Have you ever asked your beloved one for a hand in marriage? Have you ever experienced a “no” in response because you weren’t as noble as your beloved one? How angry would you have been?

Well, there is a legend that one rich St.Petersburg merchant fell in love with a noble baroness in the beginning of the 20th century, but she refused his marriage proposal. In response, he asked the city authorities to install 3 public toilets on his account and permission was received. He ordered and constructed 3 beautiful public toilets in art nouveau style which were exact copies of the summer cottage where his ex-beloved baroness lived.

One public WC was installed in Alexandrovsky Garden close to the Admiralty, one close to Mariinsky theatre and the last one just in front of the summer cottage on Petrograd island where she lived. She moved to Vasilievsky Island but another WC was installed there as well.

Not all of the toilets have survived but the one in Alexandrovsky Garden can be visited (and directly used) 24 hours a day.