Saint Petersburg

Saint Petersburg

Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...

 City Duma

Duma

A Duma is any of various representative assemblies in modern Russia and Russian history. The State Duma in the Russian Empire and Russian Federation corresponds to the lower house of the parliament. Simply it is a form of Russian governmental institution, that was formed during the reign of the...

was established in 1785 in the course of Catherine the Great's municipal reform. Emperor Paul replaced it by the so-called Ratusha

Rathaus

Rathaus is a German word literally translating as “council house”, meaning “city hall” or “town hall”. Many specific buildings are referred to as Rathaus even when spoken about in English.Some important Rathäuser are:* Rathaus Schöneberg...

, but his son, Alexander I

Alexander I of Russia

Alexander I of Russia , served as Emperor of Russia from 23 March 1801 to 1 December 1825 and the first Russian King of Poland from 1815 to 1825. He was also the first Russian Grand Duke of Finland and Lithuania....

, had the Duma restored four years later. The next emperor, Nicholas I

Nicholas I of Russia

Nicholas I , was the Emperor of Russia from 1825 until 1855, known as one of the most reactionary of the Russian monarchs. On the eve of his death, the Russian Empire reached its historical zenith spanning over 20 million square kilometers...

, expanded the institution from six to twelve members in 1846. Alexander II of Russia

Alexander II of Russia

Alexander II , also known as Alexander the Liberator was the Emperor of the Russian Empire from 3 March 1855 until his assassination in 1881...

 reorganized it once again during the Zemstvo

Zemstvo

Zemstvo was a form of local government that was instituted during the great liberal reforms performed in Imperial Russia by Alexander II of Russia. The idea of the zemstvo was elaborated by Nikolay Milyutin, and the first zemstvo laws were put into effect in 1864...

 reform of the 1870s. In September 1918 the Duma was abolished and its functions devolved on the Petrograd Soviet

Petrograd Soviet

The Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies , usually called the Petrograd Soviet , was the soviet in Petrograd , Russia, established in March 1917 after the February Revolution as the representative body of the city's workers.The Petrograd Soviet became important during the Russian...

.

The Neoclassical

Neoclassical architecture

Neoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, manifested both in its details as a reaction against the Rococo style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulas as an outgrowth of some classicizing...

 headquarters of the Duma were erected on the main city avenue, 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...

, between 1784 and 1787. The famous Italianate tower was added in 1799-1804 to a design by Giacomo Ferrari. In 1847-52, the edifice was rebuilt in the Neo-Renaissance

Neo-Renaissance

Renaissance Revival is an all-encompassing designation that covers many 19th century architectural revival styles which were neither Grecian nor Gothic but which instead drew inspiration from a wide range of classicizing Italian modes...

 style, favoured by Nicholas I. Two more floors were added to the building in 1913-14. A spacious central hall of the City Duma was frequently let to host high-profile social events.

The structure is located at the corner of the avenue and Dumskaya Street, opposite the Merchant Court and Grand Hotel Europe

Grand Hotel Europe

Grand Hotel Europe vies with Corinthia Nevskij Palace Hotel and Hotel Astoria for the title of the most luxurious five-star hotel in Saint Petersburg, Russia....

. Its distinctive tower, formerly used for fire observation, can still be seen the whole length of Nevsky Prospekt after the crossing with Fontanka River.

During the Soviet years, the Smolny

Smolny

The Smolny Institute is a Palladian edifice in St Petersburg that has played a major part in the history of Russia.The building was commissioned from Giacomo Quarenghi by the Society for Education of Noble Maidens and constructed in 1806-08 to house the Smolny Institute for Noble Maidens,...

 effectively functioned as the Saint Petersburg City Hall. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the Legislative Assembly made the Marie Palace its headquarters.