Describe the winter palace. Imperial mansions: history of the Winter Palace

Where did the tradition of dividing royal houses into winter and summer come from? The roots of this phenomenon can be found back in the days of the Muscovite kingdom. It was then that the tsars first began to leave the walls of the Kremlin for the summer and go to breathe the air in Izmailovskoye or Kolomenskoye. Peter I carried this tradition into new capital. Winter Palace Emperor stood on the spot where the modern building is located, and Summer Palace can be found in Summer Garden. It was built under the direction of Trezzini and is essentially a small two-story house with 14 rooms.

Source: wikipedia.org

From the house to the palace

The history of the creation of the Winter Palace is no secret to anyone: Empress Elizaveta Petrovna, a great lover of luxury, in 1752 ordered the architect Rastrelli to build for herself the most beautiful palace in Russia. But it was not built from scratch: before that, on the territory where the Hermitage Theater is now located, there was a small winter palace of Peter I. The house of the Great was replaced by wooden palace Anna Ioannovna, which was built under the leadership of Trezzini. But the building was not luxurious enough, so the Empress, who returned St. Petersburg to the status of the capital, chose a new architect - Rastrelli. This was Rastrelli Sr., the father of the famous Francesco Bartolomeo. For almost 20 years new palace became the residence of the imperial family. And then the very Winter one that we know today appeared - the fourth in a row.

Source: wikipedia.org

The tallest building in St. Petersburg

When Elizaveta Petrovna wanted to build a new palace, the architect, in order to save money, planned to use the previous building for the base. But the empress demanded that the height of the palace be increased from 14 to 22 two meters. Rastrelli redesigned the building several times, but Elizabeth did not want to move the construction site, so the architect had to simply demolish the old palace and build a new one in its place. Only in 1754 did the empress approve the project.

Interestingly, for a long time the Winter Palace remained the most tall building In Petersburg. In 1762, a decree was even issued prohibiting the construction of buildings higher than the imperial residence in the capital. It was because of this decree that the Singer company at the beginning of the 20th century had to abandon its idea of ​​​​building a skyscraper for itself on Nevsky Prospect, like in New York. As a result, a tower was built over six floors with an attic and decorated with a globe, creating the impression of height.

Elizabethan Baroque

The palace was built in the so-called Elizabethan Baroque style. It is a quadrangle with a large courtyard. The building is decorated with columns, platbands, and the roof balustrade is lined with dozens of luxurious vases and statues. But the building was rebuilt several times, over interior decoration At the end of the 18th century, Quarenghi, Montferrand, Rossi worked, and after the notorious fire of 1837 - Stasov and Bryullov, so Baroque elements were not preserved everywhere. Details of the lush style remained in the interior of the famous main Jordan Staircase. It got its name from Jordan Passage, which was located nearby. Through him, on the feast of the Epiphany, the imperial family and the highest clergy went to the ice hole in the Neva. This ceremony was traditionally called the “march to the Jordan.” Baroque details are also preserved in the decoration of the Great Church. But the church was ruined, and now only a large lampshade by Fontebasso depicting the Resurrection of Christ reminds of its purpose.

Source: wikipedia.org

In 1762, Catherine II ascended the throne, who did not like Rastrelli’s pompous style. The architect was dismissed, and new craftsmen took over the interior decoration. They destroyed the Throne Hall and erected a new Neva Enfilade. Under the leadership of Quarenghi, the St. George, or Great Throne Hall, was created. For it, a small extension had to be made to the eastern façade of the palace. At the end of the 19th century, the Red Boudoir, the Golden Living Room and the Library of Nicholas II appeared.

Hard days of the Revolution

In the first days of the Revolution of 1917, sailors and workers stole a huge amount of the Winter Palace's treasures. Only a few days later the Soviet government realized to take the building under protection. A year later, the palace was given over to the Museum of the Revolution, so some of the interiors were rebuilt. For example, the Romanov Gallery, where portraits of all the emperors and members of their families were located, was destroyed, and films began to be shown in the Nicholas Hall. In 1922, part of the building went to the Hermitage, and only by 1946 the entire Winter Palace became part of the museum.

During the Great Patriotic War, the palace building was damaged by air raids and artillery shelling. With the outbreak of the war, most of the exhibits exhibited in the Winter Palace were sent for storage to the Ipatiev Mansion, the same one where the family of Emperor Nicholas II was shot. About 2,000 people lived in the Hermitage bomb shelters. They tried their best to preserve the exhibits remaining within the walls of the palace. Sometimes they had to fish out china and chandeliers floating in flooded basements.

Furry guards

Not only did the water threaten to ruin the art, but also the voracious rats. The first mustachioed army for the Winter Palace was sent from Kazan in 1745. Catherine II did not like cats, but she left the striped protectors at court in the status of “guards of art galleries.” During the blockade, all the cats in the city died, which is why the rats multiplied and began to spoil the interiors of the palace. After the war, 5 thousand cats were brought to the Hermitage, which quickly dealt with the tailed pests.

The development of the territory east of the Admiralty began simultaneously with the emergence of the shipyard. In 1705, a house was built on the banks of the Neva for the “Great Admiralty” - Fyodor Matveevich Apraksin. By 1711, the site of the current palace was occupied by the mansions of the nobility involved in the fleet (only naval officials could build here).

The first wooden Winter House of “Dutch architecture” according to Trezzini’s “exemplary design” under a tiled roof was built in 1711 for the Tsar, as a shipwright by master Peter Alekseev. A canal was dug in front of its façade in 1718, which later became the Winter Canal. Peter called it “his office.” Especially for the wedding of Peter and Ekaterina Alekseevna, the wooden palace was rebuilt into a modestly decorated two-story stone house with a tiled roof, which had a descent to the Neva. According to some historians, the wedding feast took place in the great hall of this first Winter Palace.

The second Winter Palace was built in 1721 according to the Mattarnovi project. Its main façade faced the Neva. Peter lived his last years in it.

The third Winter Palace appeared as a result of the reconstruction and expansion of this palace according to Trezzini's design. Parts of it later became part of the Hermitage Theater created by Quarenghi. During the restoration work, fragments of Peter the Great's palace were discovered inside the theater: the front courtyard, staircase, vestibule, rooms. Now here is essentially the Hermitage exhibition “The Winter Palace of Peter the Great”.

In 1733-1735, according to the design of Bartolomeo Rastrelli, on site former palace Fyodor Apraksin, bought for the empress, built the fourth Winter Palace - the palace of Anna Ioannovna. Rastrelli used the walls of the luxurious chambers of Apraksin, erected in the times of Peter the Great by the architect Leblon.

The Fourth Winter Palace stood approximately in the same place where we see the current one, and was much more elegant than the previous palaces.

The Fifth Winter Palace for the temporary stay of Elizabeth Petrovna and her court was again built by Bartolomeo Francesco Rastrelli (in Russia he was often called Bartholomew Varfolomeevich). It was a huge wooden building from Moika to Malaya Morskaya and from Nevsky Prospect to Kirpichny Lane. There is no trace of him left for a long time. Many researchers of the history of the creation of the current Winter Palace do not even remember it, considering the fifth one to be the modern Winter Palace.

The current Winter Palace is the sixth in a row. It was built from 1754 to 1762 according to the design of Bartolomeo Rastrelli for Empress Elizabeth Petrovna and is a striking example of lush baroque. But Elizabeth didn’t have time to live in the palace - she died, so Catherine the Second became the first real mistress of the Winter Palace.

In 1837, the Winter Palace burned down - the fire started in the Field Marshal's Hall and lasted for three whole days, all this time the palace servants carried out works of art that decorated the royal residence, a huge mountain of statues, paintings, precious trinkets grew around the Alexander Column... They say that nothing is missing...

The Winter Palace was restored after the fire of 1837 without any major external changes; by 1839 the work was completed, they were led by two architects: Alexander Bryullov (brother of the great Charles) and Vasily Stasov (author of the Spaso-Perobrazhensky and Trinity-Izmailovsky Cathedrals). The number of sculptures along the perimeter of its roof was only reduced.

Over the centuries, the color of the facades of the Winter Palace changed from time to time. Initially, the walls were painted with “sandy paint with the finest yellow,” and the decor was painted with white lime. Before the First World War, the palace acquired an unexpected red-brick color, giving the palace a gloomy appearance. The contrasting combination of green walls, white columns, capitals and stucco decoration appeared in 1946.

Exterior of the Winter Palace

Rastrelli was not just building a royal residence - the palace was built “for the glory of all Russia alone,” as it was said in the decree of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna to the Governing Senate. The palace is distinguished from European Baroque buildings by its brightness, cheerfulness of imagery, and festive, solemn elation. Its more than 20-meter height is emphasized by two-tiered columns. The vertical division of the palace is continued by statues and vases, leading the eye to the sky. The height of the Winter Palace became a building standard, elevated to the principle of St. Petersburg urban planning. Higher Winter building It was not allowed to build in the old city.
The palace is a giant quadrangle with a large courtyard. The facades of the palace, varying in composition, form like folds of a huge ribbon. The stepped cornice, repeating all the protrusions of the building, stretches for almost two kilometers. The absence of sharply extended parts along the northern façade, from the Neva side (there are only three divisions here), enhances the impression of the length of the building along the embankment; two wings on the western side face the Admiralty. The main façade facing Palace Square, has seven divisions, it is the most ceremonial. In the middle, protruding part there is a triple arcade of the entrance gate, decorated with a magnificent openwork lattice. The south-eastern and south-western risalits protrude beyond the line of the main façade. Historically, it was in them that the living quarters of emperors and empresses were located.

Layout of the Winter Palace

Bartolomeo Rastrelli already had experience in building royal palaces in Tsarskoe Selo and Peterhof. In the scheme of the Winter Palace, he included a standard layout option that he had previously tested. The basement of the palace was used as housing for servants or storage rooms. The ground floor housed service and utility rooms. The second floor housed ceremonial ceremonial halls and personal apartments of the imperial family. The third floor accommodated ladies-in-waiting, doctors and close servants. This layout assumed predominantly horizontal connections between the various rooms of the palace, which was reflected in the endless corridors of the Winter Palace.
The northern façade is distinguished by the fact that it contains three huge main halls. The Neva Enfilade included: the Small Hall, the Large (Nikolaevsky Hall) and Concert hall. The large enfilade unfolded along the axis Grand staircase, running perpendicular to the Neva Enfilade. It included the Field Marshal's Hall, Peter's Hall, the Armorial (White) Hall, the Picket (New) Hall. A special place in the series of halls was occupied by the memorial Military Gallery of 1812, the solemn St. George and Apollo halls. The main halls included the Pompeii Gallery and the Winter Garden. The route taken by the royal family through the enfilade of state halls had a deep meaning. The scenario of the Big Exits, worked out to the smallest detail, served not only as a demonstration of the full brilliance of autocratic power, but also as an appeal to the past and present Russian history.
Like any other palace of the imperial family, there was a church in the Winter Palace, or rather two churches: Big and Small. According to Bartolomeo Rastrelli, Big Church was supposed to serve Empress Elizabeth Petrovna and her “big court”, while Malaya was supposed to serve the “young court” - the court of the heir-Tsarevich Peter Fedorovich and his wife Ekaterina Alekseevna.

Interiors of the Winter Palace

If the exterior of the palace is made in the late Russian Baroque style. The interiors are mainly made in the style of early classicism. One of the few interiors of the palace that has preserved its original Baroque decoration is the main Jordan staircase. It occupies a huge space of almost 20 meters in height and seems even higher due to the painting of the ceiling. Reflected in mirrors, the real space seems even larger. The staircase created by Bartolomeo Rastrelli after the fire of 1837 was restored by Vasily Stasov, who preserved Rastrelli’s general plan. The decor of the staircase is infinitely varied - mirrors, statues, fancy gilded stucco, varying motifs of a stylized shell. The forms of Baroque decor became more restrained after the replacement of wooden columns lined with pink stucco (artificial marble) with monolithic granite columns.

Of the three halls of the Neva Enfilade, the Antechamber is the most restrained in decoration. The main decor is concentrated in the upper part of the hall - allegorical compositions executed in monochrome technique (grisaille) on a gilded background. Since 1958, a malachite rotunda has been installed in the center of the Antechamber (at first it was located in Tauride Palace, then in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra).

The largest hall of the Neva Enfilade, Nikolaevsky, is decorated more solemnly. This is one of the largest halls of the Winter Palace, its area is 1103 sq. m. Three-quarter columns of the magnificent Corinthian order, painted borders of the ceiling and huge chandeliers give it grandeur. The hall is designed in white.

The concert hall, intended at the end of the 18th century for court concerts, has a more rich sculptural and pictorial decor than the two previous halls. The hall is decorated with statues of muses installed in the second tier of walls above the columns. This hall completed the enfilade and was originally conceived by Rastrelli as a vestibule to the throne room. In the middle of the 20th century, a silver tomb of Alexander Nevsky (transferred to the Hermitage after the revolution) weighing about 1,500 kg, created at the St. Petersburg Mint in 1747–1752, was installed in the hall. for the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, which to this day houses the relics of the Holy Prince Alexander Nevsky.
The large enfilade begins with the Field Marshals' Hall, designed to house portraits of field marshals; it was supposed to give an idea of ​​the political and military history Russia. Its interior was created, just like the neighboring Petrine (or Small Throne) Hall, by the architect Auguste Montferrand in 1833 and restored after the fire of 1837 by Vasily Stasov. The main purpose of the Peter the Great Hall is memorial - it is dedicated to the memory of Peter the Great, therefore its decoration is particularly luxurious. In the gilded decor of the frieze, in the painting of the vaults there are coats of arms Russian Empire, crowns, wreaths of glory. In a huge niche with a rounded arch there is a painting depicting Peter I, led by the goddess Minerva to victories; in the upper part of the side walls there are paintings with scenes of the most important battles of the Northern War - at Lesnaya and near Poltava. In the decorative motifs decorating the hall, a monogram of two Latin letters"P" denoting the name of Peter I - "Petrus Primus"

The armorial hall is decorated with shields with the coats of arms of Russian provinces of the 19th century, located on huge chandeliers that illuminate it. This is an example of the late classical style. The porticoes on the end walls hide the enormity of the hall, and the solid gilding of the columns emphasizes its splendor. Four sculptural groups of warriors Ancient Rus' remind of the heroic traditions of the defenders of the fatherland and precede the next Gallery of 1812.
Stasov's most perfect creation in the Winter Palace is the St. George (Grand Throne) Hall. The Quarenghi Hall, created on the same site, was destroyed in a fire in 1837. Stasov, while preserving Quarenghi’s architectural design, created a completely different artistic image. The walls are lined with Carrara marble, and the columns are carved from it. The decor of the ceiling and columns is made of gilded bronze. The ceiling pattern is repeated in the parquet flooring, made from 16 valuable types of wood. The only things missing from the floor design are the Double-Headed Eagle and St. George - it is not appropriate to step on coat of arms great empire. The gilded silver throne was restored to its original location in 2000 by architects and restorers of the Hermitage. Above the throne seat is a marble bas-relief of St. George slaying the dragon, by the Italian sculptor Francesco del Nero.

Owners of the Winter Palace

The customer of the construction was the daughter of Peter the Great, Empress Elizaveta Petrovna, she hurried Rastrelli with the construction of the palace, so the work was carried out at a frantic pace. The empress's personal chambers (two bedchambers and an office), the chambers of Tsarevich Pavel Petrovich and some rooms adjacent to the chambers were hastily finished: the Church, the Opera House and the Light Gallery. But the empress did not have time to live in the palace. She died in December 1761. The first owner of the Winter Palace was the Empress's nephew (her son older sister Anna) Peter III Fedorovich. The Winter Palace was solemnly consecrated and put into operation by Easter 1762. Peter III immediately started alterations in the southwestern risalit. The chambers included an office and a library. It was planned to create the Amber Hall on the model of the Tsarskoye Selo. For his wife, he identified chambers in the southwestern risalit, the windows of which overlooked the industrial zone of the Admiralty.

The emperor lived in the palace only until June 1762, after which, without even expecting it, he left it forever, moving to his beloved Oranienbaum, where at the end of July he signed an abdication, shortly after which he was killed in the Ropshinsky Palace.

The “brilliant age” of Catherine II began, who became the first real mistress of the Winter Palace, and the south-eastern risalit, overlooking Millionnaya Street and Palace Square, became the first of the “residence zones” of the owners of the palace. After the coup, Catherine II basically continued to live in the wooden Elizabethan palace, and in August she left for Moscow for her coronation. Construction work in Zimny ​​did not stop, but it was already carried out by other architects: Jean Baptiste Vallin-Delamot, Antonio Rinaldi, Yuri Felten. Rastrelli was first sent on leave and then resigned. Catherine returned from Moscow at the beginning of 1863 and moved her chambers to the southwestern risalit, showing continuity from Elizabeth Petrovna to Peter III and to her - the new empress. All work on the west wing was stopped. On the site of Peter III’s chambers, with the personal participation of the Empress, a complex of Catherine’s personal chambers was built. It included: the Audience Chamber, which replaced the Throne Room; Dining room with two windows; Restroom; two casual bedrooms; Boudoir; Office and Library. All rooms were designed in the style of early classicism. Later, Catherine ordered one of the everyday bedrooms to be converted into the Diamond Room or Diamond Chamber, where precious property and imperial regalia were kept: crown, scepter, orb. The regalia was in the center of the room on a table under a crystal cap. As new jewelry was acquired, glass boxes mounted to the walls appeared.
The Empress lived in the Winter Palace for 34 years and her chambers were expanded and rebuilt more than once.

Paul I lived in the Winter Palace during his childhood and youth, and having received Gatchina as a gift from his mother, he left it in the mid-1780s and returned in November 1796, becoming emperor. In the palace, Pavel lived for four years in Catherine’s converted chambers. She moved with him big family, settled in her rooms in the western part of the palace. After his accession to the throne, he immediately began the construction of the Mikhailovsky Castle, without hiding his plans to literally “tear off” the interiors of the Winter Palace, using everything valuable to decorate the Mikhailovsky Castle.

After the death of Paul in March 1801, Emperor Alexander I immediately returned to the Winter Palace. The palace returned to its status as the main imperial residence. But he did not occupy the chambers of the southeastern risalit; he returned to his rooms, located along the western facade of the Winter Palace, with windows overlooking the Admiralty. The premises on the second floor of the southwestern risalit have forever lost their significance as the inner chambers of the head of state. Renovation of the chambers of Paul I began in 1818, on the eve of the arrival of the King of Prussia, Frederick William III, in Russia, appointing “collegiate adviser Karl Rossi” responsible for the work. All design work was carried out according to his drawings. From that time on, the rooms in this part of the Winter Palace began to be officially called the “Prussian-Royal Rooms”, and later - the Second Reserve Half of the Winter Palace. It is separated from the First Half by the Alexander Hall; in plan, this half consisted of two perpendicular enfilades overlooking Palace Square and Millionnaya Street, which were connected in different ways to the rooms facing the courtyard. There was a time when the sons of Alexander II lived in these rooms. First Nikolai Alexandrovich (who was never destined to become Russian emperor), and from 1863 his younger brothers Alexander ( future emperor Alexander III) and Vladimir. They moved out of the premises of the Winter Palace in the late 1860s, beginning their independent lives. At the beginning of the twentieth century, dignitaries of the “first level” were accommodated in the rooms of the Second Reserve Half, saving them from terrorist bombs. From the beginning of spring 1905, the Governor-General of St. Petersburg Trepov lived there. Then, in the fall of 1905, Prime Minister Stolypin and his family were accommodated in these premises.

The premises on the second floor along the southern facade, the windows of which are located to the right and left of the main gate, were allocated by Paul I to his wife Maria Feodorovna in 1797. Paul's intelligent, ambitious and strong-willed wife, during her widowhood, managed to form a structure called the “department of Empress Maria Feodorovna.” It was engaged in charity, education, and provision of medical care to representatives of various classes. In 1827, renovations were made to the chambers, which ended in March, and in November of the same year she died. Her third son, Emperor Nicholas I, decided to preserve her chambers. Later, the First Reserve Half was formed there, consisting of two parallel enfilades. This was the largest of the palace halves, stretching along the second floor from the White to the Alexander Hall. In 1839, temporary residents settled there: the eldest daughter of Nicholas I, Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna and her husband, the Duke of Leuchtenberg. They lived there for almost five years until construction was completed. Mariinsky Palace in 1844. After the death of Empress Maria Alexandrovna and Emperor Alexander II, their rooms became part of the First Reserve Half.

On the ground floor of the southern facade between the entrance of the Empress and the main gate leading to the Great Courtyard, the windows on Palace Square were the premises of the Palace Grenadiers on Duty (2 windows), the Candle Post (2 windows) and the department of the Emperor's Military Camp Office (3 windows). Next came the premises of the “Hough-Fourier and Chamber-Fourier post.” These premises ended at the Commandant's entrance, to the right of which the windows of the apartment of the commandant of the Winter Palace began.

The entire third floor of the southern façade, along the long maid of honor corridor, was occupied by the ladies-in-waiting's apartments. Since these apartments were service living space, at the will of business executives or the emperor himself, ladies-in-waiting could be moved from one room to another. Some of the ladies-in-waiting quickly got married and left the Winter Palace forever; others met there not only old age, but also death...

The southwestern risalit under Catherine II was occupied by the palace theater. It was demolished in the mid-1780s to accommodate rooms for the Empress's many grandchildren. A small enclosed courtyard was built inside the risalit. The daughters of the future Emperor Paul I were settled in the rooms of the southwestern risalit. In 1816, Grand Duchess Anna Pavlovna married Prince William of Orange and left Russia. Her chambers were remodeled under the leadership of Carlo Rossi for Grand Duke Nikolai Pavlovich and his young wife Alexandra Feodorovna. The couple lived in these rooms for 10 years. After the Grand Duke became Emperor Nicholas I in 1825, the couple moved in 1826 to the northwestern risalit. And after the marriage of the heir, Tsarevich Alesander Nikolaevich, to the Princess of Hesse (the future Empress Maria Alexandrovna), they occupied the premises of the second floor of the southwestern risalit. Over time, these rooms began to be called “Half of Empress Maria Alexandrovna”

Photos of the Winter Palace

"Winter Palace? -Where is the Hermitage? - Are the Hermitage and the Winter Palace the same thing? Is the Hermitage the name of the museum located in the Winter Palace? - such questions can often be heard from both Russian and foreign tourists. To figure out what's what, let's start the story about the most famous building of St. Petersburg from afar, from the moment the city was founded on the Neva...

The first Winter Palaces

For those who know the history of St. Petersburg, it is no secret that Peter I initially did not plan to establish a city center on Admiralty Island. The first buildings of St. Petersburg were erected on St. Petersburg Island, around the current Trinity Square. Then, the tsar hatched plans to build a city center in Kronstadt, on Vasilievsky Island, but not on the left bank of the Neva. The emergence of the current historical center Contributed by chance, or rather the royal hobby. Peter I loved to work with a hatchet. And not only personally chop off the heads of the dissatisfied, but also build ships.

After the founding of the Main Admiralty in 1705-1706, the sovereign builder of St. Petersburg was faced with a problem that was well known to many inhabitants of our residential areas. It was difficult and long to get from Petersburg Island to the Admiralty, even taking into account the absence of traffic jams at that time. So the sovereign wished to have housing near his place of work. In 1708, on the site between the Neva and present-day Millionnaya Street, a wooden two-story “Winter House” was built for Peter. This building was located on the site of the current Hermitage Theater, and is considered to be the first Winter Palace.

Now Peter has the opportunity to run to the shipyard every morning. Soon around the royal
houses of the sovereign's servants and hangers-on appeared in the chambers, and the “industrial outskirts” suddenly became the political and aristocratic center of St. Petersburg.

In 1712, the “Winter House” was expanded by adding the so-called “Wedding Chambers” to it, but Peter Alekseevich, who had settled in the new place, began to think about a more representative residence. In 1716, according to the design of the architect Georg Mattarnovi, construction began on the new Winter Palace, located on the site of the previous building. Subsequently, researchers noted the successful choice of location for the main royal residence: “... the palace is located so that from it one can see most of the city, the fortress, the house of Prince Menshikov, and especially the open sea across the river branch.”

The construction of Peter the Great's Winter Palace was completed in 1723. This event was celebrated with a solemn feast, but Peter I did not live long in the new building. On January 28, 1725, the emperor died in the Great Hall of the Winter Palace from the consequences of untreated gonorrhea.

Second Winter Palace of Peter I

After the death of Peter, his widow, Catherine I, lived for some time in the Winter Palace. Under Anna Ioannovna, the court settled in the neighboring Apraksin mansion, located on the site of the current Winter Palace. Peter's "Winter House" was used by various palace services, and then was abandoned. Under Catherine II, the Hermitage Theater building was built in its place.

In the 1970-1980s, Leningrad scientists discovered to their surprise that many elements of the Peter the Great Winter Palace have survived to this day. The architect Giacomo Quarneghi, who erected the theater building, used the walls and supporting structures of the old building, thanks to which today we can see the rooms where Peter I spent the last two years of his life. Today they are partially restored and excursions are held in them.
Under Empress Anna Ioannovna, construction of a new Winter Palace, the third in a row, began on the site of the houses of Apraksin, Chernyshev, Raguzinsky and the Maritime Academy. Work continued from 1732 to 1735. The new four-story building had about 70 state rooms, more than 100 bedrooms, a theater, a chapel, an office, service and guard rooms.

Winter Palace of Anna Ioannovna

Subsequently, this Winter Palace was rebuilt and completed more than once, until Empress Elizaveta Petrovna discovered that the palace began to resemble not a ceremonial residence designed to demonstrate the power of the Russian state, but a chicken coop. The appearance of the building was spoiled by countless stables, technical outbuildings and sheds, built mainly on the side of the Admiralty Meadow (present-day Palace Square). The question of rebuilding the palace again arose, but it turned out that it would be easier to demolish the old building and build a new palace in its place. The corresponding decree was signed by Elizaveta Petrovna on June 16, 1754:

“In St. Petersburg, our Winter Palace is not only for receiving foreign ministers and performing ceremonies at the Court on special days, due to the greatness of our imperial dignity, but also for accommodating us with the necessary servants and things, it cannot be satisfied, for which we They set out to rebuild our Winter Palace with a large space in length, width and height, for which the reconstruction, according to the estimate, will require up to 900,000 rubles, which amount, allocated for two years, is impossible to take from our salt money. Therefore, we command our Senate to find and present to us from what income it is possible to take such an amount of 430 or 450 thousand rubles per year for this matter, counting from the beginning of this year 1754 and the next year 1755, and that this be done immediately, so as not to miss the current winter journey to prepare supplies for that building..."

Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli, (1750-1760s)

Construction of the palace

The construction of the new Winter Palace was supervised by the court architect of Elizabeth Petrovna, Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli. The architect understood that he had been given a task of enormous political importance and began to zealously justify the high trust placed in him, because the palace was being built “for the common glory of all Russia.”

According to the master's plan, the Winter Palace was supposed to be a huge quadrangle with a courtyard. The façade and interiors were decorated in the Baroque style, of which Rusterli was an unsurpassed master. Each of the palace facades was individual. The main façade was considered to be the Southern one, facing Palace Square. He was the most magnificent. In its center there were three arches leading to the front courtyard. The façade facing the Neva resembled an endless colonnade. The western facade also had a ceremonial appearance, facing Razvodnaya Square, where Rasterli planned to erect a monument to Peter I, the work of his father, Carlo Bartolomeo.

Inside the Winter Palace, according to Rasterli’s project, it was planned to arrange 1050 state and residential halls with an area of ​​46 thousand square meters, 1945 windows, 1786 doors, 117 staircases, 329 chimneys.

The Winter Palace was conceived as the architectural dominant of the center of St. Petersburg and the tallest secular building in the city. Before the decree of Nicholas I, the construction of buildings higher than the Winter Palace in the center of the Northern capital was prohibited. The entire system of external decor, columns installed in two rows, statues, was designed to emphasize the enormous (four-story!) height of the building.
About four thousand people worked on the construction of the Winter Palace, including the best craftsmen from all over Russia. The territory of the present Palace Square and the Alexander Garden was covered with huts in which workers lived. The courtyard also had to change its place of residence. For him, Rastrelli built a temporary wooden Winter Palace, located on the site of Chicherin’s modern house, on the corner of Nevsky Prospect and the Moika River.

Elizaveta Petrovna really wanted to move to a new residence as soon as possible, but this did not happen. On January 25, 1761, the Empress died. And on April 6, 1762, the court moved to the Winter Palace built by Rasterlli. Tradition says that after the completion of the work, Palace Square was a garbage dump. The cunning Chief of Police of St. Petersburg, Baron N.A. Korf proposed to announce through the heralds that every citizen is free to take from the former construction site whatever he needs. The next day, in front of the Winter Palace it was possible to iron clothes... Poor St. Petersburg residents even stole piles of lime.

The Winter Palace becomes the Winter Palace

Before the fresh lime that covered the walls of the Winter Palace had time to dry, they began to rebuild the building. The new Empress Catherine II, who ascended the throne after the short but memorable reign of Peter III, was not a fan of the Baroque. Rastrelli was forced to resign and leave St. Petersburg, and a new team of architects was invited to rebuild the Winter Palace: Y.M. Felten, J.B. Wallen-Delamot and A. Rinaldi.

The interiors of the palace designed by Rastrelli were almost completely destroyed. Today, all that remains of them is the luxurious Jordan Staircase, along which thousands of tourists pass every day to inspect the treasures of the State Hermitage. On the site of the old Throne Hall and Theater, a new Nevsky Enfilade arose, which included the Antechamber, the Great Hall and the Concert Hall.

The true decoration of the palace was the Great Throne or St. George's Hall created by Giacomo Quarneghi. Its central object was a large throne, executed by P. Azhi. To decorate the interior of this main state hall of the Winter Palace, colored marble and gilded bronze were used.

Under Catherine II, the Winter Palace became the center of secular and cultural life Northern Palmyra, the venue for pompous court festivities and balls.
The Englishman W. Cox, who attended a ball in the Winter Palace in 1778, described what he saw in the following words: “The wealth and splendor of the Russian court surpass the most elaborate descriptions. Traces of ancient Asian splendor mingle with European sophistication..., the splendor of court attire and abundance precious stones leave behind the splendor of other European states.” About eight thousand people attended the ball. True, this crowd of nobles, wealthy merchants and respected artisans did not mix with the aristocrats who danced behind the low barrier that separated the courtiers from the other guests.

Work on the decoration of the Winter Palace continued in subsequent reigns. With the exception of Paul I, who preferred the Mikhailovsky Castle to the Winter Palace, each emperor sought to add something of his own to the decoration of the main palace of the Russian Empire.
Particularly large-scale work was carried out after 1812, when the need arose to demonstrate to the whole world the new status of Russia - the conqueror of Napoleon, the leader of a united Europe in the struggle for the bright ideals of dedicated absolutism.

Military gallery of the Winter Palace. G.G. Chernetsov

In 1826, Karl Rossi built a Military Gallery in front of St. George's Hall, the walls of which were decorated with 330 portraits of generals who took part in the Patriotic War of 1812. The paintings for this room were written by the English artist D. Doe. It was to her that A.S. Pushkin dedicated his lines:

The Russian Tsar has a chamber in his palace:
She is not rich in gold or velvet...
The artist placed the crowd in a crowd
Here are the leaders of our people's forces,
Covered with the glory of a wonderful campaign
And the eternal memory of the twelfth year.

Auguste Montferrand also took part in the reconstruction of the Winter Palace. He built the staircase of the Empress's entrance, decorating it with high reliefs, statues and columns, and designed the Field Marshal's, Peter's and Armorial halls. V.A. Zhukovsky wrote with delight to the royal residence:

“The Winter Palace as a building, as a royal dwelling, perhaps did not have anything like it in all of Europe. With its enormity, its architecture, it depicted a powerful people who had so recently entered the midst of educated nations, and with its inner splendor it reminded of the inexhaustible life that boils in the interior of Russia... The Winter Palace was for us a representative of everything domestic, Russian, ours...”

What about the Hermitage?

A tourist visiting the suburbs of St. Petersburg will easily discover that both Pushkin and Peterhof have their own “Hermitage”. This word translated from French means “Secluded corner”. Nobles and kings of the 18th century loved to set up secluded pavilions in their gardens and parks for intimate pastimes. And Catherine II set up her “secluded corner” right in the center of St. Petersburg.

For this purpose, in 1764-1775, a building was added to the Winter Palace, which is known today as the Small Hermitage. In it, Catherine II spent time with a select audience in an informal setting. Outsiders were not allowed into the Hermitage. Even the tables in this room were set in advance, after which the servants left the “secluded corner” and left.
In general, the atmosphere of the Hermitage was reminiscent of modern corporate ones. Formally, guests left ranks and conventions at the door. Those who said nonsense should have drunk a glass of cold water or read a page from Tredyakovsky’s Telemachiad.

In order for evenings in the Hermitage to become a cultural pastime, Catherine II decided to decorate the premises with an appropriate collection of paintings. The Hermitage collection began in 1764, when the German merchant Gotzkowski gave Russia his collection of 225 paintings as a debt. The Empress also ordered that all valuable works of art that appeared at auctions be bought abroad.

Works by Rubens and Van Dyck were purchased in England. Russian Ambassador in Paris, Count D.A. Golitsyn, thanks to his connections with D. Diderot and other representatives of French culture, was able to acquire such world-famous masterpieces as “The Return of the Prodigal Son” by Rembrandt, two “Danaes” by Titian and Rembrandt, “Bacchus” by Rubens, “Judith” by Giorgione, etc.

By the end of the reign of Catherine II, the Hermitage collection of paintings amounted to four thousand canvases. The Small Hermitage could no longer accommodate all the masterpieces. A special building had to be built for the collection, called the Old Hermitage.

It wasn’t just paintings that came to the Hermitage. Catherine's agents also purchased engravings, drawings, ancient antiquities, works of decorative and applied art, ancient coins, weapons, medals and books.

The tradition of replenishing the Hermitage collection continued in the 19th century. Under Alexander I, paintings by Rembrandt and Rubens “The Descent from the Cross”, “Potter’s Farm”, paintings by Claude Lorrain, “A Glass of Lemonade” by Terborch and “Breakfast” by Metsu were acquired. During this period, the Hermitage gradually transformed from the personal collection of paintings of the emperor into a museum. True, this was by no means a public gallery. To visit the Hermitage you need to take a special pass signed by the head of the court office. Even A.S. Pushkin received such a document only thanks to the patronage of the teacher of the royal children V.A. Zhukovsky.

Interiors of the New Hermitage in a watercolor by K. Ukhtomsky, 1856

An important turning point in the “democratization” of access to the Hermitage was the construction of the New Hermitage building, which was completed in 1856. This was the first purpose-built museum building in Russia. Already in 1852, the exhibition of the New Hermitage received its first visitors, and in 1866 access to the museum became open and... free. The cost of tickets was reimbursed by the Ministry of the Imperial Household. Of course, only the “European-style” public was allowed inside, which in itself closed access for representatives of the poorer strata of society.

After the revolution, the Hermitage Museum received valuable acquisitions, but at the same time suffered serious losses. The main museum of the country brought valuables expropriated from the private collections of Russian aristocrats and industrialists. At the same time, in the late 1920s, some of the Hermitage paintings were sold abroad to finance industrialization. And the collection of Russian paintings was transferred to the Russian Museum.

In the 1920s, the concepts of the Hermitage and the Winter Palace gradually became a single whole, as the museum received almost all the premises of the former royal residence to house its exhibitions.

After the Great Patriotic War, the collections and storerooms of the Hermitage were replenished with captured works of art taken from Germany as compensation for masterpieces destroyed by Nazi troops in Russia.

The legend of the gunsmith Tarasyuk

There are many interesting tales regarding the Winter Palace. The most banal of them are stories about the ghosts of Peter I, Nicholas I and Nicholas II regularly walking through the night halls of the Hermitage. There are legends about underground passages The Hermitage, which lead either to the Manege or to the Marble Palace.

Of all these legends, only one story is distinguished by its original content and dramatic plot. Allegedly, in the early 80s, the First Secretary of the Leningrad City Committee of the CPSU Grigory Romanov, a fierce enemy of the freedom-loving intelligentsia, planned to celebrate his daughter’s wedding in the Tauride Palace. To do this, the satrap demanded that the management of the Hermitage give him the ceremonial service of Catherine II for one hundred and forty-four persons. The director of the Hermitage, Boris Borisovich Piotrovsky, stated that the service could only be taken over his corpse, but when the KGB leadership reported that this could, in principle, be organized, Boris Borisovich went home and called in sick.

Employees of the city committee went to the Hermitage to pick up the service, and only one person stood in their way. It was an employee of the museum Tarasyuk. Dressed in medieval armor, he picked up a sword and menacingly moved towards uninvited guests. The cowardly agents of tyranny retreated in panic, but then one extremely sad event occurred for all honest museologists. Just at this time, at night, vicious dogs were released into the halls of the Hermitage. Tarasyuk was a weapons expert, but the armor he wore was intended for riding. When the scientist was already celebrating victory, vicious dogs they dug into his most vulnerable spot, unprotected by armor... Tarasyuk lost his courage, and the jubilant City Committee members took the service.

The further fate of the masterpiece was sad. When they shouted “Bitter!” at the wedding, the partycrats began to smash the precious dishes on the floor... However, Romanov did not get away with it. Because of this story, he was not made General Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, instead of Mikhail Gorbachev.

Tarasyuk was fired from the Hermitage and left for Israel, where his traces were lost.

Fire in the Winter Palace K.Zh. Vernet

From fire to war

A symbolic milestone in the history of the Winter Palace was the catastrophic fire of 1837. Subsequently, the cause of the fire was identified as “an vent left unsealed during the last alteration of the large Field Marshal’s Hall”; the vent “was located in a chimney installed between the choir and the wooden vault of the Peter the Great Hall, located side-by-side with the Field Marshal’s Hall, and was located very close to the boards of the rear partition. On the day of the accident, it was thrown out of the chimney, after which the flame communicated through this vent to the boards of the choir and the vault of the Peter the Great Hall; wooden partitions provided him with abundant food in this place; along them the fire spread to the rafters. These huge rafters and supports, dried for 80 years by hot air under the iron roof heated by the summer heat, ignited instantly.”

The smell of smoke was noticed on the morning of December 17, but since no one could detect the source of the fire for a long time, taking the necessary measures was postponed until the evening. By that time, the internal ceilings of the Winter Palace were already on fire, and when firefighters broke open the walls, the flames burst out...

The Winter Palace burned for three days. During this time, all its interiors burned out. It was one of the largest fires in the history of St. Petersburg. The glow from the fire was visible several kilometers from the city. Only through the heroic efforts of soldiers and servants was it possible to save almost all of the palace furnishings and paintings. They were taken out into the street and stacked near the Alexander Column.

Immediately after the disaster, repair work began in the Winter Palace, led by architects V.P. Stasov and A.P. Bryullov. Emperor Nicholas I ordered them to “restore to their original form” all the interiors of the palace. Let us immediately note that the architects coped with the responsible government task perfectly. The appearance of the former Winter Palace was restored in just two years.

In some halls, changes were nevertheless made with the consent of the sovereign. So Stasov increased the Armorial Hall to a thousand square meters and seriously changed its decoration.

After this renovation, the ceremonial interiors of the Winter Palace have survived to this day without significant changes. This really cannot be said about the living quarters of the palace. Only the Alexander and White halls, the staircase of the entrance to “Her Imperial Majesty”, the Rotunda, the Arab and Malachite halls have survived to us in the form as A.P. conceived them. Bryullov. Other living rooms of the palace were repeatedly rebuilt in accordance with the tastes of their owners. Of course, we can’t talk about any kind of artistic unity here, although the interiors of some of the private chambers are very interesting in themselves. Among them, it is worth noting the “Red Boudoir” of Empress Maria Alexandrovna, the “Golden Living Room” created by V.A. Schreiber and the personal library of Nicholas II (author A.F. Krasovsky).

Until the revolution, the Winter Palace continued to serve as a venue for the most important political events of Tsarist Russia. Receptions of foreign ambassadors, gala balls, receptions of loyal delegations, and opening ceremonies of the State Duma were held here. In difficult or solemn moments, crowds of loyal subjects rushed to this building. On January 9, 1905, columns of St. Petersburg workers moved to the Winter Palace, to the Tsar, asking for mercy and intercession. Unfortunately, there was no dialogue between the authorities and the people that day... But on August 1, 1914, a column of patriotic intelligentsia nevertheless reached Palace Square and fell to its knees in front of the adored monarch, who appeared on the balcony of the Winter Palace.

In the 19th century, once a year the doors of the Winter Palace opened to the residents of the capital. On January 1, a New Year's masquerade was held there. Moreover, not only nobles, but also “merchants, townspeople, shopkeepers, artisans of all kinds, even simple bearded peasants and serfs, decently dressed, could come to the royal house. All this was crowded and jostled along with the first ranks of the court, representatives of diplomacy and high society. Dressed up ladies, in diamonds and pearls, military and civilian star-bearers, and mixed with them tailcoats, frock coats and caftans. The sovereign and the royal family, with their numerous retinue, walking from one hall to another, sometimes could hardly pass through the crowd.” For many, this was a wonderful opportunity to refresh themselves: “In the halls there were many buffets with gold and silver dishes, with soft drinks of all kinds, excellent wines, beer, honey, kvass, with an abundance of dishes of all kinds, from the most refined to the common... A crowd around the buffets gave way to a crowd as they emptied and filled up again. At such annual holidays, sometimes from 25 to 30 thousand people came to the Winter Palace. Foreigners could not marvel at the order and decorum of the crowd, and the trust of the sovereign in his subjects, who crowded around him with love, devotion and a sense of self-satisfaction for 5 or 6 hours. Not the slightest etiquette was observed here, and at the same time no one abused their proximity to the royal person.”

But as a royal residence, the Winter Palace was used less and less. It turned out that in the new historical realities, the huge building does not meet safety requirements well. And not only fire protection. On February 5, 1880, Narodnaya Volya member Stepan Khalturin, carrying 30 kilograms of dynamite into the Winter Palace, caused an explosion under the dining room where Emperor Alexander II was supposed to have lunch. The Emperor miraculously was not injured. 11 soldiers of the Life Guards of the Finnish Regiment were killed.

After the People's Volunteers finally killed Alexander II in 1881, the new tsar, Alexander III, chose to live in the safety of Gatchina, and visit the Winter Palace on a rotational basis. Only when Nicholas II ascended the throne, the august family returned to the banks of the Neva again. True, after the start of the 1905 revolution, the Winter Palace looked more like a fortified camp. In addition to the Tsar, some key figures of the regime also lived there - for example, Prime Minister Stolypin. Only there could they feel safe. Nicholas II himself, following the example of his father, spent more and more time in Pushkin’s Alexander Palace.

With the outbreak of World War I, life in the Winter Palace underwent new changes. The imperial family appeared within the old walls less and less often. In 1915, a number of palace halls were allocated for a hospital.

Winter Palace in the 20th century

After the February Revolution of 1917, the Extraordinary Commission of the Provisional Government to investigate the crimes of tsarism worked for some time in the premises of the Winter Palace, and from the summer of 1917, the Provisional Government itself “moved in” to the former royal chambers. Newspapers wrote malicious articles about A.F. Kerensky blissfully in the bed of Nicholas II. All palace valuables and Hermitage collections were sent to Moscow and hidden in the building Historical Museum.

On the night of October 25-26, 1917, the Winter Palace became an arena historical events. The forces of the military-revolutionary committee, the Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies, after a series of short skirmishes, captured the former royal residence and arrested the ministers of the Provisional Government. The tabloid press was filled with chilling articles about the destruction of the palace interiors by wild crowds of workers and peasants and the sad fate of the women's shock battalion, whose fighters faced a fate worse than death. However, it should be noted that the scientific literature does not confirm this information.

Three days after the arrest of the Provisional Government, the new Soviet authorities took the Winter Palace under protection as a cultural monument. However, at first it was used for a variety of purposes. The huge building housed the Museum of the Revolution, a reception center for prisoners of war of the old army, a headquarters for organizing mass celebrations, and even a cinema. Only in 1922 did all the premises of the Winter Palace begin to be gradually transferred to the Hermitage.

At the same time, work began on the redevelopment of the former residential and service rooms of the Hermitage. On the ground floor, the Rastrelli Gallery was restored; instead of 65 rooms of the maid of honor, 17 original halls were recreated.

Vegetable gardens on the territory of the Winter Palace during the siege

During the Great Patriotic War, the Winter Palace was seriously damaged. German bombs and shells damaged the Jordan Stairs, the Small Throne (Peter's) Hall, and the Armorial Hall. The restoration of these objects took a long time after the war. The most valuable exhibits were evacuated to Sverdlovsk. In the courtyard of the Winter Palace there was a vegetable garden where vegetables were grown.

In subsequent decades Winter Palace-Hermitage became one of the largest museums on the planet. It houses up to three million unique works of art. Every year the Winter Palace is visited by millions of tourists and St. Petersburg residents.

6

Saint Petersburg - northern city, he is used to surprising with his luxury, ambition and originality. The Winter Palace in St. Petersburg is just one of the attractions, which is a priceless masterpiece of architecture of past centuries.

The Winter Palace is the abode of the ruling elite of the state. For more than a hundred years, the imperial families lived in winter in this building, which has a unique architecture. This building is part of the museum complex of the State Hermitage.

History of the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg

Construction took place under the leadership of Peter I. The first structure erected for the emperor was a two-story house, covered with tiles, the entrance to which was crowned by high steps.

The city became larger, expanded with new buildings, and the first Winter Palace looked more than modest. By order of Peter I, another one was built next to the previous palace. It was slightly larger than the first, but its distinguishing feature was the material - stone. It is noteworthy that this particular monastery was the last for the emperor; he died here in 1725. Immediately after the death of the king, the talented architect D. Trezzini carried out restoration work.

Another palace saw the light of day, which belonged to Empress Anna Ioannovna. She was unhappy that General Apraksin’s estate looked more spectacular than the Tsar’s. Then the talented and savvy author of the project, F. Rastrelli, added a long building, which was called the “Fourth Winter Palace in St. Petersburg.”

This time, the architect was puzzled by the project of a new residence in the shortest possible time - two years. Elizabeth's wish could not be fulfilled so quickly, so Rastrelli, who was ready to take on the work, asked several times for an extension of the deadline.

Thousands of serfs, artisans, artists, and foundry workers worked on the construction of the structure. A project of this magnitude has not been put forward for consideration before. The serfs, who worked from early morning until late evening, lived around the building in portable huts, only some of them were allowed to spend the night under the roof of the building.

Sellers of nearby shops caught the wave of excitement around the construction, so they significantly raised food prices. It happened that the cost of food was deducted from the worker’s salary, so the serf not only did not earn money, but also remained in debt to the employer. Cruelly and cynically, on the broken destinies of ordinary workers, a new “home” for the kings was built.

When construction was completed, St. Petersburg received an architectural masterpiece that amazed with its size and luxury. The Winter Palace had two exits, one of which faced the Neva, and from the other the square was visible. The first floor was occupied by utility rooms, above there were state halls and the gates of the winter garden, the third and last floor was for servants.

Peter III liked the building and, in gratitude for his incredible architectural talent, decided to award Rastrelli the rank of major general. The career of the great architect ended tragically with the accession of Catherine II to the throne.

Fire in the palace

A terrible misfortune happened in 1837, when a fire started in the palace due to a faulty chimney. Through the efforts of two companies of firefighters, they tried to stop the fire inside, blocking the door and window openings with bricks, but for thirty hours it was not possible to stop the evil flames. When the fire ended, only the vaults, walls and ornaments of the first floor remained from the previous building - the fire destroyed everything.

Restoration work began immediately and was completed only three years later. Since the drawings from the first construction were practically not preserved, the restorers had to experiment and give it a new style. As a result, the so-called “seventh version” of the palace appeared in white and green tones, with numerous columns and gilding.

With the new look of the palace, civilization came to its walls in the form of electrification. A power station was built on the second floor, which fully met the electricity needs and for fifteen years it was considered the largest in all of Europe.

Many incidents befell the Winter Palace during its existence: fire, the assault and capture of 1917, the attempt on the life of Alexander II, meetings of the Provisional Government, bombings during the Second World War.

Winter Palace in 2017: its description

For almost two centuries the castle was the main residence of emperors, only in 1917 it was given the title of museum. Among the museum's exhibitions are collections of the East and Eurasia, examples of paintings and decorative arts, sculptures presented in numerous halls and apartments. Tourists can admire:

• St. George's Hall.
  
• Boudoir.
  
• Golden living room.
  
• Malachite living room.
  
• Concert hall.
  

Exclusively about the palace

In terms of the wealth of exhibits and interior decoration, the Winter Palace is incomparable to anything in St. Petersburg. The building has its own unique story and the secrets with which he never ceases to amaze his guests:

• The Hermitage is vast, like the lands of the country where the emperor ruled: 1084 rooms, 1945 windows.
• When the property was in its final stages, the main area was littered with construction debris that would take weeks to clear. The king told the people that they could take any item from the square absolutely free of charge, and after some time the square was free of unnecessary items.
• The Winter Palace in St. Petersburg had a different color scheme: it was even red during the war against the German invaders, and it acquired its current pale green color in 1946.

Memo for tourists

Numerous excursions are offered to visit the palace. The museum is open daily except Mondays, opening hours: from 10:00 to 18:00. Ticket prices can be checked with your tour operator or at the museum box office. It is better to purchase them in advance. Address where the museum is located: Palace Embankment, 32.

The Winter Palace is without a doubt one of the most famous landmarks of St. Petersburg

The Winter Palace that we see today is actually the fifth building built on this site. Its construction lasted from 1754 to 1762. Today it reminds us of the splendor of the once popular Elizabethan Baroque and is, apparently, the crowning achievement of Rastrelli himself.

As I already said, there were five Winter Palaces in total on this site, but the entire period of change was invested in a modest 46 years between 1708, when the first was erected, and 1754, when construction began on the fifth

The first Winter Palace was a small Dutch-style house built by Peter the Great for himself and his family.

In 1711, the wooden building was rebuilt into a stone one, and this event was timed to coincide with the wedding of Peter I and Catherine. In 1720, Peter I and his family moved from the summer residence to the winter one, in 1723 the Senate was located in the palace, and in 1725 the life of the great emperor was cut short here

The new empress, Anna Ioannovna, considered that the Winter Palace was too small for the imperial person, and entrusted its reconstruction to Rastrelli. The architect proposed to buy the houses nearby and demolish them, which was done, and on the site of the old palace and demolished buildings, a new, third Winter Palace soon grew up, the construction of which was finally completed by 1735. On July 2, 1739, the solemn betrothal of Princess Anna Leopoldovna to Prince Anton-Ulrich took place in this palace, and after the death of the empress, the young Emperor John Antonovich was transported here, who lived here until November 25, 1741, when Elizabeth Petrovna took power into her own hands. The new empress was also dissatisfied with the appearance of the palace, so on January 1, 1752, a couple more houses near the residence were purchased, and Rastrelli added a couple of new buildings to the palace. At the end of 1752, the Empress decided that it would be a good idea to increase the height of the palace from 14 to 22 meters. Rastrelli proposed to build the palace in another place, but Elizabeth refused, so the palace was again completely dismantled, and on June 16, 1754, construction of a new Winter Palace began in its place

The fourth Winter Palace was temporary: Rastrelli built it in 1755 on the corner of Nevsky Prospect and the Moika River embankment while the fifth was being built. The fourth palace was demolished in 1762, when the construction of the Winter Palace, which we are accustomed to seeing on St. Petersburg Palace Square today, was completed. The Fifth Winter Palace became the tallest building in the city, but the empress never lived to see the completion of construction - Peter III admired the almost finished palace on April 6, 1762, although he did not live to see the completion of the interior finishing work. The Emperor was killed in 1762, and the construction of the Winter Palace was finally completed under Catherine II. The Empress removed Rastrelli from work, and instead hired Betsky, under whose leadership a Throne Hall appeared on the side of Palace Square, in front of which a waiting room was built - the White Hall, behind which a dining room was located. The Bright Study was adjacent to the dining room, and behind it was the State Bedchamber, which later became the Diamond Chamber. In addition, Catherine II took care of creating a library, an imperial study, a boudoir, two bedrooms and a restroom in the palace, in which the empress built a toilet seat from the throne of one of her lovers, the Polish king Poniatowski =) By the way, it was under Catherine II that the Winter Palace the famous winter garden, Romanov Gallery and St. George's Hall

In 1837, the Winter Palace experienced a serious test - a major fire, which took more than three days to extinguish. At this time, all palace property was taken out and piled around the Alexander Column

Another incident in the palace occurred on February 5, 1880, when Khalturin detonated a bomb to kill Alexander II, but as a result only the guards were injured - 8 people died, and 45 were injured of varying degrees of severity.

On January 9, 1905, a famous event occurred that turned the tide of history: a peaceful workers’ demonstration was shot in front of the Winter Palace, which served as the beginning of the Revolution of 1905-1907. The walls of the palace never again saw persons of imperial blood - during the First World War there was a military hospital here, during the February Revolution the building was occupied by troops who went over to the side of the rebels, and in July 1917 the Winter Palace was occupied by the Provisional Government. During the October Revolution, on the night of October 25-26, 1917, the Red Guard, revolutionary soldiers and sailors surrounded the Winter Palace, guarded by a garrison of cadets and a women's battalion, and by 2:10 a.m. on October 26, after the famous salvo from the cruiser "Aurora" , stormed the palace and arrested the Provisional Government - the troops guarding the palace surrendered without a fight

In 1918, part of the Winter Palace, and in 1922 the rest of the building was transferred to the State Hermitage. and Palace Square with the Alexander Column and the General Staff building form one of the most beautiful and amazing ensembles in the entire post-Soviet space

The Winter Palace is designed in the shape of a square, the facades of which overlook the Neva, the Admiralty and Palace Square, and in the center of the main facade there is a ceremonial arch

Winter Garden in the Winter Palace)

In the southeast of the second floor is the legacy of the fourth Winter Palace - the Great Church, built under the leadership of Rastrelli

Today the Winter Palace has at its disposal more than a thousand different rooms, the design of which is amazing and creates an impression of unforgettable solemnity and splendor.

The exterior design of the Winter Palace should, according to Rastrelli's plan, architecturally connect it with the ensemble of the Northern capital

The elegance of the palace is emphasized by vases and sculptures installed along the entire perimeter of the building above the cornice, once carved from stone, which were later, at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries, replaced with metal analogues

Today the Small Hermitage is located in the Winter Palace building