The spit of Vasilyevsky Island is one of the most fascinating architectural ensembles of the city, an inspiring example of the city’s harmony with the dcenery of the banks of the Neva river.
Vasilievsky Island began to be built up in Peter’s times. Peter The First decided to make the spit cultural and business center of the city and for these purposes the architect Domenico Trezzini created a project for the construction of government offices – Twelve Colleges building, as well as the Stock Exchange, the Gostiny Dvor and the Cathedral. In the 1720s, along the Great Neva, foundations were laid for the Kunstkamera and the palace of Queen Praskovia Fedorovna, which from 1727 was given to the Academy of Sciences. The famous Rostral columns appeared on the arrow much later. In the years 1805-1810 the architect Tom de Thomon built a new building of the Exchange that meets the needs of the growing economy of Russia, before which set two rostral column height of 32 meters with allegorical figures at the foot of personifying the great Russian river, the Volga, Dnieper, Neva and Volkhov .
