The square of the Proletarian Dictatorship received its current name in 1952. The question remains open whether its name will change again. The fact is that the space on which the square is located is associated with many historical events. And not the most significant of them is that in the building of the Smolny Institute back in 1918 the Second All-Russian Congress of Soviets took place, which established the Soviet government headed by V. I. Ulyanov (Lenin). Before the regime of the Dictatorship of the proletariat was established throughout the country, the life of the square was quite noticeable.
Location and Occurrence
Tverskaya and Lafonskaya streets, as well as two alleys: Smolny Prospekt and Suvorovsky, flock to the Proletarian Dictatorship Square.
The first name of the square is Orlovskaya, which it received about 200 years ago in honor of the street of the same name, of which Lafonskaya was a part of those days. The State Lady of the Imperial Court, Sofia Ivanovna De Lafon, was the first to lead the Smolny Institute of Noble Maidens in 1764 and managed this institution until 1797.
In her honor, the square from Oryol was renamed Lafonskaya in 1854 and under this name it lasted until 1918.
Then it began to be called the square of the Dictatorship, and only in December 1952 the clarifying possessive pronoun "proletarian" was added to the name.
You can get to it by shuttle bus, bus number 22 or number 46 and the subway.
Smolny Alley
Since 1970, the area of the Proletarian Dictatorship has increased due to the construction of the House of Political Education.
Now she has approached Rastrelli Square, they are united by an open space (esplanade).
Lafonskaya Street, facing the Proletarskaya Dictatorship Square in St. Petersburg, bore the same name for 65 years (until 2017). Today she returned the historical name. Through the former Lafon Square or along the Smolny Alley you can go to Smolny.
Its history began in 1764 with the Decree of Catherine II, who ordered the institution of noble maidens to be opened at the Resurrection Novodevichy Smolny Monastery. The empress assumed that the nuns would be involved in the education of the young women, but it turned out that this required pedagogical talent, which the nuns of the monastery did not have. Therefore, in the future, the institute became a secular institution and in this capacity met 1918.
And on the premises of the former Novodevichy Smolny Convent today are institutions of various kinds, for example, faculties of sociology and international relations of St. Petersburg State University, and since 2009 the faculty of political science has been added to them.
Former orphanage
Many buildings with an interesting history have been preserved in St. Petersburg, even if the name of the streets has been changed. For example, on the square of Proletarian Dictatorship, 5 there is a building in which in 1902 a shelter for children was established by Baron Vladimir Frederiks. The building was designed by the architect Weiss for 120 children attending classes and 30 girls of primary school age living in the shelter permanently. The building had 3 floors and a basement, in which utility rooms were located.
After the revolution, the shelter befell the fate of many institutions. However, in 1937 the building was given over to an orphanage. During the war years, a hospital worked here, and then, starting from the 50s of the last century, a children's institution (boarding school).
In 1961, the Leningrad Art School named after V. A. Serov was located in a former shelter building. Before the 90s, artists received a new room on Grazhdansky Prospekt. Now it is a school named after N.K. Roerich.
And the empty premises were transferred to a music school, which existed in a building on the former Lafon Street, 5 until 1992. After a major overhaul, the Consulate of the United Kingdom settled there, at the opening of which the Prince of Wales attended in 1994.
