in St. Petersburg (2 Dvortsovaya Ploshchad / 38 Dvortsovaya Embankment) - the former imperial palace, now part of the Main Museum Complex of the State Hermitage. The current building of the palace (the fifth) was built in 1754-1762 by the Italian architect B. F. Rastrelli in the style of magnificent Elizabethan baroque with elements of French rococo in the interiors. It is a cultural heritage site of federal significance and a UNESCO World Heritage Site as part of the historical center of St. Petersburg.
Winter history
From the moment the construction was completed in 1762 to 1904, it was used as the official winter residence of the Russian emperors. In 1904, Nicholas II moved his permanent residence to the Alexander Palace in Tsarskoe Selo. From October 1915 to November 1917, a hospital named after Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich worked in the palace. From July to November 1917, the Provisional Government was located in the palace. In January 1920, the State Museum of the Revolution was opened in the palace, which shared the building with the State Hermitage until 1941.
and Palace Square form the most beautiful architectural ensemble of a modern city and are one of the main objects of domestic and international tourism.
Fifth (existing)
South facade on Palace Square
From 1754 to 1762, the construction of the existing and currently building of the palace, which at that time became the tallest residential building in St. Petersburg, was underway. The building included about 1500 rooms. The total area of the palace is about 60,000 square meters. 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.
First of all, the Empress removed Rastrelli from the work. The interior decoration of the palace was carried out by architects Y. M. Felten, J. B. Vallin-Delamot and A. Rinaldi under the leadership of Betsky.
According to the original, made by Rastrelli, the layout of the palace, the largest ceremonial halls were located on the 2nd floor and overlooked the Neva. As conceived by the architect, the path to the huge "Throne" hall (which occupied the entire space of the north-western wing) began from the east - from the "Jordan" or, as it was previously called, the "Ambassador" staircase and ran through a suite of five avant-halls ( of these, three middle halls later made up the current Nikolaevsky hall). In the south-western wing Rastrelli placed the palace theater "Opera House". Kitchens and other services occupied the northeastern wing, and in the southeastern part, between the living quarters and the "Big Church" arranged in the eastern courtyard, a gallery was thrown.
History of the Winter Palace
In 1763, the Empress moved her chambers to the southwestern part of the palace, under her rooms she ordered to place the chambers of her favorite G.G. Orlov (in 1764-1766, the Southern Pavilion of the Small Hermitage will be erected for Orlov, connected to Catherine's chambers by a gallery on the arch ). In the north-western projection, the "Throne Room" was arranged, in front of it there was a waiting room - the "White Hall". A dining room was placed behind the White Hall. Adjacent to it was the "Light Cabinet". The dining room was followed by the "State Bedchamber", which became the "Diamond Rest" a year later. In addition, the Empress ordered to equip a library, study, boudoir, two bedrooms and a dressing room for herself. In the restroom, the empress built a toilet seat from the throne of one of her lovers, the Polish king Poniatowski. In 1764, in Berlin, through agents, Catherine acquired from the merchant I. Gotskovsky a collection of 225 works by Dutch and Flemish artists. The paintings were housed in a secluded apartment of the palace, which received the French name "Hermitage" (a place of solitude); from 1767 to 1775 a special building was built for them to the east of the palace.
In the 1780s and 1790s, works on finishing the palace interiors were continued by I. Ye. Starov and G. Quarenghi.
In 1783, by order of Catherine, the palace theater was demolished.
In the 1790s, by the decree of Catherine II, who considered it inappropriate for the public to enter the Hermitage through her own chambers, a gallery-bridge with the Winter Palace - Apollo's Hall - was created, with the help of which visitors could bypass the royal apartments. At the same time, Quarenghi erected a new "Throne (Georgievsky)" hall, opened in 1795. The old throne room was converted into a number of rooms, provided for the quarters of the newly married Grand Duke Alexander. The "Marble Gallery" (of three halls) was also created.
In 1826, according to the project of K.I.Rossi, the Military Gallery was built in front of the St. In the early 1830s, in the eastern building of the palace, O. Montferrand designed the "Field Marshal", "Petrovsky" and "Armorial" halls.
After the fire of 1837, when all the interiors were destroyed, the architects V.P. Stasov, A.P. Bryullov and A.E.Shtaubert supervised the restoration work in the Winter Palace.
Where did the tradition of dividing the houses of monarchs into winter and summer ones come from? The roots of this phenomenon can be found even in the times of the Muscovy. 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 transferred this tradition to the new capital. The Emperor's Winter Palace stood on the site where the modern building is, and the Summer Palace can be found in the Summer Garden. It was built under the direction of Trezzini and is, in fact, a small two-story house with 14 rooms.
From house to palace
The history of the creation of the Winter Palace is not a secret to anyone: Empress Elizaveta Petrovna, a great lover of luxury, in 1752 ordered the architect Rastrelli to build the most beautiful palace in Russia for herself. 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 wooden palace of Anna Ioannovna, which was built under the leadership of Trezzini, replaced the house of the Great. But the building was not luxurious enough, so the empress, who returned the status of the capital to St. Petersburg, chose a new architect - Rastrelli. It was Rastrelli Sr., the father of the famous Francesco Bartolomeo. For almost 20 years, the new palace became the residence of the imperial family. And then the very Winter one, which 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 foundation. But the empress demanded to increase the height of the palace from 14 to 22 two meters. Rastrelli redesigned the building several times, and Elizabeth did not want to move the construction site, so the architect simply had to demolish the old palace and build a new one in its place. Only in 1754 the empress approved the project.
It is interesting that for a long time the Winter Palace remained the tallest building in St. Petersburg. In 1762, a decree was even issued prohibiting the construction of buildings in the capital above the imperial residence. It was because of this decree that the Singer company had to abandon its idea to build a skyscraper for itself on Nevsky Prospekt, like in New York, at the beginning of the 20th century. As a result, a tower was built over six floors with an attic and decorated with a globe, giving the impression of a height.
Elizabethan Baroque
The palace was built in the style of the so-called Elizabethan baroque. 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, at the end of the 18th century, Quarenghi, Montferrand, Rossi worked on the interior decoration, and after the notorious fire of 1837 - Stasov and Bryullov, so that baroque elements were not preserved everywhere. Details of the magnificent style remained in the interior of the famous front Jordan staircase. It got its name from the Jordan passage, which was nearby. Through him, on the feast of the Epiphany of the Lord, the imperial family and the higher clergy went to the ice hole in the Neva. This ceremony has traditionally been called the "move to Jordan". Baroque details are also preserved in the decoration of the Great Church. But the church was ruined, and now only a large ceiling by Fontebasso with the image of 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 Room and erected a new Nevskaya suite. Under the leadership of Quarenghi, the Georgievsky, or Great Throne Hall, was created. For him, a small extension had to be made to the eastern facade of the palace. At the end of the 19th century, the Red Boudoir, the Golden Lounge and the library of Nicholas II appeared.
Hard days of the Revolution
In the early days of the 1917 Revolution, sailors and workers stole a huge amount of treasures from the Winter Palace. Only a few days later, the Soviet government guessed to take the building under protection. A year later, the palace was given over to the Museum of the Revolution, so part of the interiors was rebuilt. For example, the Romanov Gallery was destroyed, where there were portraits of all the emperors and members of their families, and in the Nicholas Hall they began to show films at all. In 1922, part of the building was transferred to the Hermitage, and only by 1946 the entire Winter Palace became part of the museum.
During the Great Patriotic War, the palace building suffered from air raids and shelling. With the beginning of the war, most of the exhibits exhibited in the Winter Palace were sent for storage to the Ipatievsky mansion, the same one where the family of Emperor Nicholas II was shot. About 2000 people lived in the Hermitage bomb shelters. They did their best to preserve the exhibits remaining within the walls of the palace. Sometimes they had to fish for china and chandeliers floating in flooded basements.
Furry guards
Not only did the water threaten to spoil the art, but also the voracious rats. For the first time, a mustachioed army for the Winter Palace was sent from Kazan in 1745. Catherine II did not like cats, but she left striped defenders at court in the status of "guards of art galleries." During the blockade, all the cats in the city died, because of which 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.
St. Petersburg is the northern capital of immense Russia, accustomed to amaze us with its special individuality, originality of tastes and ambition. Hundreds of magnificent sights attract the views of many tourists and indigenous people every year. One of them is the Winter Palace, which is an invaluable monument of history and architecture of the past.
Description
Like many buildings, the building is distinguished by its pompousness, which is successfully combined with the special style and handwriting of the author, which we will talk about even later. The St. Petersburg Winter Palace is a cultural heritage of Russia, one of the main attractions of the country, which keeps interesting historical events and facts. There are many legends and myths around the Palace, some of which can be fully justified by historical facts.
Thanks to the splendor of the building, being next to it or inside it, you can fully experience the imperial spirit and features of several centuries ago. You can also enjoy magnificent architectural solutions, which to this day are considered the standard of beauty and sophistication. The design of the Winter Palace has changed more than once over the centuries, so we can observe the building not in its original form, which, however, does not make it less significant and worthy of attention, since all the main features conceived by the author of the project, Francesco Rastrelli, have been carefully preserved and transferred by architects from different times. This majestic building is located on the Palace Square of the northern city and perfectly reconnects with the surrounding landscape.
The history of the creation and development of the palace
The building is made in the style called Since the times of the USSR, its territory has been equipped for the main part. In earlier times, the Winter Palace was always the main residence of the emperors of Russia. To fully experience the greatness of this place, you must turn to the history of its creation.
Under the government of Peter I, in 1712, according to the law, it was impossible to give land to ordinary people. Such territories were reserved for the upper class sailors. The site on which the Winter Palace is located today was taken under the control of Peter I.
From the very beginning, the emperor built a small and cozy house here, near which, closer to winter, a small groove was dug and which was given the name Winter. Actually, the further name of the palace came from this.
For many years, the Russian emperor summoned various architects to renovate his house, and now, years later, from an ordinary wooden house, the building turned into a large stone palace.
Who built the Winter Palace? In 1735, Francesco Rastrelli was appointed the chief architect who worked on the building, who had the idea of buying out neighboring land plots and expanding the structure of the palace, which he told Anna Ioannovna, the ruler of Russia at that time.
The task assigned to the architect
It was this architect who became the creator of the image of the Winter Palace, which we are all used to observing. However, it is worth remembering that some features of the building have changed over time, but still the main ideas and works of Francesco Rastrelli have remained unchanged to this day.
The Winter Palace acquired its present appearance with the accession to the imperial throne of Elizabeth Petrovna. As the ruler considered, the building does not look like a Palace, worthy of Russian emperors. Therefore, Rastrelli received a task - to modernize the structure and design of the building, because of which he acquired a new look.
During the construction of the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, the hands of 4,000 workers were used, many of whom Rastrelli personally invited to cooperate with. Every detail that differs from other elements of the building was thought out by the great architect personally and successfully brought to life.
About the architecture of the building
The architectural component of the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg is truly multifaceted. The great height of the building is emphasized by weighty double columns. The chosen baroque style in itself brings notes of splendor and aristocracy. According to the plan, the Palace occupies a square-shaped territory, which includes 4 wings. The building itself is three-story, the doors of which open onto the courtyard.
The main facade of the palace is cut by an arch, the other sides of the building are made in an exquisite style, which is expressed in the unique sense of Rastrelli's taste and his unusual solutions, which can be traced everywhere. These include the extraordinary layout of the facades, differences in the design of the facades, noticeable projections, uneven construction of columns, and the author's special emphasis on the stepped corners of the building attracts attention.
The Winter Palace, a photo of which is presented to your attention in the article, has 1084 rooms, where in total there are 1945 window structures. According to the plan, it contains 117 staircases. Another unusual and memorable fact is that at that time it was a building with a very large, by European standards, amount of metal in its structures.
The color of the building is not uniform and is made mainly in sandy shades, which are Rastrelli's personal decision. After several reconstructions, the color scheme of the palace changed, but today the authorities of St. Petersburg came to the conclusion that the best solution is to recreate the appearance of the palace exactly in the version that was originally conceived by the great architect.
A few words about the architect
Francesco Rastrelli was born in the capital of France in 1700. His father was a talented Italian sculptor who had no difficulty in recognizing in his son the future skillful architect. After completing his studies in 1716, he and his father came to live in Russia.
Until 1722, Francesco worked only as an assistant to his father, but by 1722 he was ripe for starting an independent career, which at first did not develop very well in a very inhospitable country for him. Rastrelli Jr. spent 8 years traveling around Europe, where he did not work most of the time, but received new knowledge in Germany, Italy, France and other countries. By 1730, he had formed his own vision of the Baroque style, which was reflected in his most ambitious project - the Winter Palace.
The architect has worked on the creation and reconstruction of buildings in Russia more than once. His main work fell on the period from 1732 to 1755.
Exclusive facts about the Winter Palace
The building is the richest building in St. Petersburg, and the value of its exhibits still cannot be accurately calculated. The Winter Palace has many secrets and interesting stories, of which the following can be distinguished:
- During the war against the German invaders, the color of the palace was red. The building acquired its current white-green color only after the war in 1946.
- At the end of construction work, so much construction waste had accumulated on the square in front of the Palace that it could have taken weeks to clean up. However, the king came up with an interesting idea: he allowed absolutely anyone to take any thing from these building materials left over from work. The area in front of the building was cleared in no time.
Fire
In 1837, all the efforts of Francesco Rastrelli and other architects practically came to naught. A terrible event happened: in the palace, due to a malfunction of the chimney, a considerable fire broke out, and 2 companies of specialists were called in to extinguish it. For 30 hours, firefighters tried to reduce the flames by laying bricks on windows and other openings, but this did not bring any result. The fire died down only a day after the start of the fire, incinerating almost all the beauty of the structure. From the former palace, only the walls and columns remained, which were scorched by the high temperature.
Renovation work
The restoration work began immediately and lasted 3 years. Unfortunately, from the first buildings, the craftsmen of that time did not have any drawings, so they had to include improvisation and come up with a new style literally on the go. As a result, the "seventh version" of the palace appeared with a predominance of light green and white shades and gilding inside.
Along with the new look, electrification came to the palace. The largest power plant in all of Europe (considered as such for 15 years) was installed on the 2nd floor and provided electricity to the entire building.
It was not only a fire that knocked on the doors of the Winter Palace with bad news. So, this building at one time survived an assault, and an attempt on the life of Alexander II, and numerous bombings during the Great Patriotic War.
For modern tourists
Today, you can walk through the halls of the Winter Palace by ordering one of the many excursions, individual or in a group. The doors of the museum are open to visitors from 10:00 to 18:00 and close only on Monday - the official day off.
You can buy tickets for a tour of the Winter Palace directly at the ticket office of the museum, or by ordering them from a tour operator. They are not always available due to the high popularity of the building, especially during the tourist season. Therefore, it is better to buy tickets in advance.
Initially, Peter I settled in a one-story house that was built hastily in 1703 near the Peter and Paul Fortress. Subsequently, five winter palaces were erected on this site by different emperors in the period 1711-1764. It was only in 1762 that the currently existing palace building appeared. At that time, the Winter Palace became the tallest residential building in St. Petersburg. 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. To have an idea of the size of the erected palace, it is enough to give at least some data. The building has 1057 rooms, 117 stairs, 1945 windows. The total length of the main cornice flanking the building is almost 2 km. And on the parapet of the roof there are 176 sculptural figures, alternating with vases. The palace was built at the same time by more than 4000 stonemasons and plasterers, marblers and modelers, packers and painters. Receiving a paltry salary for their work, they huddled in miserable hovels, many lived here, on the square, in huts.
In December 1837, a fire broke out in the Winter Palace. For 30 hours, the flames raged, which destroyed the entire decoration of the building to ashes. But before the walls of the palace had cooled down, restoration work began by order of the emperor. They were led by architects Stasov and Bryullov.
For the revival of the royal winter residence, a huge number of builders were mobilized, who worked in difficult, inhuman conditions. During cold weather of 25 - 30 degrees of frost, 6,000 unknown workers were imprisoned in halls heated to 30 degrees Celsius to dry the walls as soon as possible. Thus, these people, entering and exiting the building, experienced a difference in temperature of 50 to 60 degrees. People were suffocating from the heat and steam, fell from the forests and crashed, fell in the streets and died. But new ones took the place of those who left, and the work did not stop for a single hour. The builders withstood the deadline set by the emperor: in 15 months the palace ball was completely restored. Its exterior has been recreated almost exactly in accordance with Rastrelli's designs, while the interior rooms have been planned and refurbished.
From the moment the construction was completed in 1762 to 1904, it was used as the official winter residence of the Russian emperors. In 1904, Nicholas II moved his permanent residence to the Alexander Palace in Tsarskoe Selo. From October 1915 to November 1917, a hospital named after Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich worked in the palace. From July to November 1917, the Provisional Government was located in the palace. In January 1920, the State Museum of the Revolution was opened in the palace, which shared the building with the State Hermitage until 1941 .. Now all the premises of the palace have been transferred to the Hermitage to house its numerous collections of paintings, sculptures, objects of applied art, coins, and precious items. In order to get acquainted with the exposition of all the halls, you will need to travel 22 km. And if each exhibit lingers for only one minute, then it will take 11 years to inspect the museum (if you spend 8 hours in it every day).
The Winter Palace in St. Petersburg is one of the most famous landmarks of this city, along with the cruiser Aurora. Now it houses the world famous Hermitage exhibition, which attracts hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world every year.
- Throughout its history, the Winter Palace was the residence of monarchs, a military hospital, the place of work of the Provisional Government, and then it housed the Hermitage exposition. Before the beginning of the Second World War, half of the palace halls were occupied by the Museum of the Revolution.
- In total, there were five winter palaces in St. Petersburg, which were built for themselves by the Russian emperors. The Elizabethan Baroque building on Palace Square was the last of them.
- At the time of the completion of construction, the palace was the tallest building in St. Petersburg, and until 1905 it was forbidden by law to build houses that exceeded the tsar's residence in height. The palace, with an area of about 60 thousand square meters, originally consisted of 1,500 rooms.
- The customer of the new palace, Elizaveta Petrovna, died before the end of construction. Peter III took the job, but during the time it took to finish the facades, the monarch managed to be overthrown from the throne by his wife Catherine.
- The beginning of the Hermitage was laid by Catherine II, who received from Germany in payment of a debt 317 valuable paintings by Dutch artists. At least 96 of these paintings have been preserved in the museum's funds to this day. The Empress placed her canvases in remote chambers of the palace, calling these rooms the Hermitage (translated from French as “a secluded place”).
- Now the palace has more than 1050 rooms, about 1950 windows and 117 staircases. The length of the cornice encircling the building is 2 kilometers.
- The parapet by Rastrelli is decorated with 176 sculptures. The exact number of vases on the facade is unknown.
- 4,000 workers and craftsmen from all over the empire were involved in the construction of the palace.
- After the completion of the construction of the palace, a huge pile of rubbish remained on the square in front of it. Peter the Third came up with an unexpected solution to this problem - the townspeople were told that they could take whatever they wanted from the square, and a few hours later it was empty.
- In the 1830s, the palace burned down. More than 6,000 thousand workers were able to eliminate the consequences of the fire in 15 months, returning a roof over their heads to the monarchs.
- During its existence, the palace was rebuilt many times - it was red, pink and even brown. Finally, after the war, the façade was painted with white and green paint - it is this color that Russians now associate with the Hermitage.
- Ordinary Russians gained access to the palace only in 1851, when a museum was opened in some of the luxurious premises. True, few tickets were sold, and they cost a lot of money.
- After coming to power, the Bolsheviks renamed the Winter Palace of Arts, but the new name did not take root among the people.
- During the Second World War, 12 bomb shelters for Leningraders were arranged under the Winter Palace. The building was hit by 2 aerial bombs and 17 shells, but they were able to eliminate all the destruction and reopen the museum for visitors in just six months after the victory in the war.
- Alexander Sokurov shot within the walls of the Winter Palace the first film in the history of Russian cinema, for the creation of which editing was not used. The shooting lasted for about an hour and a half.
