Akhmatova poem

[Jack Kollmann]

O, wise colleagues:

 

In Akhmatova's 1913 poem, "Stikhi o Peterburge," #2, she refers to the
"Galernaia arka in verse #1:

Serdtse b'etsia rovno, merno.

Chto mne dolgie goda!

Ved' pod arkoi na Galernoi

Nashi teni navsegda.

 

Is the "Galernaia Arch" (1) the one on Palace Square in the middle of
Rossi's General Staff Bldg.; or (2) the one between Rossi's Senate/Synod
Bldgs., the street behind which is Galernaia ulitsa; or (3) some other
arch?  I'm guessing #2 because of the street name, although Roberta Reeder
("Anna Akhmatova: Poet and Prophet," St. Martin's, 1994) says #1 (p. 71).
In any case, why "Galernaia"?  Meaning "galley, a type of boat"
(extensively used at least during Peter's time), right?, and not
"gallery"?  

 

I can't find reference to the origin and first use of the street name
"Galernaia ulitsa," much less the arch, although I'm sure it's explained
somewhere.  Can you suggest good reference works, either online or
printed, re: street/place names in Petersburg?  I have a couple of books
on origins of street and place names in Moscow, but not a comparable one
for Petersburg.

 

Many thanks.

 

Jack Kollmann

CREEES, Stanford University

 

 


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