Pauline Institute for Women

The Pauline Institute for Women was designed by Rudolf Zhelyazevich (1845–50) for the Institute of Noble Girls, an orphanage founded by Emperor Paul I for the children of officers and soldiers killed in action, later transformed into the Pauline Institute for Women (1829). The recently restored complex of buildings occupied a large plot of land on Znamenskaya Street, close to the modern-day Ploschad Vosstaniya underground station. The subtle use of Renaissance motifs distinguishes the building from the surrounding works of architecture in the historical style. After a short period when it was turned into the Institute of the Living Word (1918–24), the premises reverted to being a school. It is now Humanitarian Grammar School No. 209. Vadim Troyanovsky’s statue of Anna Akhmatova stands in front of the building (1991).