MARITIME TRANSPORTATION OF ENERGY

FROM RUSSIA & CENTRAL ASIA

- CHALLENGES & OPPORTUNITIES -
10 & 11 OCTOBER 2005

In 1991, the Grand Hotel Europe reopened as one of the world's great luxury hotels, occupying St Petersburg's prime location in the heart of the main shopping and business districts.

It combines all the charm and elegance of the 19th century with the comfort and convenience of today.

History of the Grand Hotel Europe
The construction of the buildings now housing the hotel, located in the very heart of St. Petersburg on Nevsky Prospekt and Mikhailovskaya Ulitsa, began in the 1820s. The first hotel on this site, known as the Cuolon, appeared in 1830 and was then integrated with neighbouring houses by Carlo Rossi, by the neoclassical façade which crossed the existing buildings.

This united structure evolved into the Hotel de l'Europe, the dream child of the Evropeyskaya Hotel Company, which opened its doors in January of 1875. At the turn of the century the Swedish-Russian architect, Fyodor Lidval redesigned much of the hotel's interior, adding the beautiful Art Nouveau features which still exist today. 

The hotel reinvented itself numerous times through the First World War and post revolutionary periods as a hospital, orphanage and centre of bureaucratic operations.

Fortunately, following extensive and painstaking renovation between 1989 and December 1991, the building re-opened as the Grand Hotel Europe. Great care was taken to preserve the hotel's distinct architecture, both the interior of the hotel with its turn-of-the-century art nouveau décor and the magnificent neoclassical façade were restored to their former glory.

The building itself has been classified as a national and cultural landmark and is to be preserved as a historical monument.

INFORMATION
For further information on the conference please contact:

GRAND HOTEL EUROPE

Nevsky Prospect, Mikhailovskaya Ulitsa 1/7
St. Petersburg, Russia

Tel: +7 812 329 6000
www.grandhoteleurope.com

Mare Forum
Beurs – World Trade Center
P.O. Box 30027
3001 DA Rotterdam
The Netherlands
T: +31 10 281 0655
F: +31 10 270 9870
E: info@mareforum.com