Alexandrinsky Theatre
Russia's oldest national drama theatre, in Carlo Rossi's Empire building on Ostrovsky Square.
The theatre traces its origin to the imperial decree of 1756 that created the first permanent public theatre company in Russia, and it is often called the Russian national theatre. The present building on Ostrovsky Square was designed by Carlo Rossi and opened in 1832, named after Empress Alexandra Feodorovna. Its Neoclassical loggia of Corinthian columns is crowned by a bronze quadriga of Apollo, and the whole square, with the street behind it now named after Rossi, is one of the most complete Empire-style ensembles in the city.
Gogol's The Government Inspector was first performed here in 1836 and Chekhov's The Seagull had its troubled premiere on the stage in 1896. The blue and gold auditorium rises through five tiers and holds around a thousand. The building was restored in 2005 and 2006 for the company's 250th anniversary, and a New Stage with rehearsal and media spaces opened on the Fontanka Embankment in 2013. The theatre also keeps a museum of its own history and hosts the international Alexandrinsky festival.
Highlights
- Rossi's colonnaded facade with Apollo's bronze quadriga
- Five-tier blue and gold auditorium with the imperial box
- Premiere stage of The Government Inspector and The Seagull
- New Stage on the Fontanka, opened in 2013
