Description
The Oktyabrsky Big Concert Hall is one of the concert venues in St. Petersburg, located at Ligovsky Prospekt, 6. Capacity - 3727 seats (including 1043 balcony).
BKZ "Oktyabrsky" was opened on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the October Socialist Revolution. Until 1961, on the site of the "October", there was a Greek church. Divine services in it ceased in the thirties and, in order to make way for the future concert hall, it was demolished in two weeks.
It was originally planned that the Oktyabrsky building would be something like the Kremlin Palace of Congresses. In it, the highest ranks intended to hold solemn and memorial events. However, over time, the BKZ outgrew this concept and turned into a full-fledged cultural center.
The Oktyabrsky project itself was developed by a team of architects led by Alexander Zhuk, a full member of the Russian Academy of Arts. The BKZ building is characterized by a strict, geometric appearance. Its facade is complemented by a huge stained-glass window and a bas-relief on the theme of the October armed uprising. The sculpture "October" in front of the entrance was cast only a year after the discovery based on the original by Alexander Matveev, made in 1927.