Engineer Castle in Saint Petersburg

In 1797 emperor Paul I wanted to build a new ceremonial castle-like residence. He was the Master of Malthusian Order and loved castles built in the style of medieval fortresses. So was the Gatchina Palace, and so would be the Mikhailovsky Castle.

Paul I himself made the sketches of the castle, and already four years later it was finished. Engineer Castle was the only structure of St. Petersburg built in the style of Roman classicism. It was named after Michael the Archangel, the patron of Romanov Dynasty. In 1801 emperor Paul I was murdered at the bedroom of the Mikhailovsky Castle.

Since 1823 it housed army`s Main Engineering School (later to become the Nikolayevskaya Engineering Academy, from which it received its second name – the Engineer Castle (and eventually, it became more common). Now the building is occupied by one of the expositions of the Rus-sian Museum. Also, it will be very interesting to see historic interiors of the castle.

In 1838, at the age of 16, Fyodor Dostoevsky entered the Engineering school. In the future, he will become one of the greatest Russian writers, but at that time he was able to enter the third conductor`s class with great difficulty.

The study was quite difficult and in the first year of study, he was even left for the second year in the third grade. However, then Fyodor Dostoevsky`s diligent study allowed him to successfully pass the first class exams.

On November 29, 1840, after successfully passing the final examinations of the front service, Dostoevsky was promoted to non-commissioned officer.

On August 5, 1841, he was "commissioned as a field engineer ensign, staying at the Engineering school to continue the full course of science in the lower officer class".