I. I. Gazy Palace of Culture

The I. I. Gaza Palace of Culture in Saint Petersburg consists of a southern club section and a northern theater section. In the center of the building's facade is an empty square where reliefs of Lenin and Stalin were previously located, and a glass cylinder with a floating spiral staircase inside protrudes from the small hall. In 1935, artists from the Moscow Art Theater, the Maly Opera, and the Moscow Chamber Theater performed here, and in 1941–1942, the palace housed the headquarters of units that participated in the storming of Berlin. In December 1974, one of the first major permitted exhibitions of nonconformists, organized after negotiations with the authorities, took place in the building.