Koetsen en wandelaar in de Bolsjaja Morskaja oelitsa, Sint-Petersburg 1898

This photographic print of the Bolshaya Morskaya Street in St. Petersburg was created by Henry Pauw van Wieldrecht, likely in the late 19th or early 20th century. The image offers a glimpse into the opulence of Imperial Russia, with horse-drawn carriages traversing the grand avenue beneath a triumphal arch. But what does this street scene reveal about the social fabric of the time? St. Petersburg was conceived by Peter the Great as Russia’s window to Europe, an assertion of imperial power and modernization. The Bolshaya Morskaya, with its imposing architecture and bustling traffic, would have been a stage for displays of wealth and status. The photograph provides a glimpse of the rigid social hierarchies that defined Russian society at the time, with the elite classes enjoying a lifestyle of privilege and leisure in stark contrast to the lives of the peasantry. By examining sources such as period newspapers, city directories, and social commentaries, we might uncover the stories of the individuals who traversed this street.