Review article

The article provides a brief summary of the historical situation of the mid XIX century, when the conquest policy of the Russian Empire predetermined the urban development of the territories annexed in the hostilities, the spreading of the St. Petersburg architectural school traditions in them. The propagators of its creative principles were the graduates of the Institute of Civil Engineers, the Construction School of the Main Directorate of Railways and Public Buildings, the Academy of Arts.The main attention in the article is paid to the creative activity of the architect Alexei Leontievich Benois, whose heritage was a reflection of the traditions of the St. Petersburg architectural school of the mid-XIX in Turkestan. The stylistic affiliation of his buildings is analyzed, the creative method is determined.The information provided in the article about the heritage of A. L. Benois, complemented the overall picture of the domestic architecture development as an integral artistic system within the vast borders of the Russian Empire.