The Mariinsky Theater is the main stage and pride of St. Petersburg. Today it is the hallmark of the city, and is also included in the list of the best and oldest theaters in the world.
The Mariinsky Theater is a must-see, even if you rarely go to theaters. It will surprise you with its richly decorated stage and classic works staged by famous directors.
And if you book a room at the Express Sadovaya Hotel in St. Petersburg, you will live literally within walking distance of the Mariinsky Theater.
The Mariinsky Theater dates back to the reign of Catherine II, from 1783, when the first operas and ballet performances were shown on the stage of the St. Petersburg Bolshoi Theater on Carousel Square.
In 1859, a wooden circus building burned next to the theater. And then Alexander II decides to build a new building for the theater, stone and larger. It is this that survives to this day, delighting city residents and tourists.
During their history, Fyodor Chaliapin and Sofia Preobrazhenskaya became famous within the walls of the Mariinsky Theater. Matilda Kshesinskaya, Galina Ulanova and Anna Pavlova, Rudolf Nureyev and Mikhail Baryshnikov danced on its stage.
The renovated Mariinsky Theater (from 1860) was named after the wife of Alexander II - Maria Alexandrovna. Apparently, the emperor was madly in love with his wife or shared with her a love for theaters that he decided to perpetuate her name in this way.
The first season at the theater began in 1783, and enthusiastic spectators then saw Giovanni Paisiello’s opera “The Moonlight World”, and in the 19th century on the renovated stage it was Mikhail Ivanovich Glinka’s opera “A Life for the Tsar”.
Another interesting fact about the theater is that behind its stage there is a real large bell, which sounds during the operas “Boris Godunov” and “Khovanshchina”.
The bell appeared here by accident. Initially, it belonged to one of the churches in St. Petersburg, but during the years of Soviet atheism they got rid of it by dumping it into the Kryukov Canal. Later, the bell was found, restored and installed in the Mariinsky Theater.
A secret door was installed in the royal box of the Mariinsky Theater, which leads to the women's locker rooms. According to the official version, this move was used exclusively by noble ladies who wanted to personally express their admiration for the dancers. And according to another, more romantic one, through this door the future Emperor Nicholas II visited his beloved ballerina Matilda Kshesinskaya.
A hotel in St. Petersburg next to the Mariinsky Theater is the dream of many tourists planning a vacation in the northern capital. And this dream can come true if you book a room at Express Sadovaya Hotel.
