St. Petersburg’s Senate Square began to take shape during the first half of the 18th century. It received its name after the state institution of the Senate was moved here. This organ of state power — created under Peter the First in 1711 — had new life breathed into it centuries later when it came to be neighboured by the Constitutional Court of the Russian Federation. As a judicial authority, this institution matches the historical spirit of the Senate. Moreover, the court is located in the building adjacent to the Senate on the English Embankment, a building which was once home to Countess Laval and the meeting place of the Petersburg intelligentsia at the beginning of the 19th century. RTG host Igor Maximenko admired the elegant interiors of these historic buildings and discovered just how the country’s judicial servants work.