Leningrad [antikvár]

Author's Note What can one read about Leningrád? This question is often asked by people on their first visit to the city and even by Leningraders themselves who want to know more about their home town. And although countless books and articles have already been written about Leningrád, every new attempt to teli a little more about its history, architecture and sculptural monuments, and alsó about its present-day life, finds an appreciative readership. In the space of one book one cannot, of course, cover all the various aspects of Leningrád. All one can do is try to shed more light on somé points of its history and its architecture. And this is what the author of the present book has endeavoured to do. The aim of this book is to give a popular survey of monuments, buildings and ensembles which best characterise their epoch and are of the greatest significance both historically and artistically. The information about the development of the city is given only inasmuch as it is relevant to the emergence of this or that architectural ensemble or single edifice. The architectural monuments are described in their chronological order, except where there are two or more monuments situated close to one another. In the survey of the ensembles bounding the city's main squares, the accent is on the edifices which give them their unique personality.