The Mertens House is a historic building and architectural monument in St. Petersburg, which is one of the first neoclassical monuments in the city.
At one time, at the beginning of the 20th century, the Mertens House was one of the most innovative buildings in St. Petersburg.
The Mertens House is located in the center of St. Petersburg, on Nevsky Prospekt - one of the most visited and beautiful streets of the city.
The building is built in a row with other buildings on Nevsky Prospekt and is a decoration and attraction not only of the avenue, but also a conditional closing point Bolshaya Konyushennaya Street.
The original building on the site was built in the 1740s. The master of the house was the merchant Serebryakov.
Subsequently, the building changed owners, and was rebuilt in the early 19th century, as well as in 1847, when the fourth floor was built by the order of Duke Maximilian of Leuchtenberg by the architect A. Robenam, the first floor of the building began to represent wide storefronts, and the facade acquired Neo-Renaissance features.
Since the 1870s, the site was owned by the Mertens. The first owner, the merchant F. F. Mertens, who had been successfully working in St. Petersburg since the 1840s, was the owner of the fur products company. The house was a Mertens hardware store.
The existing building was built in 1911-1912 as a trading house by order of the heir of Mertens-F. L. Mertens, designed by the Russian-Polish architect Marian Stanislavovich Lyalevich and the sculptor V. V. Kuznetsov.
After its construction, the building became innovative, as it was designed and constructed using completely new engineering and artistic solutions at that time: a monolithic reinforced concrete supporting structure of the building and three huge glazed arches-showcases that adorn the monumental facade of the trading house.
The Mertens Trading House housed fur shops and premises for the production of fur products. In the courtyard there was a fountain with a figure of a bear made of limestone.
After the revolution of 1917, the Leningrad City Department of Light Industry, Lenlegpromsnab, Lenschweisbyt and Glavuglesbyt worked in the Mertens Trading house. In 1944, the first Fashion House in the Soviet Union opened in the building.
By 2008, the building was renovated and its premises were intended for rent. Today, the building houses a restaurant and a Zara store.
The building itself is an architectural monument. It is a mixture of neoclassical and modern styles.
The main facade of the building faces Nevsky Prospekt. It still has three high glazed arches, the glazing of which is interrupted by horizontal inter-floor floors. The arched pillars are Corinthian semi-columns with architectural pilasters.
The upper (fifth floor) is decorated with six wide-spaced windows, the piers between which are decorated with sculptures-bucranions with garlands and ornamental panels connected in a single whole with the keystones above the arches. The keystones are made in the form of volutes and decorated with female figures.
At the top of the building is the inscription "DOM MERTENS".
Practical information
The Mertens House is located in the center of St. Petersburg, near such attractions as: Stroganov Palace, The House of the Dutch Reformed Church andPeterskirche, at the address: Nevsky Prospekt, 21.
Coordinates of the Mertens house: 59°56′07″N 30°19′19″E (59.935278, 30.321944).
Nearest metro stations: "Admiralteiskaya", "Nevsky Prospekt" and "Gostiny Dvor".
All accommodation facilities in St. Petersburg, including in the city center and on Nevsky Prospekt, can be viewed and booked here
