The Smolny Institute and Cloister in St. Petersburg

Obverse

the two-headed eagle (designed by I.Bilibin), the letters under it indicate the metal sign, the fineness, the mint trademark and the fine metal content. The inscriptions along the rim: at the top — «3 РУБЛЯ 1994 г.» (3 RUBLES 1994), at the bottom — «БАНК РОССИИ» (BANK OF RUSSIA).

Reverse

a view of theSmolny Institute and Cloister in St. Petersburg, the inscriptions along the rim: at the top - "СМОЛЬНЫЙ ИНСТИТУТ И МОНАСТЫРЬ" (THE SMOLNY INSTITUTE AND CLOISTER), at the bottom - "САНКТ-ПЕТЕРБУРГ" (ST. PETERSBURG), below - the dates "XVIII * XX вв" (XVIIIth * XXth centuries).

Authors

The artist: A.V. Baklanov
The sculptor: I.S. Komshilov
Leningrad Mint (ЛМД)
The edge: 300 corrugations

The Smolny Institute, built by architect Giacomo Quarenghi in 1806-1808, was Russia's first institution of secondary education for noblemen's daughters (aged 6 to 18). A privileged establishment, it was founded in St. Petersburg under the name of the Instructional Society of Girls of Noble Birth and opened under the auspices of the Resurrection Smolny Nunnery (built in the XVIIth century by architect Varfolomei Rastrelli and completed in the XXth century by architect Vasily Stasov).