The Winter Palace is the largest palace building in St. Petersburg. Its dimensions and magnificent decoration make it possible to classify it with full right among 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 of Europe. 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 wrote about winter palace V. A. Zhukovsky. The history of this architectural monument is rich in turbulent historical events.
At the beginning of the 18th century, in the place where the Winter Palace now stands, only naval officials were allowed to build. Peter I took advantage of this right, being a ship's master under the name of Peter Alekseev, and in 1708 he built a small house in the Dutch style for himself and his family. Ten years later, by order of the future emperor, a canal was dug in front of the side facade of the palace, called (after the palace) the Winter Canal.
In 1711, specifically for the wedding of Peter I and Catherine, the architect Georg Mattarnovi, by order of the tsar, set about rebuilding the wooden palace into a stone one. In the course of work, the architect Mattarnovi was removed from business and the construction was headed by Domenico Trezzini, an Italian architect of Swiss origin. In 1720, Peter I and his entire family moved from their summer residence to their winter residence. In 1723, the Senate was transferred to the Winter Palace. And in January 1725, Peter I died here (in the room on the first floor behind the current second window, counting from the Neva).
Subsequently, Empress Anna Ioannovna considered the Winter Palace too small and in 1731 entrusted its reconstruction to F. B. Rastrelli, who offered her his project for the reconstruction of the Winter Palace. According to his project, it was necessary to purchase the houses that stood at that time on the site occupied by the current palace and belonged to Count Apraksin, the Naval Academy, Raguzinsky and Chernyshev. Anna Ioanovna approved the project, the houses were bought up, demolished, and the work began to boil. In 1735, the construction of the palace was completed, and the empress moved into it to live. Here, on July 2, 1739, Princess Anna Leopoldovna was betrothed to Prince Anton-Urich. After the death of Anna Ioannovna, the young emperor John Antonovich was brought here, who stayed here until November 25, 1741, when Elizaveta Petrovna took power into her own hands.
Elizaveta Petrovna also wished to remake the imperial residence to her taste. On January 1, 1752, she decided to expand the Winter Palace, after which the neighboring plots of Raguzinsky and Yaguzhinsky were bought out. At the new location, Rastrelli built new buildings. According to the project he drew up, these buildings were to be attached to the existing ones and be decorated with them in the same style. In December 1752, the Empress wished to increase the height of the Winter Palace from 14 to 22 meters. Rastrelli was forced to redo the design of the building, after which he decided to build it in a new location. But Elizaveta Petrovna refused to move the new Winter Palace. As a result, the architect decided to rebuild the entire building. The new project - the next building of the Winter Palace - was signed by Elizaveta Petrovna on June 16, 1754.
Construction lasted eight long years, which fell on the decline of the reign of Elizabeth Petrovna and the short reign of Peter III.
The story of the arrival at the palace of Peter III is curious. 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. Peter III, who replaced Elizabeth on the throne, wished to immediately move into his new residence. But the Palace Square was cluttered with piles of bricks, boards, logs, barrels of lime and similar building debris. The capricious temper of the new sovereign was known, and the chief 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, carts, and some with sleds (despite the proximity of Easter!) 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 Winter Palace.
In the summer of 1762, Peter III was overthrown from the throne. The construction of the Winter Palace was already completed under Catherine II. In the autumn of 1763, the empress returned from Moscow to St. Petersburg after the coronation celebrations and became the sovereign mistress of the new palace.
First of all, Catherine removed Rastrelli from work, and Ivan Ivanovich Betskoy, the illegitimate son of Field Marshal Prince Ivan Yuryevich Trubetskoy and personal secretary of Catherine II, became the manager at the construction site. The empress moved the chambers to the southwestern part of the palace, under her rooms she ordered to place the chambers of her favorite G. G. Orlov.
From the side of the Palace Square, the Throne Hall was equipped, in front of it a waiting room appeared - the White Hall. A dining room was placed behind the White Hall. The Light Room adjoined it. The dining room was followed by the Front Bedchamber, which a year later became the Diamond Chamber. In addition, the Empress ordered to equip a library, an office, a boudoir, two bedrooms and a lavatory for herself. Under Catherine, a winter garden and the Romanov Gallery were also built in the Winter Palace. At the same time, the formation of St. George's Hall was completed. In 1764, in Berlin, through agents, Catherine purchased a collection of 225 works by Dutch and Flemish artists from the merchant I. Gotskovsky. Most of the paintings were placed in secluded apartments of the palace, which received the French name "Hermitage" ("place of solitude").
Built by Elizabeth, the fourth, now existing palace was conceived and implemented in the form of a closed quadrangle with a vast courtyard. Its facades face the Neva, towards the Admiralty and the square, in the center of which F. B. Rastrelli planned to place an equestrian statue of Peter I.
The facades of the palace are divided by the entablature into two tiers. They are decorated with Ionic and Composite columns. The columns of the upper tier unite the second, front, and third floors.
The complex rhythm of the columns, the richness and variety of forms of architraves, the abundance of stucco details, the many decorative vases and statues located above the parapet and above the numerous pediments create the decorative decoration of the building, exceptional in its splendor and magnificence.
The southern facade is cut through by three entrance arches, which emphasizes its importance as the main one. The entrance arches lead to the main courtyard, where the main entrance to the palace was located in the center of the northern building.
The main Jordan Staircase is located in the northeast corner of the building. On the second floor along the northern facade there were five large halls, the so-called "anti-chambers", enfilade, behind them - a huge Throne Hall, and in the southwestern part - the palace theater.
Despite the fact that the Winter Palace was completed in 1762, for a long time, work was still being done on the interior decoration. These works were entrusted to the best Russian architects Yu. M. Felten, J. B. Ballin-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 also destroyed. For example, on December 17-19, 1837, there was a strong fire that completely destroyed the beautiful decoration of the Winter Palace, from which only a charred skeleton remained. They could not extinguish the flame for three days, all this time the property taken out of the palace was piled around the Alexander Column. As a result of the disaster, the interiors of Rastrelli, Quarenghi, Montferrand, Rossi were lost. Restoration work started immediately and lasted 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.
On February 5, 1880, S. N. Khalturin, a Narodnaya Volya member, made an explosion in the Winter Palace in order to assassinate Alexander II. At the same time, eight soldiers from the guard were killed and forty-five wounded, but neither the emperor nor members of his family were injured.
At the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th century, the interior design was constantly changing and replenished with new elements. These, 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 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 state museums and secured the buildings. Soon the valuable property of the palace and the collections of the Hermitage were sent to Moscow and hidden in the Kremlin and in the building of the Historical Museum.
An interesting story is connected with the October Revolution in the Winter Palace: after the storming of the palace, the Red Guard, who was instructed to set up guards to guard the Winter Palace, decided to get acquainted 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 Tsarina Catherine II, having gone out in the morning to the Adjustable 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 a hundred and fifty years, a guard stood at this place, although there was no longer a flower, no Empress Catherine, or even a Adjustable platform.
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.
In the first days of the Great Patriotic War, many valuables of the Hermitage were urgently evacuated, some of them were hidden in the cellars. To prevent fires in the museum buildings, the windows were bricked up or closed with shutters. In some rooms, the parquets were covered with a layer of sand.
The Winter Palace was a big target. A large number of bombs and shells exploded near him, and several hit the building itself. So, on December 29, 1941, a shell crashed into the southern wing of the Winter Palace overlooking the kitchen yard, damaging the iron rafters and roofing over an area of three hundred square meters, destroying the fire-fighting water supply installation located in the attic. The attic vaulted ceiling with an area of about six square meters was broken through. Another shell that hit the podium in front of the Winter Palace damaged the water main.
Despite the difficult conditions that existed in the besieged city, on May 4, 1942, the Leningrad City Executive Committee ordered construction trust No. 16 to carry out priority restoration work in the Hermitage, in which emergency repair workshops took part. In the summer of 1942, they blocked the roof in places where it was damaged by shells, partially repaired the formwork, installed broken skylights or iron sheets, replaced the destroyed metal rafters with temporary wooden ones, and repaired the plumbing system.
On May 12, 1943, a bomb hit the building of the Winter Palace, partially destroying the roof over the St. George Hall and metal truss structures, and damaging the brickwork of the wall in the pantry of the Department of the History of Russian Culture. In the summer of 1943, despite the shelling, they continued to seal the roof and ceilings with tarred plywood, skylights. On January 2, 1944, another shell hit the Armorial Hall, severely damaging the finish and destroying two ceilings. The shell also pierced the ceiling of the Nicholas Hall. But already in August 1944, the Soviet government decided to restore all the buildings of the museum. Restoration work required huge efforts and stretched out for many years. But, despite all the losses, the Winter Palace remains an outstanding monument of baroque architecture.
Today, the Winter Palace, together with the buildings of the Small, Large and New Hermitages and the Hermitage Theater, forms a single palace complex, which has few equals in world architecture. In terms of art and town planning, it belongs to the highest achievements of Russian architecture. All halls of this palace ensemble, built over many years, is occupied by the State Hermitage - the largest museum in the world, which has huge collections of works of art.
In the guise of the Winter Palace, created, as the decree on its construction, was created "for the united glory of all Russia", in its elegant, festive form, in the magnificent decoration of its facades, the artistic and compositional concept of the architect Rastrelli is revealed - a deep architectural connection with the city on the Neva, which became the capital of the Russian Empire, with all the character of the surrounding urban landscape, preserved to this day.
Palace Square
Any tour of the Winter Palace begins on Palace Square. It has its own history, which is no less interesting than the history of the Winter Palace itself. The square was formed in 1754 during the construction of the Winter Palace designed by V. Rastrelli. An important role in its formation was played by K. I. Rossi, who in 1819-1829 created the General Staff building and the Ministry building and connected them into a single whole with a magnificent Arc de Triomphe. The Alexander Column took its place in the Palace Square ensemble in 1830-1834, in honor of the victory in the War of 1812. It is noteworthy that V. Rastrelli intended to place a monument to Peter I in the center of the square. The building of the Headquarters of the Guards Corps, created in 1837-1843 by architect A.P. Bryullov, completes the Palace Square ensemble.
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 front yard? where in the middle of the northern building 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. 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 the drawings of the 18th - the 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. On it you can see various details of the decor - columns, mirrors, statues, intricate gilded stucco, a huge ceiling created by Italian painters. Divided into two solemn marches, the stairs 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. Fonte-basso, depicting the Resurrection of Christ.
white hall
It was created by A.P. Bryullov on the site of a number of rooms that had three semicircular windows along the facade in the center, and three rectangular windows on the sides. This circumstance led the architect to the idea of dividing the room into three compartments and highlighting the middle one with especially magnificent processing. The hall is separated from the side parts by arches on protruding pylons, decorated with pilasters, and the central window and the opposite door are underlined by Corinthian columns, above which are placed four statues - female figures, personifying the arts. The hall is covered with semicircular vaults. The wall against the central windows is designed with an arcade and above each semicircle there are pairwise bas-relief figures of Juno and Jupiter, Diana and Apollo, Ceres and Mercury and other deities of Olympus.
The vault and all parts of the ceiling above the cornice are finished with stuccoed caissons in the same late classical style rich in decorative elements.
The side compartments are decorated in the spirit of the Italian Renaissance. Here, under the common crowning cornice, a second smaller order with Tuscan pilasters, covered with small molding with a grotesque ornament, is introduced. Above the pilasters there is a wide frieze with figures of children engaged in music and dancing, hunting and fishing, harvesting and winemaking, or playing seafaring and war. Such a combination of architectural elements of different scales and overloading the hall with ornaments are typical of the classicism of the 1830s, but the white color gives the hall integrity.
Georgievsky Hall and Military Gallery
Experts call the Georgievsky, or the Great Throne Room, designed by 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, the Military Gallery was built in front of the St. George Hall.
The military gallery is a kind of monument to the heroic military past of the Russian people. It contains 332 portraits of generals, participants in the Patriotic War of 1812 and the foreign campaign of 1813-1814. The portraits were made by the famous English artist J. Dow with the participation of Russian painters A.V. Polyakov and V. A. Golike. Most of the portraits were made from life, but since in 1819, when work began, many were no longer alive, some portraits were painted according to earlier, surviving images. The gallery occupies a place of honor in the palace and is directly adjacent to the St. George's Hall. The architect K. I. Rossi, who built it, destroyed the six small rooms that previously existed here. The gallery was illuminated through glazed openings in vaults supported by arches. The arches rested on groups of twin columns that stood against the longitudinal walls. Portraits were arranged in five rows on the plane of the walls in simple gilded frames. On one of the end walls, under a canopy, was placed an equestrian portrait of Alexander I by J. Doe. After the fire of 1837, it was replaced by the same portrait by F. Kruger, it is his painting that is in the hall today, on the sides of it are the image of the Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm III, also executed by Kruger, and the portrait of the Austrian Emperor Franz I by P. Kraft. If you look at the door leading to the St. George Hall, then on its sides you can see portraits of Field Marshals M. I. Kutuzov and M. B. Barclay de Tolly by Dow.
In the 1830s, A. S. Pushkin often visited the gallery. He immortalized her in the poem "The Commander", dedicated to Barclay de Tolly:
The Russian tsar has a chamber in his halls:
She is not rich in gold, not in velvet;
But from top to bottom, in full length, around,
With my brush free and wide
It was painted by a quick-eyed artist.
There are no country nymphs, no virgin madonnas,
No fauns with bowls, no full-breasted wives,
No dancing, no hunting, but all the raincoats and swords,
Yes, faces full of martial courage.
Crowd close artist placed
Here the chiefs of our people's forces,
Covered with the glory of a wonderful campaign
And the eternal memory of the twelfth year.
The fire of 1837 did not spare the gallery, however, fortunately, all the portraits were taken out by soldiers of the guards regiments.
V. P. Stasov, who restored the gallery, basically retained its former character: he repeated the treatment of the walls with double Corinthian columns, left the same arrangement of portraits, and retained the color scheme. But some details of the composition of the hall have been changed. Stasov lengthened the gallery by 12 meters. A balcony was placed above the wide crowning cornice for passage to the choirs of adjacent halls, for which the arches were eliminated, which rested on columns that rhythmically broke the too long vault into parts.
After the Great Patriotic War, the gallery was restored, and four portraits of the palace grenadiers, veterans who passed the company of 1812-1814 as ordinary soldiers, were additionally placed in it. These works are also done by J. Doe.
Petrovsky Hall
Petrovsky Hall is also known as the Small Throne Room. Decorated with special splendor in the spirit of late classicism, it was created in 1833 by the architect A. A. Montferrand. After the fire, the hall was restored by V.P. Stasov, and its original appearance was preserved almost unchanged. The main difference of the later decoration is related to the processing of the walls. Previously, the panels on the side walls were divided by one pilaster, now they are placed in two. There was no border around each panel, a large double-headed eagle in the center, and on the upholstery of scarlet velvet, bronze gilded double-headed eagles of the same size were fixed in diagonal directions.
The hall is dedicated to the memory of Peter I. Peter's crossed Latin monograms, double-headed eagles and crowns are included in the motifs of the stucco ornamentation of the capitals of the columns and pilasters, the frieze on the walls, the ceiling painting and the decoration of the entire hall. On two walls there are images of the Battle of Poltava and the Battle of Lesnaya, in the center of the compositions - the figure of Peter I (artists - B. Medici and P. Scotty).
The Winter Palace is without a doubt one of the most famous sights 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 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 built by Peter the Great for himself and his family a small house in the Dutch style
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 settled in the palace, and in 1725 the life of the great emperor ended here
The new empress, Anna Ioannovna, considered that the Winter Palace was too small for the imperial person, and instructed Rastrelli to rebuild it. The architect offered to buy the nearby houses and demolish them, which was done, and on the site of the old palace and the demolished buildings, a new, third in a row, 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 transferred here, who lived here until November 25, 1741, when Elizaveta 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 bought out, and Rastrelli added a couple of new buildings to the palace. At the end of 1752, the empress considered that it would be nice to increase the height of the palace from 14 to 22 meters. Rastrelli proposed to build a palace in another place, but Elizabeth refused, so the palace was again completely dismantled, and on June 16, 1754, the 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 Prospekt and the embankment of the Moika River during the construction of the fifth. The Fourth Palace was demolished in 1762, when the construction of the Winter Palace, which we are used to seeing on Petersburg Palace Square today, was completed. The Fifth Winter Palace became the most tall building in the city, but the Empress did not live 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 internal 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 the Throne Hall appeared from the side of Palace Square, in front of which a waiting room was built - the White Hall, behind which the dining room was located. The Light Room adjoined the dining room, and behind it was the Front Bedchamber, which later became the Diamond Room. In addition, Catherine II took care of creating a library in the palace, an imperial study, a boudoir, two bedrooms and a dressing room, 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 appeared the famous winter garden, the Romanov Gallery and St. George's Hall
In 1837, the Winter Palace survived a serious test - a major fire, which took more than three days to extinguish. At this time, all the palace property was taken out and stacked around the Alexander Column
Another incident in the palace occurred on February 5, 1880, when Khalturin detonated a bomb to kill Alexander II, but only the guards were injured as a result - 8 people died and 45 were injured of varying severity
On January 9, 1905, a well-known event took place 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 junkers and a women's battalion, and by 2:10 am on October 26, after the famous volley 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 whole post-Soviet space
The Winter Palace is designed in the form 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 front arch
Winter Garden at 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
At the disposal of the Winter Palace today there are more than a thousand different rooms, the design of which is striking and creates the impression of an unforgettable solemnity and magnificence.
The exterior design of the Winter Palace, according to Rastrelli's plan, was to architecturally connect it with the ensemble of the Northern Capital.
The splendor 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 later, at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries, were replaced with metal counterparts.
Today the building of the Winter Palace houses the Small Hermitage.
Winter Palace in St. Petersburg: history and modernity. Who created the projects and built, why did not all the owners like to lodge in the palace?
The main and largest residence of the Russian tsars, the Winter Palace, is the creation of the architect Bartolomeo Francesco Rastrelli (1700 - 1771). An Italian Parisian who gave St. Petersburg such a recognizable ceremonial appearance.
The imposing building of the palace, with one of its facades reflected in the smooth surface of the Neva, and with the other facing the huge Palace Square, inspires awe with a gigantic scope. The Russians, when looking at him, feel legitimate pride in their homeland! A square stretched out along the embankment for 210 meters - its width is equal to 175 meters!
Short description
The surviving complex of the Winter Palace was built in the middle of the 18th century in architectural style baroque. Differing in splendor and richness of details. Initially, the interiors were designed in exactly the same style. Today looking excessively pretentious.
In the 70s of the century, under Catherine II, more modestly decorated rooms appeared inside. But, however, more elegant and stylish - they were created by architects Ivan Yegorovich Starov and Giacomo Quarenghi.
The exact number of indoor halls is not reported anywhere: there are approximately 1,100 of them. And the total area of \u200b\u200bthe premises is approximately 60,000 m2!
Do not think that this is not a match for, say, Madrid royal palace. Just the area and height (on 2 floors) of the ceremonial halls of the royal residence has no precedents in Europe ... and the world. Go through them - you will learn a lot of interesting things!
Note that the palace was not always painted in turquoise and white colors. After the fire of 1837, for example, it was repainted in sand-buff. White columns and architectural decor initially stood out against the background of the walls, but later everything was painted over “sandstone-like”.
During the construction of the General Staff building, the architect Karl Ivanovich Rossi proposed to paint everything in a strict gray color with white decoration and columns. It should have turned out very solemnly ... but the project did not receive approval.
Today, the Winter Palace has regained its historical color: turquoise walls with white columns and yellow architectural decor.
- Interestingly, before the second half of XIX For centuries, no buildings were built in St. Petersburg that were higher than the Winter Palace, that is, 23.5 meters!
What can be seen
Collections are located in the Winter Palace, as well as the Small, Old and New Hermitages attached to it later. And one of the largest in the world, of course. The collection has more than 3 million items!
In addition to a gigantic collection of paintings and sculptures, tapestries and vases, jewelry, the Egyptian collection, visitors can see the original decoration of the ceremonial and residential enfilades. As well as halls for receptions and balls, chamber rooms for work and everyday life of royalty, their relatives and guests.
- The Gold and Diamond Storerooms are visited with separate tickets and only with a guided tour!
History and architecture
Initially, on the site where the Winter Palace is located, the mansion of Admiral Fyodor Matveyevich Apraksin was located. Which is quite logical, because the Admiralty, which built the Russian fleet, is also located nearby.
According to the memoirs of contemporaries, the admiral's estate was the largest and most beautiful in all of St. Petersburg. After the death of the naval commander, the buildings and lands were transferred to the young emperor Peter II, since the Apraksins were relatives of the Romanovs.
First Winter Palace
Erected in the depths of the site between the Neva and Millionnaya streets. In 1712, the wooden two-storey building was rebuilt in stone. As a wedding gift, it was presented to the Tsar by Alexander Danilovich Menshikov.
The residence was rebuilt and expanded according to the design of the architect Georg Mattarnovi in 1716-1720. The construction was carried out, among other things, on the bulk territory reclaimed from the Neva.
The Second Winter Palace was located where the Hermitage Theater stands today. Interestingly, during the restructuring of 1783-1787, the private quarters of Peter I and Ekaterina Alekseevna on the first floor were carefully preserved.
Peter moved to the winter residence from his in 1720. And here in 1725 the first emperor of Russia died (28.01-8.02 according to the new style).
In 1732-1735, a third palace was built for Empress Anna Ioannovna. Designed by Francesco Rastrelli's father, Carlo Bartolomeo. It was much more sweeping than the Peter's residence. And it was located mainly on the other side of the Winter Canal, closer to the Admiralty.
The era of Elizabeth Petrovna
At the time of Peter's daughter, who adored luxury, outbuildings and service buildings were attached to the palazzo with might and main. The complex grew beyond any master plan. And more and more like some Istanbul Topkapi, rather than a European residence. As a result, they decided that this was unworthy of a great empire and set about building a new palace.
The complex that has survived to this day was built according to the project of the architect Rastrelli son. It was laid down under the Empress Elizabeth Petrovna (1754) and basically completed (1762) only under Catherine II.
The surviving building is considered the fifth Winter Palace. Since at the time of its construction for the residence of Elizabeth Petrovna, a fourth was built - a wooden one.
It was located a little further away: on Nevsky Prospekt, between Moika and Malaya Morskaya Street. The construction of the temporary residence was carried out in the spring and summer of 1755 and was completed by November.
The queen's private quarters were located along the Moika. The windows overlooked, and to this day standing on the other side of the river.
The wing in which the heir to the throne lived, the future Peter III, with his wife Ekaterina Alekseevna (future Catherine II), stretched out along Malaya Morskaya Street.
Under Catherine II
In 1764, Empress Catherine II bought the collection that laid the foundation for the Hermitage's world-famous collection. Initially, the canvases were placed in the private chambers of the palace and were not available for inspection. And the name came from the French l’Ermitage, that is, “secluded”.
- Completion, alteration (Catherine did not favor the "golden" splendor of her predecessor) and the expansion of the palace continued throughout the reign of Catherine the Great (1762-1796)
Little has survived from the time of this empress - under Nicholas I, the interiors were thoroughly rebuilt. The only evidence of the preferences and tastes of the brilliant Catherine's era is
- the magnificent Loggias of Raphael, created according to the most accurate copies that arrived from the Papal Palace in the Vatican;
- and the magnificent Great Palace Church, exactly recreated by Stasov after the fire of 1837.
A special building for the Loggias along the Winter Canal was created by Giacomo Quarenghi.
Elizabeth moved into her new winter residence long before finishing. But the building was "commissioned" by its heir, Emperor Peter II. Settled in new apartments in April 1762.
The enfilade of ceremonial halls occupied the entire length of the northern, Neva facade of the palace. And in the north-eastern risalit there is the Embassy or Jordan stairs. Opposite it, on the Neva, on Epiphany, according to tradition, a hole was cut through, in which water was consecrated.
Empress Catherine II did not really like the Winter Palace, like her predecessor. Rastrelli was immediately dismissed from business, and the work was entrusted to the architect Jean-Baptiste Vallin-Delamote. In 1764-1775, in collaboration with Yuri Matveyevich Felten, he created the Small Hermitage.
In which Catherine arranged private evenings and kept art collections. For walks, the empress arranged the Hanging Garden.
The luxurious Pavilion Hall at the end of the building overlooking the Neva was created later, in the middle of the 19th century, according to the project of Andrei Ivanovich Stackenschneider. Today it houses the famous clock in the form of a peacock and a unique ancient Roman mosaic.
From Paul to Nicholas II
Paul I was forced to live in the Winter Palace while his own residence, the Mikhailovsky Castle, was being built. But the two subsequent emperors: Alexander I and Nicholas I, lodged mainly here.
The first loved to travel and therefore did not see much difference where he lived. The second literally personified himself with the power of Russia. And he could not think of living in any other, smaller palace. Most of the surviving front and residential interiors date back to the reign of Nicholas I.
In the first third of the 19th century, according to the project of the architect Karl Ivanovich Rossi, the Military Gallery was created in memory of the heroes of the Patriotic War, and a number of other premises.
1837 fire and rebuilding
By the way, it was under Nicholas I, in 1837, that a grand fire occurred in the Winter Palace. After which the residence was restored literally from scratch. The tragic incident happened shortly before Christmas, on the evening of December 17 (29 New Style). The cause is believed to have been a fire in the chimney.
During the restoration, innovative construction solutions were used for that time. In particular, iron beams in the ceilings, and new chimney systems. And, perhaps, that is why the palace after the repair was preserved in its unchanged appearance - the ceremonial interiors turned out to be too luxurious ...
The restoration work was led by: Vasily Petrovich Stasov and Alexander Pavlovich Bryullov. By the way, the brother of the famous painter who wrote the epic "The Last Day of Pompeii." More than 8,000 people worked daily at the construction site.
Most of the halls received a different decoration in the style of a mature Russian Empire. Interiors have become much more luxurious than before.
Under Alexander II, the residential halls of the Winter Palace were thoroughly altered, arranging them in the fashion of that time.
The next two kings preferred not to live here. Alexander III and his family left the city for security reasons. And when he left the Grand Gatchina Palace, he stopped at Anichkov Palace on Nevsky Prospekt.
His eldest son, Nicholas II, mainly used the Winter Palace for sumptuous balls. Although the personal apartments of the last emperor have been preserved on the second floor of the western suite.
Foreign sovereigns who visited St. Petersburg usually lived here as in a hotel. Entire suites of halls were assigned to the needs of the next guest. The grand dukes also lodged in the imperial residence - there was enough space for everyone.
Winter Palace: halls
The interiors were often rebuilt in accordance with the wishes of the new kings, but the main halls, the main purpose of which was to throw dust in the eyes of foreign sovereigns and envoys, as well as their own subjects, remained unchanged.
The Jordanian staircase, recreated on the site of the Rastrelli Embassy, received a luxurious design: a marble balustrade, giant double columns of Serdobol granite on the second floor, a picturesque plafond "Olympus" with an area of 200 m2 on the ceiling by the Italian painter Gasparo Diziani...
Neva front suite
It begins with the Nikolaevsky anteroom, followed by the stately and austere Great Nikolaevsky Hall. This is the largest room in the palace, its area is 1103 m2! Today, the premises are used mainly for exhibitions.
Behind the Nikolaevsky are the Concert Hall and (with windows to the Neva) the famous Malachite Drawing Room. The interior, which was decorated with 125 pounds of Ural malachite, was created by the architect Alexander Bryullov, who once opened the personal suite of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, wife of Nicholas I.
Here they dressed for the wedding and Alexandra Feodorovna, the bride of Nicholas II. Festive family breakfasts were also held here before the family moved to the Alexander Palace.
The following rooms were subsequently used as residential by Nicholas II - the apartments of the last emperor were located on the second floor opposite the Admiralty building.
Eastern enfilade
The front rooms (from the Jordan Stairs perpendicular to the Neva) are opened by the Field Marshal's Hall, created even before the fire of 1837 according to the project of Auguste Montferrand (author of St. Isaac's Cathedral). It is decorated with portraits of great Russian commanders: Suvorov, Rumyantsev, Kutuzov.
Next comes the Petrovsky or Small Throne, and behind it the majestic Armorial Hall, created by Stasov in 1837. On the left are: the Military Gallery of 1812 and the luxurious George or Great Throne Hall, all lined with Carrara marble.
Practical information
Address: Russia, St. Petersburg, Dvortsovaya emb. 32
Opening hours: 10:30 - 18:00: Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, Sunday; 10.30-21.00: Wednesday, Friday. Monday is a day off
Ticket prices: 600 rubles - an adult (400 - for citizens of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus), children under 18 years old, students and pensioners of the Russian Federation are free!
Official website: www.hermitagemuseum.org
You can get to the Winter Palace on foot from the Admiralteyskaya or Nevsky Prospekt metro stations: 5-10 minutes: look.
255 years ago (1754), the construction of the Winter Palace began in St. Petersburg, which was completed in 1762.
One of the most famous buildings in St. Petersburg is the building of the Winter Palace, which stands on Palace Square and was built in the Baroque style.
The history of the Winter Palace begins with the reign of Peter I.
The very first, then still the Winter House, was built for Peter I in 1711 on the banks of the Neva. The first Winter Palace was two-storey, with a tiled roof and a high porch. In 1719-1721, the architect Georg Mattornovi built a new palace for Peter I.
Empress Anna Ioannovna considered the Winter Palace too small and did not want to settle in it. She commissioned the construction of the new Winter Palace to the architect Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli. For new construction, the houses of Count Apraksin, Raguzinsky and Chernyshev, located on the embankment of the Neva River, as well as the building of the Naval Academy, were purchased. They were demolished, and by 1735 a new Winter Palace was built in their place. At the end of the 18th century, the Hermitage Theater was erected on the site of the old palace.
Empress Elizaveta Petrovna also wished to remake the imperial residence to her taste. The construction of the new palace was entrusted to the architect Rastrelli. The Winter Palace project created by the architect was signed by Elizaveta Petrovna on June 16, 1754.
In the summer of 1754, Elizaveta Petrovna issued a nominal decree on the beginning of the construction of the palace. The required amount - about 900 thousand rubles - was withdrawn from the "tavern" money (collection from the drinking trade). The previous palace was demolished. During construction, the yard moved to a temporary wooden palace built by Rastrelli on the corner of Nevsky and Moika.
The palace was notable for its incredible size for those times, magnificent exterior decoration and luxurious interior decoration.
The Winter Palace is a three-storey rectangular building with a huge front yard inside. The main facades of the palace face the embankment and the square that was formed later.
Creating the Winter Palace, Rastrelli designed each facade differently, based on specific conditions. The northern façade, facing the Neva, stretches like a more or less even wall, without noticeable ledges. From the side of the river, it is perceived as an endless two-tiered colonnade. The southern façade, overlooking the Palace Square and having seven articulations, is the main one. Its center is highlighted by a wide, richly decorated risalit cut through by three entrance arches. Behind them is the main courtyard, where in the middle of the northern building was the main entrance to the palace.
Along the perimeter of the roof of the palace there is a balustrade with vases and statues (originally made of stone in 1892-1894 were replaced by a brass knockout).
The length of the palace (along the Neva) is 210 meters, width - 175 meters, height - 22 meters. The total area of the palace is 60 thousand square meters, it has more than 1000 halls, 117 different staircases.
There were two chains of ceremonial halls in the palace: along the Neva and in the center of the building. In addition to the ceremonial halls, on the second floor there were living quarters of members of the imperial family. The first floor was occupied by utility and service premises. The apartments of the courtiers were mainly located on the upper floor.
About four thousand employees lived here, even had its own army - palace grenadiers and guards from the guards regiments. The palace had two churches, a theater, a museum, a library, a garden, an office, and a pharmacy. The halls of the palace were decorated with gilded carvings, luxurious mirrors, chandeliers, candelabra, patterned parquet.
Under Catherine II, a winter garden was organized in the Palace, where both northern plants and plants brought from the south grew, the Romanov Gallery; at the same time, the formation of St. George's Hall was completed. Under Nicholas I, a gallery was organized in 1812, where 332 portraits of participants in the Patriotic War were placed. The architect Auguste Montferrand added the Petrovsky and Field Marshal's Halls to the palace.
In 1837, a fire broke out in the Winter Palace. Many things were saved, but the building itself was badly damaged. But thanks to the architects Vasily Stasov and Alexander Bryullov, the building was restored two years later.
In 1869, instead of candlelight, gas lighting appeared in the palace. Since 1882, the installation of telephones in the premises began. In the 1880s, a water pipe was built in the Winter Palace. At Christmas 1884-1885, electric lighting was tested in the halls of the Winter Palace; from 1888, gas lighting was gradually replaced by electric lighting. For this, a power plant was built in the second hall of the Hermitage, which for 15 years was the largest in Europe.
In 1904, Emperor Nicholas II moved from the Winter Palace to the Alexander Palace in Tsarskoye Selo. The Winter Palace became a place for ceremonial receptions, ceremonial dinners, and the seat of the king during short visits to the city.
Throughout the history of the Winter Palace as an imperial residence, the interiors were redesigned in accordance with fashion trends. The building itself changed the color of its walls several times. The Winter Palace was painted in red, pink, yellow colors. Before the First World War, the palace was painted red-brick.
During the First World War, there was an infirmary in the building of the Winter Palace. After the February Revolution of 1917, the Provisional Government worked in the Winter Palace. In the post-revolutionary years, various departments and institutions were located in the building of the Winter Palace. In 1922, part of the building was transferred to the Hermitage Museum.
In 1925 - 1926 the building was rebuilt again, now for the needs of the museum.
During the Great Patriotic War, the Winter Palace suffered from air raids and shelling. In the cellars of the palace there was a dispensary for scientists and cultural figures who suffered from dystrophy. In 1945-1946, restoration work was carried out, at the same time the entire Winter Palace became part of the Hermitage.
At present, the Winter Palace, together with the Hermitage Theatre, the Small, New and Large Hermitage, forms a single museum complex "The State Hermitage".
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 Pyotr 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 Charles) 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 “big court”, while the Small Church was supposed to serve the “young court” - the court of the heir-prince Pyotr 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 sculpture groups of warriors Ancient Russia 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 lives. 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-cesarevich 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
