Domenico Trezzini: biography of the first architect of St. Petersburg

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

The first architect of St. Petersburg Domenico Andrea Trezzini lived quite a long life. In Russia, he found a new homeland, name and family. He created a number of significant architectural structures in the Northern capital, which influenced Russian architecture in general. And today his name can most often be seen in the problem book, where schoolchildren indulge in understanding "how many compasses Pyotr Lopushin and Domenico Trezzini bought." But the biography of the architect is part of Russian history.

Childhood and family

Very little is known about the life and especially about childhood of Domenico Trezzini. He was born in the small Swiss village of Astano, not far from Lugano, Tessinsky Canton, in 1670, the exact date is unknown. The family came from Italian nobles who once lived in the city of Trezzini. At the time of the boy's birth, his parents lived in Switzerland and had a verymodest we alth. But the family was proud of their origin, and the family coat of arms in the form of the French St. Andrew's Cross was placed above the entrance to their house.

Education

Despite the fact that the family of Domenico Trezzini was short of money, they still decided to give the boy an education. The canton of Tessina, where a lot of people from Italy lived, was famous for its art and architecture schools. About 150 fairly well-known architects in Europe came out of this area. Therefore, the Trezzini family briefly puzzled over what profession to give their son. When he completed his studies at a local school, his parents decided that Domenico needed to continue his education in order to get a decent place. At that time, Italy was the center of architectural education, there were two places of concentration of educational institutions for architects: Rome and Venice. Since Venice was closer and cheaper, the choice fell on it. Domenico went to learn a profession in this city on the water and a few years later received the coveted document confirming his qualifications. Now all I had to do was find a job.

Invitation from Russia

There was no work for Domenico Trezzini in Italy and in his native Switzerland. At this time, the Danish king Christian V began a large construction - he intended to build defensive structures around Copenhagen. While Domenico was traveling to Denmark, there was a change of power and the new king Frederick the Fourth did not want to hire Trezzini. But Domenico nevertheless found a place and worked on the construction of fortifications.facilities for 4 years. In those days, a military alliance was concluded between Denmark and Russia, and several Russian courtiers were in Copenhagen and were looking for specialists to implement Peter the Great. Russian Ambassador Andrey Izmailov held talks with a novice architect, a specialist in fortifications. Trezzini was promised a high salary, "lifting" and an increase in pay after he "showed his art." All this turned out to be more than tempting, and the young architect agreed to go to such an exotic country as Russia.

Fortifications

Russia urgently needed fortifications to protect its borders from the Swedes. But there were no specialists of this profile in the country, so the ambassadors engaged architects and engineers abroad. In 1703, Domenico Trezzini set off by water from Copenhagen to Arkhangelsk. Then he got to the birthplace of St. Petersburg and settled in the Greek settlement. Various foreigners lived here and, according to the memoirs of contemporaries, no one better than Trezzini knew how to solve their disputes and problems. The first project that was entrusted to the architect was Fort Kronshlot in the waters of the Gulf of Finland. He actively took over the management of the work and in a few months, despite the unusual cold for the architect and an unfamiliar language, his team was able to build a fort. It was an unusual form for the Russian tradition and the construction caused a lot of skepticism. However, the very first attack by the Swedes showed that the fort was defensible and thissignificantly elevated Trezzini in the eyes of Peter the Great. In honor of the victory in Narva, Peter decided to build the Triumphal Gate there in the manner of the Roman tradition. He entrusted this project to Trezzini. The powerful and front gates of Trezzini were nicknamed "Peter's", they became a real monument to Russian weapons and the Russian Tsar really liked them. And he ordered Trezzini to return to the site of the construction of St. Petersburg and start building a fortress.

Peter and Paul Fortress

Work has been underway on Hare Island for several years - the Peter and Paul Fortress was being built. Domenico Trezzini was sent to replace the deceased construction manager, the Saxon engineer Johann Kirchenstein. By this time, the main wooden walls had already been erected, the new engineer had to complete the construction of the crownwork on City Island, work on strengthening the walls, find a way to reduce the wave load on the fortifications during floods and sieges. Domenico laid the first stone in the foundation of the brick walls and actively engaged in construction. Subsequently, he will call the Peter and Paul Fortress the main building of his life. By order of Peter, gates were erected in the fortress “in the manner of the Narvs”, walls were erected, powder stores and barracks were built. All this is done very soundly and monumentally. The king often visited the construction site and was pleased with its progress. Trezzini strengthened his position at the Russian court.

Trezzini and the Northern Capital

After the completion of the main work in the fortress of Domenico Trezzini, biographywhich is now forever connected with Russia, receives an order for the planning of residential areas of the city. There are few buildings of the architect of that time, but the drawings speak of the breadth and grandeur of the plan. The beginning of the architect’s work falls on the “wooden” period of the city, this did not allow the master to fully show his abilities, after all, he was used to thinking and creating in stone. More and more duties were assigned to him, which he performed with great responsibility. But Peter did not fulfill his promises, he never raised the salary of the architect, although at the beginning he promised. But Trezzini did not grumble, although sometimes he timidly asked for an increase in pay. The architect will work on the arrangement of the Peter and Paul Fortress until the end of his life. But, besides this, the tsar entrusted him with other urban planning tasks, which the engineer solved with honor. The first, non-military project of the architect was the cathedral in the fortress. Later, he began to engage in civil engineering and put a lot of effort and imagination into the layout of the Northern capital.

Peter and Paul Cathedral

In 1712 Domenico Trezzini began to work on the project of the Peter and Paul Cathedral, instead of the wooden church. Like the project of a stone fortress, the cathedral became a new word in Russian architecture. Very serious tasks were assigned to the temple: it was supposed to become a symbol of the new Russia, the heart of St. Petersburg. The cathedral remained the tallest building in the historical part of the city until 2012 and is still the main sign of the St. Petersburg perspective. Architecturally, the cathedralabsolutely Western European construction. Its appearance is strict and concise, the dominant feature is the multi-tiered bell tower. All the splendor is inside the cathedral. Here is located the imperial tomb and a magnificent gilded iconostasis. The interior is reminiscent of the most luxurious ceremonial halls of the royal chambers. Trezzini was able to embody Peter's idea in stone - about striving for power and height of spirit.

Vasilyevsky Island

Architect Domenico Trezzini in 1715 creates a plan for the regular development of Vasilyevsky Island. Most of the buildings according to his designs have not been preserved, but the principle of planning has remained the same. Peter wanted to place the administrative quarter of his new government on the island and ordered Trezzini to prepare premises for this. Today, the building of the Twelve Collegia, designed by Trezzini, is an example of the Petrine baroque, the progenitor of which was the Russian architect of Swiss-Italian origin. Also, according to his project, Gostiny Dvor was built on the island, which has not survived to this day.

Own home

Peter the Great ordered the architect to build the first stone house for life and to live in it himself "for example." The building was located on the embankment of Vasilyevsky Island and became a “standard project”, on the model of which the building of St. Petersburg was subsequently carried out for many years. It is an example of the Petrine baroque, which is characterized by a regular plan, rationality, a combination of order details with baroque elements, modesty and conciseness.exterior decoration of buildings. The house later underwent a slight restructuring, but even today it is an adornment of the University Embankment.

Buildings in St. Petersburg

Domenico Trezzini built several buildings in St. Petersburg, some of them have not survived to this day. But you can see the breadth of the architect's talent in the Peter and Paul Fortress, in the planning of Vasilyevsky Island and, first of all, its embankment, in the Summer Palace of Peter the Great in the Summer Garden, in the complex of the Alexander Nevsky Lavra. In 1726, he began to expand the Winter Palace of Emperor Peter at the Winter Canal, built the second building of the palace. Trezzini was also involved in the design and construction of the Galley Harbor.

Trezzini's influence on Russian architecture

Russian urban planning was strongly influenced by several foreign architects, including Domenico Trezzini. The sights of St. Petersburg largely got their appearance precisely thanks to his ideas. He resolutely began to build on Russian soil in the European tradition. He, of course, studied Russian principles of architecture, but he greatly transformed them. And today, the fact that St. Petersburg looks so European is largely due to Trezzini. He also brought up the outstanding Russian architect M. Zemtsov, who did a lot for the development of domestic architecture and the appearance of St. Petersburg.

Private life

Trezzini was married three times. The first time he married was on the way from Venice to Switzerland. In that marriage, he had three daughters. But he does not take his wife with him to Russiatook. Nothing is known about the second wife of the architect, but in this marriage he had a long-awaited son Peter (Pietro), whose godfather was Emperor Peter the Great. Later, Pietro will become an architect and will also work in Russia, with M. Zemtsov. The third marriage was the longest and most successful for the architect. Maria Carlotta - the wife of Domenico Trezzini, who lived with him until the end of his days, gave birth to the architect's daughter and four sons.

Heritage and memory

To this day, 16 buildings of D. Trezzini in St. Petersburg have survived, but his main legacy is the layout of Vasilyevsky Island and the formation of the image of the Northern capital. But the Russians were not very grateful, and the name of the architect survived several waves of oblivion. The first happened after his death and lasted almost 100 years. He was remembered when they began to restore the history of some St. Petersburg buildings. Then they forgot about him again for 30 years. A surge of interest in him appears in connection with the creation of the History of Russian Art. And again his name goes into oblivion for four decades. In the second half of the 19th century, he is increasingly remembered, his style and constructive solutions are studied. Today Trezzini's name is inscribed in all textbooks on Russian architecture. Although, nevertheless, most of the inhabitants of Russia again begin to forget his name. Apparently, in order to correct such an injustice, a problem appeared in the school textbook in mathematics, in which Petr Lopushin and Domenico Trezzini make purchases. So, obviously, the task is being solved to arouse the interest of the younger generation in the history of the country and its culture. Despite the obvious merits of the architect, in Russia untilUntil now, neither a street, nor a square, nor even an alley has been named after him. While in his homeland in Switzerland, where he lived for only 17 years, a major urban highway is named after him. At the end of the 20th century, the idea arose to erect a monument to Domenico Trezzini in the northern capital. And only in 2014 in St. Petersburg, finally, a monument appeared in honor of the outstanding architect. Today, Trezzini's creations are part of the mandatory program when studying Russian architecture, because without him the look of St. Petersburg and Russia would be different.