Rossi Street (also called Theater Street), by Carlo Rossi, 1828–32

This perfectly symmetrical street behind the Alexandra Theater (seen at the end of the street) is 220 meters long and 22 meters wide. The matching buildings on either side are 22 meters high. The building on the right houses the Vaganova Choreographic School (formerly the Imperial Ballet School) and the Museum of Theater and Music Arts. The building on the left was the Imperial Ministry of Public Education.

Carlo Rossi was born 18 December 1775 in Naples and was brought to Russia in his childhood when his mother, a well-known ballerina, was invited into Russia to perform. From youth he was connected with the world of the arts. He trained in the studio of architect Vincenzo Brenna. In 1795 he entered the service of the admiralty board of architecture; as the assistant to Brenna, together with whom, it is assumed, he participated in the construction of Saint Michael’s Palace in Saint Petersburg.

From 1802 to 1803 Rossi studied in Italy. In 1806 he obtained the title of architect and an office. In 1808 he was dispatched to the Kremlin archaeological expedition in Moscow, where he built St. Catherine’s Church of the Ascension Convent and the theater at Arbat Square, which burned to the ground during Napoleon’s invasion of Russia. He was rewarded with the Order of St. Vladimir of IV degree. In 1814 he obtained the rank of Collegiate Councilor. In 1815 he returned to Saint Petersburg. In 1816 he was appointed to a position on the committee of structures and hydraulic works.

The buildings of Rossi are characteristic of the empire style, which combines grandeur with noble simplicity. These include: the Yelagin Palace with the hothouse and the pavilions (1816-1818), Saint Michael’s Palace, General Staff Building, the buildings of the Senate and Synod (1829-1833), the façade of the Russian National Library that faces Alexandrinskaya Square, the pavilions of Anichkov Palace, the arch of the General Staff Building, the Alexander Theatre and the buildings of the Board of Theaters and Ministry of Internal Affairs. In Pavlovsk, Rossi built the palace library. One of the last buildings of Rossi was the belfry of the Yurevskogo monastery near Velikiy Novgorod. On 18 April 1849, he died of Cholera in Saint Petersburg, according to available data - in complete oblivion. He was buried in the Volkov Lutheran cemetery. During the Soviet period, he was reburied at the necropolis of the Alexander Nevsky Monastery.