Universities, Academies and Educational Buildings
Scientific learning and discovery were one of the main preoccupations of Peter the Great, and he saw it as vital to the development of the Russian state to establish proper institutions of higher education in his new city. Half a century later, Catherine the Great proved an equally passionate promoter of the ideals of the Enlightenment, particularly in the sphere of education. Consequently, St. Petersburg has a huge number of universities and institutes, many housed in beautiful historical buildings.
Originally built to house the new ministries of Peter the Great's reformed government, this vast baroque building, the largest to survive from the Petrine period, has been the centre of St. Petersburg's University since the early 19th century.
Part of the composition of beautiful neoclassical buildings around the Spit of Vasilevskiy Island, the Academy of Sciences Building houses an institution that dates back to the reign of Peter the Great and has been home to groundbreaking research for nearly 250 years.
One of the most famous and photographed buildings in St. Petersburg thanks to its beautiful early neoclassical facades and the two Ancient Egyptian sphinxes in front of it, the Academy of Arts still houses the city's top art school and an art museum.
The historic home of one of St. Petersburg's most unusual higher education establishments, the Mining Institute is a splendid neoclassical building in the style of a Greek temple, with particularly fine materials housing the Institute's museum.
