Work will begin in late April to restore the imperial stable house in St. Petersburg, an 18th-century landmark that has stood dilapidated for decades, the Interfax news agency reported Monday.
The complex, known in Russian as the Konnyushennoye Vedomstvo, was established under Peter the Great to house the royal horses, carriages and the hundreds of personnel required to maintain the tsar’s equestrian fleet.
It occupies a prominent location between the Hermitage Museum and the Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood, the site of the 1881 assassination of Alexander II.
St. Petersburg authorities issued a permit last week for a redevelopment plan that allocates 60% of the site to public spaces and 40% to dining areas.
Studio 44, the architectural firm that designed the plan, confirmed that the initial phase will focus on demolition and structural reinforcement.
“This will be a preparatory stage preceding the restoration,” Nikita Yaveyn, head of Studio 44, told Interfax.
Crews are currently clearing the site to provide full access for builders and conservators.
Once reconstruction is finished, five historical pavilions will serve as entry points, creating new pedestrian routes linking the Moika River embankment to Konnyushennaya Square and nearby bridges.
In 2001, the imperial stable house was designated a federal cultural heritage site.
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