Kushelevka, Manor of the Kushelev-Bezborodko Family, Neoclassical manor estate in Kalininsky District, Russia.
Kushelevka, also known as the Manor of the Kushelev-Bezborodko Family, is a two-story neoclassical manor house on Sverdlovskaya Embankment in the Kalininsky District of Saint Petersburg. The building faces the Neva River and is set within a landscaped park that runs along the waterfront.
The estate was built in 1773 and then redesigned between 1783 and 1787 by architect Giacomo Quarenghi, who gave it its neoclassical form. Over the following century it changed hands several times and went through a series of interior renovations under each new owner.
The granite sphinxes lining the riverbank are among the few surviving stone sculptures of their kind along the Neva waterfront in Saint Petersburg. Visitors who walk along the embankment notice them before anything else, as they mark the entrance to the estate from the water side.
The manor is easy to spot from the riverbank, and approaching from the Neva side gives the clearest view of the facade and the granite sphinxes. Anyone wishing to see the interior should check access conditions in advance, as the building has protected status and is not always open to the public.
Several different architects worked on the interior of the manor at different points in the 19th century, including R. von Genrichsen, N. Benois, and A. Hammerstedt, each leaving a distinct mark on separate rooms. Walking through the building feels like moving across different decorative eras within a single house.
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