Additional information about the sights of the Winter Palace. Imperial mansions: the history of the Winter Palace. Brief description of the Winter Palace
Built in 1754 - 1762 according to the project of the architect B.-F. Rastrelli. The first Winter Palace of Peter the Great stood on a canal called the Winter Canal. The Second Winter Palace was also built on this Winter Canal, but its main facade was facing the Neva. In it, in January 1725, Peter I died (in a room on the first floor behind the current second window, counting from the Neva).
The Second Winter Palace shortly after the death of Peter, in 1726-1727, was expanded, decorated, enriched according to the project of Domenico Trezzini. In the 1730s, for Tsarina Anna Ivanovna, B.-F. Rastrelli built a new, fourth Winter Palace, rebuilding the chambers of Count Apraksin for this (they stood on part of the territory occupied by the current Winter Palace). The daughter of Peter 1 - Queen Elizabeth (as she called herself) - ordered the construction of a new, fifth Winter Palace for her. And Rastrelli erected the building of the wooden Winter Palace, which on the Neva Perspective occupied the space from the Moika to Malaya Morskaya Sloboda (Malaya Morskaya Street).
Here, Queen Elizabeth found herself “with servants” and her beloved cats (there were about a hundred of them). The poet A. K. Tolstoy wrote:
… Cheerful queen
There was Elizabeth.
Sing and have fun
There is just no order...
After the death of Elizabeth, 15 thousand dresses, many thousands of shoes and stockings remained in her wardrobe, and only six silver rubles turned out to be in the state treasury. Nevertheless, during her reign, the sixth Winter Palace was rebuilt (at the expense of income belonging to the royal treasury of taverns). Peter III, who replaced Elizabeth on the throne, wanted to immediately move into a new residence. But the Palace Square was still cluttered with piles of bricks, boards, logs, barrels of lime, and similar building debris. The capricious temper of the new tsar was known, and the police chief found a way out: it was announced in St. Petersburg that all the townsfolk have the right to take whatever they please on Palace Square. A contemporary (A. Bolotov) writes in his memoirs that almost all of St. Petersburg with wheelbarrows, wagons, and some with sleds (despite the proximity of Easter!) Ran to Palace Square. Clouds of sand and dust rose above her. The townsfolk grabbed everything: boards, bricks, clay, lime, and barrels ... By evening, the area was completely cleared. Nothing interfered with the solemn entry of Peter III into the new Winter Palace.
The Winter Palace is one of the grandiose structures in the Russian Baroque style. Many interiors of the palace are among the world's masterpieces. The length of the building is almost 200 meters, the width is 160 meters, the height is 22 meters, and the length of the main cornice that borders the building is almost 2 kilometers. The palace has 1,057 rooms with a floor area of 46,516 square meters, 117 stairs, 1,786 doors, and 1,945 windows. In 1844, Nicholas 1 gave an order according to which private houses were to be built in such a way that they were at least a fathom inferior to the Winter Palace in height, which was intended to emphasize the priority and grandeur of the royal residence. This rule was in effect until 1905. The garden at the western (facing the Admiralty) facade of the Winter Palace was laid out only in 1896. Previously, guards were raised on this site. In 1901, the garden was surrounded by a patterned lattice set on a red sandstone stone.
This fact is curious: after the October storming of the Winter Palace, the Red Guard, who was instructed to set up guards to protect the Winter Palace, decided to familiarize himself with the arrangement of guards in pre-revolutionary times. He was surprised to learn that one of the posts had long been located on an unremarkable alley of the palace garden (the royal family called it "Own" and under this name the garden was known to Petersburgers). An inquisitive Red Guard figured out the history of this post. It turned out that somehow the Empress Catherine II, having gone out in the morning to the Ravodnaya platform, saw a sprouted flower there. So that soldiers and passersby would not trample it, Catherine, returning from a walk, ordered a guard to be placed at the flower. And when the flower withered, the queen forgot to cancel her order about the stay of the guard at this place. And since then, for about one and a half years, there was a guard on this place, although there was no longer a flower, no Empress Catherine, or even a Adjustable platform ...
The fence of the Own Garden was dismantled in 1920-1924. The links of the lattice decorated the January 9 Garden behind the former Narva Zastava, and the blocks of red sandstone from which the pylons of the Own Garden were made were used to decorate the basement of the building built on the site of the burnt (during the February Revolution) house of Baron Frederiks - at the corner of Pochtamtskaya Street and Konnogvardeisky lane. Nowadays, the Winter Palace houses collections
The development of the territory to the east of the Admiralty began simultaneously with the emergence of the shipyard. In 1705, a house was erected on the banks of the Neva for the "Great Admiralty" - Fyodor Matveyevich Apraksin. By 1711, the place 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 project" under a tiled roof was built in 1711 for the tsar, as for shipbuilding master Peter Alekseev. A canal was dug in front of its facade 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 project of Mattarnovi. Its main façade overlooked the Neva. In it, Peter lived his last years.
The Third Winter Palace appeared as a result of the reconstruction and expansion of this palace according to the Trezzini project. Parts of it later became part of the Hermitage Theater created by Quarenghi. During the restoration work, fragments of the Peter's Palace inside the theater were discovered: the main courtyard, stairs, canopy, rooms. Now here, in essence, the Hermitage exposition "The Winter Palace of Peter the Great."
In 1733-1735, according to the project of Bartolomeo Rastrelli, on the site of the former palace of Fyodor Apraksin, bought out for the empress, the fourth Winter Palace was built - the palace of Anna Ioannovna. Rastrelli used the walls of the luxurious chambers of Apraksin, erected back 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 the Moika to Malaya Morskaya and from Nevsky Prospekt to Kirpichny Lane. There was no trace of him 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 - the modern Winter Palace.
The current Winter Palace is the sixth in a row. It was built from 1754 to 1762 according to the project of Bartolomeo Rastrelli for Empress Elizabeth Petrovna and is a vivid example of magnificent baroque. But Elizabeth did not 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 Hall burned down - the fire started in the Field Marshal's Hall and lasted for three whole days, all this time the servants of the palace took out of it works of art that adorned 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 a fire in 1837 without any major external changes, by 1839 the work was completed, they were led by two architects: Alexander Bryullov (brother of the great Karl) and Vasily Stasov (author of the Spaso-Perobrazhensky and Trinity-Izmailovsky cathedrals). The number of sculptures around 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 yellowing", the decor was white lime. Before the First World War, the palace acquired an unexpected red-brick color, which gave the palace a gloomy look. A contrasting combination of green walls, white columns, capitals and stucco decoration appeared in 1946.
Exterior view of the Winter Palace
Rastrelli built not just a royal residence - the palace was built "for the sole glory of the All-Russian", as was said in the decree of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna to the Governing Senate. The palace is distinguished from European buildings of the Baroque style by the brightness, cheerfulness of the figurative structure, 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 has become a building standard, elevated to the principle of St. Petersburg urban planning. It was not allowed to build higher than the Winter Building in the old city.
The palace is a giant quadrangle with a large courtyard. The facades of the palace, different in composition, form, as it were, folds of a huge ribbon. The stepped cornice, repeating all the ledges of the building, stretched for almost two kilometers. The absence of sharply protruding parts along the northern facade, from the side of the Neva (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 overlooking the Palace Square has seven articulations, it is the most ceremonial. In the middle, protruding part, there is a triple arcade of entrance gates, decorated with a magnificent openwork lattice. The southeastern and southwestern risalits protrude beyond the line of the main facade. Historically, it was in them that the living quarters of emperors and empresses were located.
The layout of the Winter Palace
Bartolomeo Rastrelli already had experience in building royal palaces in Tsarskoye Selo and Peterhof. In the scheme of the Winter Palace, he laid the standard planning option, which he had previously tested. The basement of the palace was used as housing for servants or storage rooms. The first floor housed service and utility rooms. The second floor housed the ceremonial ceremonial halls and private apartments of the imperial family. The third floor housed the 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 facade is distinguished by the fact that it houses three huge front halls. The Neva enfilade included: the Small Hall, the Bolshoi (Nikolaev Hall) and the Concert Hall. A large enfilade unfolded along the axis of the Main Staircase, going perpendicular to the Nevsky enfilade. It included the Field Marshal's Hall, the Petrovsky 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 ceremonial halls included the Pompeii Gallery and the Winter Garden. The route of the royal family's passage through the suite of ceremonial halls had a deep meaning. The scenario of the Great Exits worked out to the smallest detail served not only as a demonstration of the full splendor of autocratic power, but also as an appeal to the past and present of Russian history.
As in any other palace of the imperial family, there was a church in the Winter Palace, or rather, two churches: Big and Small. According to the plan of Bartolomeo Rastrelli, the Big Church was supposed to serve the Empress Elizaveta Petrovna and her “large court”, while the Small Church was supposed to serve the “young court” - the court of the heir-prince 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 mostly made in the style of early classicism. One of the few interiors of the palace that has retained 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 ceiling painting. Reflected in the 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 the general plan of Rastrelli. The decor of the stairs is infinitely varied - mirrors, statues, fancy gilded stucco, varying the motif 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 Anteroom is the most restrained in terms of decoration. The main decor is concentrated in the upper part of the hall - these are allegorical compositions executed in monochrome technique (grisaille) on a gilded background. Since 1958, a malachite rotunda has been installed in the center of the Anteroom (at first it was in the Tauride Palace, then in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra).
The largest hall of the Neva Enfilade, the Nikolaevsky Hall, is decorated more solemnly. This is one of the largest halls of the Winter Palace, its area is 1103 sq. m. The three-quarter columns of the magnificent Corinthian order, the painting of the plafond border and huge chandeliers give it splendor. The hall is designed in white.
The concert hall, designed at the end of the 18th century for court concerts, has a richer sculptural and pictorial decoration than the two previous halls. The hall is decorated with statues of muses installed in the second tier of the walls above the columns. This hall completed the enfilade and was originally conceived by Rastrelli as a threshold 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 1500 kg, created at the Mint of St. Petersburg in 1747-1752, was installed in the hall. for the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, in which the relics of the Holy Prince Alexander Nevsky are kept to this day.
A large enfilade begins with the Field Marshal's Hall, designed to accommodate portraits of field marshals; he was supposed to give an idea of the political and military history of Russia. Its interior was created, as well as the neighboring Petrovsky (or Small Throne) Hall, by architect Auguste Montferan in 1833 and restored after a fire in 1837 by Vasily Stasov. The main purpose of the Petrovsky Hall is memorial - it is dedicated to the memory of Peter the Great, so its decoration is particularly pompous. In the gilded decor of the frieze, in the painting of the vaults - the coats of arms of the Russian Empire, crowns, wreaths of glory. In a huge niche with a rounded vault there is a picture 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 that adorn the hall, the monogram of two Latin letters “P”, denoting the name of Peter I, is endlessly repeated - “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 porticos on the end walls hide the hugeness of the hall, the continuous gilding of the columns emphasizes its splendor. Four sculptural groups of warriors of Ancient Rus' remind of the heroic traditions of the defenders of the fatherland and anticipate the Gallery of 1812 following it.
The most perfect creation of Stasov in the Winter Palace is the St. George (Large Throne) Hall. The Quarenghi Hall, created on the same site, perished in a fire in 1837. Stasov, having retained the architectural design of Quarenghi, 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 ornament is repeated in the parquet made of 16 precious woods. Only the double-headed eagle and St. George are absent from the floor drawing - it is unsuitable to step on the emblems of the great empire. The gilded silver throne was restored in its original place in 2000 by architects and restorers of the Hermitage. Above the throne place is a marble bas-relief of Saint George slaying the dragon, by the Italian sculptor Francesco del Nero.
Hosts 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 private chambers of the Empress (two bedchambers and an office), the chambers of Tsarevich Pavel Petrovich and some premises adjacent to the chambers: the Church, the Opera House and the Bright Gallery were hastily finished. 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 nephew of the Empress (the son of her older sister Anna) Peter III Fedorovich. The Winter Palace was solemnly consecrated and commissioned by Easter 1762. Peter III immediately started alterations in the southwestern risalit. The rooms included an office and a library. It was planned to create an Amber Hall on the model of Tsarskoye Selo. For his wife, he determined 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 knowing it, he left it forever, moving to his beloved Oranienbaum, where he signed a renunciation at the end of July, shortly after which he was killed in the Ropsha Palace.
The “brilliant age” of Catherine II began, who became the first real mistress of the Winter Palace, and the southeastern 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 a wooden Elizabethan palace, and in August she left for Moscow for her coronation. Construction work in Zimny did not stop, but they were already carried out by other architects: Jean Baptiste Vallin-Delamot, Antonio Rinaldi, Yuri Felten. Rastrelli was first sent on vacation, and then retired. Catherine returned from Moscow at the beginning of 1863 and moved her chambers to the southwestern risalit, showing the continuity from Elizabeth Petrovna to Peter III and to her, the new empress. All work on the west wing has been cancelled. On the site of the chambers of Peter III, with the personal participation of the Empress, a complex of personal chambers of Catherine 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 to convert one of the everyday bedrooms into the Diamond Room or the Diamond Room, where precious property and imperial regalia were stored: a crown, a scepter, orb. The regalia were in the center of the room on a table under a crystal cap. As new jewelry was acquired, glazed boxes attached 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 in the mid-1780s, he left it and returned in November 1796, becoming emperor. In the palace, Pavel lived for four years in Catherine's converted chambers. His large family moved with him, settling in their rooms in the western part of the palace. After accession, he immediately began the construction of the Mikhailovsky Castle, not hiding his plans to literally “rip off” the interiors of the Winter Palace, using everything of value 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 the status of 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 of the second floor of the south-western risalit have forever lost their significance as the interior chambers of the head of state. The repair 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 done according to his drawings. From that time on, the rooms in this part of the Winter Palace were officially called the "Prussian-Royal Rooms", and later - the Second Spare 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 with rooms overlooking 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 the Russian emperor), and since 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, starting their independent life. At the beginning of the 20th century, dignitaries of the “first level” were settled in the rooms of the Second Spare Half, saving them from terrorist bombs. From the beginning of the spring of 1905, the Governor-General of St. Petersburg Trepov lived there. Then, in the fall of 1905, Prime Minister Stolypin and his family settled in these premises.
The rooms on the second floor along the southern facade, the windows of which are located to the right and left of the main gate, were given by Paul I to his wife Maria Feodorovna in 1797. The intelligent, ambitious and strong-willed wife of Paul during her widowhood managed to form a structure that was called "the department of Empress Maria Feodorovna." It was engaged in charity, education, and the provision of medical care to representatives of various classes. In 1827, repairs were made in the chambers, which ended in March, and in November of the same year she died. Her third son, Emperor Nicholas I, decided to conserve her chambers. Later, the First Spare Half was formed there, consisting of two parallel enfilades. It was the largest of the palace halves, stretching along the second floor from the White Hall 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 the completion of the Mariinsky Palace in 1844. After the death of Empress Maria Alexandrovna and Emperor Alexander II, their rooms became part of the First Spare Half.
On the first floor of the southern facade between the entrance of the Empress and up to the main gate leading to the Great Courtyard, the rooms of the Duty Palace Grenadiers (2 windows), the Candle Post (2 windows) and the office of the Military Camping Office of the Emperor (3 windows) were windows on the Palace Square. Next came the premises of the "Hoff-Fourier and Kamer-Furier positions." 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 apartments of the ladies-in-waiting. Since these apartments were service living space, at the behest 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 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 numerous grandchildren of the Empress. Inside the risalit, a small closed courtyard was arranged. 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 remade under the direction 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 Alexander Nikolayevich to the princess of Hesse (future Empress Maria Alexandrovna), they occupied the premises of the second floor of the southwestern risalit. Over time, these rooms became known as "Half of Empress Maria Alexandrovna"
Photos of the Winter Palace
The largest palace building in St. Petersburg is the Winter Palace. The large size and magnificent decoration make it possible to rightfully classify the Winter Palace as one of the most striking monuments of the St. Petersburg Baroque. “The Winter Palace as a building, as a royal dwelling, perhaps has nothing like it in the whole. With its vastness, with its architecture, it depicts a powerful people that has so recently entered the environment of educated nations, and with its inner splendor it reminds of that inexhaustible life that boils in the interior of Russia ... The Winter Palace for us is a representative of everything domestic, Russian, ours, ”- so V.A. Zhukovsky wrote about the Winter Palace.
History of the Winter Palace
Varfolomey Varfolomeevich (Bartolomeo Francesca) Rastrelli (1700-1771) - the largest representative of Russian baroque. By origin. In 1716 he came with his father to Petersburg. Studied abroad. In 1730-1760 he was appointed court architect. His brainchildren include the Cathedral of the Smolny Monastery, the Grand Palace in Peterhof (now Peterhof), the Great Catherine Palace in Tsarskoye Selo, the Strogonov Palace, the Vorontsov Palace and, of course, the Winter Palace.
The Winter Palace was built immediately with the goal that it would be the main residence of the kings. The palace was built "for the united glory of all Russia," Rastrelli emphasized. While the palace was being built, the royal court was located in a temporary wooden palace built by Rastrelli in 1755 at the corner of Nevsky Prospekt and the Moika Embankment. In 1754 the project of the palace was approved. Its construction lasted eight long years, which fell on the decline of the reign of Elizabeth Petrovna and the short reign of Peter III. In the autumn of 1763, Catherine II returned from Moscow to St. Petersburg after the coronation celebrations and became the sovereign mistress of the new palace.
At first, the Winter Palace was built as a small two-story house, covered with tiles, with two ledges along the edges and a central entrance. But later another floor was added.
The construction of the Winter Palace required a huge amount of money and a huge number of workers. About 4 thousand people worked at this construction site. The best masters from all over the country were gathered here.
Construction was completed in 1762, but for a long time, work was still underway to finish the interior. Interior decoration was entrusted to the best Russian architects Yu. M. Felten, J. B. Vallin-Delamot and A. Rinaldi.
In the 1780s-1790s, I.E. Starov and G. Quarenghi continued the work on altering the interior decoration of the palace. In general, the palace was remodeled and rebuilt an incredible number of times. Each new architect tried to bring something of his own, sometimes destroying what had already been built.
Galleries with arches ran along the entire lower floor. Galleries connected all parts of the palace. The rooms on the sides of the galleries were of a service nature. There were pantries, a guardroom, employees of the palace lived.
The ceremonial halls and living quarters of members of the imperial family were located on the second floor and were built in the Russian Baroque style - huge halls flooded with light, double rows of large windows and mirrors, lush rococo decor. The apartments of the courtiers were mainly located on the upper floor.
The palace was destroyed many times. For example, a strong fire on December 17-19, 1837 almost completely destroyed the beautiful decoration of the Winter Palace, from which only a charred skeleton remained. The interiors of Rastrelli, Quarenghi, Montferrand, Rossi perished. Restoration work continued for two years. They were led by architects V.P. Stasov and A.P. Bryullov. According to the order of Nicholas I, the palace was to be restored the same as it was before the fire. However, not everything was so easy to do, for example, only some interiors, created or restored after the fire of 1837 by A.P. Bryullov, have come down to us in their original form.
At the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th century, the interior design was constantly changing and adding new elements. Such, in particular, are the interiors of the chambers of Empress Maria Alexandrovna, wife of Alexander II, created according to the designs of G. A. Bosse (Red Boudoir) and V.A. Schreiber (Golden Living Room), as well as the library of Nicholas II (author A.F. Krasovsky). Among the renovated interiors, the most interesting was the decoration of the Nicholas Hall, which contained a large equestrian portrait of Emperor Nicholas I by the artist F. Kruger.
For a long time the Winter Palace was the residence of Russian emperors. After the assassination of Alexander II by terrorists, Emperor Alexander III moved his residence to Gatchina. From that moment on, only especially solemn ceremonies were held in the Winter Palace. With the accession to the throne of Nicholas II in 1894, the imperial family returned to the palace again.
The most significant changes in the history of the Winter Palace took place in 1917, along with the coming of the Bolsheviks to power. A lot of valuables were stolen and damaged by sailors and workers while the palace was under their control. A direct hit by a shell fired from a cannon of the Peter and Paul Fortress damaged the former quarters of Alexander III. Only a few days later, the Soviet government declared the Winter Palace and the Hermitage to be state museums and took the buildings under protection. Soon, valuable palace property and the Hermitage collections were sent to Moscow and hidden in and in the building of the Historical Museum.
In 1918, part of the premises of the Winter Palace was given over to the Museum of the Revolution, which led to the reorganization of their interiors. The Romanov Gallery was completely liquidated, in which there were portraits of sovereigns and members of the Romanov dynasty. Many chambers of the palace were occupied by a reception center for prisoners of war, a children's colony, a headquarters for arranging mass celebrations, etc. The armorial hall was used for theatrical performances, the Nikolaevsky hall was converted into a cinema. In addition, congresses and conferences of various public organizations were repeatedly held in the halls of the palace.
When the Hermitage and Palace collections returned from Moscow to Petrograd at the end of 1920, there was simply no place for many of them. As a result, hundreds of paintings and sculptures were used to decorate the mansions and apartments of party, Soviet and military leaders, holiday homes for officials and their families. Since 1922, the premises of the Winter Palace began to be gradually transferred to the Hermitage.
The Winter Palace was seriously damaged during the war. Shells and bombs damaged the Small Throne or Petrovsky Hall, destroyed part of the Armorial Hall and the ceiling of the Rastrelli Gallery, and damaged the Jordan Stairs. Restoration work required huge efforts, stretched out for many years.
Features of the structure of the Winter Palace
The palace was conceived and built in the form of a closed quadrangle, with a vast courtyard. The Winter Palace is rather large and clearly stands out from the surrounding houses.
Countless white columns now gather in groups (especially picturesque and expressive at the corners of the building), then thin out and part, opening windows framed with platbands with lion masks and cupids' heads. There are dozens of decorative vases and statues on the balustrade. The corners of the building are lined with columns and pilasters.
Each facade of the Winter Palace is made in its own way. The northern façade, facing the Neva, stretches like a more or less even wall, without noticeable ledges. The southern façade, overlooking the Palace Square and having seven articulations, is the main one. Its center is cut by three entrance arches. Behind them is the main courtyard, where in the middle of the northern building there used to be the main entrance to the palace. Of the side facades, the western one is more interesting, facing the Admiralty and the square, on which Rastrelli planned to place the equestrian statue of Peter I cast by his father. Each architraves decorating the palace is unique. This is due to the fact that the mass, consisting of a mixture of crushed bricks and lime mortar, was cut and processed by hand carvers. All stucco decorations of the facades were made on the spot.
The Winter Palace was always painted in bright colors. The original color of the palace was pink-yellow, as evidenced by drawings from the 18th and first quarter of the 19th century.
From the interior of the palace, created by Rastrelli, the Jordan Staircase and partly the Great Church have preserved the baroque appearance. The front staircase is located in the northeast corner of the building. It contains various decorative details - columns, mirrors, statues, intricate gilded stucco, a huge ceiling created by Italian painters. Divided into two solemn marches, the staircase led to the main, northern enfilade, which consisted of five large halls, behind which there was a huge Throne Hall in the northwestern risalit, and the Palace Theater in the southwestern part.
The Great Church, located in the southeast corner of the building, also deserves special attention. Initially, the church was consecrated in honor of the Resurrection of Christ (1762) and again - in the name of the Savior Not Made by Hands (1763). Its walls are decorated with stucco - an elegant pattern of floral ornament. The three-tiered iconostasis is decorated with icons and picturesque panels depicting biblical scenes. Evangelists on the vaults of the ceiling were later painted by F. A. Bruni. Now nothing reminds of the former purpose of the church hall, ruined in the 1920s, except for the golden dome and the large pictorial ceiling by F. Fontebasso depicting the Resurrection of Christ.
Experts call the Georgievsky, or the Great Throne, hall, created according to the project of Quarenghi, the most perfect interior. In order to create the St. George Hall, a special building had to be attached to the center of the eastern facade of the palace. In the design of this room, which enriched the front suite, colored marble and gilded bronze were used. At the end of it, on a dais, there used to be a large throne, made by the master P. Azhi. Other well-known architects also participated in the design of palace interiors. In 1826, according to the project of K. I. Rossi, a Military Gallery was built in front of the St. George Hall, on the walls of which 330 portraits of generals - participants in the Patriotic War of 1812 were placed. Most of the portraits were painted by the English artist D. Dow.
Worthy of attention are the Anteroom, Grand and Concert halls. All of them are characterized by rigor and artistic integrity, which distinguishes the style of classicism. The largest hall of the Winter Palace is the Nikolaevsky Hall (one thousand one hundred square meters). Especially remarkable is the Malachite Hall - the only surviving example of malachite decoration of an entire residential interior. The main decoration of the hall are eight malachite columns made in the Russian mosaic technique, the same number of pilasters and two large malachite fireplaces.
Location of the Winter Palace
Three central squares - Palace Square, Decembrists Square and St. Isaac's Square form a single spatial element on the banks of the Neva. It is on these squares that the main attractions of St. Petersburg are located.
With their northern facades, the Winter Palace, the Admiralty, St. Isaac's Cathedral, the Senate and the Synod face the Neva. Its wide expanses of water are inextricably linked with the prospects of grandiose squares and powerful arrays of buildings located on them.
The official address of the Winter Palace is Palace Embankment, 36.
Today it is difficult to separate the Winter Palace from the Hermitage. Valuable exhibitions and expositions are now located here, and the palace itself has long been perceived as a historical value. Its history is a direct continuation of the history of Russia, St. Petersburg and the imperial dynasty.
We can say that the winter palace is known all over the world, it is also known as the French and as the English Tower. St. Petersburg is one of the most interesting cities in Russia and is very attractive for tourists. And almost all tour groups visit the Hermitage, where they learn the history of the Winter Palace.
A magnificent palace building in, which surpassed all palaces and estates not only in its scale, but also in the luxury of decoration. The construction of the Winter Palace began in 1754 and was completed in 1762. The author of the project was the famous architect of that time, VF Rastrelli. The eminent architect did not create a simple residence for the tsars, but the Palace "for the united glory of Russia."
Currently, the main exposition of the museum "" is located in the palace.
The palace has the appearance of a huge quadrangle, with an inner courtyard of the same gigantic size. Despite its colossal size, the Palace does not look monotonous and boring. The architect came up with many techniques for arranging columns, edging platbands, installing statues and beautiful vases, thereby enhancing the impression of splendor and elegance.
This building of the Winter Palace, the 5th in a row, was built for Elizabeth Petrovna, and until the revolution was the main residence of the emperors of Russia.
The interior decoration of the halls, decorated with gilding, numerous mirrors, and an abundance of decorative details, strikes the imagination. Of the inner halls, the Baroque style in which Rastrelli worked was preserved, only the Jordan Staircase and partly the Court Cathedral. The royally decorated Jordan Staircase is distinguished by extraordinary generosity and splendor of decor. There are columns, and statues, and fancy gilded stucco, and a huge plafond, created by the masters of Italy. The first floor was adapted for service and utility rooms. On the 2nd floor were the chambers of members of the imperial family. On the top floor there were rooms for the courtiers.
In 1762, Rastrelli was dismissed due to the rejection of his creative style by Catherine II, who had just ascended the throne. Architects A. Rinaldi, J. Felten, J. Vallin-Delamot took up the interior decoration, making significant changes to the decor of the Winter Palace. In December 1837, the interiors created by the great masters Rossi, Quarenghi, Montferrand burned down in a strong fire. To great joy, almost all the valuable property of the Palace was saved from the fire.
During the revolution, the building of the Palace was occupied by the Provisional Government. During the war years, the Winter Palace suffered serious damage. Its restoration, stretching for decades, required incredible efforts.
You can walk to the Winter Palace from the station. metro station "Admiralteyskaya" or "Nevsky prospect".
The Winter Palace on Palace Square in St. Petersburg is the main attraction of the northern capital, which served as the official winter residence of Russian emperors from 1762 to 1904. In terms of richness and variety of architectural and sculptural decoration, the palace has no equal in St. Petersburg.
To get around all the exhibits of the Hermitage, you will need to spend 11 years of your life and walk 22 kilometers. All Petersburgers know well: in the main museum of the city on the first floor there is the Egyptian Hall, on the third floor there are the Impressionists. Guests of the city are also aware.
How will we surprise? You can try facts:
№1. The Hermitage is huge... Just like the territory of a huge country ruled by the tsar, the autocrat of all Rus', straight from the walls of this luxurious palace. 1057 rooms, 117 stairs, 1945 windows. The total length of the main cornice that borders the building is almost 2 km.
№2. The total number of sculptures installed on the parapet of the Winter Palace is 176 pieces. You can count the number of vases yourself.
№3. The main palace of the Russian Empire was built by more than 4,000 masons and plasterers, marblers and stuccoists, parquet workers and painters. Receiving an insignificant payment for their work, they huddled in miserable shacks, many lived here, on the square, in huts.
№4. From 1754 to 1762, the construction of the palace building was going on, which at that time became the tallest residential building in St. Petersburg. For a long time ... Empress Elizaveta Petrovna died without settling in new mansions. Peter III took over 60,000 square meters of new housing.
№5. After the construction of the Winter Palace was completed, the entire square in front of it was littered with construction debris. Emperor Peter III decided to get rid of him in an original way - he ordered to announce to the people that everyone can take anything from the square, and for free. A few hours later, all debris was cleared away.
№6. Removed garbage - a new problem. In 1837 the palace burned down. An entire imperial family was left homeless. However, 6,000 unknown workers saved the day by working day and night, and in 15 months the palace was completely restored. True, the price of a labor feat is several hundred ordinary workers ...
№7. The Winter Palace was repainted in different colors all the time. It was both red and pink. It acquired its original, pale green color in 1946.
№8. The Winter Palace is an absolutely monumental building. It was intended to reflect the power and greatness of the Russian Empire. It is estimated that there are 1786 doors, 1945 windows and 117 stairs. The main facade is 150 meters long and 30 meters high.
