The Kikin Hall (Кикины палаты) is one of the oldest buildings in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

, Russia. The diminutive residence was commissioned by Alexander Kikin in 1714. The name of the architect is unknown, but similarities to the old Peterhof palace abound, suggesting an attribution to

Andreas Schlüter Andreas Schlüter (1659 – ) was a German baroque sculptor and architect, active in the Holy Roman Empire, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, and Tsardom of Russia, Russia. Biography Andreas Schlüter was born probably in Hamburg, in ...

. The palace was incomplete at the time of Alexander Kikin's disgrace and execution in 1718. The building was confiscated by the crown and used to house the royal library and the

cabinet of curiosities Cabinets of curiosities ( and ), also known as wonder-rooms ( ), were encyclopedic collections of objects whose categorical boundaries were, in Renaissance Europe, yet to be defined. Although more rudimentary collections had preceded them, t ...

of the Academy of Sciences (later transferred to the

Kunstkamera The Kunstkamera (, derived from German ''Kunstkammer'' lit. "art chamber") formally organized as the Russian Academy of Science's Peter the Great Museum of Anthropology and Ethnography (, ''Muzey antropologii i etnografii imeni Petra Velikogo R ...

building). The original two-storey residence was expanded and the third storey was added at some point in the 1720s. After 1733 the building was occupied by the office of the Horse Guards and their hospital. It was completely remodeled in 1829, and its

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

decor was removed. The dilapidated building was further damaged by aerial bombs in the 1940s.''The Companion Guide to St Petersburg.'' . Page 218.

References

External links

* {{in lang, ru}
The site of the Kikin Palace
Houses completed in 1720 Baroque architecture in Russia Palaces in Saint Petersburg Schools in Saint Petersburg 1720 establishments in Russia Cultural heritage monuments of federal significance in Saint Petersburg