Malaya Sadovaya Street

Spanning a single block, at about 175 metres (574 ft), it is known as Saint Petersburg's shortest street.

At the Italyanskaya Street terminus is Manezhnaya Square, where there is a view of the portico of the great stables designed by Vincenzo Brenna and Karl Rossi.

An addition to the middle part of the ministry building was constructed in 1845–1849; the initial design was by Fyodor Braun and the project was completed by Dmitry Efimov.

With the coming of World War I, the Japanese Red Cross set up a hospital in the building for severely wounded soldiers.

Japanese doctors, nurses, and pharmacists worked here together with their Russian counterparts, and the staff took pride in the low mortality rate achieved – 6 deaths among the 500 patients admitted.

Soon, the sprawling hospital took over the whole building, except for the theater hall and several rooms reserved for the Noble Assembly.

During this time, the actor, director, and founder of the Petroproletkulta Theater, Aleksandr Mgebrov [ru], worked here.

From here, they supported the Leningraders with their transmissions, and Olga Bergholz, the muse of the embattled city, read her poems and speeches.

On September 7, 1993, the Legislative Assembly of Saint Petersburg declared Radio House a monument of historical, cultural, and architectural significance.

[2] In 1881, revolutionary Narodniks built a tunnel under Malaya Sadovaya Street from the basement of that building, preparing to plant mines to assassinate Czar Alexander II.