The Griffin Tower in the Apothecary Quarter on Vasilievsky Island is one of the most amazing places in St. Petersburg. The amazingness of this place lies in its … unsolvedness. And the lack of understanding gives it a mystical halo, an atmosphere of frightening mystery, which creates the basis for endless speculation.
The Tower of Griffins (also called the Digital Tower and even the Tower of the Lonely Optimist), which is part of the ancient Pel and Sons Pharmacy. It is located in the courtyard of the pharmacy on the 7th line of Vasilievsky Island. The building is about 11 meters high, about 2 meters in diameter, and has no windows or doors. The top of the tower is covered with a tin roof. And the bricks that make up the Tower are almost all numbered.
The most mysterious thing is that the numbers on the bricks of the tower are constantly changing, they appear and disappear. They say that at certain moments, the numbers line up in the very code of happiness (or the code of the universe). And if a person is in front of the tower at a happy moment, his wish will come true. However, you need to be careful with your desires. After all, they can come true. In addition, anyone who comes to the Tower with evil intentions will regret their dreams. After all, the code of happiness affects only the fate of the one who asks.
The Griffin Tower is located in an inconspicuous small courtyard-well of house 16 along the 7th line of Vasilyevsky Island. Today this once secret and little-known place has become a subject of pilgrimage for both romantically minded young Petersburgers and guests of the city. There are at least two reasons for this. The first is the firm conviction that a wish made near the tower is coming true, and that this place itself brings happiness to everyone who visits it. The second reason is the mystery, the aura of myths and legends, which is only fueled by the persistent unwillingness of local residents to let intruders into the mysterious courtyard.
The tower itself is a very unusual architectural structure for St. Petersburg - a red brick cylinder 11 meters high and about 2 meters in diameter. The tower was built in the 19th century by the well-known pharmacist Wilhelm Pel, the owner of the pharmacy of the same name on the 7th line. This pharmacy is one of the oldest in St. Petersburg, and it works to this day, at the same time being a museum. Having opened his own business, Wilhelm Pel quickly became rich, and soon in his possession was not only a pharmacy with a laboratory located in the basement, but also a couple of pharmaceutical factories.
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People's rumor immediately gave two explanations for the wealth that suddenly fell on the head of the pharmacist. The first is the happy magical power of the Apothecary Quarter, on the border of which Pel opened his establishment, and the second is the elixir of happiness (according to other versions, the code that opens the portal to parallel worlds) and fulfillment of desires, which the scientist invented in his tower. Accordingly, in the Tower of Griffins, Wilhelm Pel and his sons conducted alchemical experiments in search of the philosopher's stone and a wonderful elixir, and there he also brought out griffins that guarded his secret. At night, griffins, invisible to the untrained eye, flew out of the tower and circled over the city. There are some suspicions that these flights continue to this day, otherwise how can you explain the fact that the secret of Pel remained unsolved?
Also, do not forget about the mysterious numbers, changing their location, inscribed on the outside on the bricks of the Tower (they say, from the inside too). Pessimists claim that the artist Aleksey Kostroma "decorated" the tower, and mysterious figures arrange the numbers in their own way at night. Optimists, on the other hand, tend to believe that these stones bear a "code of happiness", the key to which is known only to the long-dead pharmacist and his griffins.