On June 20, 2023, the Worldwide St. Petersburg Club together with the Organizing Committee of the International Golden Trezzini Awards and Tsarskoye Selo State Museum and Heritage Site held a special event dedicated to the 145th death anniversary of a Swiss-Russian architect Ippolito Monighetti (1819—1878). Participants and guests of the round table “Russian Swiss Ippolito Monighetti: Meeting in Tsarskoye Selo” were welcomed by Béatrice Latteier, Consul General of Switzerland in St. Petersburg. We are happy to share her welcoming words here.
Dear Director of the State Museum Tsarskoye Selo Mrs. Taratynova!
Dear Chairwoman of the Worldwide St. Petersburg Club Mrs. Siderkovich!
Dear Chairman of the Organizing Committee of the Golden Trezzini Awards Mr. Chernyakov!
Dear Professors, Architects, Curators, Experts, Lecturers Dear Guests, dear Friends!
First of all, I would like to thank the director, Mrs. Taratynova, for the privilege to have the private tour here at Tsarskoye Selo and the possibility to see the works of Monighetti. I am overwhelmed by the beauty and just cannot put it into words, so thank you very much for this opportunity!
It is my great pleasure and honor to welcome you to the round table dedicated to the Russian-Swiss Architect Ippolito Monighetti in commemoration of the 145th anniversary of his death.
When I was appointed as Consul General of Switzerland in Saint Petersburg I began to look into the relations between St. Petersburg and Switzerland. To my great astonishment, I discovered that there had been since the foundation of Saint Petersburg a lively exchange. Be it with scholars, architects, engineers, craftsmen, merchants, tutors.
And they have left their mark, which I see every day. Be it early in the morning on my way to work the Peter and Paul cathedral from the first architect of SPB Domenico Trezzini which greets me with its shiny spire with the angel and with its wonderful aura at any time in the year. Or when I walk towards the Palace Square I come across the great engineering work of Antonio Adamini the Alexandrian column and he was as well involved in the erection of the columns at the Isaac Cathedral. Or Giovanni Lucchini left his mark at the Institute of the History of Natural Sciences and Technologies and with the building for the marine customs todays Pushkin House where the Institute of Russian Literature is now located. That is just to mention a few of them.
And most of those involved in the construction came from the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. Like Ippolito Monighetti whom we commemorate today. He constructed wonderful buildings like the Turkish bath, which we have visited today or designed interiors like in the Yusupov Palace or the staircase here in the Catherine Palace.
Therefore it is logical that this round table is organized here at the Tsarskoye Selo and I thank the Director Mrs. Taratynova that she made it possible that this Round table can be hold in these magnificent premises. My heartfelt thanks also go to the organisers the Worldwide St. Petersburg Club and to the organizing committee of the Golden Trezzini Award and last but not least many thanks to the Experts who are present here today and who will share with us interesting facts about the achievements of Ippolito Monighetti. I wish you now a wonderful and enriching afternoon. Thank you for being here today.
Photos by Vitaliy Kolikov. More at https://www.goldtrezzini.ru/en/ippolito-monighetti-photos/.
More news of the Golden Trezzini Awards:
https://goldtrezzini.ru/en/news/
Follow us on social media:
https://www.facebook.com/trezziniawards/
https://www.instagram.com/trezziniawards/