Winter Palace: wiki: Facts about Russia. History of the Winter Palace
Winter Palace in St. Petersburg: history and modernity. Who created the projects and built, why did not all the owners like to lodge in the palace?
The main and largest residence of the Russian tsars, the Winter Palace, is the creation of the architect Bartolomeo Francesco Rastrelli (1700 - 1771). An Italian Parisian who gave St. Petersburg such a recognizable ceremonial appearance.
The imposing building of the palace, with one of its facades reflected in the smooth surface of the Neva, and with the other overlooking the vast Palace Square, inspires awe with a gigantic scope. The Russians, when looking at him, feel legitimate pride in their homeland! A square stretched out along the embankment for 210 meters - its width is equal to 175 meters!
Short description
The surviving complex of the Winter Palace was built in the middle of the 18th century in the Baroque architectural style. Differing in splendor and richness of details. Initially, the interiors were designed in exactly the same style. Today looking excessively pretentious.
In the 70s of the century, under Catherine II, more modestly decorated rooms appeared inside. But, however, more elegant and stylish - they were created by architects Ivan Yegorovich Starov and Giacomo Quarenghi.
The exact number of indoor halls is not reported anywhere: there are approximately 1,100 of them. And the total area of \u200b\u200bthe premises is approximately 60,000 m2!
You should not think that this is unsuitable for, say, the Royal Palace of Madrid. Just the area and height (on 2 floors) of the ceremonial halls of the royal residence has no precedents in Europe ... and the world. Go through them - you will learn a lot of interesting things!
Note that the palace was not always painted in turquoise and white colors. After the fire of 1837, for example, it was repainted in sand-buff. White columns and architectural decor initially stood out against the background of the walls, but later everything was painted over “sandstone-like”.
During the construction of the General Staff building, the architect Karl Ivanovich Rossi proposed to paint everything in a strict gray color with white decoration and columns. It should have turned out very solemnly ... but the project did not receive approval.
Today, the Winter Palace has regained its historical color: turquoise walls with white columns and yellow architectural decor.
- Interestingly, until the second half of the 19th century, buildings were not built in St. Petersburg that were higher than the Winter Palace, that is, 23.5 meters!
What can be seen
Collections are located in the Winter Palace, as well as the Small, Old and New Hermitages attached to it later. And one of the largest in the world, of course. The collection has more than 3 million items!
In addition to a gigantic collection of paintings and sculptures, tapestries and vases, jewelry, the Egyptian collection, visitors can see the original decoration of the ceremonial and residential enfilades. As well as halls for receptions and balls, chamber rooms for work and everyday life of royalty, their relatives and guests.
- The Gold and Diamond Storerooms are visited with separate tickets and only with a guided tour!
History and architecture
Initially, on the site where the Winter Palace is located, the mansion of Admiral Fyodor Matveyevich Apraksin was located. Which is quite logical, because the Admiralty, which built the Russian fleet, is also located nearby.
According to the memoirs of contemporaries, the admiral's estate was the largest and most beautiful in all of St. Petersburg. After the death of the naval commander, the buildings and lands were transferred to the young emperor Peter II, since the Apraksins were relatives of the Romanovs.
First Winter Palace
Erected in the depths of the site between the Neva and Millionnaya streets. In 1712, the wooden two-storey building was rebuilt in stone. As a wedding gift, it was presented to the Tsar by Alexander Danilovich Menshikov.
The residence was rebuilt and expanded according to the design of the architect Georg Mattarnovi in 1716-1720. The construction was carried out, among other things, on the bulk territory reclaimed from the Neva.
The Second Winter Palace was located where the Hermitage Theater stands today. Interestingly, during the restructuring of 1783-1787, the private quarters of Peter I and Ekaterina Alekseevna on the ground floor were carefully preserved.
Peter moved to the winter residence from his in 1720. And here in 1725 the first emperor of Russia died (28.01-8.02 according to the new style).
In 1732-1735, a third palace was built for Empress Anna Ioannovna. Designed by Francesco Rastrelli's father, Carlo Bartolomeo. It was much more sweeping than the Peter's residence. And it was located mainly on the other side of the Winter Canal, closer to the Admiralty.
The era of Elizabeth Petrovna
At the time of Peter's daughter, who adored luxury, outbuildings and service buildings were attached to the palazzo with might and main. The complex grew beyond any master plan. And more and more like some Istanbul Topkapi, rather than a European residence. As a result, they decided that this was unworthy of a great empire and set about building a new palace.
The complex that has survived to this day was built according to the project of the architect Rastrelli son. It was laid down under the Empress Elizabeth Petrovna (1754) and basically completed (1762) only under Catherine II.
The surviving building is considered the fifth Winter Palace. Since at the time of its construction for the residence of Elizabeth Petrovna, a fourth was built - a wooden one.
It was located a little further away: on Nevsky Prospekt, between Moika and Malaya Morskaya Street. The construction of the temporary residence was carried out in the spring and summer of 1755 and was completed by November.
The queen's private quarters were located along the Moika. The windows overlooked, and to this day standing on the other side of the river.
The wing in which the heir to the throne lived, the future Peter III, with his wife Ekaterina Alekseevna (future Catherine II), stretched out along Malaya Morskaya Street.
Under Catherine II
In 1764, Empress Catherine II bought the collection that laid the foundation for the Hermitage's world-famous collection. Initially, the canvases were placed in the private chambers of the palace and were not available for inspection. And the name came from the French l’Ermitage, that is, “secluded”.
- Completion, alteration (Catherine did not favor the "golden" splendor of her predecessor) and the expansion of the palace continued throughout the reign of Catherine the Great (1762-1796)
Little has survived from the time of this empress - under Nicholas I, the interiors were thoroughly rebuilt. The only evidence of the preferences and tastes of the brilliant Catherine's era is
- the magnificent Loggias of Raphael, created according to the most accurate copies that arrived from the Papal Palace in the Vatican;
- and the magnificent Great Palace Church, exactly recreated by Stasov after the fire of 1837.
A special building for the Loggias along the Winter Canal was created by Giacomo Quarenghi.
Elizabeth moved into her new winter residence long before finishing. But the building was "commissioned" by its heir, Emperor Peter II. Settled in new apartments in April 1762.
The enfilade of ceremonial halls occupied the entire length of the northern, Neva facade of the palace. And in the north-eastern risalit there is the Embassy or Jordan stairs. Opposite it, on the Neva, on Epiphany, according to tradition, a hole was cut through, in which water was consecrated.
Empress Catherine II did not really like the Winter Palace, like her predecessor. Rastrelli was immediately dismissed from business, and the work was entrusted to the architect Jean-Baptiste Vallin-Delamote. In 1764-1775, in collaboration with Yuri Matveyevich Felten, he created the Small Hermitage.
In which Catherine arranged private evenings and kept art collections. For walks, the empress arranged the Hanging Garden.
The luxurious Pavilion Hall at the end of the building overlooking the Neva was created later, in the middle of the 19th century, according to the project of Andrei Ivanovich Stackenschneider. Today it houses the famous clock in the form of a peacock and a unique ancient Roman mosaic.
From Paul to Nicholas II
Paul I was forced to live in the Winter Palace while his own residence, the Mikhailovsky Castle, was being built. But the two subsequent emperors: Alexander I and Nicholas I, lodged mainly here.
The first loved to travel and therefore did not see much difference where he lived. The second literally personified himself with the power of Russia. And he could not think of living in any other, smaller palace. Most of the surviving front and residential interiors date back to the reign of Nicholas I.
In the first third of the 19th century, according to the project of the architect Karl Ivanovich Rossi, the Military Gallery was created in memory of the heroes of the Patriotic War, and a number of other premises.
1837 fire and rebuilding
By the way, it was under Nicholas I, in 1837, that a grand fire occurred in the Winter Palace. After which the residence was restored literally from scratch. The tragic incident happened shortly before Christmas, on the evening of December 17 (29 New Style). The cause is believed to have been a fire in the chimney.
During the restoration, innovative construction solutions were used for that time. In particular, iron beams in the ceilings, and new chimney systems. And, perhaps, that is why the palace after the repair was preserved in its unchanged appearance - the ceremonial interiors turned out to be too luxurious ...
The restoration work was led by: Vasily Petrovich Stasov and Alexander Pavlovich Bryullov. By the way, the brother of the famous painter who wrote the epic "The Last Day of Pompeii." More than 8,000 people worked daily at the construction site.
Most of the halls received a different decoration in the style of a mature Russian Empire. Interiors have become much more luxurious than before.
Under Alexander II, the residential halls of the Winter Palace were thoroughly altered, arranging them in the fashion of that time.
The next two kings preferred not to live here. Alexander III and his family left the city for security reasons. And when he left the Grand Gatchina Palace, he stopped at Anichkov Palace on Nevsky Prospekt.
His eldest son, Nicholas II, mainly used the Winter Palace for sumptuous balls. Although the personal apartments of the last emperor have been preserved on the second floor of the western suite.
Foreign sovereigns who visited St. Petersburg usually lived here as in a hotel. Entire suites of halls were assigned to the needs of the next guest. The grand dukes also lodged in the imperial residence - there was enough space for everyone.
Winter Palace: halls
The interiors were often rebuilt in accordance with the wishes of the new kings, but the main halls, the main purpose of which was to throw dust in the eyes of foreign sovereigns and envoys, as well as their own subjects, remained unchanged.
The Jordanian staircase, recreated on the site of the Rastrelli Embassy, received a luxurious design: a marble balustrade, giant double columns of Serdobol granite on the second floor, a picturesque plafond "Olympus" with an area of 200 m2 on the ceiling by the Italian painter Gasparo Diziani...
Neva front suite
It begins with the Nikolaevsky anteroom, followed by the stately and austere Great Nikolaevsky Hall. This is the largest room in the palace, its area is 1103 m2! Today, the premises are used mainly for exhibitions.
Behind the Nikolaevsky are the Concert Hall and (with windows to the Neva) the famous Malachite Drawing Room. The interior, which was decorated with 125 pounds of Ural malachite, was created by the architect Alexander Bryullov, who once opened the personal suite of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, wife of Nicholas I.
Here they dressed for the wedding and Alexandra Feodorovna, the bride of Nicholas II. Festive family breakfasts were also held here before the family moved to the Alexander Palace.
The following rooms were subsequently used as residential by Nicholas II - the apartments of the last emperor were located on the second floor opposite the Admiralty building.
Eastern enfilade
The front rooms (from the Jordan Stairs perpendicular to the Neva) are opened by the Field Marshal's Hall, created even before the fire of 1837 according to the project of Auguste Montferrand (author of St. Isaac's Cathedral). It is decorated with portraits of great Russian commanders: Suvorov, Rumyantsev, Kutuzov.
Next comes the Petrovsky or Small Throne, and behind it the majestic Armorial Hall, created by Stasov in 1837. On the left are: the Military Gallery of 1812 and the luxurious George or Great Throne Hall, all lined with Carrara marble.
Practical Information
Address: Russia, St. Petersburg, Dvortsovaya emb. 32
Opening hours: 10:30 - 18:00: Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, Sunday; 10.30-21.00: Wednesday, Friday. Monday is a day off
Ticket prices: 600 rubles - an adult (400 - for citizens of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus), children under 18 years old, students and pensioners of the Russian Federation are free!
Official website: www.hermitagemuseum.org
You can get to the Winter Palace on foot from the Admiralteyskaya or Nevsky Prospekt metro stations: 5-10 minutes: look.
The development of the territory to the east of the Admiralty began simultaneously with the emergence of the shipyard. In 1705, a house was erected on the banks of the Neva for the "Great Admiralty" - Fyodor Matveyevich Apraksin. By 1711, the place of the current palace was occupied by the mansions of the nobility involved in the fleet (only naval officials could build here).
The first wooden Winter House of "Dutch architecture" according to Trezzini's "exemplary project" under a tiled roof was built in 1711 for the tsar, as for shipbuilding master Peter Alekseev. A canal was dug in front of its facade in 1718, which later became the Winter Canal. Peter called it "his office." Especially for the wedding of Peter and Ekaterina Alekseevna, the wooden palace was rebuilt into a modestly decorated two-story stone house with a tiled roof, which had a descent to the Neva. According to some historians, the wedding feast took place in the great hall of this first Winter Palace.
The second Winter Palace was built in 1721 according to the project of Mattarnovi. Its main façade overlooked the Neva. In it, Peter lived his last years.
The Third Winter Palace appeared as a result of the reconstruction and expansion of this palace according to the Trezzini project. Parts of it later became part of the Hermitage Theater created by Quarenghi. During the restoration work, fragments of the Peter's Palace inside the theater were discovered: the main courtyard, stairs, canopy, rooms. Now here, in essence, the Hermitage exposition "The Winter Palace of Peter the Great."
In 1733-1735, according to the project of Bartolomeo Rastrelli, on the site of the former palace of Fyodor Apraksin, bought out for the empress, the fourth Winter Palace was built - the palace of Anna Ioannovna. Rastrelli used the walls of the luxurious chambers of Apraksin, erected back in the times of Peter the Great by the architect Leblon.
The Fourth Winter Palace stood approximately in the same place where we see the current one, and was much more elegant than the previous palaces.
The Fifth Winter Palace for the temporary stay of Elizabeth Petrovna and her court was again built by Bartolomeo Francesco Rastrelli (in Russia he was often called Bartholomew Varfolomeevich). It was a huge wooden building from the Moika to Malaya Morskaya and from Nevsky Prospekt to Kirpichny Lane. There was no trace of him for a long time. Many researchers of the history of the creation of the current Winter Palace do not even remember it, considering the fifth - the modern Winter Palace.
The current Winter Palace is the sixth in a row. It was built from 1754 to 1762 according to the project of Bartolomeo Rastrelli for Empress Elizabeth Petrovna and is a vivid example of magnificent baroque. But Elizabeth did not have time to live in the palace - she died, so Catherine the Second became the first real mistress of the Winter Palace.
In 1837, the Winter Hall burned down - the fire started in the Field Marshal's Hall and lasted for three whole days, all this time the servants of the palace took out of it works of art that adorned the royal residence, a huge mountain of statues, paintings, precious trinkets grew around the Alexander Column ... They say that nothing is missing...
The Winter Palace was restored after a fire in 1837 without any major external changes, by 1839 the work was completed, they were led by two architects: Alexander Bryullov (brother of the great Karl) and Vasily Stasov (author of the Spaso-Perobrazhensky and Trinity-Izmailovsky cathedrals). The number of sculptures around the perimeter of its roof was only reduced.
Over the centuries, the color of the facades of the Winter Palace changed from time to time. Initially, the walls were painted with "sandy paint with the finest yellowing", the decor was white lime. Before the First World War, the palace acquired an unexpected red-brick color, which gave the palace a gloomy look. A contrasting combination of green walls, white columns, capitals and stucco decoration appeared in 1946.
Exterior view of the Winter Palace
Rastrelli built not just a royal residence - the palace was built "for the sole glory of the All-Russian", as was said in the decree of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna to the Governing Senate. The palace is distinguished from European buildings of the Baroque style by the brightness, cheerfulness of the figurative structure, festive solemn elation. Its more than 20-meter height is emphasized by two-tiered columns. The vertical division of the palace is continued by statues and vases, leading the eye to the sky. The height of the Winter Palace has become a building standard, elevated to the principle of St. Petersburg urban planning. It was not allowed to build higher than the Winter Building in the old city.
The palace is a giant quadrangle with a large courtyard. The facades of the palace, different in composition, form, as it were, folds of a huge ribbon. The stepped cornice, repeating all the ledges of the building, stretched for almost two kilometers. The absence of sharply protruding parts along the northern facade, from the side of the Neva (there are only three divisions here), enhances the impression of the length of the building along the embankment; two wings on the western side face the Admiralty. The main façade overlooking the Palace Square has seven articulations, it is the most ceremonial. In the middle, protruding part, there is a triple arcade of entrance gates, decorated with a magnificent openwork lattice. The southeastern and southwestern risalits protrude beyond the line of the main facade. Historically, it was in them that the living quarters of emperors and empresses were located.
The layout of the Winter Palace
Bartolomeo Rastrelli already had experience in building royal palaces in Tsarskoye Selo and Peterhof. In the scheme of the Winter Palace, he laid the standard planning option, which he had previously tested. The basement of the palace was used as housing for servants or storage rooms. The first floor housed service and utility rooms. The second floor housed the ceremonial ceremonial halls and private apartments of the imperial family. The third floor housed the ladies-in-waiting, doctors and close servants. This layout assumed predominantly horizontal connections between the various rooms of the palace, which was reflected in the endless corridors of the Winter Palace.
The northern facade is distinguished by the fact that it houses three huge front halls. The Neva enfilade included: the Small Hall, the Bolshoi (Nikolaev Hall) and the Concert Hall. A large enfilade unfolded along the axis of the Main Staircase, going perpendicular to the Nevsky enfilade. It included the Field Marshal's Hall, the Petrovsky Hall, the Armorial (White) Hall, the Picket (New) Hall. A special place in the series of halls was occupied by the memorial Military Gallery of 1812, the solemn St. George and Apollo Halls. The ceremonial halls included the Pompeii Gallery and the Winter Garden. The route of the royal family's passage through the suite of ceremonial halls had a deep meaning. The scenario of the Great Exits, worked out to the smallest detail, served not only as a demonstration of the full splendor of autocratic power, but also as an appeal to the past and present of Russian history.
As in any other palace of the imperial family, there was a church in the Winter Palace, or rather, two churches: Big and Small. According to the plan of Bartolomeo Rastrelli, the Big Church was supposed to serve the Empress Elizaveta Petrovna and her “large court”, while the Small Church was supposed to serve the “young court” - the court of the heir-prince Peter Fedorovich and his wife Ekaterina Alekseevna.
Interiors of the Winter Palace
If the exterior of the palace is made in the late Russian baroque style. The interiors are mostly made in the style of early classicism. One of the few interiors of the palace that has retained its original Baroque decoration is the main Jordan Staircase. It occupies a huge space of almost 20 meters in height and seems even higher due to the ceiling painting. Reflected in the mirrors, the real space seems even larger. The staircase created by Bartolomeo Rastrelli after the fire of 1837 was restored by Vasily Stasov, who preserved the general plan of Rastrelli. The decor of the stairs is infinitely varied - mirrors, statues, fancy gilded stucco, varying the motif of a stylized shell. The forms of baroque decor became more restrained after the replacement of wooden columns lined with pink stucco (artificial marble) with monolithic granite columns.
Of the three halls of the Neva Enfilade, the Anteroom is the most restrained in terms of decoration. The main decor is concentrated in the upper part of the hall - these are allegorical compositions executed in monochrome technique (grisaille) on a gilded background. Since 1958, a malachite rotunda has been installed in the center of the Anteroom (at first it was in the Tauride Palace, then in the Alexander Nevsky Lavra).
The largest hall of the Neva Enfilade, the Nikolaevsky Hall, is decorated more solemnly. This is one of the largest halls of the Winter Palace, its area is 1103 sq. m. The three-quarter columns of the magnificent Corinthian order, the painting of the plafond border and huge chandeliers give it splendor. The hall is designed in white.
The concert hall, designed at the end of the 18th century for court concerts, has a richer sculptural and pictorial decoration than the two previous halls. The hall is decorated with statues of muses installed in the second tier of the walls above the columns. This hall completed the enfilade and was originally conceived by Rastrelli as a threshold to the throne room. In the middle of the 20th century, a silver tomb of Alexander Nevsky (transferred to the Hermitage after the revolution) weighing about 1500 kg, created at the Mint of St. Petersburg in 1747-1752, was installed in the hall. for the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, in which the relics of the Holy Prince Alexander Nevsky are kept to this day.
A large enfilade begins with the Field Marshal's Hall, designed to accommodate portraits of field marshals; he was supposed to give an idea of the political and military history of Russia. Its interior was created, as well as the neighboring Petrovsky (or Small Throne) Hall, by architect Auguste Montferan in 1833 and restored after a fire in 1837 by Vasily Stasov. The main purpose of the Petrovsky Hall is memorial - it is dedicated to the memory of Peter the Great, so its decoration is particularly pompous. In the gilded decor of the frieze, in the painting of the vaults - the coats of arms of the Russian Empire, crowns, wreaths of glory. In a huge niche with a rounded vault there is a picture depicting Peter I, led by the goddess Minerva to victories; in the upper part of the side walls there are paintings with scenes of the most important battles of the Northern War - at Lesnaya and near Poltava. In the decorative motifs that adorn the hall, the monogram of two Latin letters “P”, denoting the name of Peter I, is endlessly repeated - “Petrus Primus”
The Armorial Hall is decorated with shields with the coats of arms of Russian provinces of the 19th century, located on huge chandeliers that illuminate it. This is an example of the late classical style. The porticos on the end walls hide the hugeness of the hall, the continuous gilding of the columns emphasizes its splendor. Four sculptural groups of warriors of Ancient Russia remind of the heroic traditions of the defenders of the fatherland and anticipate the Gallery of 1812 following it.
The most perfect creation of Stasov in the Winter Palace is the St. George (Large Throne) Hall. The Quarenghi Hall, created on the same site, perished in a fire in 1837. Stasov, having retained the architectural design of Quarenghi, created a completely different artistic image. The walls are lined with Carrara marble, and the columns are carved from it. The decor of the ceiling and columns is made of gilded bronze. The ceiling ornament is repeated in the parquet made of 16 precious woods. Only the double-headed eagle and St. George are absent from the floor drawing - it is unsuitable to step on the emblems of the great empire. The gilded silver throne was restored in its original place in 2000 by architects and restorers of the Hermitage. Above the throne place is a marble bas-relief of Saint George slaying the dragon, by the Italian sculptor Francesco del Nero.
Hosts of the Winter Palace
The customer of the construction was the daughter of Peter the Great, Empress Elizaveta Petrovna, she hurried Rastrelli with the construction of the palace, so the work was carried out at a frantic pace. The private chambers of the Empress (two bedchambers and an office), the chambers of Tsarevich Pavel Petrovich and some premises adjacent to the chambers: the Church, the Opera House and the Bright Gallery were hastily finished. But the empress did not have time to live in the palace. She died in December 1761. The first owner of the Winter Palace was the nephew of the Empress (the son of her older sister Anna) Peter III Fedorovich. The Winter Palace was solemnly consecrated and commissioned by Easter 1762. Peter III immediately started alterations in the southwestern risalit. The rooms included an office and a library. It was planned to create an Amber Hall on the model of Tsarskoye Selo. For his wife, he determined chambers in the southwestern risalit, the windows of which overlooked the industrial zone of the Admiralty.
The emperor lived in the palace only until June 1762, after which, without knowing it, he left it forever, moving to his beloved Oranienbaum, where he signed a renunciation at the end of July, shortly after which he was killed in the Ropsha Palace.
The “brilliant age” of Catherine II began, who became the first real mistress of the Winter Palace, and the southeastern risalit, overlooking Millionnaya Street and Palace Square, became the first of the “residence zones” of the owners of the palace. After the coup, Catherine II basically continued to live in a wooden Elizabethan palace, and in August she left for Moscow for her coronation. Construction work in Zimny did not stop, but they were already carried out by other architects: Jean Baptiste Vallin-Delamot, Antonio Rinaldi, Yuri Felten. Rastrelli was first sent on vacation, and then retired. Catherine returned from Moscow at the beginning of 1863 and moved her chambers to the southwestern risalit, showing the continuity from Elizabeth Petrovna to Peter III and to her, the new empress. All work on the west wing has been cancelled. On the site of the chambers of Peter III, with the personal participation of the Empress, a complex of personal chambers of Catherine was built. It included: the Audience Chamber, which replaced the Throne Room; Dining room with two windows; Restroom; two casual bedrooms; Boudoir; Office and Library. All rooms were designed in the style of early classicism. Later, Catherine ordered to convert one of the everyday bedrooms into the Diamond Room or the Diamond Room, where precious property and imperial regalia were stored: a crown, a scepter, orb. The regalia were in the center of the room on a table under a crystal cap. As new jewelry was acquired, glazed boxes attached to the walls appeared.
The Empress lived in the Winter Palace for 34 years and her chambers were expanded and rebuilt more than once.
Paul I lived in the Winter Palace during his childhood and youth, and having received Gatchina as a gift from his mother in the mid-1780s, he left it and returned in November 1796, becoming emperor. In the palace, Pavel lived for four years in Catherine's converted chambers. His large family moved with him, settling in their rooms in the western part of the palace. After accession, he immediately began the construction of the Mikhailovsky Castle, not hiding his plans to literally “rip off” the interiors of the Winter Palace, using everything of value to decorate the Mikhailovsky Castle.
After the death of Paul in March 1801, Emperor Alexander I immediately returned to the Winter Palace. The palace returned the status of the main imperial residence. But he did not occupy the chambers of the southeastern risalit, he returned to his rooms, located along the western facade of the Winter Palace, with windows overlooking the Admiralty. The premises of the second floor of the south-western risalit have forever lost their significance as the interior chambers of the head of state. The repair of the chambers of Paul I began in 1818, on the eve of the arrival of the King of Prussia, Frederick William III, in Russia, appointing “collegiate adviser Karl Rossi” responsible for the work. All design work was done according to his drawings. From that time on, the rooms in this part of the Winter Palace were officially called the "Prussian-Royal Rooms", and later - the Second Spare Half of the Winter Palace. It is separated from the First Half by the Alexander Hall; in plan, this half consisted of two perpendicular enfilades overlooking Palace Square and Millionnaya Street, which were connected in different ways with rooms overlooking the courtyard. There was a time when the sons of Alexander II lived in these rooms. First, Nikolai Alexandrovich (who was never destined to become the Russian emperor), and since 1863 his younger brothers Alexander (future Emperor Alexander III) and Vladimir. They moved out of the premises of the Winter Palace in the late 1860s, starting their independent lives. At the beginning of the 20th century, dignitaries of the “first level” were settled in the rooms of the Second Spare Half, saving them from terrorist bombs. From the beginning of the spring of 1905, the Governor-General of St. Petersburg Trepov lived there. Then, in the fall of 1905, Prime Minister Stolypin and his family settled in these premises.
The rooms on the second floor along the southern facade, the windows of which are located to the right and left of the main gate, were given by Paul I to his wife Maria Feodorovna in 1797. The intelligent, ambitious and strong-willed wife of Paul during her widowhood managed to form a structure that was called "the department of Empress Maria Feodorovna." It was engaged in charity, education, and the provision of medical care to representatives of various classes. In 1827, repairs were made in the chambers, which ended in March, and in November of the same year she died. Her third son, Emperor Nicholas I, decided to conserve her chambers. Later, the First Spare Half was formed there, consisting of two parallel enfilades. It was the largest of the palace halves, stretching along the second floor from the White Hall to the Alexander Hall. In 1839, temporary residents settled there: the eldest daughter of Nicholas I, Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna and her husband, the Duke of Leuchtenberg. They lived there for almost five years, until the completion of the Mariinsky Palace in 1844. After the death of Empress Maria Alexandrovna and Emperor Alexander II, their rooms became part of the First Spare Half.
On the first floor of the southern facade between the entrance of the Empress and up to the main gate leading to the Great Courtyard, the rooms of the Duty Palace Grenadiers (2 windows), the Candle Post (2 windows) and the office of the Military Camping Office of the Emperor (3 windows) were windows on the Palace Square. Next came the premises of the "Hoff-Fourier and Kamer-Furier positions." These premises ended at the Commandant's entrance, to the right of which the windows of the apartment of the commandant of the Winter Palace began.
The entire third floor of the southern façade, along the long maid of honor corridor, was occupied by the apartments of the ladies-in-waiting. Since these apartments were service living space, at the behest of business executives or the emperor himself, ladies-in-waiting could be moved from one room to another. Some of the ladies-in-waiting quickly married and left the Winter Palace forever; others met there not only old age, but also death ...
The southwestern risalit under Catherine II was occupied by the palace theater. It was demolished in the mid-1780s to accommodate rooms for the numerous grandchildren of the Empress. Inside the risalit, a small closed courtyard was arranged. The daughters of the future Emperor Paul I were settled in the rooms of the southwestern risalit. In 1816, Grand Duchess Anna Pavlovna married Prince William of Orange and left Russia. Her chambers were remade under the direction of Carlo Rossi for Grand Duke Nikolai Pavlovich and his young wife Alexandra Feodorovna. The couple lived in these rooms for 10 years. After the Grand Duke became Emperor Nicholas I in 1825, the couple moved in 1826 to the northwestern risalit. And after the marriage of the heir-tsarevich Alexander Nikolayevich to the princess of Hesse (future Empress Maria Alexandrovna), they occupied the premises of the second floor of the southwestern risalit. Over time, these rooms became known as "Half of Empress Maria Alexandrovna"
Photos of the Winter Palace
St. Petersburg is the northern capital of vast Russia, accustomed to surprise us with its special individuality, originality of tastes and ambition. Hundreds of magnificent sights annually attract the views of many tourists and indigenous people. 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 pomp, successfully combined with the special style and handwriting of the author, which we will talk about later. The St. Petersburg Winter Palace is a cultural heritage of Russia, one of the main attractions of the country, which contains 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 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 these centuries, so we can observe the structure not in its original form, which, however, does not make it less significant and noteworthy, since all the main features conceived by the author of the project, Francesco Rastrelli, were carefully preserved and transferred by architects of different times. This majestic building is located on the Palace Square of the northern city and perfectly reunites with the surrounding landscape.
The history of the creation and development of the palace
The construction 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 has always been the main residence of the emperors of Russia. To fully experience the greatness of this place, you need to 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 at the disposal of ordinary people. Such territories were reserved for sailors belonging to the upper class of society. The site on which the Winter Palace is located today was taken under the control of Peter I himself.
From the very beginning, the emperor built a small and cozy house here, near which a small ditch was dug closer to winter and which was given the name Winter. Actually, the further name of the palace came from this.
For many years, the Russian emperor convened various architects to reconstruct his house, and now, years later, the building turned from an ordinary wooden house into a large stone palace.
And 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 construction of the palace, which he told Anna Ioannovna, the ruler of Russia at that time, about.
The task assigned to the architect
It was this architect who created the image of the Winter Palace that we are all used to seeing. 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 modern look with the advent of Elizabeth Petrovna to the imperial throne. As the ruler considered, the building does not look like a Palace worthy of Russian emperors staying in it. Therefore, a task appeared for Rastrelli - to modernize the structure and design of the structure, which is why it acquired a new look.
During the construction of the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, the hands of 4 thousand workers were used, many of the masters of whom Rastrelli personally invited to cooperate. Each detail, which differs from other elements of the structure, was personally thought out by the great architect and successfully implemented.
About the architecture of the building
The architectural component of the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg is truly multifaceted. The great height of the structure is emphasized by weighty double columns. The chosen baroque style in itself brings notes of pomp and aristocracy. According to the plan, the Palace occupies a territory in the form of a square, which includes 4 outbuildings. The building itself is three-story, the doors of which open onto the courtyard.
The main facade of the palace is cut through by an arch, the other sides of the building are made in an exquisite style, which is expressed in Rastrelli's unique sense of taste and his unusual decisions, which can be traced everywhere. These include the extraordinary layout of the facades, differences in the design of the facades, noticeable risalite ledges, uneven construction of the columns, and the author's special emphasis on the stepped corners of the building attracts attention.
The Winter Palace, the 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, there are 117 stairs in it. Also unusual and memorable facts include the fact that at that time it was a building with a very large, by European standards, amount of metal in the 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 have come 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 his son as a future skilled architect. After graduating in 1716, he and his father come to live in Russia.
Until 1722, Francesco worked only as an assistant to his father, but by 1722 he was ripe for the start of an independent career, which at first did not develop very well in a country that was very inhospitable to 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 repeatedly worked on the creation and reconstruction of buildings in Russia. 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 with the German invaders, the color of the palace was red. The current white and green color of the building was acquired only after the war in 1946.
- At the end of construction work, so much construction waste had accumulated in the square in front of the Palace that it could take whole weeks to clean it up. However, the king came up with an interesting idea: he allowed absolutely anyone to take any thing from these building materials left after work. The area in front of the building was cleared as soon as possible.
Fire
In 1837, all the efforts of Francesco Rastrelli and other architects practically came to naught. A terrible event happened: a considerable fire broke out in the palace due to a malfunction of the chimney, and 2 companies of specialists were called to extinguish it. For 30 hours, firefighters tried to reduce the flames by blocking windows and other openings with bricks, but this did not bring any result. The fire subsided only a day after the start of the fire, incinerating almost all the beauty of the building. From the former palace, only walls and columns remained, which were singed under high temperatures.
Restoration work
Restoration work was started immediately and lasted 3 years. Unfortunately, the masters of that time did not have any drawings from the first buildings, so they had to turn on 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 also 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.
Not only the fire knocked on the doors of the Winter Palace with bad news. So, this building at one time survived the assault, and the attempt on Alexander II, and numerous bombings of 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 are closed only on Monday - an official day off.
You can buy tickets for a tour of the Winter Palace directly at the museum's box office, 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.
At the same time, this is already the sixth residence of Russian emperors in the Northern capital, and the history of the Winter Palaces began under Peter the Great, 50 years before the appearance of a magnificent building on Palace Square.
In 1711, on the banks of the Neva, the architect Domenico Trezzini built a small house for Peter, consisting of a central portal and two side wings, it was a “little house of Dutch architecture” for the shipbuilder Peter Alekseev, as the tsar called himself.
The building was a two-story building with a high porch, a tiled roof, and the only thing that adorned it was pilasters (ledges) in the corners and architraves on the windows. This building was often called the Wedding Chambers, since the built house was a gift from the Governor of St. Petersburg Alexander Menshikov for the wedding of Peter and Catherine. It was here that the wedding feast took place, and the legend that has come down to us confirms this.
According to legend, 12 years after the wedding, when Peter found out about the betrayal of his wife, he led her to the mirror of the hall where the wedding was celebrated, and said: “This Venetian glass mirror is made of simple materials, but it can turn into its former insignificance.” Then he hit the mirror with his cane. The former servant and laundress Marta Skavronskaya understood the hint, but was not at a loss and asked: “Has your house become more beautiful now?”
Second Winter Palace for Peter
The first house of Peter, overlooking the canal, turned out to be cramped and in 1716 the architect Georg Mattarnovi created a project for a new home for the royal family. The emperor himself chose a place for it - closer to the Neva, from where a beautiful view of the Spit of Vasilyevsky Island and the expanses of the Neva opens. The house, built by the autumn of 1723, had a grand appearance, its facades and halls were magnificently decorated.
It should be noted that Peter was an advanced person and all the technical innovations that appeared in Europe were implemented in his house. The palace had central heating and flood sewage, hot and cold water was supplied through lead pipes. Only 12 batmen served the king, moreover, he chose them according to their intelligence and quickness, and if they deserved, he brought them out to the people.
The Winter Palace of Peter I, where the founder of St. Petersburg lived and died, is a unique monument of the early 18th century, which you can visit with a guided tour or on your own. The entrance to the museum is located at Palace embankment 32. Administratively refers to the Hermitage Museum. Among other things, there is a wax figure of Peter, made by Carlo Rastrelli, and dressed in an authentic costume and shoes, and on his head you can see the king's real hair.
During the Persian campaign in 1722, it was hot and Peter cut his hair, from which he made a wig. It was used by Rastrelli for the wax person of the king.
Third Winter Palace
After the death of Peter the Great, Catherine I ordered Trezzini to expand the palace along Millionnaya Street and thus the building took the form of a huge square.
Fourth Winter Palace for Anna Ioannovna
Anna Ioannovna, who ascended the throne, ordered Francesco Rastrelli to build a new palace for her. For the construction, a place was also chosen on the left side of the Neva, on the site of the Apraksin Admiralty House. The building, built in 1733 - 1735, was spacious, it had 70 rooms and a theater, but the layout of the premises was confusing and inconvenient.
Temporary Winter Palace for Elizabeth Petrovna
Having ascended the throne, Elizaveta Petrovna considered that the old building did not correspond to her status and ordered Rastrelli to prepare a project for a new palace. At the time of construction, a beautiful wooden building was erected, consisting of 100 rooms, on the corner of Nevsky Prospekt and the embankment of the Moika River. In this house, in 1761, Elizaveta Petrovna died, and the building, which had stood for 10 years, was dismantled after the death of the empress.
Sixth Winter Palace
The Winter Palace was under construction from 1754 to 1762, but Elizaveta Petrovna died without seeing it completed. The monumental building on the Neva embankment was erected in the Baroque style, with an abundance of columns and decorative stucco details. It was the last and most grandiose creation of Rastrelli.
Interior decoration was completed under Peter III, and when he was overthrown, Catherine II, who seized power, removed Rastrelli from work, giving him leave.
The architect left for a year in Italy, but the situation did not change upon his return. Rastrelli was the most prominent representative of the baroque style, which at that time had gone out of fashion. He was not given important tasks, he had no customers left, and soon he was dismissed "in the argument of old age and poor health" with the appointment of a pension of a thousand rubles a year.
Interestingly, the architect worked for 46 years under many emperors, but only PeterIIIfor his faithful service he was awarded the rank of Major General and the Order of St. Anne.
For more than 100 years in St. Petersburg it was forbidden to build houses higher than the Winter Palace. In order to increase the number of floors, but not to break the law, cunning builders found a way out - they made a visor and built on top of 1-2 floors of attics, the construction of which was not prohibited by law.
A fire that happened in 1837 damaged the interiors created by the great masters Rastrelli and Quarenghi, Rossi and Moferan. It took two years to restore the building.
We are accustomed to the light green tone of the facades of the building, but meanwhile, before the First World War, the building was painted in red-brick color.
One of the legends explains this curiosity by the fact that German Emperor Wilhelm sent a whole train of minium wagons to Russia to paint ships, but the officials rejected the paint and decided to paint the facades of the city with it, and the Winter Palace became the first victim of this idea.
The Winter Palace on Palace Square is the sixth and last residence of the representatives of the Romanov family. It was he who was taken by storm during the October Revolution in 1917, although, according to historians, this is a myth and there was no storm. After all, one can hardly call the Aurora blank shots by storm, after which the armed men broke into the palace without loss, and the main concern of the women's battalion and the cadets defending the building was to prevent the theft of valuables.
"Winter Palace? - Where is the Hermitage? - Are the Hermitage and the Winter Palace one and the same? Is the Hermitage the name of the museum located in the Winter Palace? - such questions can often be heard from both Russian and foreign tourists. To figure out what's what, let's start the story about the most famous building of St. Petersburg from afar, from the moment the city was founded on the Neva ...
First Winter Palaces
For those who know the history of St. Petersburg, it is not a secret that initially Peter I did not plan the construction of the city center on Admiralteysky Island. The first buildings of St. Petersburg were erected on Petersburg Island, around the current Trinity Square. Then, the tsar hatched plans to build a city center in Kronstadt, on Vasilyevsky Island, but not on the left bank of the Neva. The emergence of the current historical center contributed to the accident, or rather the royal passion. Peter I liked to work as a hatchet. And not only personally cut off the heads of the disgruntled, but also build ships.
After the founding of the Main Admiralty in 1705-1706, the sovereign builder of St. Petersburg faced a problem well known to many inhabitants of our sleeping areas. It was difficult and long to get from Petersburg Island to the Admiralty, even taking into account the absence of traffic jams at that time. So the sovereign wished to have housing near the place of work. In 1708, on the site between the Neva and the current Millionnaya Street, a wooden two-story "Winter House" was built for Peter. This building was located on the site of the current Hermitage Theater, and it is considered to be the first Winter Palace.
Now Peter has the opportunity to run to the shipyard every morning. Soon around the royal
chambers, houses of the sovereign's servants and hangers-on appeared, and the "industrial outskirts" suddenly became the political and aristocratic center of St. Petersburg.
In 1712, the "Winter House" was expanded by adding the so-called "Wedding Chambers" to it, but Peter Alekseevich, who settled down in a new place, began to think about a more representative residence. In 1716, according to the project of the architect Georg Mattarnovi, the construction of the new Winter Palace began, located on the site of the previous building. In the future, the researchers noted the successful choice of a place for the main royal residence: “... the palace is located so that most of the city, the fortress, the house of Prince Menshikov and, in particular, the open sea is visible from it”
The construction of Peter's Winter Palace was completed in 1723. This event was celebrated with a solemn feast, but Peter I did not live long in the new building. On January 28, 1725, the emperor died in the Great Hall of the Winter Palace from the effects of untreated gonorrhea.
Second Winter Palace of Peter I
After the death of Peter, his widow, Catherine I, lived in the Winter Palace for some time. Under Anna Ioannovna, the court settled in the neighboring mansion of Apraksin, located on the site of the current Winter Palace. Petrovsky "Winter House" was used by various palace services, and then was abandoned. Under Catherine II, the building of the Hermitage Theater was built in its place.
In the 1970s-1980s, Leningrad scientists discovered to their surprise that many elements of the Petrovsky Winter Palace have survived to this day. The architect Giacomo Quarneghi, who erected the theater building, used the walls and load-bearing structures of the old building, thanks to which today we can see the premises where Peter I spent the last two years of his life. Today they have been partially restored and tours are held in them.
Under Empress Anna Ioannovna, on the site of the houses of Apraksin, Chernyshev, Raguzinsky and the Naval Academy, the construction of a new Winter Palace, the third in a row, began. Work continued from 1732 to 1735. The new four-story building had about 70 ceremonial halls, more than 100 bedrooms, a theater, a chapel, an office, service and guard rooms.
Winter Palace of Anna Ioannovna
In the future, this Winter Palace was rebuilt and completed more than once, until Empress Elizaveta Petrovna discovered that the palace began to resemble not a front residence, designed to demonstrate the power of the Russian state, but a chicken coop. The appearance of the building was spoiled by countless stables, technical outbuildings and sheds, built mainly from the side of the Admiralteysky Meadow (the current Palace Square). The question arose again of rebuilding the palace, but then it turned out that it would be easier to demolish the old building and build a new palace in its place. The corresponding decree was signed by Elizaveta Petrovna on June 16, 1754:
“Because in St. Petersburg, our Winter Palace is not only for the reception of foreign ministers and the departure at the Court on the appointed days of festive rites, due to the greatness of our imperial dignity, but also to accommodate us with the necessary servants and things cannot be satisfied, for which we they set out to rebuild our Winter Palace with a large space in length, width and height, for which, according to the estimate, it is necessary to rebuild up to 900,000 rubles, which amount, spread over two years, it is impossible to take from our salt money. For this, we order our Senate to find and present to us from what income it is possible to take such an amount of 430 or 450 thousand rubles a year for that matter, counting from the beginning of this 1754 and the next 1755, and that this should be done immediately, so as not to miss the current winter way to prepare supplies for that building ... "
Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli, (1750-1760s)
Palace construction
The construction of the new Winter Palace was supervised by the court architect of Elizabeth Petrovna Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli. The architect understood that he was given a task of great political importance and began to zealously justify the high trust placed in him, because the palace was being built "for the united glory of all Russia."
According to the plan of the master, the Winter Palace was supposed to be a huge quadrangle with a courtyard. The facade and interiors were designed in the Baroque style, the unsurpassed master of which was Russterley. Each of the facades of the palace was individual. The main facade was considered to be the South, facing the Palace Square. He was the most magnificent. In its center were three arches leading to the front yard. The facade overlooking the Neva resembled an endless colonnade. The western facade also had a grand appearance, overlooking Razvodnaya Square, where Rasterly planned to erect a monument to Peter I, the work of his father, Carlo Bartolomeo.
Inside the Winter Palace, according to the Rasterly project, it was supposed to arrange 1050 front and living rooms with an area of 46 thousand square meters, 1945 windows, 1786 doors, 117 stairs, 329 chimneys.
The Winter Palace was conceived as the architectural dominant of the center of St. Petersburg and the tallest secular building in the city. Prior to the decree of Nicholas I, the construction of buildings higher than the Winter Palace in the center of the Northern capital was prohibited. The whole system of external decoration, columns installed in two rows, statues, was designed to emphasize the huge (four-story!) height of the building.
About four thousand people worked on the construction of the Winter Palace, including the best craftsmen from all over Russia. The territory of the current Palace Square and the Alexander Garden was covered with huts in which workers lived. The yard also had to change its place of residence. For him, Rastrelli built a temporary wooden Winter Palace, located on the site of the modern Chicherin house, at the corner of Nevsky Prospekt and the Moika River.
Elizaveta Petrovna really wanted to move to a new residence as soon as possible, but this did not happen. On January 25, 1761, the Empress died. And on April 6, 1762, the court moved to the Winter Palace built by Rasterli. The legend says that after the completion of the work, the Palace Square was a garbage dump. The cunning police general of St. Petersburg, Baron N.A. Korf proposed to announce through the heralds that every citizen is free to take everything he needs from the place of the former construction site. The next day, in front of the Winter Palace, it was possible to iron clothes ... Poor Petersburgers even stole heaps of lime.
The Winter Palace becomes the Winter Palace
Before the fresh lime that covered the walls of the Winter Palace had dried, they began to rebuild the building. The new Empress Catherine II, who ascended the throne after the short but memorable reign of Peter III, was not a fan of the Baroque. Rastrelli was forced to resign and leave St. Petersburg, and a new team of architects was invited to rebuild the Winter Palace: Yu.M. Felten, J.B. Vallin-Delamot and A. Rinaldi.
The interiors of the palace conceived by Rastrelli were almost completely destroyed. Today, only the magnificent Jordan Stairs have survived from them, along which thousands of tourists pass every day, going to inspect the treasures of the State Hermitage. In place of the old Throne Hall and the theater, a new Neva enfilade arose, which included the Anteroom, the Bolshoi and the Concert Halls.
The true decoration of the palace was the Great Throne or St. George Hall created by Giacomo Quarnegi. Its central object was a large throne made by P. Azhi. Colored marble and gilded bronze were used to decorate the interior of this main front hall of the Winter Palace.
Under Catherine II, the Winter Palace became the center of the social and cultural life of Northern Palmyra, a venue for pompous court festivities and balls.
The Englishman W. Cox, who attended a ball in the Winter Palace in 1778, described what he saw in the following words: “The wealth and splendor of the Russian court surpass the most pretentious descriptions. Traces of ancient Asian splendor are mixed with European sophistication ..., the splendor of court dresses and an abundance of precious stones leave behind the splendor of other European states. About eight thousand people attended the ball. True, this crowd of nobles, wealthy merchants and respected artisans did not mix with the aristocrats who danced behind the low barrier that separated the courtiers from other guests.
Work on the design of the Winter Palace continued in subsequent reigns. With the exception of Paul I, who preferred the Mikhailovsky Castle to the Winter Palace, each emperor sought to add something of his own to the decoration of the main palace of the Russian Empire.
Particularly large-scale work was carried out after 1812, when it became necessary to demonstrate to the whole world the new status of Russia - the winner of Napoleon, the leader of united Europe in the struggle for the bright ideals of consecrated absolutism.
Military gallery of the Winter Palace. G.G. Chernetsov
In 1826, Karl Rossi arranged a Military Gallery in front of the St. George Hall, the walls of which were decorated with 330 portraits of generals who participated in the Patriotic War of 1812. The paintings for this room were painted by the English artist D. Dow. It was to her that A.S. Pushkin dedicated his lines:
The Russian tsar has a chamber in his halls:
She is not rich in gold, not in velvet ...
Crowd close artist placed
Here the chiefs of our people's forces,
Covered with the glory of a wonderful campaign
And the eternal memory of the twelfth year.
Auguste Montferan also took part in the reconstruction of the Winter Palace. He built the staircase of the empress' entrance, decorating it with high reliefs, statues and columns, decorated the Field Marshal's, Petrovsky's and Armorial Halls. V.A. Zhukovsky enthusiastically wrote to the royal residence:
“The Winter Palace as a building, as a royal dwelling, perhaps, did not have anything like it in the whole of Europe. With its vastness, with its architecture, it depicted a powerful people that had so recently entered the environment of educated nations, and with its inner splendor it reminded of that inexhaustible life that boils in the interior of Russia ... The Winter Palace was for us the representative of everything domestic, Russian, ours ... "
But what about the Hermitage?
A tourist who has visited the suburbs of St. Petersburg will easily find that Pushkin and Peterhof have their own “Hermitage”. This word translated from French means "Secluded corner". Nobles and kings of the 18th century liked to set up secluded pavilions in their gardens and parks for intimate pastime. And Catherine II arranged her "secluded corner" right in the center of St. Petersburg.
For this purpose, in 1764-1775, a building was added to the Winter Palace, which is known today as the Small Hermitage. In it, Catherine II spent time with a select audience in an informal setting. Outsiders were not allowed into the Hermitage. Even the tables in this room were laid in advance, after which the servants left the "secluded corner" and left.
On the whole, the atmosphere of the Hermitage was reminiscent of modern corporate parties. Formally, the guests left their ranks and conventions at the door. Those who spoke nonsense had to drink a glass of cold water or read a page from Tredyakovsky's Telemachiad.
In order for evenings in the Hermitage to become a cultural pastime, Catherine II decided to decorate the premises with a proper collection of paintings. The Hermitage collection began in 1764, when the German merchant Gotskovsky gave Russia his collection of 225 paintings as a debt. The Empress also ordered that all valuable works of art that appeared at auctions be bought abroad.
Works by Rubens and Van Dyck were bought in England. Russian ambassador in Paris, Count D.A. Golitsyn, thanks to his connections with D. Diderot and other representatives of French culture, was able to acquire such world-famous masterpieces as Rembrandt's The Return of the Prodigal Son, two Danae by Titian and Rembrandt, Rubens' Bacchus, Giorgione's Judith, etc.
By the end of the reign of Catherine II, the Hermitage collection of paintings amounted to four thousand canvases. The Small Hermitage no longer contained all the masterpieces. For the collection had to build a special building called the Old Hermitage.
The Hermitage received not only paintings. Catherine's agents also bought engravings, drawings, ancient antiquities, works of arts and crafts, ancient coins, weapons, medals and books.
The tradition of replenishing the Hermitage collection continued into the 19th century. Under Alexander I, paintings by Rembrandt and Rubens "Descent from the Cross", "Potter's Farm", paintings by Claude Lorrain, "A Glass of Lemonade" by Terborch and "Breakfast" by Metsu were acquired. During this period, the Hermitage was gradually transformed from a personal collection of paintings by the emperor into a museum. True, it was by no means a public gallery. To visit the Hermitage, you need to take a special pass signed by the head of the court office. Even A.S. Pushkin received such a document only thanks to the patronage of the educator of the royal children V.A. Zhukovsky.
Interiors of the New Hermitage on a watercolor by K. Ukhtomsky, 1856
An important turning point in the "democratization" of access to the Hermitage was the construction of the New Hermitage building, which was completed in 1856. It was the first purpose-built museum building in Russia. Already in 1852, the exposition of the New Hermitage received its first visitors, and in 1866 access to the museum became open and ... free. The cost of tickets was compensated by the Ministry of the Imperial Court. Of course, only “European-style” dressed people were allowed inside, which in itself closed access for representatives of the poor strata of society.
After the revolution, the Hermitage Museum received valuable acquisitions, but at the same time suffered serious losses. Values expropriated from private collections of Russian aristocrats and industrialists were brought to the main museum of the country. At the same time, in the late 1920s, some of the Hermitage paintings were sold abroad to finance industrialization. And the collection of paintings of Russian painting was transferred to the Russian Museum.
In the 1920s, the concepts of the Hermitage and the Winter Palace gradually became a single whole, since the museum received almost all the premises of the former royal residence to house its expositions.
After the Great Patriotic War, the collections and storerooms of the Hermitage were replenished with trophy works of art taken out of Germany as compensation for the masterpieces destroyed by the Nazi troops in Russia.
The legend of the gunsmith Tarasyuk
There are many interesting tales about the Winter Palace. The most banal of them are stories about the ghosts of Peter I, Nicholas I and Nicholas II, who regularly walk through the night halls of the Hermitage. There are legends about the underground passages of the Hermitage, which lead either to the Manege or to the Marble Palace.
Of all these legends, only one story is distinguished by its original content and dramatic plot. Allegedly in the early 80s, the First Secretary of the Leningrad City Committee of the CPSU Grigory Romanov, a fierce enemy of the freedom-loving intelligentsia, decided to celebrate his daughter's wedding in the Tauride Palace. For this, the satrap demanded that the leadership of the Hermitage give him Catherine II's ceremonial service for one hundred and forty-four persons. The director of the Hermitage, Boris Borisovich Piotrovsky, said that the service could only be taken over his corpse, but when the KGB leadership said that this could be arranged in principle, Boris Borisovich went home and told the sick.
Employees of the city committee went to the Hermitage for a service, and only one person stood in their way. It was an employee of the museum Tarasyuk. Dressed in medieval armor, he picked up a sword and menacingly moved towards the uninvited guests. The cowardly agents of tyranny retreated in panic, but then one extremely sad event happened for all honest museologists. Just at this time, at night, vicious dogs were released into the halls of the Hermitage. Tarasyuk was an expert on weapons, but the armor he wore was designed for riding. When the scientist was already triumphant, the evil dogs dug into his most vulnerable spot, unprotected by armor ... Tarasyuk lost his courage, and the jubilant city committee took away the service.
The further fate of the masterpiece was sad. When they shouted “Bitter!” at the wedding, the partocrats began to beat the precious dishes on the floor ... However, Romanov did not get away with it. Because of this story, he was not made General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU, instead of Mikhail Gorbachev.
Tarasyuk was fired from the Hermitage and went to Israel, where his traces were lost.
Fire in the Winter Palace K.Zh. Vernet
From fire to war
A symbolic milestone in the history of the Winter Palace was the catastrophic fire of 1837. Later, the cause of the fire was said to be "a vent left unsealed during the last alteration of the large Field Marshal's Hall"; the air vent "was located in the chimney, held between the choir stalls and the wooden vault of the hall of Peter the Great, located side by side with the Field Marshal's, and adjoined very close to the boards of the rear partition. On the day of the accident, it was thrown out of the chimney, after which the flame communicated through this air vent to the boards of the choirs and the vault of the hall of Peter the Great; he was provided with plentiful food in this place by wooden partitions; on them the fire passed to the rafters. These huge rafters and supports, dried for 80 years in hot air under an iron roof incandescent heat in summer, ignited instantly.
The smell of smoke was noticed on the morning of December 17, but since no one could find the source of the fire for a long time, the necessary measures were postponed until the evening. By that time, the internal ceilings of the Winter Palace were already burning with might and main, and when the firemen broke down the walls, the flame burst out ...
The Winter Palace burned for three days. During this time, all of its interiors burned out. It was one of the largest fires in the history of St. Petersburg. The glow from the fire was visible for several kilometers from the city. Only the heroic efforts of the soldiers and servants managed to save almost the entire palace furnishings and paintings. They were taken out into the street and stacked at the Alexander Column.
Immediately after the disaster, repair work began in the Winter Palace, led by architects V.P. Stasov and A.P. Bryullov. Emperor Nicholas I ordered them to "restore to their original form" all the interiors of the palace. We note right away that the architects did an excellent job with the responsible government task. The appearance of the former Winter Palace was revived in just two years.
In some halls, with the consent of the sovereign, changes were nevertheless made. So the Stasov Armorial Hall was enlarged to a thousand square meters and seriously changed its decoration.
After this repair, the ceremonial interiors of the Winter Palace have survived to this day without significant changes. This truth cannot be said about the living quarters of the palace. Only the Alexander and White halls, the stairs of the entrance of "Her Imperial Majesty", the Rotunda, the Arapsky and Malachite halls have survived to us in the form in which A.P. conceived them. Bryullov. Other living rooms of the palace were repeatedly rebuilt in accordance with the tastes of their owners. Of course, one cannot speak of any artistic unity here, although the interiors of some private chambers are very interesting in themselves. Among them, it is worth noting the "Red Boudoir" of Empress Maria Alexandrovna, the "Golden Living Room" created by V.A. Schreiber and the personal library of Nicholas II (author A.F. Krasovsky).
Until the revolution, the Winter Palace continued to function as a platform for the most important political events of Tsarist Russia. Receptions of foreign ambassadors, solemn balls, receptions of loyal subjects of delegations, opening ceremonies of the State Duma were held here. In a difficult or solemn moment, crowds of loyal subjects rushed to this building. On January 9, 1905, columns of St. Petersburg workers moved to the Winter Palace, to the tsar, asking for mercy and intercession. Unfortunately, the dialogue between the authorities and the people did not work out that day ... But on August 1, 1914, a column of patriotic intelligentsia nevertheless reached Palace Square and fell to its knees in front of the adored monarch who appeared on the balcony of the Winter Palace.
In the 19th century, once a year, the doors of the Winter Palace were thrown open for the residents of the capital. On January 1, a New Year's masquerade was held in it. Moreover, not only nobles could come to the royal house, but also “merchants, philistines, shopkeepers, artisans of all kinds, even simple bearded peasants and serfs, decently dressed. All this crowded and pushed along with the first ranks of the court, representatives of diplomacy and high society. Dressed up ladies, in diamonds and pearls, military and civilian star-bearers, and interspersed with tailcoats, frock coats and caftans. The sovereign and the royal family, with a large retinue, walking from one hall to another, sometimes with difficulty could pass through the crowd. For many, this was a wonderful opportunity to refresh themselves: “In the halls there were many sideboards with gold and silver dishes, with all kinds of soft drinks, excellent wines, beer, honey, kvass, with an abundance of all kinds of food from the most refined to the most common ... The crowd around the sideboards replaced by a crowd as they emptied and refilled. At such annual holidays, sometimes from 25 to 30 thousand people came to the Winter Palace. Foreigners could not marvel at the order and decency of the crowd, and the credulity of the sovereign towards his subjects, who crowded around him with love, devotion and a sense of complacency for 5 or 6 hours. Not the slightest etiquette was observed here, at the same time, no one abused proximity to the royal person.
But as a royal residence, the Winter Palace was used less and less. It turned out that in the new historical realities, the huge building does not meet safety requirements well. And not just fire fighting. On February 5, 1880, Stepan Khalturin, a Narodnaya Volya member, carrying 30 kilograms of dynamite into the Winter Palace, set off an explosion under the dining room where Emperor Alexander II was supposed to dine. The sovereign was miraculously unharmed. 11 soldiers of the Finnish Life Guards Regiment were killed.
After the Narodnaya Volya nevertheless killed Alexander II in 1881, the new tsar, Alexander III, preferred to live in the safe Gatchina, and visit the Winter Palace on a rotational basis. Only when Nicholas II ascended the throne, the august family again returned to the banks of the Neva. True, after the start of the 1905 revolution, the Winter Palace looked more like a fortified camp. In addition to the tsar, some key figures of the regime also lived in it - for example, Prime Minister Stolypin. Only there they could feel safe. Nicholas II himself, following the example of his father, spent more and more time in Pushkin's Alexander Palace.
With the outbreak of the First World War, life in the Winter Palace underwent new changes. The imperial family appeared in the old walls less and less. In 1915, a number of palace halls were assigned to the hospital.
Winter Palace in the 20th century
After the February Revolution of 1917, the Extraordinary Commission of the Provisional Government to investigate the crimes of tsarism worked for some time in the premises of the Winter Palace, and from the summer of 1917, the Provisional Government itself "moved" into the former royal chambers. Newspapers wrote malicious articles about A.F. Kerensky blissful in the bed of Nicholas II. All palace valuables and collections of the Hermitage were sent to Moscow and hidden in the building of the Historical Museum.
On the night of October 25-26, 1917, the Winter Palace became the scene of historical events. The forces of the military revolutionary committee, the Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies, after a series of short skirmishes, seized the former royal residence and arrested the ministers of the Provisional Government. The tabloid press was filled with chilling articles about the destruction of palace interiors by wild crowds of workers and peasants and the sad fate of the women's shock battalion, whose fighters faced a fate worse than death. True, it should be noted that the scientific literature does not confirm this information.
Three days after the arrest of the Provisional Government, the new Soviet authorities took the Winter Palace under protection as a cultural monument. However, at first it was used for a variety of purposes. The Museum of the Revolution, and the reception center for prisoners of war of the old army, and the headquarters for arranging mass celebrations, and even a cinema, operated in a huge building. Only from 1922 did all the premises of the Winter Palace begin to be gradually transferred to the Hermitage.
At the same time, work began on the redevelopment of the former living and service rooms of the Hermitage. On the first floor, the Rastrelli Gallery was restored, instead of 65 rooms of the maid of honor, 17 original rooms were recreated.
Vegetable gardens on the territory of the Winter Palace during the blockade
During the Great Patriotic War, the Winter Palace was seriously damaged. German bombs and shells damaged the Jordan Stairs, the Small Throne (Petrovsky) Hall, and the Armorial Hall. The restoration of these objects took a long time after the war. The most valuable exhibits were evacuated to Sverdlovsk. In the courtyard of the Winter Palace, a vegetable garden was laid out where vegetables were grown.
In subsequent decades, the Winter Palace-Hermitage became one of the largest museums in the world. It houses up to three million unique works of art. Every year the Winter Palace is visited by millions of tourists and Petersburgers.
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