What secrets does the "Masonic mansion" keep in St. Petersburg and what do the secret symbols on its facade mean?

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

As soon as this house is called - and "Masonic mansion" and "casket house" and "brick castle". Schreter's house on the Moika Embankment in St. Petersburg immediately attracts attention. It was as if it was brought to us from some old European street. Who built it here and why? Even more mysterious is the fact that on its main facade you can see Masonic symbols - stucco images in the form of a triangle and a compass …

This building, unique in its beauty and originality, was built at the end of the nineteenth century by the talented Russian architect of German origin Viktor Schreter. A graduate of the Imperial Academy of Arts in Russia, as well as the Berlin Academy of Arts, he visited many European countries, studying their architecture. Everything he saw later inspired him to create his own masterpieces and develop his own unique style.

Schreter is the author of famous buildings in various cities of Russia and abroad. He is considered the “grandfather” of Art Nouveau, anticipating this popular style at the beginning of the last century, and a popularizer of a new way of facing buildings for Russia - bricks and natural stone burnt at high temperatures. This method was called “brick style”.

The architect Schreter began designing the mansion on the corner of the Moika Embankment and Pisarev Street when he was 49 years old. By this time he already had eight children, and he was building a house for his family. The construction of the mansion was completed in 1891.

An asymmetrical building in the Gothic style with a roof like an old castle house and windows of different sizes and shapes reminded Schreter of old Europe, whose architecture he had always admired. This building very accurately illustrates the concept of "family nest".

In addition to the Gothic features, signs of the neo-Renaissance can be seen near the house. The corner bay window, reminiscent of a turret, openwork forged elements, and a high Gothic pediment are very interesting.

Most of the building is faced with bricks and plaster is used only fragmentarily (mainly in the decor). Ceramics are also used in the cladding.

By the way, although Schreter was of European origin, the signs on the facade of the house under a small balcony, which can be mistaken for Masonic, are not really any "secret symbols". The owner of the house depicted common work items used by architects.

In those days, when the architect and his family lived here, the windows of the house adorned with colored glass and stained-glass windows, which made the mansion even more reminiscent of a fairytale castle. Inside the house, in addition to the glare from the stained-glass windows, one could marvel at the beautiful interiors, the chic marble staircase, and delightful stucco patterns. The architect worked in the corner of the house, on the first floor - here he set up an office and a drawing room for himself. Here, on the ground floor, there was a dining room with a spiral staircase, from where households and their guests entered the garden, as well as many other rooms.

The interiors on the second floor were even more luxurious than those on the first. But on the upper, attic, everything was arranged very modestly.

In general, the mansion was very cozy, beautiful and comfortable. The plumbing and heating (moreover, water) with air humidification added to the comfort.

Subsequently, the architect built two more near his house - this time profitable.

The architect's site also housed outbuildings, including a glacier, a room for carriages, a stable, and a cowshed.

After the revolution, Schreter's mansion was nationalized and communal apartments for Soviet citizens appeared in it. In our century, at the beginning of the 2000s, the house was acquired as a private property.

In St. Petersburg there are many interesting mansions that always attract the attention of passers-by. And in the northern capital there are buildings in the style of a variety of cultures. In this regard, we recommend that you read about as in St. Petersburg they loved Egypt.