Around 1670 Ticino (Tessina) – 1734, Saint Petersburg

A Swiss architect of Italian origins, born in Ticino (Tessina). Received an education in architecture in Italy, the years of his education coinciding with the years of the last Venice's triumph. After his studies leaves for Denmark in 1699, where king Christian V dreams of creating mighty fortifications around his capital. However, the king who succeeded him on the throne had different priorities. Fortunately, in 1703 Russian tsar Peter I needed a fortification constructor to retain the territories he had conquered and reinforce them. Trezzini was enrolled as an "architectonic manager" having thus become the first architect in Saint Petersburg. He laid a foundation of European school in Russian architecture. As a main architect of the northern capital, Trezzini composed "exemplary" (standard) projects of residential houses for different social groups ("nobles", "well-offs", "base-borns") and suburban country houses (1717–1721). Trezzini's constructions are characteristic for baroque architecture of Peter's time. They are distinguished by the regularity of plans, modesty of decorative interiors, and combination of beautiful order elements with baroque details. Among the works performed upon Trezzini's projects are foundation of Kronstadt (1704) and Alexander Nevsky Lavra (1717), beginning of the reconstruction of the Peter and Paul Fortress in stone (1706), part of the Vasilyevsky Island regular planning (1715), the construction of Peter I's Summer Palace in the Summer Garden (1710–1711), Peter's Gates (wooden – 1708, stone – 1714–1717) and Peter and Paul Cathedral (1712–1733) in Peter and Paul Fortress, the Building of the Twelve Collegia (1722–1734), reconstruction of Peter I's Winter Palace (1726–1727) and others.