These gardens, which Raskolnikov walked along on his way to the old usurer's, once belonged to the Yusupov family, one of the richest in Imperial Russia. The yellow building with white columns, which can be seen at the back of the garden, was one of four palaces owned by the Yusupovs in the city. Designed by Quarenghi, this Classical-style building (1790) now houses the St Petersburg Railway University.