The length of the open spaces bordered by the public buildings just mentioned, is not much less than an English mile, and the spectacles, metamorphoses, tableaux vivans and ombres chmoises which daily and hourly present themselves to the spectator who keeps watch upon the tower of the Admiralty, are as varied as they are magnificent and interesting. At one extremity, near the Senate and the Synod, stands the colossal equestiian statue of Peter the . Great trampling underfoot the dragon of barbarism, and ever ready to dash off at a full gallop from the rock, from the summit of which his charger appears to be in the act of springing. The heads of the state and of the church — metropohtans, senators, bishops, and judges — are constantly arriving and departing, their equipages keeping up an incessant movement around the immortal Peter. At the other extremity arises the smooth and polished monolith of the " Restorer of Peace to the World," on the summit of ■which stands the archangel with the cross of peace, while at its . foot the rattling of imperial equipages scarcely ceases for a moment. Fieldmarshals, generals, governors, and gentlemen of the court, are constantly coming and going. Priestly processions, military parade?, pompous equipages, and funeral trains, are thronging by at every hour of the day, and the drums and fifes are rarely silent, but continue, at brief intervals, to announce that a mighty man of the earth has just passed by.
To the south of the Admiralty the most important part of the city unfolds itself, the Bolshaia Storona, or Great Side. Towards the west lies Vasiliefskoi Ostrof, or Basilius Island, ^^'ith its beautifiU Exchange, its
Academy of Sciences, and its University. To the north is seen the Petersburgskaia Storona, or Petersburg Side, with its citadel stretching" out into the Neva ; and towards the east arise the barracks and factories of the Viborg Side. These are the four principal divisions of the city, formed by the Great and Little Neva, and by the Great Nefla. The Great Side comprises by far the most important portion of the capital, with the court, the nobility, and more than half the population. The least important is the Viborg Side, inhabited chiefly by gardeners, soldiers, and manufacturers. It is rapidly extending, liowever, for nowhere else in St. Petersburg are building speculations going on to a larger extent. The Basilius Island commerce appears to have selected for her especial residence, and the Muses have raised their temple by the side of Mercury's. The Petersburg Side, a low and marshy island, remarkable chiefly for its fortress or citadel, whose rayon drives the houses from the river -side, is inhabited by the poorer classes of the population, and has already assumed much of the character of a metropolitan faubourg.
The closely-built masses of the Great Side — closely built in comparison with the other quarters of the city — are divided into three semicircular divisions by the Moika, the St. Catherine, and the Fontanka canals. These divisions are called the First, Second, and Third Admiralty sections, and are again subdivided by the three principal streets diverging from the Admiralty : the Neva Perspective (Nevskoi Prospekt) ; the Peas Street (Gorokhovaia Oulitza) ; and the Resurrection Perspective (Vosnosenskoi Prospekt).
As these three principal streets meet at the foot of the Admiralty Tower, a man, taking his position at this central point, may look down them, and, with the aid of a good telescope, see what is going on in the most remote quarters of the city. The direction of these three streets and of the canals determine that of most of the other streets. Of these the most remarkable are the Great and Little Morskaia, the Great and Little Millionava, the Meshtshanskaia, and the Sadovaia or Garden Street, All the streets without exception are broad and convenient, blind alleys and narrow lanes being wholly unknown. They are classed, indeed, into prospekts, oulitzi, and perouloks, or cross streets, but even these perouloks would in any of our older towns be thought quite spacious enough for main streets. Every street has two names, a German and a Russian.