* "It is better to have an apartment building in St. Petersburg than gold mines in Siberia" — that's what the residents of the city on the Neva River said in the XIX century. To tell you this entertaining story, we must first show you what the apartment buildings looked like. And it's definitely worth seeing, because it was in this era that architects were given carte blanche, and they could build as they pleased. Therefore, as part of the tour, we will walk along the narrow streets of the Petrograd side, walk through the famous St. Petersburg courtyards, admire the apartment buildings, "populate" one of them. Let's find out who was the most important person in the house, and without whom life could turn into a burden. I will tell you what criteria were used to choose housing and why it was changed every year. You will find out why the front rooms were never ventilated, and why they loved to visit so much. After a walk, you will have a pleasant aftertaste of how comfortably you live now, you will be interested in learning even more about the life of the citizens of the XIX century in St. Petersburg, and you will definitely look at the city with your head held high – in search of "messages from the past". Come.