Video: The secret of rusty "pieces of iron" on the streets of St. Petersburg: What are these "relics of the past" for and where can you see them?
2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55
Not everyone will pay attention to a small rusty "piece of iron" installed horizontally at the entrance to some old building right under their feet. But in the century before last it was a very necessary detail. In those days, when there were no asphalt roads in the cities and the shoes of passers-by were very often dirty in the mud, people wiped their feet on such pieces of iron. And these plates were called - decrottoirs. On the streets of St. Petersburg you can still see these "vestiges of the past", although there are not so many of them left. And if you look closely, each of them is unique.
If for a modern Russian the word "decrottoire" is unusual and not entirely clear, then in the 18th - 19th centuries, when everyone knew French in decent houses, everyone understood what they were talking about. Indeed, translated from French, this word means "scraper".
This detail of urban life came to pre-revolutionary Russian cities from bourgeois Europe and quickly gained popularity. It was especially fashionable to put the decor near the front ones in St. Petersburg - due to the climatic features of this city.
By the beginning of the 20th century, with the asphalting of the roads, decrottoes had lost their relevance. They were no longer needed and began to seem to passers-by as an unnecessary detail that you only stumble over. They were gradually dismantled almost everywhere. But, fortunately, some of the old front doors in the city center can still be found with decor. If you look closely, these metal plates are very interesting, and many of them are made with imagination. At least they are all different.
The fact that near the houses of noble persons in large cities there were practically no identical decor tops, it is not surprising. Like other details of the city mansion, the shoe scraper showed others the status of the owner. So people who wanted to impress others tried to make the decor sophisticated.
Residents of St. Petersburg, who are interested in the history and architecture of their native city, periodically share photos of such decor with Internet users. For example, a scientist and traveler Yevgeny Belyaev found unusual decor on the streets of St. Petersburg.
By the way, it is possible to buy a decrottoire in our time - for example, such a scraper will be useful to someone who lives in a private country house. Modern forged scrapers are inexpensive - on the Internet you can find offices that offer them at a price of 250 rubles apiece. However, this is not surprising, because such a remake can never be compared with a real decrottoire from the past.
Continuing the topic, read about how mascarons appeared in Moscow and where they can be seen.
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