World around 2 winter palace. Winter Palace

Saint Isaac's Cathedral

St. Isaac's Cathedral (the official name is the Cathedral of St. Isaac of Dalmatia) is the largest Orthodox church in St. Petersburg. Located on St. Isaac's Square.

The first St. Isaac's Church in St. Petersburg was built in 1707 in a meadow opposite the gates of the Admiralty shipyard. It was a modest one-story building with a small bell tower. The church was built in honor of the patron saint of Peter I, since the tsar's birthday coincided with the day of commemoration of the legendary Byzantine monk Isaac of Dalmatia.

In 1717, according to the project of G.I. Mattarnovi, the construction of a new stone St. Isaac's Church began. Isaac's Church was built until the 1750s. Under the weight of the building, the soil began to settle, because of which the temple had to be dismantled.

The new building of St. Isaac's Cathedral was conceived to be bright enough, faced with Olonets marble. However, by 1796, by the death of Catherine II, it was only half completed. Completion of the construction of the third building of St. Isaac's Cathedral was delayed. The new St. Isaac's Cathedral was completed only in 1800.

In 1809, Alexander I announced a competition for the construction of a new St. Isaac's Cathedral.
The final project was chosen by the French architect Auguste Montferrand.

The solemn laying of the temple took place on June 26, 1818.
Considering local peculiarities 10,762 piles were driven into the base of the foundation.
The columns were installed before the walls of St. Isaac's Cathedral were erected. The first column (north portico) was erected in March 1828 and the last in August 1830.

The gilding of the dome of St. Isaac's Cathedral took more than 100 kilograms of pure gold.

St. Isaac's Cathedral was built for an unusually long time. In this regard, rumors circulated in St. Petersburg about an intentional delay in construction. "They say that a visiting clairvoyant predicted Montferrand's death immediately after the completion of construction." - "That's why he's been building for so long."

The construction of St. Isaac's Cathedral was completed in 1858. The consecration of the temple took place on May 30 this year.

In St. Isaac's Cathedral, members of the royal family were baptized; it became the center of citywide holidays. However, the scaffolding was not removed from it for a long time. They said that the building was built in bad faith and requires constant renovation. They did not spare money for the cathedral, and a legend was born that the house of the Romanovs would fall as soon as the scaffolding was removed from Isaac. They were finally removed only by 1916. Not long before the abdication of Nicholas II from the throne.

The height of St. Isaac's Cathedral is 101.5 meters. On the porticos around the drum of the dome, 72 columns of granite monoliths weighing from 64 to 114 tons are installed. For the first time in construction practice, columns of this size were raised to a height of more than 40 meters. The cathedral is the fourth largest in the world. It is second only to St. Peter's in Rome, St. Paul's in London and St. Mary's in Florence. With an area of ​​4,000 square meters, it can accommodate up to 12,000 people.

M. Zichy. Ball in the Concert Hall of the Winter Palace during the official visit of Shah Nasir ad-Din in May 1873

Empress Elizabeth, wishing to surpass the luxury of the palaces of European monarchs, ordered the chief architect Bartolomeo Rastrelli to build a grandiose building in the center of St. Petersburg. In 1754, the project of the Winter Palace, designed in a magnificent baroque style, was approved. Subsequently, some changes were made to it, bringing the baroque liberties closer to the strict standards of classicism. Large-scale construction was not completed during the reign of Elizabeth, and only Catherine II became the first sovereign mistress of the Winter Palace. Under her, work continued on the arrangement of the interior. So, the Great Throne Hall, known as St. George's, was decorated. In 1764, Catherine began collecting the Hermitage's collection of paintings and commissioned architects to build additional buildings in the immediate vicinity of the Winter Palace. In the future, they will be united by a system of passages to the palace complex.

Under Nicholas I, work on the interiors of the Winter Palace was continued. In 1837, due to a malfunction of the chimney, a terrible fire broke out in the building, which destroyed the historical decoration of the halls - the projects of Quarenghi, Rossi, Montferrand. In addition, it was necessary to equip the south-western wing of the second floor for chambers for the heir to the throne, Alexander II, who was about to marry. Most of the works of this period were carried out by Vasily Stasov and Alexander Bryullov.

In 1904, under Nicholas II, Winter Palace ceded the right to be called the imperial residence of the Alexander Palace in Tsarskoe Selo. The building continued to be used for museum purposes. With the outbreak of the First World War, part of the collections were taken to Moscow, and the spacious rooms were given over to hospitals. After the February Revolution, the Winter Palace became a meeting place for the Provisional Government. It was here, in the Small Dining Room on the second floor, that its ministers were arrested during the October Revolution. A week later, all collections were declared state property, and the Winter Palace officially became part of the Hermitage museum complex. During World War II, all collections were evacuated to the Urals. Since the fall of 1945, the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg has been receiving visitors as usual. Now it houses archaeological collections, works of artists and sculptors, works of decorative and applied art from Asia, England and France.

Facade facing the Neva

Architectural features of the building

By the time the order was received, Rastrelli had already erected two Winter Palaces in St. Petersburg, but their size and decoration of the halls did not correspond to the high status of the imperial residence. The new building, at the request of Elizabeth, was distinguished by the height of the ceilings and the splendor of the decor characteristic of the Baroque - stucco molding, sculptures, gilding, draperies from expensive fabrics. The facade of the Winter Palace was decorated with two tiers of snow-white columns with gold stucco molding. The distances between the columns are different - this is how the architect, skillfully using the play of light and shadow, created a complex rhythmic pattern. Places on the roof were occupied by patinated antique statues, vases, symbols of Russian statehood were also planted here. By the way, the facades have become greenish-blue only in our time. Historically, the walls were yellowish-sandy, later they were painted in more intense yellow and brown tones.

Dimensions of the Winter Palace

Elizaveta insisted that the height of the Winter Palace should be 22 meters - the dimensions for St. Petersburg are unprecedented. As a result, the building exceeded the predetermined bar by another 1.5 m.The facade facing the Neva was extended by 210 m, the admiralty side was slightly shorter - 175 m. Subsequently, Nicholas I made sure that no competitors to the palace appeared in the capital, limiting the height buildings.

In total, there were more than 1000 rooms in the Winter Palace - for official ceremonies, for storing collections, the private chambers of the emperor and the heirs to the throne and their retinue, and a huge number of utility rooms to serve the needs of the people living here.

Excursions to the Winter Palace

It is extremely difficult to inspect all the rooms of the Winter Palace at one time, so tourists should think over the routes in advance. The ground floor displays archaeological collections from all over the former Soviet Union. From an architectural point of view, the apartments of the daughters of Nicholas I, located in a wing overlooking the Neva, are interesting. On the second floor there are halls that have become the hallmark of the Winter Palace: Tronny, Bolshoi, Petrovsky - and private premises of members of the imperial family, in which objects of Western European art are exhibited. The third floor is dedicated to Asia.

Halls on the ground floor

The lower floor is not as popular among visitors as the second, but here, too, each room contains unique exhibits obtained by archaeologists.

The private chambers of the emperor's daughters

The former apartments of the daughters of Nicholas I in the Winter Palace were given over to the archaeological collection. In the front hall - finds from the Paleolithic era, in the bright Gothic living room with pointed arches and medieval plant reliefs - Neolithic and Early Bronze. The decor "Living Room with Cupids" appeared in the 50s of the XIX century. The architect Stackenschneider did not skimp on thick-cheeked cupids: babies with wings hid in arches, reliefs with their images adorned the ceiling. Today, these decorations house a collection of antiquities from the Bronze Age. In the study of Olga Nikolaevna, the future Queen of Württemberg, the architect acted much more delicately: thin golden curves in the upper part of the ceiling vaults set off artifacts from the Bronze Age. Nearby are simple rooms without decor, given over to the Scythian archaeological collections of weapons, ceramics, and jewelry.

Guardhouse premises

From the "women's" wing, the Kutuzov corridor with modest columns leads the guests of the Winter Palace past the former guardhouse, now given over to the halls of art of the peoples of Altai and other regions of Siberia. Here is kept the world's oldest pile carpet, woven in the 4th-3rd centuries. BC e. In the middle, the corridor opens onto the vestibule of the Saltykovsky entrance, designed in the same style; from it there are doors to the halls of ancient Altai and Tuvan art, nomadic tribes of Southern Siberia.

Collection of Central Asian and Caucasian antiquities

The Kutuzov corridor leads visitors to the southwest wing, dedicated to the pre-Islamic art of Central Asia. Here are collected Buddhist shrines, fragments of murals, fabrics, household items, silver, stone sculptures, elements of decoration of buildings from Sogdiana and Khorezm. At the other end of the wing there are halls dedicated to the culture of the Caucasus. The most valuable are the artifacts left over from the state of Urartu. They were found under the leadership of Academician Boris Piotrovsky, the former director of the museum, the current father, Mikhail Piotrovsky. Nearby are perfectly preserved precious fabrics from the Ossetian Moshcheva Balka - an important Caucasian point of the Silk Road. The Dagestan halls showcase fine bronze cauldrons, weapons and copper thread embroidery from the 19th century. Volga Bulgaria, the state of the "Golden Horde" on the territory of the modern Volga region, is represented in the Winter Palace by silver and gold jewelry and weapons, painted underglaze ceramics. In the Transcaucasian halls one can see Georgian medieval weapons, religious objects, Armenian book miniatures and fragments of architectural structures.

Middle East and North Africa

In the opposite wing is the Culture Hall of Palmyra, an ancient Syrian city whose ruins were severely damaged during the recent hostilities in that country. In the collection of the Hermitage there are funerary steles, customs documentation, carved in stone. In the hall of Mesopotamia, one can see the original cuneiform tablets of Assyria and Babylon. The vaulted Egyptian Hall, converted in 1940 from the Main Buffet of the Winter Palace, is located in front of the transition to the building of the Small Hermitage. Among the masterpieces of the collection is the stone statue of King Amenehmet III, created almost 4,000 years ago.

Second floor of the Winter Palace

The northeastern wing of the second floor is temporarily closed - its collections were moved to the General Staff building. Next to it is the Great Throne, or St. George's Hall of the Winter Palace, designed by Giacomo Quarenghi and redesigned after the fire by Vasily Stasov. Carrara marble, unique parquet flooring of 16 types of wood, an abundance of columns with bronze gilding, mirrors and powerful lamps are designed to draw attention to the throne standing on a dais, ordered in England for the Empress Anna Ioannovna. The huge room goes into the relatively small Apollo Hall, which connects the Winter Palace with the Small Hermitage.

Military Gallery of the Winter Palace

Large front suite

You can get to the Throne Room through the Military Gallery of 1812, which contains works by George Doe and the artists of his workshop - more than 300 portraits of Russian generals who participated in the Napoleonic Wars. The gallery was designed by the architect Carlo Rossi. On the other side of the gallery is a suite of state rooms. The coat of arms of the Winter Palace, designed by Stasov, contains the symbols of the Russian provinces and solid stone bowls made of aventurine. The Petrovsky, or Small Throne Room, conceived by Montferrand and restored by Stasov, is dedicated to Peter I. Its walls are decorated with burgundy Lyons velvet embroidered with gold, the ceiling is covered with golden reliefs. The throne was commissioned for the imperial family at the end of the 18th century. The White Field Marshal Hall houses Western European china and sculpture.

A. Ladurner. The Armorial Hall of the Winter Palace. 1834 g.

Nevskaya suite

The entrance hall is the first in a series of ceremonial rooms overlooking the Neva. Its main attraction - a French rotunda with 8 malachite columns supporting a gilded bronze dome - was erected here in the middle of the last century. The entrance to the largest room of the Winter Palace, the Nicholas Hall, with Corinthian columns and monochrome ceiling paintings, opens through the Avanzal. It does not have a permanent exhibition, only temporary exhibitions are organized. On the opposite side of the Nikolaevsky hall - snow-white Concert hall with paired Corinthian columns and antique reliefs. The Nevsky suite is adjoined by the portrait gallery of the Romanovs, which contains portraits of members of the imperial family, starting with Peter I.

Part of the northwest wing is temporarily closed, including the Arap hall with Greek decor, which served as a dining room. The Rotunda is waiting for guests - a spacious round hall with rectangular and round Corinthian columns, a simple circular balcony in the second tier, a ceiling with caisson-shaped recesses decorated with reliefs. The floor with circular inlays of precious woods is especially effective. The small halls leading from the Nevskaya suite to the chambers of the heir to the throne, overlooking the Dark Corridor, are given over to objects of art of the 18th century.

Personal chambers of the emperor and empress

Emperor Nicholas I spared no expense on interiors, so each room in his private quarters is a real masterpiece of design art. Alexandra Feodorovna's malachite drawing room is decorated with emerald-green vases, columns, and a fireplace. The richly ornamented floor and carved ceiling are in perfect harmony with the exhibition - objects of decorative and applied art. Nearby is the Small dining room, decorated in the Rococo style. For the empress's study, the furniture of Gambs, the best craftsman of this era, was chosen. The sketches of the furniture for the adjacent room were made by the architect Carlo Rossi. The emperor's smoking room strikes with oriental splendor and bright colors. There are not many halls associated with the name of Nicholas II in the Winter Palace - the last emperor preferred other residences. Its library with high windows in the English Gothic style and a carved fireplace, imitating a medieval book depository, has survived.

Interiors of Russian houses in the Winter Palace

The imperial wing contains rooms that reproduce the interiors of wealthy city houses of the 19th and early 20th centuries. The neo-Russian style is represented by pieces of furniture from the 1900s with fabulous folklore motives. In the former Adjutant's room, there is an original Art Nouveau-style ash wood suite. The austere neoclassical interior is enlivened by a light portrait of Princess Yusupova. The "second" Rococo of the middle of the 19th century is no less magnificent than the samples of a century ago. The "Pompeian dining room" with Gambs furniture refers the viewer to archaeological finds. The Gothic office is decorated with furniture from the Golitsyn-Stroganov estate, reproducing the forms of the European knightly Middle Ages - carved backs and armrests of chairs, dark tones of wood. Boudoir - the former dressing room of Alexandra Feodorovna with brightly painted furniture from the 40-50s. XIX century. The manor house living room with white columns demonstrates austere classic interior.

The chambers of the future Emperor Alexander II and his wife

In the southwestern part of the second floor of the Winter Palace, there are the chambers of Alexander II, furnished during the time when he was heir to the throne and was preparing for the wedding. Architecturally noteworthy are the rooms that the future Empress Maria Alexandrovna occupied: the Green Dining Room with lush Rococo decor, the White Hall with many reliefs and sculptures, the Golden Living Room with intricate stucco patterns, inlaid parquet flooring and a jasper fireplace, Raspberry Cabinet with textile wallpaper, Blue bedroom with gold columns.

Collection of Western European Art

In the wing of the heir to the throne and in the suite dedicated to the victory in the war of 1812, paintings and works of decorative and applied art of Great Britain and France are kept: works by Reynolds, Gainsborough, Watteau, Boucher, Greuze, Fragonard, Lorrain, the famous bust of Voltaire by Houdon. In the southeastern wing, there is the Alexander Hall, designed in noble white and blue tones, combining elements of Gothic and classicism with a collection of silver items. Next to it is the Great Church, designed by Rastrelli in the Baroque style. The picket hall, where the palace guard was raised, is temporarily closed.

Third floor

The functioning halls of the third floor in the Winter Palace are given over to Islamic art of the Middle East, Byzantium, the state of the Huns, India, China, and Japan. Among the most valuable exhibits are finds from the "Cave of 1000 Buddhas", ancient Chinese furniture and ceramics, Buddhist relics, treasures of Tibet.

Information for tourists

How to get there

The official address of the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg: Palace Square, 2. The nearest metro station is Admiralteyskaya, from which you need to walk a little more than 100 m to the north. The Dvortsovaya Embankment bus stop is located to the west of Zimny. There are lifts for wheelchair users and lifts inside the palace. You must enter the museum through the main turnstile.

Ticket prices and opening hours

A visit to the entire Hermitage complex, including the Winter Palace, costs 600 rubles, on the first Thursday of the month you can go free of charge. If you want to visit only the Winter Palace, then a ticket for 300 rubles will be enough. It is recommended to purchase tickets in advance via the Internet so as not to stand in line at the ticket office or to the terminal. This can be done on the official website www.hermitagemuseum.org. Children and students, Russian pensioners - a preferential category that receives free tickets. Day off - Monday, access to tourists is open from 10:30 to 18:00, on Wednesday and Friday - until 21:00. The Winter Palace is closed in New Year and May 9.

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

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

History of the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg

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

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

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

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

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

The sellers of nearby shops caught a wave of excitement around the construction, so they significantly raised food prices. It so happened that the cost of food was deducted from the worker's salary, so the serf not only did not earn, but also remained in debt to the employer. Cruel and cynical, on the broken lives of ordinary workers, a new "house" was built for the tsars.

When the construction was completed, St. Petersburg received an architectural masterpiece that impressed with its size and luxury. The Winter Palace had two exits, one of which was facing the Neva, and from the other one could see the square. The first floor was occupied by utility rooms, higher were the ceremonial halls, the gates of the winter garden, the third and last floor was for servants.

I liked the building of Peter III, who, in gratitude for his incredible architectural talent, decided to assign Rastrelli the rank of Major General. The career of the great architect ended tragically with the accession to the throne of Catherine II.

Fire in the palace

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

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

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

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

Winter Palace in 2017: its description

For almost two centuries, the castle was the main residence of the emperors, only 1917 brought it the title of a museum. Among the expositions of the museum there are collections of the East and Eurasia, samples of painting and decorative and applied art, sculptures, presented in numerous halls and apartments. Tourists can admire:

• George Hall.
  
• Boudoir.
  
• Golden living room.
  
• Malachite living room.
  
• Concert hall.
  

Exclusively about the palace

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

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

Tourist memo

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

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Plan of the Winter Palace. 1. Jordan Gallery / first floor / 2. Front (Jordan) staircase 3. Field Marshal Hall 4. Petrovsky (Small Throne) Hall 5. Georgievsky (Large Throne) Hall 6. Military Gallery of 1812 7. Armorial Hall 8. Large Church 9 Alexander Hall 10. Halls of war paintings 11. Large living room 12. White room 13. October staircase 14. Golden living room 15. Raspberry office 16. Boudoir 17. Study room 18. Bedroom 19. Rotunda 20. Library of Nicholas II 21. Small ( White) dining room 22. Malachite living room 23. Big Arap dining room 24. Concert hall 25. Portrait gallery of the Romanovs' house 26. Big (Nikolaevsky) hall 27. Entrance hall

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Pages of history. The Winter Palace is a grandiose structure that is oldest building on Palace Square, built in the Baroque style. Like any building in St. Petersburg, the Winter Palace is shrouded in stories and myths. Officially, the construction of the Winter Palace, designed by B.F. Rastrelli, began in 1754 and ended in 1762, but the history of its creation dates back much earlier. In the place now occupied by the palace in 1712 under Peter the Great, it was forbidden to give land plots to persons who did not belong to the naval ranks. Peter the Great, wishing to build a palace on this site for himself, received permission to build Peter Alekseev as a shipmaster and built a residential "small house of Dutch architecture" there. In 1718, a canal was dug in front of its side facade, named after the palace the Winter Canal. In 1711, specially for the wedding of Peter I and Catherine, the architect Matornovi, by order of the tsar, began to rebuild the wooden palace into a stone one. But in the process of work, the architect G. Matornovi was removed from affairs and the construction was headed by Trezzini. In 1720, Peter I with all his family moved from a summer residence to a winter one. In 1723 the Senate was transferred to the Winter Palace.

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Winter Palace in the 18th century. (Portrait of Anna Ioannovna) When the reign of Anna Ioannovna came, Count Bartolomeo Francesco Rastrelli, a brilliant architect of that time, offered her his project for rebuilding the Winter Palace. According to his project, it was required to acquire, at that time on the site occupied by the present palace, houses that belonged to Count Apraksin, the Naval Academy, Raguzinsky and Chernyshev. Anna Ioanovna approved the project, the houses were bought up, and construction began. In 1735, the construction of the palace was completed, and Anna Ioanovna moved into it to live. The palace looked somewhat different than it currently exists. In the opinion of Elizabeth Petrovna, who came to the throne, he did not meet the requirements of the official residence of the Russian empress. By her order in 1754, Count Rastrelli was to draw up a new project for the Winter Palace. Rastrelli, in accordance with the wishes of Elizaveta Petrovna, tried to create a palace that the Russian capital could be proud of. The palace was given the appearance that has survived to the present day. 859555 rubles were allocated for the work, which at that time was an extremely modest amount for such a project. And, nevertheless, the author and his assistants managed to emphasize the richness and variety of the decor of the Winter Palace. About four thousand people worked on its construction. We managed to collect the best masters from all over the country. Now the Palace Square and the Alexander Garden were covered with huts in which the workers lived. The palace turned out, as planned, not like the others.

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Winter Palace in the 18th century. Its facades are decorated with Rastrelli's inherent variety, each of which the architect gave a unique interpretation. Strongly protruding wings of the western façade facing the Admiralty form a ceremonial courtyard. The same architectural solution was given to the architect to the eastern end of the palace, hidden by the building of the Small Hermitage. The northern facade, facing the Neva, is richly decorated with two-tiered white columns, creating a spectacular play of light and shade. Main - south facade, oriented towards Palace Square, is cut through by three entrance arches. The light green color of the walls contrasts favorably with the whiteness of the columns. The decorativeness of the building is enhanced by the whimsical curves of complex cornices and various window frames. Their composition includes cupid heads, lion masks, bizarre curls characteristic of the Baroque style. 176 sculptural figures on the roof, alternating with vases, enliven the silhouette of the palace, emphasizing the dynamics of its forms. The building is striking in its scale. Inside it there are 1,050 ceremonial and residential halls with an area of ​​46 thousand square meters, 1945 windows, 1,786 doors, 117 staircases, 329 chimneys. The total length of the main cornice flanking the building is almost two kilometers. The entire system of external decorations was designed to emphasize the height of the building, unprecedented for those times. This impression was enhanced by the columns arranged in two tiers. But Elizabeth did not have to live in this luxurious creation of architecture.

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Winter Palace in the 18th century. Portrait of Peter III. In 1762, the work was completed, and on April 6 of the same year, Emperor Peter III moved to live in the Winter Palace. He watches with pleasure from the window of the palace as the city dwellers take away the trash left after construction work, thereby clearing the area in front of the palace, which seemed incredible. This simple decision was suggested to Peter III by Chief of Police N.A. Korf. But Peter III did not have to enjoy the beauty of the Winter Palace for a long time. In 1763, Catherine II had already entered it, having returned from Moscow after her coronation. By her arrival, the finishing of all the interior rooms of the palace with all the decorations available in it had been completed. By the end of the 18th century. in the palace, there were up to 1,500 rooms, among which, for the special luxurious decoration and the works of art collected here, it is necessary to highlight such halls as: the Romanov gallery, containing a collection of portraits of the Sovereigns of the Romanov dynasty, starting with Mikhail Fedorovich. George Hall, in which there is a golden throne, with a large imperial coat of arms, embroidered in gold on a red velvet background. The hall is decorated with marble columns and six magnificent chandeliers, and many other halls. A winter garden was also created in the palace, with large trees - tropical and northern.

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Winter Palace in the 19th century. The Winter Palace acquired its completion during the reign of Emperor Nicholas I (1825-1855). The grandson of the great Catherine II and the younger brother of Tsar Alexander I, Nicholas came to the throne, brutally suppressing the uprising on December 14, 1825 - the first organized protest against tsarism. All further policy of his reign was aimed at strengthening the power and authority of the autocratic government. Having become the owner of the Winter Palace, Nicholas, in order to raise the prestige of the main imperial residence, gives orders to expand the front part of the palace. First of all, he implements the idea, conceived by Alexander I, of creating a portrait gallery in the palace in memory of the victory over Napoleon. Back in 1819, the painter George Doe was invited from England, who was commissioned to paint portraits of all Russian generals who participated in the 1812-1815 campaigns. Dow, who was assisted by the Russian painters A.V. Polyakov and V.A. Golike, painted 332 portraits of those who were still alive and those who were no longer alive and whom he painted from the surviving images. In 1826, the famous St. Petersburg architect K. Rossi (1775 / 77-1849) built a 55-meter-long gallery in the Winter Palace, where the painted portraits were placed. This is how a unique monument was created military glory Russia - Military Gallery of 1812.

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Romanov Gallery The gallery contains portraits of representatives of the Romanov dynasty - from the founder of the Russian Empire, Peter the Great, to the last Russian emperor Nicholas II. The gallery, which was then called Pompeii, was created after the fire of 1837 by V.P. Stasov, who placed next to it, above the Ambassadorial entrance overlooking the courtyard, the Winter Garden with a glazed ceiling. In 1886, it was decided to place paintings in the gallery, in connection with which, according to the project of the palace architect N.A. Gornostaev, its decoration was changed. In the exhibition hall, arranged after the Great Patriotic War on the site of the garden, there is an exposition "Russian culture of the 17th century."

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Georgievsky hall. The St. George (Great Throne) Hall, for which a special building was built, from the side of the Grand Palace, was created in 1787-1795 under Catherine II according to the project of Giacomo Quarenghi (1744-1817). The new throne room was designed in strict classicist forms. The huge double-height room made a stunning impression. But Quarenghi's masterpiece died in a fire in 1837. Emperor Nicholas I ordered "the St. George Hall to try to make ... everything of white marble." White Carrara marble, which gave an extraordinary solemnity to the Throne Room, was delivered from Italy. The ceiling was decorated with gilded ornaments, the pattern of which was repeated in the pattern of parquet flooring from 16 types of colored wood. Above the throne place there is a marble bas-relief "St. George the Victorious, striking a dragon with a spear". Due to the laboriousness of the marble facing, the St. George Hall was completed later than other rooms of the palace, and consecrated in 1841. The entire official history of the Russian reigning house is connected with this hall. The majestic and solemn decoration of the hall corresponds to its purpose: official ceremonies and receptions were held here.

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Military gallery of 1812. The military gallery of 1812 - the most famous of the memorial premises of the palace - was built according to the project of the outstanding architect of Russian classicism K.I. Rossi (1775 / 77-1849) and solemnly opened on December 25, 1826, on the anniversary of the expulsion of Napoleon's army from Russia. 332 portraits of generals of the Russian army, participants in the war of 1812 and the foreign campaign of 1813-1814 were placed here. In the Gallery, space was left for 13 portraits of the victims, images of which could not be found. The portraits were commissioned by Alexander I to the artist George Doe. The meeting between the Russian emperor and the fashionable English portrait painter took place in the German city of Aachen, where in the fall of 1818 the first congress of the Holy Union of the countries that won the Napoleonic army took place. In the back of the hall, on the front wall, there is a ceremonial portrait of Emperor Alexander I (executed by Franz Kruger). Nearby are ceremonial portraits of the monarchs of the allied states - Prussia and Austria. Portraits of Field Marshal MI Kutuzov and MB Barclay de Tolly are located on the sides of the door leading to the Georgievsky (Great Throne) Hall. During the fire of 1837, all the portraits were saved and returned to their places in the hall restored by V.P. Stasov.

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Fire in the Winter Palace in 1837. In 1828, O. R. Montferrand (1786-1858), a French architect invited to Russia by Alexander I in 1816, was involved in the work in the Winter Palace. While working on the construction of St. Isaac's Cathedral, which was destined to become one of the most ambitious structures of the mid-19th century, Montferrand was simultaneously creating new apartments in the royal residence. In 1833-1834, next to the Main Palace Staircase, he built two halls that completed the formation of the main suite of ceremonial halls of the Winter Palace - Field Marshal and Petrovsky, dedicated to the memory of Peter the Great. Three years later, everything created by Montferrand and his predecessors in the Winter Palace perished in the fire of an unprecedented fire in December 1837. Fires in those days happened in St. Petersburg quite often, mainly due to stove heating, which was also in royal palace... On the first floor, under the Field Marshal and Petrovsky halls, there was a palace pharmacy, in which the stove was heated around the clock. On the evening of December 17, 1837, plumes of smoke began to seep from the strangler in the Field Marshal's Hall. The alarmed personnel on duty called a fire company squad. After examining the stranglehold, attic and basement rooms, the firefighters found a smoking mat and poured water from the brinesboats over everything. However, the cause of the fire, which burst out from behind the collapsed wooden partition of the hall after a few minutes, was different ...

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Fire in the Winter Palace. An intense flame instantly engulfed the ceilings: the palace flared up from above. It was impossible to save him. The fire spread rapidly along the walls, along the carved wood of gilded ornaments, picturesque plafonds, and waxed parquet floors. Today it is obvious that the constructive mistake of the architect O. R. Montferrand, who placed the strangler in a narrow space fenced off by a partition, and the use of wood as the main building material led to tragic consequences. An eyewitness to the incident, A.P. Bashutsky, colorfully described the finale of a grand fire that raged for more than thirty hours. “Were solemnly sad last hours phoenix buildings ... We saw through the broken windows how the victorious fire walked in the desert, illuminating the wide passages, it then chopped and rolled the marble columns, then boldly blackened the precious gilding, then poured crystal and bronze chandeliers of artwork into ugly heaps, then tore off luxurious brocade and damask from the walls ... ". When it became obvious to Nicholas I, who returned from the theater, the impossibility of stopping the raging elements, a decision was made: to urgently remove everything that was possible from the palace. Furniture, dishes, crystal, chests with clothes, paintings, carpets, books, albums and other utensils - everything was piled right on the snow of Palace Square. To prevent the fire from spreading to the Hermitage, the passages between it and the palace were broken, and the walls behind which priceless artistic treasures were kept were kept under the pressure of water. The fire raged for three days. By the evening of December 19, one giant charred skeleton remained from the Winter Palace.

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Field Marshal Hall. The hall opens the Great Front Suite of the Winter Palace. The interior was restored after a fire in 1837 by V.P. Stasov, close to the original project of O. de Montferrand (1833 - 1834). The entrances to the hall, designed in a strict classical style, are accented with portals. The longitudinal walls are decorated with double pilasters on which the entablature supporting the choir lies. The decor of gilded bronze chandeliers and grisaille paintings in the hall uses motifs of military glory. Before the revolution, ceremonial portraits of Russian field marshals were placed in the niches of the hall, which explains its name. The hall displays monuments of Western European and Russian sculpture, as well as porcelain items from the Imperial Factory, created in the first half of the 19th century.

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Petrovsky hall. The Petrovsky (Small Throne) Hall perpetuates the memory of the founder of the Russian Empire - Peter I. The hall was created in 1833 according to the project of O.-R. Montferrand (1786-1858) and restored after the fire by V.P. Stasov almost unchanged. The decoration of the hall was the composition with the allegorical painting "Peter I with Minerva" by G. Amikoni. Elements of imperial paraphernalia - monograms of Peter the Great, crowns, double-headed eagles - occupy a special place in the decoration of the hall. Picturesque images of the famous battles of the Northern War - the Battle of Poltava and the Battle of Lesnaya - allowed contemporaries to perceive this room as a "palladium of Russian greatness and glory." In the hall of Peter I there is a historical relic - the throne of Empress Anna Ioannovna, made by the master N. Clausen in London in 1731. The wooden base of the throne is framed in massive gilded silver; the state emblem of Russia is embroidered on the back in silver.

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Winter Palace. 1853. An unprecedented fire completely destroyed the magnificent decoration of the royal residence, erasing an entire era in the history of the palace. It seemed that it would be impossible to revive the palace. However, the consequences of the fire were eliminated in an unprecedentedly short time: during the years 1838-1839. And in the spring of 1839, a grand reception was held in the newly decorated state rooms, dedicated to the renewal of the Winter Palace. It can be argued that in terms of scale and complexity, this was an unprecedented restoration for its time, which was not known in the practice of world architecture.

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Revival of the Winter Palace. The revival of the Winter Palace after the fire of 1837 is, first of all, the merit of two outstanding Russian architects of the 19th century - V.P. Stasov (1769-1848) and A.P. Bryullov (1798-1877). V.P. Stasov restored the front part of the palace and supervised the general construction work. The task before him was very difficult. In a short time, the architect had not only to return the palace to its former splendor, but also to give all the ceremonial halls an appearance that met the artistic tastes and views of the Nikolaev era - the time of the highest power of the Russian Empire, which after the victory over Napoleon became a great European power. Tsar Nicholas I especially insisted on this ideological side, who personally drew up a thematic program for decorating the restored halls. Finally, it was necessary to provide for all measures to forever exclude the possibility of a new fire. Stasov brilliantly solved this problem by creating a monumental complex of ceremonial halls, united by the nobility of the classical style and the idea of ​​the greatness of the Russian Empire.

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Revival of the Winter Palace. This idea found its expression in the grandeur of the rooms, in the splendor and at the same time strict thoughtfulness and rationality of the decorations, in the richness of the materials used, in the motives and subjects of wall paintings, stucco moldings, paintings, sculptures, decorative objects, and finally, in the solemn rhythm in which the halls, following one after another, they line up in magnificent enfilades. All the main official palace ceremonies took place here: solemn receptions, high society balls, the highest exits. The halls along the Neva and the Great Front Suite, going deep into the Winter Palace to the Great Throne Room, are connected by the Main Staircase. The first hall of the Great Enfilade, the Field Marshal's, was located immediately behind the Main Staircase. Here, the officers of the palace guard were usually present and the palace guard was divorced. Decorated with portraits of Russian field marshals, the hall was supposed to remind of the military glory and power of the Russian Empire. Stasov recreated the Field Marshal Hall as Montferrand had built it. In addition, in accordance with the plan of his predecessor, he restored the neighboring Petrovsky (Small Throne) Hall.

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Revival of the Winter Palace. The architect Stasov, who followed Petrovsky, designed the Armorial Hall according to his own project. He significantly increased the length of the hall, and the area of ​​the Armorial Hall (the second largest in the Winter Palace) was now 1000 square meters. Using the composition of the columned hall characteristic of Russian classicism, the architect achieved the solemn imposingness of the heavy, all-gilded columns of the luxurious Corinthian order, the upper galleries and porticos lying on them, framing the entrances. On both sides of the entrances there were sculptural groups - Russian knights with spears, on which shields with the coats of arms of the Russian provinces were attached. (Now they are fortified along the edges of the gilded bronze chandeliers that adorn the hall.) The coats of arms gave the name to the hall, which personified the unity of the empire and the emperor: representatives of the cities, the provincial nobility, and the estates were received here by the sovereign. Today, the Armorial Hall, like many other halls of the Winter Palace, is an exhibition space. In the Armorial Hall, the richest collection of Western European silver of the 17th-18th centuries is exhibited.

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Armorial hall. Each subsequent hall of the Enfilade became another link in a complex picture of symbols glorifying the Fatherland. The coat of arms of the Winter Palace, intended for solemn ceremonies, was created by V.P. Stasov in the late 1830s. in the style of late Russian classicism. Images of the coats of arms of Russian provinces are placed on gilded bronze chandeliers. The entrances to the hall are flanked by sculptural groups of ancient Russian soldiers. A slender colonnade carrying a balcony with a balustrade, a frieze decorated with acanthus leaves, and a combination of gold and white create an impression of grandeur and solemnity.

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Gallery of the Patriotic War of 1812. The gallery of the Patriotic War of 1812 adjoins the Hall of Arms. All the portraits of the gallery were taken out of the fire during the fire and rescued by soldiers of the guards regiments. Stasov got the opportunity to restore the gallery in its original form. However, the architect made some changes to Rossi's plan, giving the gallery a complete, solemn, strict and imposing appearance: the length of the 1st gallery was increased by almost 6 m, the choir was located above the cornice - a bypass gallery connected with the same galleries of neighboring halls. This was done not only to enhance the decorative effect, but also for fire prevention purposes. Through the glazed bindings built into the vaults, daylight now passed into the gallery, the wooden roof rafters were replaced with iron ones.

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The widespread use of metal in the restoration of the palace was an innovation in the building practice of that time. A lot of metal structures, complex elements of a new heating system that replaced the stove, water supply, metal parts of architectural decorations were made for the palace at the St. Petersburg Alexandrovsky plant. It was headed by the talented engineer M.E. Clark, using the latest achievements of modern technical thought, brilliantly solved a number of complex technical problems that arose during the work. He developed and for the first time applied in the Winter Palace a system of unsupported overlapping with the help of metal trusses and beams to which ceilings made of copper sheets were suspended. This system made it possible to create floors in such large rooms as the Armorial and the Great Throne Hall.

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The Great Throne Room (Georgievsky) The Great Throne Room, the main hall of the Winter Palace, completes the Great Grand Enfilade. The Throne Room that existed here before the fire was created by the architect Quarenghi during the reign of Catherine II and consecrated on November 26, 1795 on the day of St. George the Victorious - the patron saint of the Russian state and army. Hence the second name of the hall arose - Georgievsky. Its decoration was completely destroyed in the fire. Stasov redesigned the hall anew in a strict and majestic classical style: a grandiose space (hall area 800 sq. M.), Rows of snow-white columns, brilliance and weight of gilded bronze create a feeling of solemnity and splendor. Here, in the presence of the sovereign and the highest dignitaries of the Court, the most important state acts were performed, the main official ceremonies took place. The main theme of the decoration of the ceremonial residence of the Russian emperors - the greatness and power of the empire, the Russian state - found its highest expression in the artistic solution of the Great Throne Hall.

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Malachite living room. After the fire of 1837, A.P. Brullov was entrusted with the decoration and decoration of the residential half of the palace, who created a complex of residential halves located on all three floors of the western part of the Winter Palace. With special luxury and sophistication, he decorated the rooms of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna - an enfilade facing the Neva and the Admiralty. An outstanding talented architect, polymath, connoisseur of historical styles, in his projects he skillfully, with taste and tact, used the techniques and traditions of the architecture of the ancient classics, the European Middle Ages, and the East. The decoration of the interiors in Alexandra Fyodorovna's half has not survived, but their appearance was brought to us by watercolors. This was the order given by Nicholas I: he ordered to fix the interiors of the Winter Palace and the Hermitage in watercolors. Executed in the 1850s-1860s by the artists K.A. Ukhtomsky, E.P. Gaui L.Premazzi, watercolors are now invaluable documents that give an accurate and at the same time artistic idea of ​​the imperial residence of the 19th century. The only room, the decoration of which has been completely preserved to this day, is the Malachite Drawing Room. The hall owes its truly fabulous luxury to the famous Ural malachite, a rare and extremely valuable green stone. In 1835, in the Ural mines in the possession of the Demidovs, a large deposit of malachite was found. More than two tons of malachite were donated by the Demidov Tsar to decorate the living room in the palace. The malachite drawing room served as a link between the state halls of the palace and the rooms of the empress. A number of Alexandra Feodorovna's private chambers opened behind the Malachite drawing-room: the dining room, painted based on the frescoes excavated in Pompeii, in Italy, elegant drawing rooms, a bedroom, a cozy Boudoir, a romantic Winter Garden with a bubbling fountain and exotic plants, an exquisite and luxurious bathroom Moorish style, as if filled with the spicy aromas of the East.

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Bedroom. The emperor's rooms were located on the third floor. And only the study of Nicholas I was downstairs, on the first floor. Every evening, residents of the capital could see the light in the window of the emperor's office and his figure bending over the table. There was also his folding folding bed, on which he was destined to die in 1855. Behind the wall of the office were the rooms of Nicholas I's daughters, Olga and Alexandra. This small suite of simply but elegantly decorated premises, even after the marriage of the grand duchesses, continued to remain the princely "children's half".

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Library of Nicholas II The special apartments of the palace were intended for the heir, the Tsarevich, the future Emperor Alexander II. This suite of apartments with windows overlooking the Admiralty was created by the architect Quarenghi during the reign of Catherine the Great especially for Alexander I, then the Grand Duke. Following the instructions of Nicholas I, Bryullov did everything to recreate the decor of Quarenghi in the grand ducal half. And in 1839, in connection with the upcoming marriage of the heir to the princess of Hesse-Darmstadt (future Empress Maria Alexandrovna), A.P. Brullov was entrusted with the design of the new half of the heir. This Enfilade began from the Staircase of Her Imperial Majesty, the current October, going from the October entrance from the side of Palace Square. Bryullov has retained the classically restrained and elegant decoration of the staircase, created by Montferrand before the fire. From the staircase followed a series of luxuriously decorated rooms: the grand White Hall (one of the best works of Bryullov in the Winter Palace), Living Rooms, Bedroom, Boudoir. These were the private chambers of the heir's wife, adjacent to his own rooms. In the mid-1850s, a number of Maria Alexandrovna's rooms were redesigned by famous architects of that time: A.I. Stackenschneider (1802-1865), who worked a lot during those years in the imperial residence, and Yu.A. Bosse. An outstanding master of historicism architecture, a subtle stylist, Stackenschneider created the most elegant premises for Maria Alexandrovna - the Green Dining Room and the Raspberry Study. The whole life of Empress Maria Alexandrovna was spent in these apartments. She loved music and painting. The crimson cabinet, on the damask of which images of various musical instruments were woven for a reason, served as a place for home concerts. Pictures hung on the walls of the study, which were often acquired especially for the Empress, and later became a valuable property of the Hermitage.

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Following the instructions of Nicholas I, Bryullov did everything to recreate the Quarenghi decor in the grand ducal half after a fire in 1837. In connection with the upcoming marriage of the heir in 1839 with the princess of Hesse-Darmstadt (the future Empress Maria Alexandrovna), A.P. Bryullov was entrusted with the design of some of the rooms of the heir. The enfilade, which began from the Staircase of Her Imperial Majesty, the current October, included the Raspberry Office. This hall was designed by A.P. Bryullov in 1841 and was used as the study and dining room of Maria Alexandrovna. In the mid-1850s, a number of rooms of the wife of the future Emperor Alexander II were redesigned famous architect that time - A.I. Stackenschneider, who worked a lot during those years in the imperial residence. An outstanding master of historicism architecture, a subtle stylist, Stakenschneider created the most elegant premises for Maria Alexandrovna. In 1858, Stackenschneider changed the design of the Crimson Room. The vaults were removed and the ceiling was redone; the upholstery has been replaced, but the color remains the same - dark red. A large part of Maria Alexandrovna's life was spent in these apartments. She loved music and painting. The crimson cabinet, on the damask of which images of various musical instruments were woven for a reason, served as a place for home concerts. Pictures hung on the walls of the study, which were often acquired especially for the empress.

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White hall. The White Hall was created by A.P. Bryullov for the wedding of the future Emperor Alexander II in 1841. This white interior is distinguished by its rich plastic decor: stucco ornaments cover the vault and pilasters, the frieze ribbon is decorated with putti figurines indulging in games. In the central part of the hall, above the images of armor, there are bas-relief figures of ancient Roman gods; the columns with lush Corinthian capitals are crowned with figures of art. Picturesque panels by the French landscape painter of the 18th century look harmonious in the interior. G. Rober. The hall houses an exposition of furniture by D. Roentgen, a famous master of the classicism era. During the reign of Emperor Alexander II, the hall had its own purpose: the festive receptions that were held then were held not in the northern part of the palace, as under Nicholas I, but in its southern section, where the personal rooms of the emperor and empress were located.

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October Stairs. This main staircase was restored after the fire of 1837 by A.P. Brullov, who kept the project of O. de Montferrand (early 1830s) almost unchanged. The architectural solution of the staircase adjacent to the private apartment is distinguished by the severity and clarity typical of the classicism style. The decor clearly sounds the theme of glory: a triumphal procession is depicted on the bas-relief located over the windows; lunettes show allegorical compositions of female figures bowed before a two-headed eagle; the niches contain statues of ancient deities. The interior is richly decorated with grisal painting. In the center of the vault painting there is a medallion depicting the chariot of Apollo. The name "October" staircase was given in memory of the revolutionary events of October 1917, when the storming troops entered the Winter Palace along it. On the October Stairs, at 3 o'clock on the night of October 25-26, 1917, the captured ministers of the Provisional Government were taken out.

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Winter Palace from 1917 to 1925 The revolutionary upheavals of 1917 dramatically affected the fate of the Winter Palace. In July, it was made its seat by the Provisional Government, which was housed in the former chambers of Nicholas II. Anticipating upheaval events in the country, valuable palace property and collections of the Hermitage are sent to Moscow to be preserved in the Kremlin. After the Winter Palace was taken by storm on the night of October 25-26, 1917, soldiers and sailors rampaged for three days in the royal apartments, plundering the interior decoration. Only a few days later, on October 30, 1917, the Winter Palace named after the Russian Soviet Republic was declared the State Museum by the new government. In 1925-1926, according to the project of the architect of the State Hermitage, A.V. Sivkov, the reconstruction of numerous office premises began in order to use them for the expanding expositions of the Hermitage. The mezzanine floors, which distorted the Rastrelli and other galleries, and corridors, a number of internal staircases, kitchens, rooms of service personnel, and later partitions were destroyed. The great achievement of the restorers of the Winter Palace was the reconstruction in 1938 of one of the few surviving Rastrelli interiors - the Rastrelli Gallery. On the third floor along the eastern façade of the palace, where previously there were sixty-four maid of honor rooms, after the reconstruction of the original layout, seventeen bright rooms were formed.

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Winter Palace in the pre-war period. Simultaneously with the reconstruction, the current restoration of the Heraldic, Alexander and White Halls, the Great Church, the Gallery of 1812 was carried out. Unfortunately, during the alteration and adaptation of the former apartments of the royal family for the placement of art collections, fireplaces and stoves of artistic value were dismantled. In the 1930s, the Ammosov heating system was eliminated, and the Winter Palace was connected to the city's heating network. In 1939, the commission, which included representatives of the Monument Protection Department, the chief architect of the Hermitage, and other engineering and technical workers, drew up an act on the technical condition of the Winter Palace and determined a list of repair and restoration work. On May 10, 1941, the Leningrad City Executive Committee considered the issue of repairing and painting buildings overlooking the Palace Square. But all the planned work was interrupted by the war ...

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Alexander Hall. In 1834, A.P. Bryullov drew up a project of a memorial hall in honor of Alexander I, which was carried out only after the fire. The architect found a brilliant spatial solution for a huge two-story room. The original ceilings of the Alexander Hall - fan vaults with gentle domes - have become its main architectural and artistic accent. The abundance of air, the grandeur of the domed spaces allowed contemporaries to characterize the hall as made in "Byzantine taste". The hall immortalized the memory of Alexander I: a portrait of the emperor by J. Doe was placed on the front wall, above it was a bas-relief with a profile image of Alexander "in the form of the Slavic deity Radomysl", personifying wisdom and courage. The frieze was decorated with enlarged copies of F.P. Tolstoy's models, telling about the events of the Patriotic War of 1812, and the symbolic figures of Slav. The memorial character of the hall was emphasized by four huge battle paintings by G.P. Willewalde.

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Big church. The interior of the Great Church, designed by F.B. Rastrelli, was one of the most magnificent in the Winter Palace. Restoring the church after the fire of 1837, V.P. Stasov strove to recreate its original appearance. The space is divided into three volumes, two of which - the one closest to the entrance and the altar part - are double-height. The central part is crowned with a dome and accented with pylons with double fluted Corinthian columns. The walls are decorated with pilasters of the same order, which alternate with arched window openings that illuminate the church from both sides. A heavily profiled and loosened cornice separates the first tier from the upper row of windows. The main role in the decoration of the church is played by a gilded stucco ornament made of papier-mâché and painting: the ceiling "Ascension of Christ" by P.V. Basin in the narthex and images of four evangelists on sails, created by F.A. Bruni. The interior decoration was complemented by crimson draperies and gilded lamps.

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The Winter Palace during the 1941-1945 war. In the first days of the Great Patriotic War, many of the Hermitage's treasures were urgently evacuated, some of them were hidden in basements. To prevent fires in the buildings of the museum, the windows were bricked up or shuttered. In some rooms, the parquet floors were covered with a layer of sand. The Winter Palace was a major 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 on an area of ​​three hundred square meters, destroying the fire-fighting water supply installation in the attic. An attic vaulted ceiling with an area of ​​about six square meters was pierced. Another shell that hit the rostrum in front of the Winter Palace damaged the water main.

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Winter Palace during the war. Despite the difficult situation that existed in the besieged city, the Leningrad City Executive Committee on May 4, 1942 ordered the construction trust No. 16 to carry out urgent restoration work in the Hermitage, in which emergency restoration workshops took part. In the summer of 1942, they blocked the roof in places where it was damaged by shells, partially fixed the formwork, installed it in broken skylights or iron sheets, replaced the destroyed metal rafters with temporary wooden ones, and repaired the plumbing system.

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Winter Palace during the war. On May 12, 1943, an aerial bomb hit the building of the Winter Palace, partially destroying the roof over the St. George Hall and metal truss structures, and in the storeroom of the department of the history of Russian culture, damaged the brickwork of the wall. In the summer of 1943, despite the shelling, they continued to seal the roof and ceilings with tarred plywood, and skylights. On January 2, 1944, another shell hit the Armorial Hall, severely damaging the decoration and destroying two ceilings. The shell also pierced the ceiling of the Nikolaev Hall. But already in August 1944, the Soviet government decided to restore all the buildings of the museum. The restoration work required enormous efforts and took many years to complete. But, despite all the losses, the Winter Palace remains an outstanding monument of Baroque architecture.

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The Winter Palace at the present time. The Winter Palace, together with the buildings of the Small, Big and New Hermitages and the Hermitage Theater, form a single palace complex, which has few equal in world architecture. In terms of art and town planning, it belongs to the highest achievements of Russian architecture of the 8th-11th centuries. Today, all the halls of this palace ensemble, which have been built over the course of many years, are occupied by the State Hermitage. It is the largest museum in the world with huge art collections.

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The Winter Palace at the present time. Today's Winter Palace preserves the memory of different eras: Rastrelli's works amaze with their whimsical architectural fantasies; the appearance of the ceremonial premises reminds of official ceremonies; the design of residential apartments in the second half of the 19th century demonstrates a huge range of choice of architectural prototypes.

Winter Palace in St. Petersburg former imperial palace in the center of St. Petersburg (Palace Embankment, 38); from 1732 to March 2, 1917, the official winter residence of the Russian emperors. From July to November 1917 it served as a meeting place for the Provisional Government.

The current building of the palace (the fifth) was built in the years by the Italian architect B. F. Rastrelli. An architectural monument of the magnificent Elizabethan Baroque.

Where the Winter Palace now stands, at the beginning of the eighteenth century, only naval officials were allowed to build. Peter the Great exercised this right, being a shipbuilder under the name of Peter Alekseev, and in 1708 built a small Dutch-style house 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. First Winter Palace

Second Winter Palace In 1711, especially for the wedding of Peter I and Catherine, the architect Georg Mattarnovi, by order of the tsar, began to rebuild the wooden palace into a stone one. In the process, the architect Mattarnovi was retired and Trezzini headed the construction. In 1720, Peter I with all his family moved from a summer residence to a winter one. In 1723 the Senate was transferred to the Winter Palace. And in 1725 the emperor died in the palace

The Third Winter Palace Later, Empress Anna Ioannovna considered the Winter Palace too small and in 1731 commissioned F.B. Rastrelli, who offered her his project for the reconstruction of the Winter Palace. According to his project, it was required to acquire, at that time on the site occupied by the present palace, houses that belonged to Count Apraksin, the Naval Academy, Raguzinsky and Chernyshev. Anna Ioanovna approved the project, the houses were bought up, demolished and construction began. In 1735, the construction of the palace was completed, and Anna Ioanovna moved into it to live. Here on July 2, 1739, the betrothal of Princess Anna Leopoldovna to Prince Anton-Ulrich took place.

Third Winter Palace 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. Empress 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 added new buildings. According to the project drawn up by him, these buildings were to be added 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 redesign 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 decides to rebuild the entire building; the new project was signed by Elizaveta Petrovna on June 16, 1754.

Fifth (existing) winter palace In 1762, the currently existing palace building appeared. At that time, the Winter Palace became the tallest residential building in St. Petersburg. The building included about 1500 rooms. Elizaveta Petrovna did not live to see the end of construction, Peter III took over the job on April 6, 1762. By this time, the facades were finished, but many of the interior rooms were not yet ready. In the summer of 1762, Peter III was dethroned, and the construction of the Winter Palace was completed under Catherine II.