The Stock Exchange

The Stock Exchange Building on the Spit of Vasilyevsky Island.
The Stock Exchange Building is the centerpiece of the architectural ensemble on the Spit of Vasilyevsky Island. It was erected in 1805 – 10 by Thomas de Thomon as the main building of the port, the center of all Saint Petersburg financial and commercial operations.
Standing on a tall plinth and encircled by austere Doric columns, the Stock Exchange building is reminiscent of a Greek temple. Its central part is taken up by an enormous top-lighted hall. The sculptured groups, Neptune and Two Rivers on the pediment of the east façade and Navigation with Mercury and Two Rivers on the attic of the west façade, were carved from Pudost stone by the master stonemason Samson Sukhanov.
Housed here since 1940 is the Central Naval Museum, one of the oldest museums in Russia that came into being almost simultaneously with the birth of the Russian fleet. Its predecessor was the Ship-model Chamber founded by Peter the Great in 1709 as a repository of models and working drawings of navy vessels. In 1805 the Chamber reorganized into the Naval Museum.