The Stock Exchange building is the central building of the architectural ensemble of the Spit of Vasilyevsky Island in St. Petersburg.
The building, which is situated at Birzhevaya Ploschad 4, is an important example of Greek Revival architecture. Designed by French architect Thomas de Thomon and inspired by the Greek Temple of Hera at Paestum, the stock exchange was constructed between 1805 and 1810.
It was built for the St. Petersburg Stock Exchange, but subsequently used for other needs. For a long time, the building housed the exposition of the Central Naval Museum (before moving to the Kryukov barracks). In 2014 the building was handed over to the Hermitage.
The Old Stock Exchange is sited to fill the majestic sweep of the Spit (in Russian Strelka) of Vasilievsky Island, just opposite the Winter Palace. Thomon’s design called for a peristyle of forty four Doric columns resting upon a massive stylobate of red granite and supporting an entablature of triglyphs and slotted metopes.
A monumental sculptural group similar in form to a quadriga featuring Neptune, and symbolizing maritime commerce, is mounted above the portico. Both inside and outside the Bourse, a motif of the semicircle is recurrent. The interior features a large colonnaded trading hall, now divided into eight exhibition halls. The central rooms are illuminated by an oblong skylight. The surrounding ceiling features double-sunk coffers.
It has been under construction since 2018.
