Wednesday Walk around the old Assignment Bank building

Greetings friends, today I decided to go for a walk through the courtyards near the building that housed the Assignation Bank in the 19th century and now houses the University of Economics. It is an interesting building, which has the shape of a horseshoe. Inside the horseshoe there is a green shady garden - unfortunately, access to this garden is closed, you can only admire it through the bars. But it is possible to go into the courtyards and view the semi-circular walls from the outside. I approached this building from the Griboyedov Canal embankment. From inside the courtyard through the lattice you can see one of the popular tourist spots of our city. This is the Bank Bridge, it is decorated with sculptures of griffins with golden wings.

The Bank's building occupies a vast area between the Griboedov Canal and Sadovaya Street. You can't go through the whole section, there is an entrance only from the Griboedova Canal side. First I walked along the left semi-circular wall of the building, then I went back and walked along the right semi-circular wall of the building.

I am always happy when a store or a bakery, a department store or a post office has been operating in the same building for a long time, for many decades or even centuries. The world around changes, changes rapidly, changes in the most unexpected ways - but in the center of this maelstrom there remain islands of stability and constancy. The Assignment Bank building cannot be fully attributed to such places. It is no longer a bank; it is now a university. But if you study the history of the area in detail, you will find a continuity of tradition.

Before this structure was built, there was a market on this site. It was a wooden trading rows, where meat and fish, flour and vegetables were sold, as well as fabrics, clothes and other non-food items. The market was called Big Sea Market, and it was a very busy place. But the building of trade rows was badly damaged during the fire in 1782, and further it was not restored: brisk trade required large areas, and for the new market was chosen a more spacious place nearby. The new market was named Apraksin Dvor, and it is still in operation.

On the place of the burned market in 1783-1790 was erected the building of the Assignment Bank. This building was built by the outstanding architect Giacomo Quarenghi, it is an expressive architectural monument in the style of classicism. Unfortunately, there is not a single point from which we could see this building in its entirety as the architect intended: this is the central part of the city with very dense buildings.

There are still some old service buildings next to the main building, and some of them look quite original. I even found graffiti on one of the walls: it seems to be someone from Eastern mythology? I don't know exactly.

The territory of the courtyard extends to Sadovaya Street, but is separated from this street by a blank wall. The side facades face Sadovaya Street. I found a point from which I could photograph the frieze on one of the side facades - there is no equally convenient angle from the street side. This is the furthest part of the courtyard - all I had to do was turn back and walk back out onto the Griboyedov Canal embankment.

This is my entry for the #WednesdayWalk challenge by @tattoodjay.