Russian architect Gavriil Vasilyevich Baranovsky is the author of projects for many buildings in St. Petersburg, including the famous [Buddhist Temple] ( http://kudago.com/spb/place/buddijskij-hram-dacan/), the building of the Russian Geographical Society, the building of the Women's Gymnasium and many other magnificent buildings.

But among residents of St. Petersburg, the name of architect Baranovsky is primarily associated with the name of the wealthy merchant Eliseev and his family. At one time, evil tongues even called Baranovsky the “home architect” of the Eliseevs, attributing to him a secret connection with one of the representatives of the merchant family. However, this is completely untrue. Gavriil Vasilievich Baranovsky was indeed a member of a merchant family, but he was a real fan of his craft and architecture was always in the first place for him. One of his creations — the Eliseev Merchants House on Lomonosov Street — will be discussed further.

**Eliseev's apartment house** is a typical building of the second half of the 19th century, but there is a highlight in its appearance: Baranovsky's project is notable for the integrity of the idea and the originality of the spatial solutions. Strangely enough, the central place in the building is reserved for the main staircase. Enclosed in a round shaft, it is illuminated from all sides by a yellowish light that comes here from two courtyards located on its sides.

The facade of the house itself is very beautiful and lush. A huge amount of ceramics and decorative bricks was used in its design, which gave the building a rather stylish and sophisticated look. At first glance, it may seem that the entire huge array of the building is monolithic, but this is not the case. In fact, Eliseev's house consists of several parts, separated by blind fire walls.

In the building of the apartment building, as in many buildings of that era, there was a steam elevator, an invention of one of the American engineers, which was not very practical. On the ground floor of the house there was a tea shop, and all the yard cellars and mezzanine floors above them were filled with retail warehouses. Nowadays, most of the apartments in this building are communal, and on the ground floor there is an empty watchman's post.