History of the Winter Palace. Reference. Imperial mansions: history of the Winter Palace Winter Palace in the time of Catherine
Where did the tradition of dividing royal houses into winter and summer come from? The roots of this phenomenon can be found back in the days of the Muscovite kingdom. It was then that the tsars first began to leave the walls of the Kremlin for the summer and go to breathe the air in Izmailovskoye or Kolomenskoye. Peter I carried this tradition to the new capital. The Emperor's Winter Palace stood on the site where the modern building is located, and Summer Palace can be found in Summer Garden. It was built under the direction of Trezzini and is essentially a small two-story house with 14 rooms.
From the house to the palace
History of creation Winter Palace It’s no secret: Empress Elizaveta Petrovna, a great lover of luxury, in 1752 ordered the architect Rastrelli to build the most beautiful palace in Russia. But it was not built from scratch: before that, on the territory where the Hermitage Theater is now located, there was a small winter palace of Peter I. The Great’s house was replaced by the wooden palace of Anna Ioannovna, which was built under the leadership of Trezzini. But the building was not luxurious enough, so the Empress, who returned St. Petersburg to the status of the capital, chose a new architect - Rastrelli. This was Rastrelli Sr., the father of the famous Francesco Bartolomeo. Almost 20 years new palace became the residence of the imperial family. And then the very Winter one that we know today appeared - the fourth in a row.
Source: wikipedia.org
The tallest building in St. Petersburg
When Elizaveta Petrovna wanted to build a new palace, the architect, in order to save money, planned to use the previous building for the base. But the empress demanded that the height of the palace be increased from 14 to 22 two meters. Rastrelli redesigned the building several times, but Elizabeth did not want to move the construction site, so the architect had to simply demolish it old palace and build a new one in its place. Only in 1754 did the empress approve the project.
Interestingly, for a long time the Winter Palace remained the most tall building In Petersburg. In 1762, a decree was even issued prohibiting the construction of buildings higher than the imperial residence in the capital. It was because of this decree that the Singer company at the beginning of the 20th century had to abandon its idea of building a skyscraper for itself on Nevsky Prospect, like in New York. As a result, a tower was built over six floors with an attic and decorated with a globe, creating the impression of height.
Elizabethan Baroque
The palace was built in the so-called Elizabethan Baroque style. It is a quadrangle with a large courtyard. The building is decorated with columns, platbands, and the roof balustrade is lined with dozens of luxurious vases and statues. But the building was rebuilt several times, Quarenghi, Montferrand, Rossi worked on the interior decoration at the end of the 18th century, and after the infamous fire of 1837 - Stasov and Bryullov, so the Baroque elements were not preserved everywhere. Details of the lush style remained in the interior of the famous main Jordan Staircase. It got its name from Jordan Passage, which was located nearby. Through him, on the feast of the Epiphany, the imperial family and the highest clergy went to the ice hole in the Neva. This ceremony was traditionally called the “march to the Jordan.” Baroque details are also preserved in the decoration of the Great Church. But the church was ruined, and now only a large lampshade by Fontebasso depicting the Resurrection of Christ reminds of its purpose.
Source: wikipedia.org
In 1762, Catherine II ascended the throne, who did not like Rastrelli’s pompous style. The architect was dismissed, and new craftsmen took over the interior decoration. They destroyed the Throne Hall and erected a new Neva Enfilade. Under the leadership of Quarenghi, the St. George, or Great Throne Hall, was created. For it, a small extension had to be made to the eastern façade of the palace. IN late XIX century, the Red Boudoir, the Golden Living Room and the Library of Nicholas II appeared.
Hard days of the Revolution
In the first days of the 1917 Revolution, sailors and workers stole a huge amount of the Winter Palace's treasures. Only a few days later the Soviet government realized to take the building under protection. A year later, the palace was given over to the Museum of the Revolution, so some of the interiors were rebuilt. For example, the Romanov Gallery, where portraits of all the emperors and members of their families were located, was destroyed, and films began to be shown in the Nicholas Hall. In 1922, part of the building went to the Hermitage, and only by 1946 the entire Winter Palace became part of the museum.
During the Great Patriotic War, the palace building was damaged by air raids and artillery shelling. With the outbreak of the war, most of the exhibits exhibited in the Winter Palace were sent for storage to the Ipatiev Mansion, the same one where the family of Emperor Nicholas II was shot. About 2,000 people lived in the Hermitage bomb shelters. They tried their best to preserve the exhibits remaining within the walls of the palace. Sometimes they had to fish out china and chandeliers floating in flooded basements.
Furry guards
Not only did the water threaten to ruin the art, but also the voracious rats. The first mustachioed army for the Winter Palace was sent from Kazan in 1745. Catherine II did not like cats, but she left the striped protectors at court in the status of “guards of art galleries.” During the blockade, all the cats in the city died, which is why the rats multiplied and began to spoil the interiors of the palace. After the war, 5 thousand cats were brought to the Hermitage, which quickly dealt with the tailed pests.
The development of the territory east of the Admiralty began simultaneously with the emergence of the shipyard. In 1705, a house was built on the banks of the Neva for the “Great Admiralty” - Fyodor Matveevich Apraksin. By 1711, the site of the current palace was occupied by the mansions of the nobility involved in the fleet (only naval officials could build here).
The first wooden Winter House of “Dutch architecture” according to Trezzini’s “exemplary design” under a tiled roof was built in 1711 for the Tsar, as a shipwright by master Peter Alekseev. A canal was dug in front of its façade in 1718, which later became the Winter Canal. Peter called it “his office.” Especially for the wedding of Peter and Ekaterina Alekseevna, the wooden palace was rebuilt into a modestly decorated two-story stone house with a tiled roof, which had a descent to the Neva. According to some historians, the wedding feast took place in the great hall of this first Winter Palace.
The second Winter Palace was built in 1721 according to the Mattarnovi project. Its main façade faced the Neva. Peter lived his last years in it.
The third Winter Palace appeared as a result of the reconstruction and expansion of this palace according to Trezzini's design. Parts of it later became part of the Hermitage Theater created by Quarenghi. During the restoration work, fragments of Peter the Great's palace were discovered inside the theater: the front courtyard, staircase, vestibule, rooms. Now here is essentially the Hermitage exhibition “The Winter Palace of Peter the Great”.
In 1733-1735, according to the design of Bartolomeo Rastrelli, on site former palace Fyodor Apraksin, bought for the empress, built the fourth Winter Palace - the palace of Anna Ioannovna. Rastrelli used the walls of the luxurious chambers of Apraksin, erected in the times of Peter the Great by the architect Leblon.
The Fourth Winter Palace stood approximately in the same place where we see the current one, and was much more elegant than the previous palaces.
The Fifth Winter Palace for the temporary stay of Elizabeth Petrovna and her court was again built by Bartolomeo Francesco Rastrelli (in Russia he was often called Bartholomew Varfolomeevich). It was a huge wooden building from Moika to Malaya Morskaya and from Nevsky Prospect to Kirpichny Lane. There is no trace of him left for a long time. Many researchers of the history of the creation of the current Winter Palace do not even remember it, considering the fifth one to be the modern Winter Palace.
The current Winter Palace is the sixth in a row. It was built from 1754 to 1762 according to the design of Bartolomeo Rastrelli for Empress Elizabeth Petrovna and is a striking example of lush baroque. But Elizabeth didn’t have time to live in the palace - she died, so Catherine the Second became the first real mistress of the Winter Palace.
In 1837, the Winter Palace burned down - the fire started in the Field Marshal's Hall and lasted for three whole days, all this time the palace servants carried out works of art that decorated the royal residence, a huge mountain of statues, paintings, precious trinkets grew around the Alexander Column... They say that nothing is missing...
The Winter Palace was restored after the fire of 1837 without any major external changes, by 1839 the work was completed, they were led by two architects: Alexander Bryullov (brother of the great Charles) and Vasily Stasov (author of the Spaso-Perobrazhensky and Trinity-Izmailovsky Cathedrals). The number of sculptures along the perimeter of its roof was only reduced.
Over the centuries, the color of the facades of the Winter Palace changed from time to time. Initially, the walls were painted with “sandy paint with the finest yellow,” and the decor was painted with white lime. Before the First World War, the palace acquired an unexpected red-brick color, giving the palace a gloomy appearance. The contrasting combination of green walls, white columns, capitals and stucco decoration appeared in 1946.
Exterior of the Winter Palace
Rastrelli was not just building a royal residence - the palace was built “for the glory of all Russia alone,” as it was said in the decree of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna to the Governing Senate. The palace is distinguished from European Baroque buildings by its brightness, cheerfulness of imagery, and festive, solemn elation. Its more than 20-meter height is emphasized by two-tiered columns. The vertical division of the palace is continued by statues and vases, leading the eye to the sky. The height of the Winter Palace became a building standard, elevated to the principle of St. Petersburg urban planning. Higher Winter building It was not allowed to build in the old city.
The palace is a giant quadrangle with a large courtyard. The facades of the palace, varying in composition, form like folds of a huge ribbon. The stepped cornice, repeating all the protrusions of the building, stretches for almost two kilometers. The absence of sharply extended parts along the northern façade, from the Neva side (there are only three divisions here), enhances the impression of the length of the building along the embankment; two wings on the western side face the Admiralty. The main façade, facing Palace Square, has seven divisions and is the most formal. In the middle, protruding part there is a triple arcade of the entrance gate, decorated with a magnificent openwork lattice. The south-eastern and south-western risalits protrude beyond the line of the main façade. Historically, it was in them that the living quarters of emperors and empresses were located.
Layout of the Winter Palace
Bartolomeo Rastrelli already had experience in building royal palaces in Tsarskoe Selo and Peterhof. In the scheme of the Winter Palace, he included a standard layout option that he had previously tested. The basement of the palace was used as housing for servants or storage rooms. The ground floor housed service and utility rooms. The second floor housed ceremonial ceremonial halls and personal apartments of the imperial family. The third floor accommodated ladies-in-waiting, doctors and close servants. This layout assumed predominantly horizontal connections between the various rooms of the palace, which was reflected in the endless corridors of the Winter Palace.
The northern façade is distinguished by the fact that it contains three huge main halls. The Neva Enfilade included: the Small Hall, the Large (Nikolaevsky Hall) and Concert hall. The large enfilade unfolded along the axis Grand staircase, running perpendicular to the Neva Enfilade. It included the Field Marshal's Hall, Peter's Hall, the Armorial (White) Hall, the Picket (New) Hall. A special place in the series of halls was occupied by the memorial Military Gallery of 1812, the solemn St. George and Apollo halls. The main halls included the Pompeii Gallery and the Winter Garden. The route taken by the royal family through the enfilade of state halls had a deep meaning. The scenario of the Big Exits, worked out to the smallest detail, served not only as a demonstration of the full brilliance of autocratic power, but also as an appeal to the past and present Russian history.
Like any other palace of the imperial family, there was a church in the Winter Palace, or rather two churches: Big and Small. According to the plan of Bartolomeo Rastrelli, the Big Church was supposed to serve Empress Elizabeth Petrovna and her “big court”, while the Small Church was supposed to serve the “young court” - the court of the heir-Tsarevich Peter Fedorovich and his wife Ekaterina Alekseevna.
Interiors of the Winter Palace
If the exterior of the palace is made in the late Russian Baroque style. The interiors are mainly made in the style of early classicism. One of the few interiors of the palace that has preserved its original Baroque decoration is the main Jordan staircase. It occupies a huge space of almost 20 meters in height and seems even higher due to the painting of the ceiling. Reflected in mirrors, the real space seems even larger. The staircase created by Bartolomeo Rastrelli after the fire of 1837 was restored by Vasily Stasov, who preserved Rastrelli’s general plan. The decor of the staircase is infinitely varied - mirrors, statues, fancy gilded stucco, varying motifs of a stylized shell. The forms of Baroque decor became more restrained after replacing wooden columns lined with pink stucco (artificial marble) with monolithic granite columns.
Of the three halls of the Neva Enfilade, the Antechamber is the most restrained in decoration. The main decor is concentrated in the upper part of the hall - allegorical compositions executed in monochrome technique (grisaille) on a gilded background. Since 1958, a malachite rotunda has been installed in the center of the Antechamber (first it was located in the Tauride Palace, then in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra).
The most solemnly decorated Big hall Neva enfilade - Nikolaevsky. 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 painted border of the ceiling and huge chandeliers give it splendor. The hall is designed in white.
The concert hall, intended at the end of the 18th century for court concerts, has a more rich sculptural and pictorial decor than the two previous halls. The hall is decorated with statues of muses installed in the second tier of walls above the columns. This hall completed the enfilade and was originally conceived by Rastrelli as a vestibule to the throne room. In the middle of the 20th century, a silver tomb of Alexander Nevsky (transferred to the Hermitage after the revolution) weighing about 1,500 kg, created at the St. Petersburg Mint in 1747–1752, was installed in the hall. for the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, which to this day houses the relics of the Holy Prince Alexander Nevsky.
The large enfilade begins with the Field Marshals' Hall, designed to house portraits of field marshals; it was supposed to give an idea of the political and military history Russia. Its interior was created, just like the neighboring Petrine (or Small Throne) Hall, by the architect Auguste Montferrand in 1833 and restored after the fire of 1837 by Vasily Stasov. The main purpose of the Peter the Great Hall is memorial - it is dedicated to the memory of Peter the Great, therefore its decoration is particularly luxurious. In the gilded decor of the frieze, in the painting of the vaults there are coats of arms Russian Empire, crowns, wreaths of glory. In a huge niche with a rounded arch there is a painting depicting Peter I, led by the goddess Minerva to victories; in the upper part of the side walls there are paintings with scenes of the most important battles of the Northern War - at Lesnaya and near Poltava. In the decorative motifs decorating the hall, the monogram of two Latin letters “P”, denoting the name of Peter I, “Petrus Primus”, is endlessly repeated.
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. Porticoes on the end walls hide the enormity of the hall, and the solid gilding of the columns emphasizes its splendor. Four sculptural groups of warriors Ancient Rus' remind of the heroic traditions of the defenders of the fatherland and precede the next Gallery of 1812.
Stasov's most perfect creation in the Winter Palace is the St. George (Grand Throne) Hall. The Quarenghi Hall, created on the same site, was destroyed in a fire in 1837. Stasov, while preserving Quarenghi’s architectural design, created a completely different artistic image. The walls are lined with Carrara marble, and the columns are carved from it. The decor of the ceiling and columns is made of gilded bronze. The ceiling pattern is repeated in the parquet flooring, made from 16 valuable types of wood. The only things missing from the floor design are the Double-Headed Eagle and St. George - it is not appropriate to step on the coat of arms of the great empire. The gilded silver throne was restored to its original location in 2000 by architects and restorers of the Hermitage. Above the throne seat is a marble bas-relief of St. George slaying the dragon, by the Italian sculptor Francesco del Nero.
Owners of the Winter Palace
The customer of the construction was the daughter of Peter the Great, Empress Elizaveta Petrovna, she hurried Rastrelli with the construction of the palace, so the work was carried out at a frantic pace. The empress's personal chambers (two bedchambers and an office), the chambers of Tsarevich Pavel Petrovich and some rooms adjacent to the chambers were hastily finished: the Church, the Opera House and the Light Gallery. But the empress did not have time to live in the palace. She died in December 1761. The first owner of the Winter Palace was the nephew of the Empress (son of her elder sister Anna) Peter III Fedorovich. The Winter Palace was solemnly consecrated and put into operation by Easter 1762. Peter III immediately started alterations in the southwestern risalit. The chambers included an office and a library. It was planned to create the Amber Hall on the model of the Tsarskoe Selo. For his wife, he identified chambers in the southwestern risalit, the windows of which overlooked the industrial zone of the Admiralty.
The emperor lived in the palace only until June 1762, after which, without even expecting it, he left it forever, moving to his beloved Oranienbaum, where at the end of July he signed an abdication, shortly after which he was killed in the Ropshinsky Palace.
The “brilliant age” of Catherine II began, who became the first real mistress of the Winter Palace, and the south-eastern risalit, overlooking Millionnaya Street and Palace Square, became the first of the “residence zones” of the owners of the palace. After the coup, Catherine II basically continued to live in the wooden Elizabethan palace, and in August she left for Moscow for her coronation. Construction works in the Winter Palace did not stop, but they were already led by other architects: Jean Baptiste Vallin-Delamot, Antonio Rinaldi, Yuri Felten. Rastrelli was first sent on leave and then resigned. Catherine returned from Moscow at the beginning of 1863 and moved her chambers to the southwestern risalit, showing continuity from Elizabeth Petrovna to Peter III and to her - the new empress. All work on the west wing was stopped. On the site of Peter III’s chambers, with the personal participation of the Empress, a complex of Catherine’s personal chambers was built. It included: the Audience Chamber, which replaced the Throne Room; Dining room with two windows; Restroom; two casual bedrooms; Boudoir; Office and Library. All rooms were designed in the style of early classicism. Later, Catherine ordered one of the everyday bedrooms to be converted into the Diamond Room or Diamond Chamber, where precious property and imperial regalia were kept: crown, scepter, orb. The regalia was in the center of the room on a table under a crystal cap. As new jewelry was acquired, glass boxes mounted to the walls appeared.
The Empress lived in the Winter Palace for 34 years and her chambers were expanded and rebuilt more than once.
Paul I lived in the Winter Palace during his childhood and youth, and having received Gatchina as a gift from his mother, he left it in the mid-1780s and returned in November 1796, becoming emperor. In the palace, Pavel lived for four years in Catherine’s converted chambers. His large family moved with him, settling in their rooms in the western part of the palace. After his accession, he immediately began construction Mikhailovsky Castle, without hiding his plans to literally “tear off” the interiors of the Winter Palace, using everything valuable to decorate the Mikhailovsky Castle.
After the death of Paul in March 1801, Emperor Alexander I immediately returned to the Winter Palace. The palace returned to its status as the main imperial residence. But he did not occupy the chambers of the southeastern risalit; he returned to his rooms, located along the western facade of the Winter Palace, with windows overlooking the Admiralty. The premises on the second floor of the southwestern risalit have forever lost their significance as the inner chambers of the head of state. Renovation of the chambers of Paul I began in 1818, on the eve of the arrival of the King of Prussia, Frederick William III, in Russia, appointing “collegiate adviser Karl Rossi” responsible for the work. All design work was carried out according to his drawings. From that time on, the rooms in this part of the Winter Palace began to be officially called the “Prussian-royal rooms”, and later - the Second Reserve Half of the Winter Palace. It is separated from the First Half by the Alexander Hall; in plan, this half consisted of two perpendicular enfilades overlooking Palace Square and Millionnaya Street, which were connected in different ways to the rooms facing the courtyard. There was a time when the sons of Alexander II lived in these rooms. First, Nikolai Alexandrovich (who was never destined to become Russian Emperor), and from 1863, his younger brothers Alexander (future Emperor Alexander III) and Vladimir. They moved out of the Winter Palace at the end of the 1860s, beginning their independent lives. At the beginning of the twentieth century, dignitaries of the “first level” were accommodated in the rooms of the Second Reserve Half, saving them from terrorist bombs. From the beginning of spring 1905, the Governor-General of St. Petersburg Trepov lived there. Then, in the fall of 1905, Prime Minister Stolypin and his family were accommodated in these premises.
The premises on the second floor along the southern facade, the windows of which are located to the right and left of the main gate, were allocated by Paul I to his wife Maria Feodorovna in 1797. Paul's intelligent, ambitious and strong-willed wife, during her widowhood, managed to form a structure called the “department of Empress Maria Feodorovna.” It was engaged in charity, education, provision medical care representatives of various classes. In 1827, renovations were made to the chambers, which ended in March, and in November of the same year she died. Her third son, Emperor Nicholas I, decided to preserve her chambers. Later, the First Reserve Half was formed there, consisting of two parallel enfilades. This was the largest of the palace halves, stretching along the second floor from the White to the Alexander Hall. In 1839, temporary residents settled there: the eldest daughter of Nicholas I, Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna and her husband, the Duke of Leuchtenberg. They lived there for almost five years, until 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 Reserve Half.
On the ground floor of the southern façade between the entrance of the Empress and the main gate leading to the Great Courtyard, the windows overlooking Palace Square were the premises of the Palace Grenadiers on Duty (2 windows), the Candle Post (2 windows) and the department of the Military Camp Office of the Emperor (3 windows). Next came the premises of the “Hough-Fourier and Chamber-Fourier post.” These premises ended at the Commandant's entrance, to the right of which the windows of the apartment of the commandant of the Winter Palace began.
The entire third floor of the southern façade, along the long maid of honor corridor, was occupied by the ladies-in-waiting's apartments. Since these apartments were service living space, at the will of business executives or the emperor himself, ladies-in-waiting could be moved from one room to another. Some of the ladies-in-waiting quickly got married and left the Winter Palace forever; others met there not only old age, but also death...
The southwestern risalit under Catherine II was occupied by the palace theater. It was demolished in the mid-1780s to accommodate rooms for the Empress's many grandchildren. A small enclosed courtyard was built inside the risalit. The daughters of the future Emperor Paul I were settled in the rooms of the southwestern risalit. In 1816, Grand Duchess Anna Pavlovna married Prince William of Orange and left Russia. Her chambers were remodeled under the leadership of Carlo Rossi for Grand Duke Nikolai Pavlovich and his young wife Alexandra Feodorovna. The couple lived in these rooms for 10 years. After the Grand Duke became Emperor Nicholas I in 1825, the couple moved in 1826 to the northwestern risalit. And after the marriage of the heir, Tsarevich Alesander Nikolaevich, to the Princess of Hesse (the future Empress Maria Alexandrovna), they occupied the premises of the second floor of the southwestern risalit. Over time, these rooms began to be called “Half of Empress Maria Alexandrovna”
Photos of the Winter Palace
I believe that the Winter Palace can rightfully be considered the main attraction of St. Petersburg. Interestingly, once upon a time, by decree of Nicholas I, it was forbidden to erect buildings higher than the Winter Palace. Everyone looked up to the residence of the Russian emperors - so the Palace became the face of the city, defining the architectural fashion of St. Petersburg.
This summer I rode a Segway around Palace Square, around the Alexander Pillar. It was at this moment that a bizarre cosmogonic metaphor appeared in my head. If the Alexander Pillar is the sun of St. Petersburg, then the Winter Palace is the closest and hottest planet on which life ordinary people It’s hardly possible; only the luminaries of Russian history, the rulers of the empire, can live here. As I moved away from the palace, the entire panorama of the square came into my field of vision, but the palace still stood in the center of the picture. When approaching it, it forces you to focus on individual details of the building: clocks, pilasters, bas-reliefs... Such an extreme acquaintance with the Winter Palace cannot leave anyone indifferent. Grab your bikes, scooters, roller skates and go on this exciting journey. But such acquaintance is good only on an emotional level. To understand the beauty of this structure, you need to delve into history. Therefore, I left my original means of transportation outside the walls of the Palace and went to look at the interior decoration already in ordinary shoes, without wheels.
The mystery of the name
If you have never seen the Winter Palace or have been there for a long time, then I suggest playing the game! Let's check together what associations the image of the Winter Palace evokes. Does it look like the Snow Queen's castle from the Soviet cartoon? Or is this a very real building, but surrounded by Russian winter landscapes?
I think that all those associations that arise in your mind will be correct and one way or another will serve as the key to unlocking the secret.
Despite the telling name of the palace, you can visit this attraction at any time of the year, not only in winter. It is interesting to know why the Palace was named that way. Firstly, it was built in winter, and secondly, Russian emperors lived here precisely at this time of year. So the Winter Palace became a symbol of human superiority over the elements, nature, over Russian frosts. In this place you can not only hide from any storms and winds, but also admire the amazingly beautiful interiors. Inside the Palace there is a lot of gold, light, and thanks to a huge number mirror space is expanding all the time. Russian emperors did not like to lie idle, so in the Winter Palace they received ambassadors from different countries. Today, the Winter Palace is not a separate object; it is part of the complex of buildings of the Hermitage Museum, which you can read more about. I’ll tell you specifically about the Winter Palace.
Story
In fact, the Winter Palace was rebuilt five times. The very first version of the palace was made of wood and looked more like a hut. It did not have the chic that we see now. This wooden house became a gift to Peter from the city governor. The second architect was Georg Mattarnovi. Gradually the winter palace evolved. It is this architectural maturation that interests us, because through the history of a particular building we can trace how Russia itself improved: its buildings, streets, and the appearance of people changed. The third palace was built according to Rastrelli's design in 1762. Construction took seven years. The architect himself believed that he was creating a palace for all-Russian glory.
As you know, the entire architecture of St. Petersburg is divided into two types. On the one hand, we can see the St. Petersburg of N.V. Gogol and F.M. Dostoevsky - a city with gloomy streets, humiliated and insulted people. Such Petersburg is filled with mysticism and hopelessness of human existence. But there is another side to him that cannot be forgotten. And one of the main attractions of this “festive” and happy St. Petersburg is the Winter Palace. It exudes chic and carefree. The breadth of the Russian soul and European orderliness, lightness and heaviness, thoughtfulness and cheerfulness - these contradictions give rise to harmony.
The Winter Palace was rebuilt by various architects and rulers. This is how a whole complex grew up, which today everyone can visit. In 1837, a fire broke out in the building, which could not be extinguished for about a day; many priceless things were lost. After the fire, a reconstruction plan was created. Stasov and Bryullov took up this matter. After 15 months most of the palace was restored.
What is in the Winter Palace
Leads to the main halls of the Palace Ambassadorial staircase. Ambassadors from other countries could immediately become acquainted with Russian traditions of hospitality as they walked up the red carpet.
In the 19th century, the staircase began to be called the Jordan Staircase, since during baptism holidays members of the imperial family descended along it to the ice hole in the Neva.
The front part was restored by the architect Stasov. He tried to preserve the Baroque style with its inherent rich decoration, stucco molding, mirrors in heavy gilded frames.
Petrovsky Hall dedicated to the memory of the first Russian Emperor the Great. The interior design is dominated by red French velvet, with monograms and floral patterns embroidered on it. Pictures of wars remind of the strength of Russia. The portrait of the emperor is also interesting: it depicts Peter next to the goddess of wisdom.
IN Armorial Hall you can see the coats of arms of all Russian provinces. In addition, there are sculptures of Russian soldiers. Official receptions used to be held in this same hall.
Next, visitors are presented with Military gallery is a long corridor on the walls of which are portraits of 322 generals. In general, the whole flower of the Russian army of the 19th century: Kutuzov, Bagration, Platov, Raevsky...
Malachite living room was created for the wife of Nicholas I. In this room there is a lot of malachite from the mines of the Demidov brothers. The sculptor was faced with a task of almost national importance: he had to demonstrate the power and wealth of the Russian lands, to find that natural material (mineral or stone) that would personify Russia. The green color of malachite best emphasized the status of the Russian Empire. Malachite is a symbol of life and growth.
Tickets
In order to get to the Winter Palace, you need to buy a ticket at the box office or electronically. The second option is the most convenient, since you do not have to stand in long lines.
Prices vary from 300 to 1000 rubles. Since the Winter Palace is part of the complex architectural structures, then the ticket price includes a combined list of places that you can visit: the Hermitage, Menshikov Palace, Museum of the Imperial Porcelain Factory... Choose your fare wisely, since you can see several attractions in one day. It will be cheaper and more fruitful than separately.
There is another good news: The first Thursday of every month is the day free visit. And for students, schoolchildren and other beneficiaries, admission is free on regular days. More information about prices can be found on the Hermitage website.
How to get there
How to get there: from the Admiralteyskaya or Nevsky Prospekt metro station. You need to move along Nevsky Prospekt, towards Vasilyevsky Island. After Nevsky Prospekt ends, you will exit onto the palace square. You need to focus on the huge arch, inside of which the Alexander Pillar rises. The Winter Palace is located directly opposite the Hermitage.
Address of the Winter Palace: Palace Square, 2 / Palace Embankment, no. 38.
Working hours: from 10:30 to 18:00 (ticket offices are open until 17:00), Monday is a day off.
The history of the Winter Palace begins with the reign of Peter I.
The very first, then still Winter House, was built for Peter I in 1711 on the banks of the Neva. The first Winter Palace was two-story, 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 live in it. She entrusted 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 Maritime Academy were purchased. They were demolished, and in their place by 1735 a new Winter Palace was built. 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 remodel the imperial residence to her taste. The construction of the new palace was entrusted to the architect Rastrelli. The design of the Winter Palace created by the architect was signed by Elizaveta Petrovna on June 16, 1754.
In the summer of 1754, Elizaveta Petrovna issued a personal decree to begin construction of the palace. The required amount - about 900 thousand rubles - was taken from the "tavern" money (collection from the drinking trade). The previous palace was dismantled. During construction, the courtyard moved to a temporary wooden palace built by Rastrelli on the corner of Nevsky and Moika.
The palace was distinguished by its incredible size for those times, lavish exterior decoration and luxurious interior decoration.
The Winter Palace is a three-story building, rectangular in plan, with a huge front courtyard inside. The main facades of the palace face the embankment and the square that was formed later.
When creating the Winter Palace, Rastrelli designed each facade differently, based on specific conditions. The northern facade, facing the Neva, stretches like a more or less even wall, without noticeable protrusions. From the river side, it is perceived as an endless two-tiered colonnade. The southern façade, facing Palace Square and having seven divisions, is the main one. Its center is highlighted by a wide, lavishly decorated risalit, cut through by three entrance arches. Behind them is the front courtyard, where in the middle of the northern building there was the main entrance to the palace.
Along the perimeter of the palace roof there is a balustrade with vases and statues (the original stone ones were replaced by a brass knockout in 1892-1894).
The length of the palace (along the Neva) is 210 meters, width - 175 meters, height - 22 meters. total area the palace is 60 thousand square meters, it has more than 1000 halls, 117 different staircases.
The palace had two chains of state halls: along the Neva and in the center of the building. In addition to the state rooms, on the second floor there were living quarters for members of the imperial family. The first floor was occupied by utility and service premises. The upper floor mainly housed the courtiers' apartments.
About four thousand employees lived here, there was even 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, and patterned parquet flooring.
Under Catherine II, a winter garden was organized in the Palace, where both northern and plants brought from the south grew, and the Romanov Gallery; At the same time, the formation of St. George's Hall was completed. Under Nicholas I, a gallery of 1812 was organized, where 332 portraits of participants in the Patriotic War were placed. The architect Auguste Montferrand added the Peter and Field Marshal halls to the palace.
In 1837, there was a fire 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 within two years.
In 1869, gas lighting appeared in the palace instead of candlelight. Since 1882, the installation of telephones in premises began. In the 1880s, a water supply system 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 purpose, 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 Tsarskoye Selo Alexander Palace. The Winter Palace became a place for receptions, ceremonial dinners, and the place where the king stayed during short visits to the city.
Throughout the history of the Winter Palace as an imperial residence, its interiors were remodeled in accordance with fashion trends. The building itself changed the color of its walls several times. The Winter Palace was painted red, pink, and yellow. 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 Winter Palace building. In 1922, part of the building was transferred to the Hermitage Museum.
In 1925 - 1926, the building was rebuilt again, this time for the needs of the museum.
During the Great Patriotic War, the Winter Palace suffered from air raids and artillery shelling. In the basements 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 which time the entire Winter Palace became part of the Hermitage.
Currently, the Winter Palace, together with the Hermitage Theater, the Small, New and Large Hermitages, forms a single museum complex"State Hermitage".
At the same time, this is already the sixth residence of Russian emperors in Northern capital, and the history of the Winter Palaces began under Peter the Great, 50 years before the appearance of the magnificent structure on Palace Square.
In 1711, on the banks of the Neva, the architect Domenico Trezzini built a small house for Peter, consisting of a central portal and two side wings; it was a “small house of Dutch architecture” for the shipwright Peter Alekseev, as the tsar called himself.
The building was two-story with a high porch, a tiled roof, and the only thing that decorated it were pilasters (protrusions) in the corners and platbands on the windows. This building was often called the Wedding Chambers, since the house built was a gift from the Governor of St. Petersburg, Alexander Menshikov, for the wedding of Peter and Catherine. It was here that the wedding feast took place, and this is confirmed by the legend that has come down to us.
According to legend, 12 years after the wedding, when Peter learned about his wife’s betrayal, he led her to the mirror of the hall where the wedding was celebrated and said: “This Venetian glass mirror is made of simple materials, but can turn into its former insignificance.” Then he hit the mirror with his cane. The former maid and laundress Marta Skavronskaya understood the hint, but was not taken aback and asked: “Has your house become more beautiful now?”
Second Winter Palace for Peter
Peter's first house, overlooking the ditch, turned out to be cramped and in 1716 the architect Georg Mattarnovi created a project for a new home for the royal family. The emperor himself chose the place for it - closer to the Neva, from where a beautiful view of the Spit of Vasilievsky Island and the expanses of the Neva opens. The house, built in the autumn of 1723, had a ceremonial appearance, its facades and halls were lavishly decorated.
It should be noted that Peter was an advanced person and all the technical innovations that appeared in Europe were implemented in his house. The palace had central heating and flowing sewerage; hot and cold water was supplied through lead pipes. The Tsar was served by only 12 orderlies, and he chose them according to their intelligence and efficiency, and if they deserved it, he promoted them to the public.
The Winter Palace of Peter I, in which the founder of St. Petersburg lived and died, is a unique monument of the early 18th century, which you can visit with a tour or on your own. The entrance to the museum is located at Palace Embankment 32. Administratively it belongs to the Hermitage Museum. Among other things, it exhibits wax figure Petra, painted by Carlo Rastrelli, wears an authentic suit and shoes, and the king's original hair can be seen on her head.
During the Persian campaign in 1722, it was hot and Peter cut his hair, from which he made a wig. Rastrelli used it for the wax persona of the king.
Third Winter Palace
After the death of Peter the Great, Catherine I ordered Trezzini to expand the palace along Millionnaya Street and thus the structure took the form of a huge square.
The Fourth Winter Palace for Anna Ioannovna
Anna Ioanovna, who ascended the throne, ordered Francesco Rastrelli to build a new palace for her. For construction, they also chose a place on the left side of the Neva, on the site of the Apraksin Admiralty House. The building, built between 1733 and 1735, was spacious, with 70 rooms and a theater, but the layout of the rooms was confusing and inconvenient.
Temporary Winter Palace for Elizabeth Petrovna
Having ascended the throne, Elizaveta Petrovna considered that the old building did not correspond to her status and ordered Rastrelli to prepare a design for a new palace. During construction, a wooden structure was erected beautiful building, consisting of 100 rooms, on the corner of Nevsky Prospekt and the Moika River embankment. Elizaveta Petrovna died in this house in 1761, and the building, which stood for 10 years, was dismantled after the death of the empress.
Sixth Winter Palace
The Winter Palace was built from 1754 to 1762, but Elizaveta Petrovna died without seeing it completed. The monumental building on the Neva embankment was erected in the Baroque style, with an abundance of columns and decorative stucco details. This was Rastrelli's last and greatest creation.
The interior design was completed under Peter III, and when he was overthrown, Catherine II, who seized power, removed Rastrelli from work, giving him leave.
The architect went to Italy for a year, but upon his return the situation did not change. Rastrelli was the most prominent representative of the Baroque style, which at that time went out of fashion. He was not given important tasks, he had no customers left, and soon he was fired “due to old age and poor health” with a pension of one thousand rubles a year.
It is interesting that the architect worked for 46 years under many emperors, but only PeterIIIfor faithful service, he was awarded the rank of major general and the Order of St. Anne.
For more than 100 years in St. Petersburg it was forbidden to build houses higher than the Winter Palace. In order to increase the number of floors, but not break the law, cunning builders found a way out - they made a canopy and built on top 1-2 floors of attics, the construction of which was not prohibited by law.
A fire that occurred in 1837 damaged the interiors created by the great masters Rastrelli and Quarenghi, Rossi and Moferann. It took two years to restore the building.
We are accustomed to the light green tone of the building's facades, but meanwhile, before the First World War, the building was painted red brick.
One of the legends explains this curiosity by saying that the German Emperor Wilhelm sent a whole train of red lead cars to Russia to paint ships, but officials rejected the paint and decided to use it to paint the facades of the city, and the first victim of this idea was the Winter Palace.
The Winter Palace on Palace Square is the sixth and last residence of representatives of the Romanov family. It was he who was stormed during the October Revolution in 1917, although, according to historians, this is a myth and there was no assault. After all, the blank shots of the Aurora can hardly be called an assault, after which the armed people broke into the palace without losses, and the main concern of the women’s battalion and the cadets defending the building was to prevent the theft of valuables.