Circus on Fontanka

On the Fontanka Embankment, at the corner of Inzhenernaya Street, stands the building of the city circus, officially known as the Great St Petersburg State Circus, though locals simply call it the Circus on Fontanka, remembering the building's older name — the Ciniselli Circus. It is the first permanent stone circus building in Russia and one of the oldest structures of its kind in the country.

As early as the 1820s, a wooden circus operated nearby, near the Simeonovsky Bridge, before later being dismantled due to disrepair; equestrian performances moved from one temporary structure to another around the city. In 1872, after the death of the impresario Karl Ginne, the enterprise passed to his son-in-law, the Italian equestrian Gaetano Ciniselli. He conceived the idea of building a stone circus in the capital modelled on European circuses. Securing land in such a prestigious location proved no easy matter, but in 1875 the emperor granted a plot on a forty-year lease at a modest rent, on condition that the tenant landscape the adjoining square at his own expense. The building was designed by the architect Vasily Kenel, and it opened on 26 December 1877.

The building occupied a plot of roughly 50 by 80 metres at the corner of the embankment and Inzhenernaya Street. At its heart lay an amphitheatre beneath a shallow metal dome spanning about 48 metres — the first ribbed dome structure of this kind in Russia, erected without a single internal support. The solution impressed contemporaries and later became a model for similar buildings. The façades were rendered in a Renaissance and Baroque spirit, with rusticated walls, Ionic pilasters and lavish stucco moulding. The interior dazzled with luxury — crimson velvet, gilding, mirrors — and the hall, including the upper gallery, could seat up to five thousand spectators.

After Gaetano Ciniselli's death in 1881, the circus was run by his widow and then by his son Scipione. In 1919 the institution was nationalised, and the last owners of the Ciniselli dynasty left for Paris. In recognition of its contribution to the development of circus art, the building was twice awarded state honours — the Order of the Red Banner of Labour in 1939 and the Order of Friendship of Peoples in 1977, marking its centenary. During the Soviet period, in 1959–1964, the building underwent a substantial reconstruction: the sculptural decoration of the façade was removed, a single-storey annexe was added, and the auditorium's décor was simplified.

The historical façade decoration was restored in time for the 2003–2004 season, and in 2014–2015 the circus underwent a large-scale reconstruction: the foundations and walls were reinforced, the dome structure was renewed, seating was made more comfortable, and the orchestra was returned to its historical place above the entrance curtain. In 2015, to mark the two-hundredth anniversary of Gaetano Ciniselli's birth, the building was officially given back its historical name, and its renovated doors reopened to the public on 18 December that same year.

Today the Circus on Fontanka remains not only a working performance venue but also a monument to nineteenth-century engineering — the combination of its bold dome structure and lavish decoration makes it one of the most recognisable buildings on the Fontanka Embankment and an enduring part of the city's theatrical history.