The Admiralty building is the former headquarters of the Admiralty Board in St. Petersburg, russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

.

History

The building you see now was re-built in the nineteenth century to support the Tsar's maritime ambitions. The original design was a fortified ship yars which was later surrounded by four bastions and further protected by a moat. Peter the Great took a strong interest in ship building and some of his design was included in the ships it created for the baltic fleet.

The Empire Style edifice visible today lining the Admiralty Quay was constructed to Andreyan Zakharov

Andreyan Zakharov

Andreyan Zakharov was a Russian architect and representative of the Empire style. His designs also alternated neoclassicism with eclecticism. He was born to a family that was employed by the Admiralty board, and his greatest work was his renovation and expansion of the Admiralty building...

's design between 1806 and 1823. Located at the western end of the Nevsky Prospekt

Nevsky Prospekt

Nevsky Avenue |Prospekt]]) is the main street in the city of St. Petersburg, Russia. Planned by Peter the Great as beginning of the road to Novgorod and Moscow, the avenue runs from the Admiralty to the Moscow Railway Station and, after making a turn at Vosstaniya Square, to the Alexander...

, with a gilded steeple topped by a golden weather-vane in the shape of a small ship, it is one of the city's most conspicuous landmarks. The spire is the focal point of old St. Petersburg's three main streets - Nevsky Avenue, Gorokhovaya Street

Gorokhovaya Street

Gorokhovaya Street is a north-south thoroughfare in the Central Business District of Saint Petersburg.Gorokhovaya Street extends from the Admiralty and runs south, crossing the Moyka River and the Griboyedov Canal, crossing the Garden Street near Sennaya Square. Running south, crossing Fontanka...

, and Voznesensky Avenue - underscoring the importance Peter I placed on Russia's Navy.

The Admiralty Spire is a well known landmark and the weathervane on the top is known as "The Little Ship" (Korablik. The building faces the Lobanov-Rostovsky Residence

Lobanov-Rostovsky Residence

Lobanov-Rostovsky Residence or the Lobanov-Rostovsky Palace is a building at 12 Admiralteysky Avenue in Saint Petersburg, Russia, constructed in 1817-1820 for Prince A.Y. Lobanov-Rostovsky...

 and the golden spire is visible along the important thoroughfares of Nevsky Propect, Gorokhovaia Street and Voznesensky Prospekt

Voznesensky Prospekt

Voznesensky Prospekt is a 1.8 km long street in Admiralteysky District of Saint Petersburg, Russia. Crossing Saint Isaac's Square, the Moika and Griboyedov Canal , the street spans from Admiralteysky Prospekt to Izmaylovsky Bridge across Fontanka, where it turns into Izmaylovsky Prospekt...

).Vladimir Nabokov

Vladimir Nabokov

Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov was a multilingual Russian novelist and short story writer. Nabokov wrote his first nine novels in Russian, then rose to international prominence as a master English prose stylist...

, writer and native of St. Petersburg, wrote a short story in May 1933 entitled "The Admiralty Spire."

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