What is Badaev's apartment building in St. Petersburg famous for, and why a sad angel was depicted on it

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

The magnificent house of Badayev in St. Petersburg is hard to miss. It is very beautiful and is even considered the most striking example of northern Art Nouveau in the city on the Neva. But what is especially striking is the graceful figure of a white angel on a gable crowning the corner of the house. From the very appearance of this building, one can guess that it has an interesting history, and the angel on the building was probably no coincidence. Indeed, there is one sad legend about this angel.

The apartment building of Panteleimon Badayev, a hereditary honorary citizen of St. Petersburg, head of the house church at the St. Petersburg Theological Seminary, stands at the intersection of Zhukovsky Street with Vosstaniya Street. The author of the project is Vasily Kosyakov, who was also assisted by his brother Georgy. The author of the decoration of the facades is the artist Nikaz Podberezsky (Podberesky). By the way, this painter has repeatedly worked together with the Koyakovs on projects both in St. Petersburg and in other cities.

The house was built for about two years and, interestingly, it was completed a year earlier than its project was officially approved - in 2006. Alas, Badayev himself died in the same year.

In 1907, the project received a silver medal at the city facade competition, and at the World Exhibition in Paris, Vasily Kosyakov was awarded a gold award for his work.

Badaev's apartment building is asymmetrical (its right wing is almost twice as long as the left), which is usually uncharacteristic for corner buildings made in the Art Nouveau style. But this difference looks organic thanks to the rounded corner, on the gable of which there is a bas-relief depicting a girl. Soon after its construction, local residents nicknamed this building "The House of the Sad Angel".

Legend has it that the designers brought the image of the angel into the house for a reason. Allegedly, in this way, the owner of the house, Panteleimon Badaev, immortalized the memory of his daughter, who died tragically - she threw herself out of the window.

The image of the girl has graceful wings, and above her head there is a halo in the form of a celestial sphere, along the rim of which the signs of the zodiac are located.

In addition to the figure of an angel, the house has a lot of interesting elements - richly decorated bay windows, ornaments, patterned inserts, and intricate stucco moldings. Admire the majolica tile panels, which were specially made in the famous workshop of Peter Vaulin.

To summarize, in the decor of the building you can see ceramic panels (including in the front ones), metal panels, two bay windows with majolica inserts, a beautifully decorated balcony belt (level of the third floor), openwork gratings on balconies and bas-relief medallions (muses, flowers, antique sketches, etc.) on window frames.

Families of different social status and income levels settled in the house. For example, in its corner part there were multi-room apartments for very wealthy families. The door to the entrance was opened by the doorman, and there were chic fireplaces inside. But the side of the house, which faces Zhukovsky Street, was not so pompous, and was intended for simpler people. Apartments there were smaller in size and cheaper. After the revolution, the building housed the laboratory of the Soyuzformolityo trust, and grocery stores were also opened here. There were also communal apartments in the house. In general, many famous architects of the Soviet era, outstanding scientists, writers, and linguists lived here.

An interesting fact: during the Great Patriotic War and the blockade of Leningrad, an enemy shell hit the building, as a result of which some of the apartments on the upper floors lost their walls. The house was renovated only in the early 1950s.

Alas, for all the Soviet years, few people cared about the preservation of this unique building in its original form. Gradually, Badayev's tenement house began to decline. By the beginning of the 21st century, the peeling facade (including the bas-relief with the figure of a sad angel) was a sad sight, and only upon close examination could one see traces of its former splendor. The house was overhauled only in 2013-2014, that is, more than a hundred years after its construction.

True, old-timers and some experts believe that the restoration could have been carried out more professionally, and the house, they say, did not have such a clearly pink color from the beginning.

Badaev's apartment building is officially recognized as a cultural heritage site of the Russian Federation. By the way, there are other architectural masterpieces in the Northern Art Nouveau style in the city on the Neva. For example, tenement houses designed by the architect Lidval, who created a new look for St. Petersburg