Доклады Международного конгресса ИИСАА. Т. 1

II. Middle East, Caucasus and Central Asia / Ближний Восток, Кавказ и Центральная Азия 298 Proceedings of the International Congress on Historiography and Source Studies of Asia and Africa.Vol. I. 2020 those willing to take part in competitive bidding. 2 The contract was awarded to Ivan Melent’ev, the son of a merchant. 3 By the end ofAugust main construction works were finished. Suddenly it became clear that an additional barn for two elephants, a male and a female, who had formed a couple on their way to the Russian capital, was to be constructed. In spite of all the efforts undertaken to meet the schedule, the third barn was finished only by mid-November 1741 and the other constructions, including the shed, the icehouse, the kitchen and the stables — by January 1742. 4 The Elephant Square leading to the Fontanka was constructed opposite the barns, and the sloping footbridge was built for the purpose of walking and bathing the animals. 5 The river was cleaned, and poles were installed to strengthen the riverbank. Reconstruction works were carried out to strengthen city bridges prior to the foreign guests’ arrival. On 25August the Dutch builder Herman von Boles reported 1 Vnutrenniy byt russkogo gosudarstva. Book 1. P. 330, pl. 2 Ibid. Р. 332. 3 Ibid. Р. 332. 4 Ibid. Р. 333–334. 5 Vnutrenniy byt russkogo gosudarstva. Book 1. Р. 331; Пыляев М. И. Старый Петер- бург. Рассказы из былой жизни столицы. М.: Сварог и К, 2000 / Pylyaev M. I. Stariy Peterburg. Rasskazy iz byloi zhizni stolitsy [Old Petersburg. Stories from the past life of the capital]. Moscow: Svarog i K, 2000. (In Russian). Р. 62. Fig. 6. Plan of the Elephant barn 1 The State Hermitage Museum, St Petersburg. Inv. no. 102434