The Manege is a former

riding hall A riding hall, indoor arena, indoor school (UK English), or indoor ring (US English) is a building (part of an equestrian facility) that is specially designed for indoor horse riding. Smaller, private buildings contain only space for riding, w ...

for the Imperial Horse Guards fronting on

Saint Isaac's Square Saint Isaac's Square or Isaakiyevskaya Ploshchad (), known as Vorovsky Square () between 1923 and 1944, in Saint Petersburg, Russia is a major city square sprawling between the Mariinsky Palace and Saint Isaac's Cathedral, which separates it fr ...

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

, Russia. It was built in 1804–07 to Quarenghi's austere

Greek Revival Greek Revival architecture is a architectural style, style that began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe, the United States, and Canada, ...

design, one of his last commissions. It replaced a disused canal connecting the Admiralty to the naval warehouses. The Horse Guards Boulevard takes its name from the building. The Manege is a low, rectangular block with arched openings and

lunette A lunette (French ''lunette'', 'little moon') is a crescent- or half-moon–shaped or semi-circular architectural space or feature, variously filled with sculpture, painted, glazed, filled with recessed masonry, or void. A lunette may also be ...

s. According to the Companion Guide, "it mimics a 5th-century BC Athenian temple with a

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cu ...

of eight Doric columns bearing a

pediment Pediments are a form of gable in classical architecture, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the cornice (an elaborated lintel), or entablature if supported by columns.Summerson, 130 In an ...

and bas reliefs". The marble statues of the

Dioscuri Castor and Pollux (or Polydeuces) are twin half-brothers in Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology, known together as the Dioscuri or Dioskouroi. Their mother was Leda (mythology), Leda, but they had different fathers; Castor was the mortal ...

standing beside their horses were patterned by sculptor Paolo Triscornia after the Fontana dei Dioscuri in

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

. After the Russian Revolution the riding academy was rebuilt to accommodate a

NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (, ), abbreviated as NKVD (; ), was the interior ministry and secret police of the Soviet Union from 1934 to 1946. The agency was formed to succeed the Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU) se ...

garage. A second floor was added to the building in 1931. Since the latest reconstruction campaign (dating to the late 1970s), the Saint Petersburg Manege has housed the city's main

exhibition hall A convention center (American English; or conference centre in British English) is a large building that is designed to hold a convention, where individuals and groups gather to promote and share common interests. Convention centers typica ...

References

External links

History of the Manege building
* {{Authority control Manege Neoclassical architecture in Russia Equestrian educational establishments Convention centers in Russia Buildings and structures completed in 1807 Cultural heritage monuments of federal significance in Saint Petersburg