There are constant debates and discussions on the topic of mysteries in the buildings of St. Petersburg. There are supporters of an alternative history of the city who say that the city was rebuilt but never built from scratch in these swampy areas. There is a lot of controversy about the construction of St. Isaac's Cathedral and the Alexandrian Column, forts in the Gulf of Finland and stone elements in the buildings of the city. New interesting facts sometimes appear on the Internet.
What catches my eye - I collect in a certain list. And, often, over time, a selection for the article is collected. So, another selection of interesting observations in St. Petersburg:
Previous painting of the Hermitage
A griffin is depicted, as on many bas-reliefs on the facades of white-stone ancient Russian temples. The ornament, inside which the image of a griffin is also very reminiscent of Old Russian. It is possible that the Hermitage was previously painted like this inside. Why did you paint over? Why wasn't it restored?
The building in the center of St. Petersburg stands on a foundation of the rubble of something older
Promotional video:
The foundation of a brick building in St. Petersburg is supposedly on rubble stone.
But if you come closer and take a closer look, you can see that the rubble stone is not a stone at all, but fragments from some building. Two options: either something dilapidated at one time and a foundation was built from the rubble, or the builders used the rubble of an even more ancient structure. If the first, then what could they disassemble in St. Petersburg such a stone that fell into disrepair? Even brick buildings have been standing here since the 18th century.
The top left photo is the same wreckage. And the rest - as an example of buildings with the first floors listed. Note the arch in the building. Why is she so low? Even below the height of a person! Miscalculation of builders? Or is the building covered with soil?
Here is information from an old book confirming the version that there were large masses of soil sediments in St. Petersburg:
There was more than 4 m of sediment in the Isaakia area. And in the center of the city, the sediments were on average 1-2 meters. Where could this sand come from? St. Petersburg floods are pure water, it is a surge of water from the Gulf of Finland by winds and it will not bring so much sand. On the Neva? But such catastrophic river floods and floods were not recorded.
Walls of the Peter and Paul Fortress on the Alekseevsky Ravelin
An example showing how the fortress was built. The granite facing of the wall is made of torn blocks and then processed.
That is, most likely the front part was also initially not processed during installation. Then she was given a plane and the desired geometry. An interesting granite decorative ledge - it was obviously also processed already in the masonry.
And in some places in the wall imitation of granite masonry. Those. part of the wall is plastered brick.
Have you unearthed the foundation of the bell tower of the Smolny Cathedral?
The foundation of the building is located at a depth of 4 meters! There are several thousand bog oak piles under the granite masonry (according to archaeologists). Granite blocks are processed. Bell tower in the 18th century. was supposed to become the tallest building in St. Petersburg - 150m, higher than St. Isaac's Cathedral (the model in the photo is from the Academy of Arts). The lower left diagram shows the current ground level.
Video from the news of the federal channel:
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Some more examples:
Granite stone road slabs. They differ from the same granite curbs in color and texture. They have a pimpled surface. It feels like cast. The photo was sent, I will not say where it is.
The columns of the Kazan Cathedral are prefabricated. There are lead plates between the segments. Perhaps this is a way of sealing the seam and for better contact of the surfaces of the segments, so that local stresses do not form and the column does not crack.
In St. Petersburg, there are masonry of lime blocks. The buildings are not all brick. Or is it made of pudost stone? Pudost is a mineral tuff, almost clay, which has been petrified in the air. And it was mined in a semi-plastic state in a quarry near St. Petersburg. And if limestone, where did it come from?
I found information that he was brought from the quarries in Putilovskaya Mountain on the southern shore of Lake Ladoga. Most likely, the blocks were floated along the Neva during the construction of the city.
Continued: Part 2