Academy of sciences in the cultural space of Russia in the first half of the 18th century

The article examines the specificity of the cultural space of Russia in the first half of the 18th c. and in particular St. Petersburg, from the viewpoint of a culturological approach, which implies a special semantic content, reflected in space in the form of symbols and signs. One of these symbols of the Enlightenment era -“scientism” - is evident in the socio-cultural dominants new to the 18th century - the major educational and scientific centers. The process of formation of the European academic tradition, which served as a model for Russian academic and educational structures, is highlighted. The author analyzes the role of Peter I as the initiator of the emergence of educational and scientific organizations of various levels, including the Russian Academy of Sciences, as well as the importance of German specialists and diplomats in the formation of academic institutions in Russia -the Russian Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg University, and the academic gymnasium. The author concludes that the building of the Academy of Sciences is important as an architectural dominant of St Petersburg, symbolizing the transition of the Russian Empire in the early 18th century to the new European Enlightenment paradigm.