The Mining Institute

The building of the Mining Institute, a remarkable example of the classical style, was erected between 1806 and 1811 by Andrei Voronikhin to house the first technical school in Russia, later renamed the Mining Institute whose premises it has remained for over a century and a half.
The main façade is decorated with an imposing portico. The broad stairway is flanked by two sculptured groups: Heracles and Anteus by Stepan Pimenov and Pluto Carrying off Proserpina by Vasily Demuth-Malinovsky. On the frieze of the building, on either side of the portico, are two low-reliefs by Demuth-Malinovsky: Venus comes to Vulcan For Mars’s armour and Apollo comes for the chariot made for him by Vulcan.
The only surviving elements of Voronikhin’s original design are the Grand Staircase and the Hall of Columns whose ceiling was painted by Giovanni Battista Scotti.