Air Ticket Building
- Air Ticket Office Building
Two three-storey buildings (one of them is on the corner of Nevsky prospect and Malaya Morskaya Street) were built in 1802-1803 for the artist brothers Semen and Sergey Bernikovs. The classic facades of the houses close but not identical in design were crowned by an attic for one, and by a pediment for the other. A part of the building was occupied by the restaurant of an Englishman named T.Roby. Afterwards the houses belonged to the merchant Belstein, A.V.Zhshepetilova, Notbek, K.B.Korpus. In 1908-1910 the “Satirikon” magazine staff headed by the satirist A.T.Averchenko was based here.
In the beginning of the 20th century the double lot was purchased by the merchant M.I. Vavelberg. By his order in 1911-1912 the architect M.M.Peretiatkovich built a new large building. Monumental and somewhat bulky construction completely faced with granite was fulfilled in the traditions of Italian Renaissance. Everything here is reminiscent of the monuments of Florence and the corner piece with corbel arches, column and pilaster pairs reminds of the building of the Bank of the Holy Spirit in Rome (16th century). Two-tier arcade brings a remote resemblance with the medieval Doge`s Palace in Venice.
Beginning from the 1950-s the former bank premises have been utilized by the central agency of air traffic, the “Aeroflot” Air Ticket Office, and other offices. Just like in the old times various institutions share this building.
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