Sofiyskaya street in the northern capital

One of the most picturesque places in the northern capital of Russia is Sofia Street. Its origin is closely connected with the first railway in Russia. In 1892, with the money of Baron Korf, the Irinovskaya railway with a narrow gauge was built. She connected St. Petersburg with the suburb of Irinovka, where the estate of the aforementioned baron was located. The railway was built to transport peat briquettes from the baron's factory to the city and its surroundings. These briquettes were used for heating. The Irinovo railway started from Ohta station, passed along Porokhovskaya street, through Zhernovka, Rzhevka and turned to Khristinovka (now Priyutinskaya street). Further the train followed to Ryabovo station and to the final destination - Irinovka. There were 34 stations on the route.

A few years later, completed another station - Vsevolozhskaya. At this station a wooden house was constructed (especially for workers and saving the property of the railway). The Vsevolozhskaya station was located at the corner of Vsevolozhsky Prospekt (from where its name also came from). But a year later the building of the station burned down, and it had to be restored. This area was very picturesque and quickly attracted the attention of the city merchants from Myasnaya Street. Also there was a good traffic intersection. Irinovka was 40 minutes from St. Petersburg, and the trains were frequent enough (every 20 minutes). This determined the appearance of a new housing estate, which became Sofia Street.

The merchants decided to buy out the land in Irinovka and build there the home-shops where they wanted to live and trade in the warm season, and for the winter to go to the capital. The merchants formed the Sofia Street, which is now called Vsevolozhsky Prospekt. Labor in this process was invested a lot! Sofia Street started from the Vsevolozhskaya station and continued along the direction of the Lubi River.

The houses on the street stood very close to each other. Here lived such famous merchants of St. Petersburg as Sveshnikov, who had a bar with billiards, Frolov, Morozov, Tokarev (who built, by the way, a cinema "Empire"), Vsevolozhskaya (a lady holding a pharmacy). Almost every house had shops. In summer the population of the district increased several times, so at the request of people, another pharmacy was opened. All this was on the left side. On the right side Sophia Street began from the house of merchant Vsevolozhsky, who rented out rooms, and he also had a bakery and sausage. Next came Steiemeyer's home, Zheldybina. Then there was a tea room for men, the entrance to which was considered a bad sign for a woman.

Along the street was the house of Pavel Orlov, who sold colonial goods (coffee, tea and others). Next was a beautiful church, the house of the merchant Zemtsov (in one of which was located zagotkontora). Until today, many houses have been preserved almost in its original form.

Here is a story of building a "merchant" street. St. Sophia Street was clean, almost perfect. On two sides of it were arranged deep ditches. The sidewalks, although grounded, were regularly cleaned by special workers. Near the Holy Trinity Church a beautiful bridge was built across the ditch.

Sofia Street (St. Petersburg) - is an integral part of the history of the city, as well as its monuments and the imperial residence. Feel the spirit of the era, going to these places!