Communal Living in Russia: Photos
Apartment II. Rooms: View onto arched windows
  Summary
  The window of Nina Vasilievna's room (seen in the clip "Nina Vasilievna" from Tour 3) looks onto a courtyard; from her window you can see the enormous arched windows of an indoor garden. 2006.
  Basic Facts and Background
  When:2006

Where: The room of Nina Vasilievna, the oldest inhabitant of a large apartment in the center of St. Petersburg, shown in the clip "Nina Vasilievna," in Tour 3.

What: From her window, which looks out on the building's central courtyard, Nina Vasilievna can see the arched windows of an indoor garden. This architectural detail, part of a design by S. S. Krechinsky, is unusual for St. Petersburg and brings to mind the palace of an Oriental potentate. Before the war, there was a kindergarten in the rooms behind these windows. After the war, various organizations were housed there.

In the apartment where Nina Vasilievna lives, there is a door leading to what used to be the indoor garden. However, it is closed, and the residents recall only one occasion when it was opened, for emergency plumbing repairs.

This is how the arched windows look when viewed from the courtyard.

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