The former Polovtsov riding hall building at 12 Kryukov Canal Embankment in St. Petersburg has been designated a regional heritage site.
The building was constructed in 1889 based on a design by architect Maximilian Mesmacher for Senator Alexander Polovtsov, Secretary of the State Council, and his wife, Nadezhda Mikhailovna, the adopted daughter of Baron Alexander von Stieglitz.
Alexander Polovtsov was a horse lover and connoisseur. The building housed a riding arena for training, horse riding lessons, and periodic dressage competitions.
After 1910, at various times, it housed a small theater, an operetta theater, and an arts center. From 1946, the building was occupied by the Leningrad Film Chronicle Studio.
Photo: Committee for State Control, Use, and Protection of Historical and Cultural Monuments of St. Petersburg.