The classical building on Kamennoostrovsky Avenue in St. Petersburg has a rich history, overshadowed by tragic events. On September 6, 1843, the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum moved here, which prepared the elite of the Russian Empire. The lyceum students brought with them the memory of the famous graduate Alexander Pushkin, encyclopedic knowledge, and a sense of civic responsibility, for which in Russia one often had to pay a high price.

Today, this building looks respectable, housing a professional college, while the wing at the intersection of Kamennoostrovsky Avenue and Bolshaya Monetnaya Street hosts the Estonian consulate. In the 18th century, this territory was owned by a merchant from Narva, Jakob Wolf, who built a summer house with a French garden. The next owner, Baron Stein, converted the mansion into a factory but quickly went bankrupt. Empress Catherine II decided to use this place for the first house in St. Petersburg where smallpox vaccinations were administered.

In the early 19th century, the Orphanage moved into the building, but after a devastating flood, it had to be rebuilt. In 1831, architect L. I. Charlemagne proposed a project for a new building in strict geometric proportions. The house for educators was built in the classical style according to the design of architect P.S. Plavov. The garden was used as a vegetable garden, and later a flowerbed was arranged in front of the building, along with wings and a service building.

In 1844, the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum moved here and became the Imperial Alexandrovsky Lyceum. The curriculum included a variety of subjects, with an emphasis on law and legal proceedings. It was a closed educational institution for noble children, and the education was equivalent to university level. The lyceum produced future ministers, philosophers, scientists, and writers.

The Alexandrovsky Lyceum strictly monitored the continuity of generations and fostered a sense of camaraderie. In honor of the lyceum's 50th anniversary, a new building was opened and the Pushkin Prize was established. The lyceum students proposed to erect the first monument to Pushkin in Moscow. The building was constantly adapted to meet educational needs, but the monument to Alexander I did not survive.

The most tragic page in the history of the lyceum is the "Case of the Lyceum Students." In 1918, the Bolsheviks closed the school, and in 1925, based on a fabricated case, 150 graduates were arrested, accused of counter-revolutionary activities. Almost all of them perished in dungeons or camps. They were blamed for remaining loyal to the spirit of the lyceum brotherhood.

The former director of the lyceum, Vladimir Alexandrovich Shilder, died of a heart attack during the announcement of the verdict. The Bolsheviks did not spare even the 75-year-old Prince Nikolai Dmitrievich Golitsyn. By a miracle, literary scholar Valerian Adolfovich Chudovsky escaped execution, but later fell victim to the Great Terror. Also arrested was protoiereus Vladimir Konstantinovich Lozin-Lozinsky, who was shot in the late 1930s.

Lyceum Street was renamed Röntgen Street. The former house for educators became home to the Radium Institute. After the establishment of Soviet power, the lyceum building housed an orphanage, a school, and a vocational school. In the mid-1950s, a bust of V.I. Lenin was placed nearby, which still stands in front of the "Alexandrovsky Lyceum" College of Management and Economics. Valuable books from the lyceum's library were sent to Yekaterinburg and later distributed among museums. The lyceum and its graduates hold an honorable place in the history of Russia.