The noise and din in this creepy den
But all night long, until dawn, I read poetry to prostitutes
And I fry alcohol with the bandits.
Sergey Yesenin
In fact, the history of prostitution in Russia begins with the reform of Peter the Great. Earlier, in pre-Petrine Russia, with the boundless influence of the church on the relationship between the sexes, this happened occasionally, mainly in taverns, taverns and baths. Ever since the time of Ivan the Terrible, public girls and spouses were severely persecuted - flogged with whips in the squares. The fight against prostitution was facilitated by the peculiarities of the mentality of Russian men, which did not allow widespread fornication with women. In Russia, patriarchy reigned and the attitude towards the fair half was slightly better than towards things.
Along the Alexander Garden. Photo: V. Kononov.
Organized lasciviousness began with the reforms of Peter I thanks to the wide influx of foreigners into Russia, since a well-established institution of venal love had long existed in Europe. Therefore, in the overwhelming majority in St. Petersburg foreign women were engaged in this. Already at the end of the 18th century, on the outskirts of the city, there were whole neighborhoods where secret meeting houses worked. Mostly they were kept by Dutch and German women. One of them, nicknamed Dresdensha, rented a house on Voznesenskaya Street, recruited foreign women there and put the matter on a grand scale, until one of the priestesses of love complained to Catherine II herself that she had been lured there by deception. Dresden was severely punished, and her "establishment" was closed.
Promotional video:
Sadovaya street. Photo: V. Kononov.
Of course, this did not stop the growth in the number of secret dens. Now foreign prostitutes disguised themselves as seamstresses, hat-makers or fashion actresses. They served the upper and middle strata of society, but the "tavern girls" were still Russian for the common people.
Prostitution in St. Petersburg was fought both under Peter I and under subsequent tsars, but only Paul I introduced a rule according to which "night butterflies" had to dress in yellow dresses so that they could be immediately distinguished from decent women. Ossushnitsy were exiled to Siberia to mines.
Smolny Cathedral. Photo: V. Kononov.
Nevertheless, repressive measures against prostitution did not give results - the number of secret dating houses and brothels grew steadily. Along with this, the number of venereal diseases in St. Petersburg also grew. Therefore, Emperor Nicholas I decided to take control of prostitution by legalizing it.
In 1843, the first brothels, or brothels, as they were called in the French manner, began operating in the capital. A specially created Medical and Police Committee identified 400 prostitutes in the city and legalized their activities. Each girl was given a yellow form instead of a passport. In 1844, the "Prostitution Table" was published, which regulated the activities of brothels.
Replacement ticket and inspection book.
Only women aged 30 to 60 years, who did not have minor children living with them, could open brothel houses. The hostess was obliged to maintain order in her establishment, monitor the hygiene of women and keep the appropriate documentation.
By law, three quarters of each prostitute's earnings belonged to her, and only one quarter to the priestess of love herself. However, "madam" often took all the money for themselves, than they introduced women into debt, forever driving them into bondage. Therefore, in 1856, pay books were introduced in brothels. This allowed many of the "employees" to save significant funds for the future. The girl who wished to part with her profession could freely change her yellow ticket at the Medical and Police Committee for a passport and do any craft. Very humane and loyal.
Photo: V. Kononov.
By 1852, there were 152 brothels in St. Petersburg, in which 884 women “worked”. Basically, they were located in the area of the current Suvorovsky Prospect. A small part of the most fashionable tolerance houses were located on Italianskaya and Meshchanskaya streets. The number of brothels in the capital grew steadily, aided by a general decline in morals and the abolition of serfdom. Former peasant women began to actively replenish brothels, mostly of the lower order.
In 1879 in St. Petersburg there were already 206 brothels with a population of 1528 people. By the end of the century, most of them were concentrated in the area of Sennaya Square. The most scandalous was the so-called "Malinnik", in which the most depressed prostitutes worked.
Fragment of the fence around the monument to Nicholas I on St. Isaac's Square. Photo: V. Kononov.
St. Petersburg brothels were distributed according to categories - from two-ruble to 30-kopeck. The expenses of such establishments ranged from 30 to 120 rubles a month, but the most fashionable ones allowed themselves to spend up to 1,500 rubles. Clients paid 3-5 rubles per session in expensive brothels, and up to 15 rubles per night. Home call up to 25 rubles.
By the end of the nineteenth century in St. Petersburg, there was a tendency to reduce the number of brothels. So, in 1897, only 69 of them remained, mainly due to the liquidation of brothels of a lower order. Foreign women also worked in expensive brothels of St. Petersburg. All of them were distinguished by cleanliness, spoke languages and knew how to present themselves.
By the beginning of the 20th century, there were even fewer brothels in the capital. In 1909, only 32 establishments worked, and by 1917 there were practically none left. This process was mainly due to the transition of prostitutes to free bread, in the category of the so-called "blank".
Griboyedov Canal. Photo: V. Kononov.
"Blank" prostitutes appeared in St. Petersburg as a counterbalance to the "ticket" prostitutes who worked in brothels. Such people also handed over their passports to the Medical and Police Committee and received a form of the same yellow color, which allowed them to work at home. The services of "blank" prostitutes were expensive - up to 50 rubles per hour, which was not surprising, since among them there were up to 5% of noblewomen. They rented clients for themselves in separate offices of the most expensive restaurants in St. Petersburg - "Dominik", "Kuba", "Vienna" and others, and then took them to their luxurious apartments. In 1915, about 500 of these cozy nests were registered.
Photo: V. Kononov.
The revolution of 1917 and the subsequent changes that proclaimed the slogan "free proletarian love" turned into an unprecedented increase in sexually transmitted diseases. They began to fight against prostitution with repressive methods and extinguished the outbreak of the disease, at the same time banning legal activities. What will happen in our time with you, we’ll wait and see. Attempts to legalize prostitution have been made several times, but so far to no avail.