Millionnaya Street
Encyclopedia
Millionnaya Street is a street in the Central District
Tsentralny District, Saint Petersburg
Tsentralny District is a district of the federal city of Saint Petersburg, Russia. It borders the Neva River in the north and in the east, Obvodny Canal in the south, and areas around the Gorokhovaya Street in the west...

 of St. Petersburg. It runs parallel to the Palace Quay from the Swan Canal to the Palace Square
Palace Square
Palace Square , connecting Nevsky Prospekt with Palace Bridge leading to Vasilievsky Island, is the central city square of St Petersburg and of the former Russian Empire...

. Significant buildings include the New Hermitage Museum, the Chief Pharmacy, the Marble Palace
Marble Palace
Marble Palace is one of the first Neoclassical palaces in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is situated between the Field of Mars and Palace Quay, slightly to the east from New Michael Palace....

, and the New Michael Palace
New Michael Palace
The New Michael Palace was the third Saint Petersburg palace designed by Andrei Stackenschneider for Nicholas I's children...

.

History

In the first half of the 18th Century, the area of the current Millionnaya Street was the "German Settlement", the area in St. Petersburg where foreigners lived. Close to the Field of Mars
Field of Mars (Saint Petersburg)
The Field of Mars or Marsovo Polye is a large park named after the Mars - Roman god of war situated in the center of Saint-Petersburg, with an area of about 9 hectares. Bordering the Field of Mars to the north are the Marble Palace, Suvorova Square and Betskoi’s and Saltykov’s houses. To the west...

 and the current marketplace area was a Greek suburb. Several streets that ran near or on the route of the current Millionnaya Street existed under various names at various times: German Street, Great German Street, Greek Street, Great Street, Holy Trinity Street, Nobility Street, and Meadow Street, the last referring to the high meadow which later became the Field of Mars.

The last and most well-established name was Millionnaya Street, the name generally being ascribed to the wealth of the built-up streets in the area and the proximity of the royal residence, the Winter Palace
Winter Palace
The Winter Palace in Saint Petersburg, Russia, was, from 1732 to 1917, the official residence of the Russian monarchs. Situated between the Palace Embankment and the Palace Square, adjacent to the site of Peter the Great's original Winter Palace, the present and fourth Winter Palace was built and...

.

In Soviet times the street was named Khalturina Street, in honor of the Narodnik
Narodnik
Narodniks was the name for Russian socially conscious members of the middle class in the 1860s and 1870s. Their ideas and actions were known as Narodnichestvo which can be translated as "Peopleism", though is more commonly rendered "populism"...

 revolutionary Stepan Khalturin, who detonated a bomb in the Winter Palace in 1880 that caused 67 casualties (but failed to kill the Czar).
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