"Common villa", or How the toilet became an instrument of revenge of a lover

The number of unique architectural monuments in St. Petersburg is amazing. And there are some stories connected with each of them. Even... public toilets have their own legends. Between St. Isaac's Cathedral and the Admiralty, at Admiralty Avenue 5 lit A, there is just such a latrine. Oddly enough, this toilet is connected with the story of one love and a sophisticated revenge.

This public toilet is completely different from other similar establishments. It looks like a miniature country villa of an aristocrat, with turrets, an elegant pediment and patterned masonry. If it wasn't for the sign, no one would have believed that this house was designed to meet the most prosaic human needs.

An urban legend is associated with this unusual architectural monument. This story happened at the very beginning of the 20th century. Rich merchant Alexandrov, owner of the Central Market on On the St. Petersburg side, had the misfortune to fall in love as a boy. One baroness, a woman from an impoverished noble family, became the object of the sighing of a respectable merchant. Alas, history has not preserved her name.

Merchant Alexandrov, being a man of business, immediately confessed his feelings and began to take care of the lady beautifully. But only she did not appreciate the man's attentions at all and was even burdened by his company. She responded to the marriage proposal with a decisive refusal, accompanied by an offensive explanation. The object of unrequited love said that he wants a spouse of noble blood. Although the merchant was fabulously rich, he came from commoners.

It was very insulting, but even worse was the fact that the baroness was not averse to accepting the courtship of other gentlemen. Moreover, she often received men at her country villa. Upon learning about this, the merchant was offended to the core. A plan of revenge appeared in his head, which the city on the Neva had not yet seen.

Alexandrov, with the permission of the authorities, built a toilet on Kronverksky Avenue, just under the windows of the city apartment of the insidious passion. The project of the building was created by the famous architect A. I. Zazersky. The client, unlimited in funds, wished that the building would become a copy of the villa where the lady of his heart received suitors.

Soon the pretty house received its first visitors. Since then, the aristocrat could watch from her window as the sufferers rush to the replica of her villa. Among the townspeople, it received the name "Common Use Villa". By the way, many guessed why she appeared. It was humiliating and insulting, so the woman moved out of the apartment.

She settled at the Nikolaevsky Bridge. But to her misfortune, there was an empty seat in front of the house. Alexandrov visited the mayor's office again and again received permission to build a latrine. Very soon another beautiful and necessary object appeared in the city. The lady moved to the Tuchkov Bridge. As you may have guessed, soon in There is one more toilet in St. Petersburg.

Realizing that she could not hide from the revenge of the offended man, the aristocrat moved to live in Moscow. Only after that Alexandrov left her alone. No one can claim that this story is based on real events. The same urban legend exists in Minsk, but there an architect acts as an offended cavalier.

The only reliable thing here is that the merchant and philanthropist Alexandrov actually built three toilets for the city. And whether he had an unrequited beloved aristocrat or not is unknown for sure. The toilets, designed by architect Zazersky, are beautiful. But they are unlikely to surprise the Japanese. In the Land of the Rising Sun, a whole cult of designer public restrooms has developed.