermi¬ 
tage, w'hich might, with great propriety, be denominated 
her exercife-houfe: indeed, its dimenfions fully jultify 
the title. 
This quarter contains four public fquares. In one of 
them Hands the juftly-famous monument of Peter the 
Great. 
