Description of what the winter palace is made of. Winter Palace. Exclusive facts about the Winter Palace

Winter Palace on Palace Square - the former royal residence, a symbol of the architectural style of the Elizabethan Baroque, the largest palace in St. Petersburg. Since the first Soviet years, the most famous museum in Russia, the State Hermitage Museum, has been operating here.

First Winter Palaces. Winter Palace of Anna Ioannovna

On the site of the world-famous St. Petersburg Winter Palace, the first building appeared under Peter I. In June-July 1705, a wooden house of Admiral Fyodor Matveyevich Apraksin was built in the northwestern corner of the site occupied by the current palace. It was designed by the architect Domenico Trezzini. The place was chosen by the admiral, among other things, because of the rules of the "fortification esplanade". They demanded that the nearest building be at least 200 sazhens (1 sazhen = approximately 2.1 meters) away from the fortress, i.e. from the Admiralty.

The house of the Olonets commandant I. Ya. Yakovlev was immediately attached to Apraksin's house, who from January 1705 supervised the construction of the shipyard and the procurement of supplies for it. On June 28, Meshchersky notified Yakovlev: " According to the drawing, your closets 13 are cut down next to each other and placed on the moss, the underside bridge is paved, the upper ceiling is being paved"[Quoted from 5: p. 33].

Yakovlev died on January 22, 1707. The same time in many sources is indicated as the year of the appearance to the south of Apraksin's house of the house of A.V. Kikin, who continued the work of Yakovlev. It can be assumed that Kikin occupied the Yakovlev section. Apraksin's house, as the first one built on Palace Embankment, set its red line. Kikin's house marked the northern border of the Admiralty Meadow (future Palace Square).

It is worth noting that Peter I and Catherine I did not live here. The first Winter Palace of Peter was built on the site of house number 32 on Palace Embankment, where the Hermitage Theater is now located. This building was repeatedly rebuilt, the founder of St. Petersburg died in it.

Apraksin's house was rebuilt in stone in 1712. He soon ceased to suit the admiral, who wanted to live in more luxurious surroundings. The construction that began in 1716 determined the new red line of the future Palace Embankment. She was moved closer in the river by about 50 meters. The famous architect Leblon, who arrived in St. Petersburg in November of the same year, agreed to make a project for the two-story Apraksin Palace "in the French manner." Due to constant employment, Leblon was unable to complete this project. The construction plan was revised by the architect Fyodor Vasiliev. At the same time, he added a third floor to the building and somewhat redesigned its facade. At the same time, to the east of the admiral's possession, plots were allocated to S. V. Raguzinsky, P. I. Yaguzhinsky and Major General G. Chernyshev.

After the execution of Kikin, the Naval Academy established in 1715 was located in his house. But since the premises received by the educational institution turned out to be cramped for him, in 1716 an additional hut building was added to the building. In April 1718, Apraksin pointed out " academic yard that was Kikina, finish building"[Quoted in: 5, p. 91].

The house of the Prosecutor General of the Senate P. I. Yaguzhinsky was built on the orders of Peter I at public expense. In June 1716, F. Vasiliev received a contract for its construction according to the project of the architect Mattarnovi. Until the end of the construction season, he undertook to build the building, with the exception of plaster work, for which he received a deposit of 1,198 rubles. But by autumn, the workers managed to put only the foundations. During the winter, the foundation of the house deteriorated so much that in June 1717 Vasiliev was ordered to redo everything. At the same time, the property of the architect was described, and in December Vasiliev was removed from work. From October 1718 to April 1720 he was kept in chains in the courtyard of the Office of City Affairs. The Yaguzhinsky Palace was completed by Mattarnovi, and after his death - by N.F. Gerbel. The construction of the building was completed in 1721.

In the Apraksin Palace in 1725, the newlyweds Duke of Holstein and the daughter of Peter I Anna temporarily lived. They were the first to occupy the “half” for high-ranking persons in these chambers. The chamber junker Berchholtz, who was here, noted that he:

"the largest and most beautiful in all of St. Petersburg, moreover, it stands on the Bolshaya Neva and has a very pleasant location. The house is all magnificently furnished and in the latest fashion, so that the king could decently live in it ..."

The last words of Berchholtz's quote turned out to be prophetic. In 1728 the admiral died. He bequeathed his property to his relatives. Apraksin was related to the Romanovs, he was the brother of Tsarina Martha, the second wife of the elder brother of Peter I. Therefore, something should have gone to the young emperor Peter II. The admiral bequeathed his Petersburg palace to him. However, Peter II never lived here, since he moved to Moscow.

With the accession to the throne of Empress Anna Ioannovna, St. Petersburg was returned to the capital status selected by Peter II. The new ruler needed to equip her residence here. The Winter Palace of Peter I did not satisfy the tastes of Anna Ioannovna, and in 1731 she decided to settle in the Apraksin Palace. At first, she entrusted its restructuring to Domenico Trezzini. Work began on December 27, 1731. For greater speed, the church and the chambers began to be cut from logs. But soon Anna Ioannovna replaced Trezzini with another architect - Rastrelli. It was he who could satisfy the desire of the Empress to live among splendor and luxury. Before the departure of the royal court from Moscow to St. Petersburg, Rastrelli provided a finished project, which was approved and began to be implemented on April 18, 1732.

The chief architect of the Winter House of Anna Ioannovna was not the famous Francesco Bartolomeo, but his father Bartolomeo Carlo Rastrelli. The son only helped his father, later attributing this work to himself. This is indicated by the following post by Jakob Stehlin:

"Rastrelli, Cavaliero del Ordine di Salvador of the Pope, built a large wing to the house of Admiral Apraksin, as well as a large hall, a gallery and a court theater.
His son was supposed to break everything and build a new winter palace for Empress Elizabeth in this place" [Cited by 2, p. 329].

For the new building, the house of the Naval Academy (Kikin's house) was demolished. This was necessary in order to arrange the main facade of the royal residence from the side of the Admiralty. From the side of the Neva, it could not be formalized due to the fact that the sections of Raguzinsky and Yaguzhinsky located from the east had not yet been redeemed. Their demolition, unlike the demolition of the Naval Academy building, would have taken longer.

On May 3, 1732, a decree was issued to allocate 200,000 rubles for the construction of the palace. On May 27, the laying ceremony took place. Construction proceeded very quickly. Already by August 22, the brick walls were ready, since November, painting and painting work began. The artistic decoration of the winter palace of Anna Ioannovna was carried out by Louis Caravaque, the carpentry work was carried out by the Frenchman Jean Michel.

The new third Winter Palace was fully completed in 1735, although Anna Ioannovna spent the winter of 1733-1734 here. From that time on, this building became the front imperial residence for 20 years, and Rastrelli in 1738 became the chief architect of the court of Her Imperial Majesty.

In the premises of the former palace of Apraksin, Rastrelli designed the imperial chambers. The facade of this house was not touched, it was only brought under a common roof with a new building. The length of the facade from the side of the Admiralty was 185 meters. There were two enfilades in the newly built end building: the windows of the rooms of the first enfilade overlooked the courtyard, the windows of the second - to the shipyard. The largest room in the enfilade from the side of the courtyard was the Light Gallery. It was located in the central risalit and had a length of 30, a width of 17 and a height of 7.5 meters. In the enfilade with windows on the Admiralty there were rooms of equal size, named after the colors used in their design: Yellow, Blue, Red, Green chambers. The most significant room of the Winter Palace of Anna Ioannovna was a huge, with an area of ​​​​1000 square meters. m., throne room. The Swedish scientist K. R. Burke, who lived in St. Petersburg in 1735-1737, wrote about him:

"The Great Hall is the most spacious I have ever seen, and is richly decorated with mirrors, artificial marble, as well as numerous gilded bas-reliefs and other decorations ... The ceiling is covered with painting on canvas - no doubt to speed up its creation, however, it is not known how long it will last. The painting was made by the court painter Caravaque - a narcissistic Frenchman who criticizes everything, and almost no one praises his work. The plot in the middle of the ceiling is the accession of Her Majesty to the throne. Religion and Virtue present her to Russia, which, on her knees, welcoming her, hands her crown. The clergy and the kingdoms of Kazan, Astrakhan, Siberia, as well as many Tatar and Kalmyk peoples, recognizing the power of Russia, stand side by side, expressing their joy. Four large picturesque images located around this middle and descending to the cornice represent many deeds , capable of especially glorifying the reign of Anna Ioannovna, namely: the power of the empire, mercy for criminals, high generosity and victory over enemies; on top, these words are written [except for Latin] also in Russian ... Along all the edges of the ceiling painting there are many virtues carved in relief in stone. The throne, or place for the imperial throne, is magnificent and is raised several steps above the floor, lined with oak parquet. At the very top, the state emblem is visible, and Mars and Pallas lie next to it. The sculpture in this and other places in the hall is nothing special, although the Swede who created it believes that he performed miracles; in any case, it seems to be better than others, for the creation of which, due to absurd haste, ship sculptors were actually used. However, the gilding here is much richer" [Quoted from: 5, m. 248, 249].

The Winter Palace of Anna Ioannovna had its own theater, located in its southern part. It became the first court theater in Russia designed in the European style. The hall was 27.5 meters long. There were 27 shops in the stalls, between which there were two aisles. A large royal box was set up in front of the middle shops. Along the perimeter of the hall there were 15 boxes decorated with light columns. Above them are two tiers, to which four stairs led. The decoration of the theater hall according to the drawing by Rastrelli was performed by the Italian Girolamo Bon. He also painted scenery and was engaged in theatrical machinery. The first rehearsal took place here on January 17, 1736, and the first performance three days later. During the performances, 40 soldiers were involved in moving the scenery. The repertoire of the theater was determined personally by the empress.

In the Winter Palace of Anna Ioannovna on July 2, 1739, Princess Anna Leopoldovna was betrothed to Prince Anton-Ulrich. The young Emperor John Antonovich was also brought here. He stayed here until November 25, 1741, when the daughter of Peter I, Elizabeth, took power into her own hands.

Elizaveta Petrovna wanted even more luxury than her predecessor, and the next year she set about rebuilding the imperial residence in her own way. Then she ordered to decorate for herself the rooms adjoining from the south to the Light Gallery. Next to her bedchamber were the "raspberry cabinet" and the Amber cabinet, built in 1743-1744. Later, during the dismantling of the third Winter Palace, the amber panels will be transported to Tsarskoe Selo and will become part of the famous Amber Room. Since the dimensions of the office were larger than the dimensions of the rooms where the panels were before (the Royal Palace in Berlin, the people's quarters in the Summer Garden), Rastrelli placed 18 mirrors between them.

In 1745, the wedding of the heir to the throne, Peter Fedorovich, and Princess Sophia Frederica Augusta of Anhalt-Zerbst (the future Catherine II) was celebrated here. The design of this holiday was carried out by the architect Rastrelli.

For the growing needs of the Empress, more and more premises were required. In 1746, because of this, Rastrelli added an additional building on the side of the Admiralty, the main facade of which faced south. It was two-story, with a wooden top floor, the side facade rested against the canal at the Admiralty. That is, the Winter House has become even closer to the shipyard. A year later, a chapel, a soap house and other chambers were added to this building. The main goal of the new premises, even a year before their appearance, was the placement in the Winter House of the Hermitage, a secluded corner for intimate meetings. Two enfilades here led to the corner hall, in which there was a lifting table for 15 people. Elizaveta Petrovna realized this idea before Catherine II. Historian Yu. M. Ovsyannikov claims that the newlyweds Peter Fedorovich and Ekaterina Alekseevna needed a new building.

Winter Palace of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna

After the New Year's reception on January 1, 1752, the Empress decided to expand the Winter Palace. For this, the neighboring plots of Raguzinsky and Yaguzhinsky along the Palace Embankment were purchased. The mansions of the associates of Peter I Rastrelli was preparing not to demolish, but to re-arrange in the same style with the entire building. But in February of the following year, Elizabeth Petrovna's decree followed:

"... With a new house from the river and the courtyard, there will be considerable breaking and the construction of two outbuildings with stone buildings again, why compose a project and drawings for the chief architect de Rastrelli and submit them for the highest E. I. V. approbation ..."

Thus, Elizaveta Petrovna decided to demolish the houses of Raguzinsky and Yaguzhinsky, to build new buildings in their place. And also to build the southern and eastern buildings, closing the entire building in a square. Two thousand soldiers began construction work. They demolished houses on the embankment. At the same time, the laying of the foundations of the southern building, the main facade of the new Winter Palace, began from the side of the Admiralteisky Meadow. The premises in the former house of Apraksin were also rebuilt. Here they even removed the roof to raise the ceilings. Changes have been made to the Light Gallery, the Anteroom, the premises for the theater and ceremonial halls have been expanded. And in December 1753, Elizaveta Petrovna wished to increase the height of the Winter Palace from 14 to 22 meters...

In early January, all construction work was stopped. Rastrelli presented the new drawings to the Empress on the 22nd. Rastrelli suggested building the Winter Palace in a new location. But Elizaveta Petrovna refused to move her winter front residence. As a result, the architect decided to rebuild the entire building, using only in some places the old walls. The new project was approved by the decree of Elizabeth Petrovna on June 16, 1754:

“Because in St. Petersburg, our Winter Palace is not only for the reception of foreign ministers and for the administration at the Court on the established days of festive rites according to the greatness of Our Imperial dignity, but also for accommodation We cannot be satisfied with the necessary servants and things, for which We set out to to rebuild our Winter Palace with a large space in length, width and height, for which the restructuring, according to the estimate, will require up to 990 thousand rubles, which amount, spreading it over two years, it is impossible to take from our salt money. imagine from what income it is possible to take such an amount of 430 and 450 thousand rubles a year for that business, counting from the beginning of this 1754 and the next 1755, and that this be done immediately, so as not to miss the current winter route for preparing supplies for that building ".

On the same day, to manage the construction, the "Office of the Construction of the Winter House of Her Imperial Majesty" was created, headed by Lieutenant General Vilim Vilimovich Fermor.

Initially, the Senate allocated 859,555 rubles 81 kopecks for the construction of the Winter Palace [ibid.]. They were found "from the profitable tavern income", that is, from the profits received from the sale of vodka and wine. But this money was not enough. Therefore, on March 9, 1755, the Senate decreed:

"1) The rivers flowing into the Volkhov and the Ladoga Canal, as well as into the Neva River, Tosno, Miya and other rivers, along which you can get anything, - give the office of the office from the buildings for three years, so that no one neither forests nor firewood, not a stone there for other work, except for this office;
2) send masons, carpenters, carpenters, foundry workers, and other craftsmen along the line to St. Petersburg for construction;
3) to send 3,000 soldiers for the same purpose" [Cited in: 6, p. 121].

In order for the masters to come to St. Petersburg, each of them was given three rubles, regardless of the distance. But upon arrival in the capital, they traded with them in such a way that the craftsmen had to agree to the terms of the employer, since it was difficult to return home.

In November 1755, the production of sculptures began to be installed on the balustrade of the roof of the Winter Palace. Their sketches were made by Rastrelli, and the models for translation into stone were made by the carver Johann Franz Dunker. Stone sculptures were made under the guidance of the master Johann Antoni Zwenhof and, after his death, by the sculptor Josef Baumchen.

According to the calculations of the Chancellery from the buildings, the fourth Winter Palace was to be erected in three years. The first two were allocated for the construction of walls, and the third for interior decoration. The Empress planned the housewarming by the autumn of 1756, the Senate expected three years of construction.

After the approval of the project, Rastrelli did not make significant changes to it, but made adjustments to the internal interconnections of the premises. He placed the main halls on the second floor of the corner risalits. From the northeast, the Main Staircase was designed, from the northwest - the Throne Room, from the southeast - the church, from the southwest - the theater. They were connected by the Neva, western and southern suites of rooms. The architect allocated the first floor for office space, the third - for ladies-in-waiting and other servants. The apartments of the head of state were arranged in the southeastern corner of the Winter Palace, which is best illuminated by the sun. The halls of the Neva enfilade were intended for the reception of ambassadors and solemn ceremonies.

Together with the creation of the Winter Palace, Rastrelli was going to re-plan the entire Admiralty Meadow, to create a single architectural ensemble here. But this was not carried out.

Few builders of the Winter Palace found housing in neighboring settlements. Most built their huts right on the Admiralty Meadow. Thousands of serfs were employed in the construction of the palace. Seeing the workers flooding St. Petersburg, the sellers raised the prices of products. The office from the buildings was forced to cook food for the builders here, at the construction site. The cost of food was deducted from the salary. At the same time, sheepskin coats and boots were distributed to the poorest builders of the Winter Palace, and various benefits were made. It often turned out that after such a deduction the worker was even indebted to the employer. According to an eyewitness:

“Soon, from a change in climate, a lack of healthy food and from bad clothes, various diseases appeared ... Difficulties resumed, and sometimes worse from the fact that in 1756 many masons went around the world for non-payment of the money they earned, and even, as then told, they were dying of hunger" [Cit. according to: 2, p. 343].

After the appointment in 1757 of V. V. Fermor as the commander-in-chief of the Russian army, the post of construction manager was taken by the architect Yu. M. Felten.

The construction of the Winter Palace was delayed. In 1758, the Senate removed the blacksmiths from the construction site, as there was no one to tie the wheels of carts and cannons. At this time, Russia was at war with Prussia. There was a lack of not only workers, but also finances.

"The situation of the workers ... in 1759 presented a truly sad picture. The unrest continued throughout the construction and began to decrease only when some of the most important work ceased and several thousand people scattered home" [Cit. according to 2, p. 344].

The main building work was completed in the spring of 1761. Elizaveta Petrovna did not live to see the completion of construction, Peter III already accepted the job. By this time, the facades were finished, but many of the interiors were not yet ready. But the emperor was in a hurry. He entered the Winter Palace on Holy Saturday (the day before Easter) on April 6, 1762. On the day of the move, Archbishop Demetrius consecrated the court cathedral church in the name of the Resurrection of the Lord, and a divine service was held.

Presumably, the architect S. I. Chevakinsky took part in the decoration of the chambers of Peter III and his wife. J. Shtelin noted:

“At that time, in the large hall of the new Winter Palace, more than 100 sculptors were engaged in carving doors, windows, panels and other work, which Messrs. Dunker, Stahlmeier, Gillet and others undertook to perform in chord. For this they were given all the carvers from various Russian departments, who did not they received salaries there for this, but they had to receive it from the named contractors. But even these measures were still not enough, since they could not take up the most important decoration of the largest hall due to too many works that had to be done inside this large building " [Cit. by 5, p. 308].

At the solemn ceremony of consecrating the building, the architect Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli was awarded the Holstein Order, he received the rank of major general. The process of decorating the building continued until 1767. The construction of the royal residence cost 2,622,020 rubles 19 kopecks.

The first floor of the Winter Palace was occupied by large vaulted galleries with arches that pierced all parts of the building. On the sides of the galleries, service rooms were arranged, where the servants lived, the guards rested. Warehouses and utility rooms were also located here.

As planned by Rastrelli, the main halls of the Winter Palace were located in its corner volumes, as well as in the northern (Nevsky) and eastern suites. The north-eastern risalit was given over to the front Embassy (later renamed the Jordanian) staircase, from which a suite of five approximately equal in size anterooms led to the west along the Neva. Passing through them, one could get to the Throne Hall, which used almost the entire volume of the northwestern risalit. The southwestern volume of the building was occupied by the Palace Theater, and the southeastern one - by the Court Church. The southern and western suites were distributed under the living rooms of the imperial family.

Peter III attached great importance to the design of the Throne Hall. It remained in the same place where the Throne Hall of Anna Ioannovna was, but significantly increased in size and occupied the entire volume of the northwestern risalit. Its width remained equal to 28 meters, and its length increased from 34 to 49 meters. None of the halls of the city now existing has such dimensions. In the mezzanine of the Winter Palace, the emperor ordered a library to be built, for which four large rooms and two rooms were allocated for the librarian, who was then the State Councilor Shtelin.

The apartments of Peter III were closer to Palace Square and Millionnaya Street, his wife settled in rooms closer to the Admiralty. Beneath him, on the first floor, Peter III settled his favorite Elizaveta Romanovna Vorontsova.

The building included about 1500 rooms. The perimeter of its facades was about two kilometers. The Winter Palace became the tallest building in St. Petersburg. From 1844 to 1905, the decree of Nicholas I was in force in the city, limiting the height of private houses to one sazhen below the eaves of the Winter Palace.

The cornice of the Winter Palace was decorated with 176 statues and vases. They were carved from Pudost limestone according to Rastrelli's drawings by the German sculptor Boumchen. They were later whitewashed.

From the side of the Palace Embankment, the Jordanian entrance leads into the building, so named according to the royal custom to leave it on the feast of Epiphany to the hole cut through opposite, in the Neva, an ice hole - "Jordan".

Three entrances lead to the palace from the south facade. The one that is closer to the Admiralty - Her Imperial Majesty. From here there was the shortest path to the chambers of the empresses, as well as to the apartments of Paul I. Therefore, for some time it was called Pavlovsky, and before that - the Theater, as it led to the home theater arranged by Catherine II. Closer to Millionnaya Street is the Commandant's Entrance, where the services of the commandant of the palace were located. Rastrelli did not plan to block the entrance to the courtyard with a gate. He remained free.

In the summer of 1762, Peter III was killed, the construction of the Winter Palace was completed under Catherine II. First of all, the Empress removed Rastrelli from work, Ivan Ivanovich Betskoy became the manager at the construction site. For Catherine II, the interior of the palace was remodeled by the architect J. B. Vallin-Delamot. He broke down some walls, put new ones in their place. The architect said about this: I'm throwing walls at windows". At the same time, bay windows were created over the entrances of Her Imperial Majesty and the Komendatsky, which were not in the Rastrelli project.

Especially for Catherine II, the palace church was re-consecrated on July 12, 1763 by His Grace Gabriel in the name of the Savior Not Made by Hands.

Almost immediately after her accession to the throne, Catherine II ordered to expand the space of the palace by building a new neighboring building - the Small Hermitage. There is no entrance from the street; the Small Hermitage can only be reached through the Winter Palace. In its halls, the Empress placed her richest collection of paintings, sculptures and applied arts. Later, the Great Hermitage and the Hermitage Theater joined this single complex.

The Empress settled in the Winter Palace only two years after her coronation, in 1764. She occupied the rooms of her late husband in the southeastern part of the palace. Vorontsova's place was taken by Ekaterina's favorite Grigory Orlov.

From the side of Palace Square, under Catherine II, there was a Reception Room, where her throne stood. In front of the reception room there was a cavalry room, where guards stood - cavaliers of the guard. Its windows overlook the balcony above the Commandant's entrance. From here one could get to the Diamond Room, where the Empress kept her jewels. Behind the Diamond Room, closer to Millionnaya Street, there was a dressing room, then a bedroom and a boudoir. Behind the White Hall was a dining room. The Light Room adjoined it. The dining room was followed by the Front Bedchamber, which a year later became the Diamond Chamber. In addition, the Empress ordered to equip a library, an office, and a lavatory for herself. Under Catherine, a winter garden and the Romanov Gallery were built in the Winter Palace.

The winter garden occupied an area of ​​140 square meters. Exotic bushes and trees grew in it, flower beds and lawns were arranged here. The garden was adorned with sculpture. There was a fountain in the center. According to the description of P. P. Svinin in the time of Catherine II, the Winter Garden looked like this:

"The winter garden occupies a large quadrangular space and contains flowering bushes of laurel and orange trees, always fragrant, green and in severe frosts. Canaries, robins, siskins flutter from branch to branch and glorify their freedom with sweet, loud singing or casually splash in a jasper pool, which, under Empress Catherine, was filled with Portuguese goldfish..." [op. according to: 3, p. 24, 25]

The first performance at the Palace Theater was given on December 14, 1763. Ballets, Italian operas, French and Russian tragedies and comedies were staged here. The first description of the theater of the Winter Palace was made by J. Shtelin in 1769:

"In the device of this new theater, which was laid by the chief architect Rastrelli during the reign of Empress Elizabeth and now had to be hastily completed, there was no lack of convenience, sufficient security and imperial splendor. Above the stalls in four tiers there were about 60 boxes, except for three but in front of the whole parterre and all the boxes, namely on the pediment of the stage, there was a dial of a large clock illuminated from the inside, which showed the audience hours and minutes, and during long-drawn-out performances saved them from the usual troubles often take out a pocket watch" [Cit. according to: 5, p. 440].

I. Bernoulli described the theater in 1777 as follows:

“Although the theater itself is somewhat smaller than the opera house in Berlin and the proscenium is narrower, the stalls, on the contrary, seemed longer to me. The theater has four rows of boxes and is not very magnificent. The empress has three seats: one is completely behind, opposite the stage, like the queen’s box in Berlin , one just behind the orchestra, like our king, and one above the proscenium for visiting incognito" [Ibid.].

The court cathedral of the Image of the Savior Not Made by Hands was used during especially solemn occasions. In everyday life, the imperial family used the Small Court Church of the Presentation of the Lord, founded in 1768, in the northwestern part of the palace.

At the request of Catherine II, the central entrance to the courtyard in 1771 was blocked with pine gates. They were made in just 10 days according to the design of the architect Felten.

Cats have been living in the Winter Palace since Catherine's times. The first of them were brought from Kazan. They protect the property of the palace from rats.

From the first years of her life in the Winter Palace, Catherine II created a certain schedule of events held here. Balls were held on Sundays, French comedy was given on Monday, Tuesday was a day of rest, Russian comedy was played on Wednesday, tragedy or French opera was played on Thursday, followed by an exit masquerade. On Friday, masquerades were given at court, on Saturday they rested.

20 rooms on the third floor of the western part of the Winter Palace in 1773 were given to the educator of the children of Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich - Adjutant General Nikolai Ivanovich Saltykov. Since then, the western entrance and stairs of the building have been called Saltykovsky.

On September 29, 1773, the wedding of the future Emperor Paul I with Wilhelmina of Hesse-Darmstadt (in Orthodoxy - Natalya Alekseevna) took place in the Winter Palace. After the wedding, the highest nobility gathered in the Throne Room, where a table was served. This was followed by a ball, which was opened by the newlyweds. However, Natalya's dress turned out to be so heavy because of the precious stones scattered across the sky that she managed to dance only a few minuets. While Natalia was being undressed, Pavel had dinner in the next room with his mother.

In 1776, Grand Duchess Natalya Alekseevna died in the chambers of the Winter Palace during childbirth. Her unborn child died with her.

Due to the expansion of the imperial family, the space of the Palace Theater was divided into parts and given over to the living quarters of the heir to the throne, Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich and his wife. In the western part of the Winter Palace, the architect Giacomo Quarenghi created rooms for their children.

On May 9, 1793, in the Great Cathedral Church of the Savior Not Made by Hands, the ceremony of anointing Louise Maria Augusta of Baden, who became Elizaveta Petrovna in Orthodoxy, was held. The next day, her betrothal to Grand Duke Alexander Pavlovich took place. On September 28, they were married in the same church. The newlyweds settled in the northwestern risalit of the Winter Palace. The interiors for them in 1793 were designed by the architect I. E. Starov. From the side of the Neva, a suite of rooms for Elizaveta Alekseevna appeared. It included: Reception Room, First Living Room, Second Living Room, Bedchamber, Divan or Mirror Room. This enfilade was connected to the Large Dining Room with windows overlooking the courtyard. The windows overlooking the Admiralty were Elizaveta Petroana's Dressing Room, her Boudoir, the Valet's Room and Alexander Pavlovich's Corner Office. From the side of the Saltykovsky entrance there were the Lavatory of Alexander Pavlovich and the Kamer-Yungferskaya.

In 1791-1793, Quarenghi rebuilt the Neva Enfilade. The place of its five anterooms was occupied by the anteroom, Nikolaevsky and Concert Halls that still exist.

In order to get to the Hermitage, visitors had to pass through the private quarters of Catherine II in the southeastern part of the Winter Palace. So that outsiders would not have to disturb the Empress, by her decree a bridge gallery was created between the palace and the Small Hermitage. Thus the new Throne Room was born. It was opened on the day of St. George the Victorious on November 28, 1795 and named St. George's. Its design was also handled by Quarenghi. On the sides of the throne were two large white marble statues supporting the shield, made by the sculptor Concesio Albani. The hall was illuminated by 28 carved gilded chandeliers, 16 candelabra and 50 bronze girondoles in the form of vases. The creation of the Great Throne Hall cost the treasury 782,556 rubles and 47.5 kopecks. Simultaneously with the Great Throne Hall, the adjacent Apollo Hall was created, through which it became possible to get into the gallery of the Small Hermitage.

The St. George Hall of the Winter Palace was created after the suppression of the Polish uprising, the capture of Warsaw and the third partition of Poland. At the same time, Suvorov brought a trophy to St. Petersburg - the throne of Polish kings. Catherine II ordered to convert it into a toilet seat and place it in the dressing room. On it, Catherine II was caught by an apoplexy that brought her to the grave on November 5, 1796. The coffin with the body of the empress was put up for parting in the bedroom (the third and fourth windows on the right, from the side of Palace Square).

Under Paul I, a memorial study of his father Peter III was created in the Diamond Room. Immediately after ascending the throne, he ordered the construction of a wooden bell tower for the palace cathedral of the Savior Not Made by Hands, whose dome is clearly visible from Palace Square. The bell tower was built on the roof of the palace, to the west of the cathedral. In addition, the bell tower was built for the small church. At that time, the rooms of the emperor's children were located on the site of the White Hall.

Instead of one Throne Hall, Paul I created two in the Winter Palace - for himself and for Empress Maria Feodorovna. They were located in the southern enfilade from the side of the courtyard. The personal quarters of the emperor were located in the former rooms of Catherine II, his wife was given the rooms of the southern enfilade from the side of Palace Square. Under Paul I, the new ceremonial halls - the Cavalry Guard (now Alexander) and the Throne Rooms of the southern enfilade - were designed and decorated by the architect Vincenzo Brenna. After Paul I accepted the title of Grand Master of the Order of Malta in 1798, two rooms in the southeastern risalit were converted into the Cavalier Hall, where official receptions of the Maltese cavaliers were held, and the Maltese Throne Hall. The place of gilding on their walls was occupied by silver lining against the background of yellow velvet. The southern facade of the Winter Palace was decorated with the coat of arms of the Order of the Grand Master.

On February 1, 1801, Paul I, together with his family, moved to the newly rebuilt Mikhailovsky Castle.

After the death of Paul I, his son Alexander returned the status of the imperial residence to the Winter Palace. The rooms of Alexander I and his wife remained in the northwestern risalit, where they were until the accession to the throne of Alexander Pavlovich. In the very first years of the reign of the new emperor, all these rooms were re-decorated by the architect Luigi Rusca. The bedrooms and latrines of Alexander and Elizabeth began to be located next to each other, whereas previously they were separated by several rooms. In place of the Bedchamber of Elizabeth Alekseevna, her Cabinet-Library appeared, the Bedchamber was moved to the former Lavatory.

The widow of Paul I, Empress Maria Feodorovna, began to own a suite of rooms on the third floor from the side of Palace Square. But, having moved to Pavlovsk, she was here very rarely.

In 1817, Alexander I invited the architect Carl Rossi to work in the Winter Palace. He was entrusted with the alteration of the rooms where the daughter of the Prussian king, Princess Caroline, the bride of Grand Duke Nikolai Pavlovich (the future Nicholas I) would stay. In five months, Rossi remodeled ten rooms located along Palace Square: the Tapestry Room, the Great Dining Room, the Living Room ...

In 1825, the courtyard of the Winter Palace was paved with cobblestones.

The next emperor, Nicholas I, settled in the Winter Palace with his family immediately after receiving the news of the death of his elder brother. He moved here from the Anichkov Palace. The uprising of December 14, 1825, the royal family experienced in the Winter Palace.

Nicholas I chose the rooms on the third floor of the northwestern risalit as his apartments. The rooms of Elizaveta Alekseevna were occupied by his wife Empress Alexandra Feodorovna. Part of the premises of the first floor of the northwestern risalit was given to her beloved maid of honor and mentor - Madame Wildemeter. The living quarters of the new emperor and empress were decorated by the architect V.P. Stasov. He kept the layout, but changed the purpose of some rooms. The former Blue Divan of Elizaveta Alekseevna became the Large Study of Alexandra Feodorovna. Nearby are the Bedchamber and Lavatory. From the side of the Neva there were the Reception Room and the First Living Room, the Second Living Room and the Library. The rooms of Alexander I were preserved by Nicholas I as a memorial.

On the third floor, next to the rooms of Nicholas I, Stasov equipped the dwelling of his younger brother Mikhail Pavlovich. The emperor's apartments consisted of a secretary room, a reception room, a corner living room, a green study and a boudoir. The painters F. Toricelli, G. Scotti, B. Medici, F. Brandukov and F. Brullo helped Stasov in the design of these rooms.

Even Alexander I decided to create the Gallery of 1812 in the Winter Palace. He learned about the creation in Windsor Castle of the "Hall of Remembrance of Waterloo" with portraits of Napoleon's victors. But the British won one battle, and the Russians won the whole war and entered Paris. To create a gallery in St. Petersburg, the English artist George Dow was invited, who was given a special room in the palace for work. Young artists Alexander Polyakov and Vasily Golike were given to help him.

Alexander I was in no hurry to open the memorial hall. But Nicholas I, immediately after accession to the throne, hastened to open it. The architectural design of the hall was entrusted to the architect Carl Rossi. To create it, he combined a suite of six rooms into one room. The project he created was approved on May 12, 1826. The gallery of 1812 was opened on December 25, the fourteenth anniversary of the expulsion of the French army from Russia. At the time of opening, 236 portraits of participants in the Patriotic War hung on the walls. Many years later there were 332.

In the first days of January 1827, Nicholas I instructed Karl Rossi to remodel the apartments of Empress Maria Feodorovna in the Winter Palace. The projects were ready by the beginning of March. But due to his own illness, the architect took a six-week vacation. Returning from a well-deserved rest, he learned that the work was transferred to Auguste Montferrand.

On December 25, 1827, the solemn consecration of the Gallery took place, described in the journal Otechestvennye Zapiski:

"This gallery was consecrated in the presence of the imperial family and all generals, officers and soldiers who have medals of 1812 and for the capture of Paris. Cavaliers of these foot guards were gathered in the St. George's Hall, and the Horse Guards in the White ... Sovereign Emperor deigned to give directions for storage in the future... the banners of the Life Guards regiments... They are placed in both corners at the main entrance under the inscriptions of memorable places... on which they once fluttered with unfading glory.
... All the lower ranks gathered here were admitted to the gallery, where they passed in front of the images ... of Alexander and the generals - who repeatedly led them on the field of honor and victories, in front of the images of their valiant commanders, who shared labors and dangers with them .. ." [Quoted in: 2, p. 489]

After the opening of the gallery, Carl Rossi designed the premises around it. The architect conceived the Anteroom, Heraldic, Petrovsky and Field Marshal's halls. After 1833, these premises were completed by Auguste Montferrand.

From 1833 to 1845 the Winter Palace was equipped with an optical telegraph. For him, a telegraph tower was equipped on the roof of the building, which is still clearly visible from the Palace Bridge. From here the tsar had connections with Kronstadt, Gatchina, Tsarskoye Selo and even Warsaw. Telegraph workers were housed in the room below it, in the attic.

On the evening of December 17, 1837, a fire broke out in the Winter Palace. They could not extinguish it for three days, all this time the property taken out of the palace was piled around the Alexander Column. It was impossible to see behind every little thing from all the things piled up on Palace Square. Here lay expensive furniture, porcelain, silverware. And despite the lack of adequate security, only a silver coffee pot and a gilded bracelet were missing. Thus, many things were saved. The coffee pot was discovered a few days later, and the bracelet in the spring, when the snow melted. The building of the palace suffered so much that it was then considered almost impossible to restore it. Only stone walls and arches of the first floor remained from it.

When saving property, 13 soldiers and firefighters were killed.

On December 25, the Commission for the Restoration of the Winter Palace was established. The restoration of the facades and the decoration of the front interiors were entrusted to the architect V.P. Stasov. The personal chambers of the imperial family were entrusted to A.P. Bryullov. General supervision of the construction was carried out by A. Staubert.

The Frenchman A. de Custine wrote:

“Incredible, superhuman efforts were needed to complete the construction at the time appointed by the emperor. Work continued on the interior decoration in the most severe frosts. In total, there were six thousand workers at the construction site, of whom many died daily, but others were immediately brought in to replace these unfortunate ones, who in their turn were destined to soon perish, and the sole purpose of these countless sacrifices was to fulfill the royal whim...
In severe frosts of 25-30 degrees, six thousand unknown martyrs, unrewarded in any way, forced against their will by mere obedience, which is an innate, violently instilled virtue of Russians, were locked in the palace halls, where the temperature, due to the increased firebox for speedy drying, reached 30 degrees heat. . And the unfortunate, entering and leaving this palace of death, which, thanks to their sacrifices, was to turn into a palace of vanity, splendor and pleasure, experienced a temperature difference of 50-60 degrees.
Work in the mines of the Urals was much less dangerous to human life, and yet the workers employed in the construction of the palace were not criminals, like those who were sent to the mines. I was told that the unfortunates who worked in the most heated halls had to put some kind of caps with ice on their heads in order to be able to withstand this monstrous heat without losing consciousness and the ability to continue their work ... "[Quoted by: 2, p. 554]

For a long time it was believed that after the fire, the facades of the Winter Palace were recreated exactly the same as they were conceived by Rastrelli. But in the article "Why Rastrelli was corrected," the historian Z. F. Semenova described in detail the changes made and pointed out their reasons. It turned out that the northern façade of the building had been largely altered. Semicircular pediments were replaced by triangular ones, and the rendering of moldings changed. The number of columns has increased, which are evenly spaced in each wall. Such rhythm and orderliness of the columns is not characteristic of the baroque style of Rastrelli.

Particularly indicative are the changes in the design of the Jordanian entrance. Here, the absence of the bending of the entablature is clearly visible, which is replaced by supporting beams of load-bearing columns. In his practice, Rastrelli never used such a technique.

The "corrections" of the style of the author of the Winter Palace are connected, first of all, with a different understanding of the architecture of Russian architects in the middle of the 19th century. They perceived the baroque as a bad form, diligently correcting it into the correct classical forms.

The wooden bell towers built under Paul I were not recreated.

The decoration of the interiors of the Winter Palace after the fire was very characteristic of the late 1830s, when classicism gave way to eclecticism. The main front interiors have retained their former style solutions. So, Nicholas I ordered the front (Jordanian) stairs " restart in the old way", but at the same time" replace the top columns with marble or granite". Ready-made columns made of polished dark Serdobol granite were found in the storerooms of the Winter Palace - they decorated the Jordan Staircase. The floor and steps were recreated from white Carrara marble, and a balustrade was made from it. In place of the small halls adjoining the Neva enfilade, Stasov created narrow galleries-corridors, and in the central part - the Winter Garden with an area of ​​about 140 square meters with a glazed ceiling.

The 1812 gallery by Stasov was recreated with changes. He increased its length, removed the arch dividing the room into three parts.

The same volumes of the building, which housed the private quarters of the imperial family, were radically redesigned. The architect A.P. Bryullov carried out their redevelopment, significantly improving the functioning of the Winter Palace as apartments for the tsar and his large family. The interiors created by Bryullov received various style solutions. The architect used the techniques of Neo-Renaissance, Neo-Greek, Pompeian Moorish styles, Gothic.

The layout of the building, created at that time, was kept almost unchanged until 1917.

The celebration on the occasion of the restoration of the Winter Palace took place in March 1839. A. de Custine visited the restored Winter Palace:

"It was an extravaganza ... The brilliance of the main gallery in the Winter Palace positively blinded me. It is all covered with gold, while before the fire it was painted white ... Even more worthy of surprise than the sparkling golden dance hall, the gallery seemed to me where dinner was served. [Cit. according to: 3, p. 36]

The statues on the roof of the Winter Palace cracked and began to crumble due to the fire. In 1840 they were restored under the guidance of the sculptor V. Demut-Malinovsky.

On the ground floor, along the entire eastern gallery, mezzanines were built, separated by brick walls. The corridor formed between them became known as the kitchen corridor.

The gates that closed the entrance to the courtyard were also restored. They exactly repeated the appearance of the gate created by Felten.

Catherine's rooms under Nicholas I began to be called "Prussian-royal". The son-in-law of the emperor, the Prussian king Friedrich Wilhelm IV, used to stop here. After the fire, the former rooms of Maria Feodorovna became the Russian Department of the Hermitage, and after the construction of the New Hermitage building - a hotel for high-ranking persons. They were called "The Second Spare Half".

In general, "halves" in the Winter Palace called the system of rooms for one person to live. Usually these rooms were grouped on the same floor around the stairs. For example, the apartments of the emperor were on the third floor, and the empress on the second. They were connected by a common staircase. The room system included everything needed for a luxurious life. So, half of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna included the Malachite, Pink and Raspberry living rooms, the Arapskaya, Pompeii and Large dining rooms, an office, a bedroom, a boudoir, a garden, a bathroom and a pantry, a Diamond and a Passage room. The first six rooms were ceremonial rooms in which the Empress received guests.

In addition to the half of Nicholas I and his wife, the Winter Palace had half of the heir, the Grand Dukes, Grand Duchesses, the Minister of the Court, the first and second spares for the temporary stay of the highest persons and members of the imperial family. As the number of members of the Romanov family increased, the number of spare halves also increased. At the beginning of the 20th century there were seven of them.

The Alexander Hall occupies the central part of the second floor of the façade of the Winter Palace from the side of Palace Square. To his left is the White Hall, recreated by the architect Bryullov on the site of the rooms of the children of Paul I. After the marriage of the heir to the throne (the future Alexander II) with Princess Maximilian Wilhelmina Augusta Sophia Maria of Hesse-Darmstadt (called Maria Alexandrovna in Orthodoxy) in 1841, he became part of her apartments. Maria Alexandrovna owned seven more rooms, including the Golden Living Room, whose windows overlooked Palace Square and the Admiralty. The White Hall was used for receptions. Here they laid tables and arranged dances.

Having ascended the throne in 1856, Alexander II left behind the rooms in which he lived with his wife after the marriage. The interiors for the imperial couple were restored by the architects A.P. Bryullov, A.I. Stackenschneider, G.E. Bosse. In the northwestern risalit, an apartment was created for the younger brother of Alexander II, Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich. Before his marriage to Princess Alexandra Frederica Wilhelmina of Oldenburg (who became Alexandra Petrovna in Russia), the architect Andrey Ivanovich Stackenschneider was in charge of decorating the apartments. These works were carried out around the clock, up to 200 people participated in them.

The apartments of Alexander II consisted of the Entrance Hall, the Hall, the Study Room (on February 19, 1861, the Manifesto on the abolition of serfdom was signed in it), the Study-bedroom, the Room for orderlies and the Library.

In the 1860s, the entrance gate was badly dilapidated. They decided to replace them, the architect Andrey Ivanovich Shtakenshneider proposed a project of cast-iron gates. But this project was not carried out.

In 1869, instead of candlelight, gas lighting appeared in the palace.

The Winter Palace became the site of an attempt on the life of Emperor Alexander II. The terrorist Stepan Nikolaevich Khalturin planned to blow up the tsar when he was having breakfast in the Yellow Living Room. To do this, Khalturin got a job as a carpenter in the palace, settled in a small room with a carpenter. This room was located in the basement floor, above which the guards of the palace guard were located. Above the cardigan was the Yellow Drawing Room. Khalturin planned to blow it up with the help of dynamite, which he carried in parts to his room. According to his calculations, the force of the explosion should have been enough to destroy the ceilings of two floors and kill the emperor. The explosive device was set off on February 5, 1880, at 20 minutes past seven in the morning. The royal family was delayed, by the time of the explosion they did not even have time to reach the Yellow Room. But the Life Guards of the Finnish Regiment, who were in the guards, suffered. 11 people were killed, 47 were injured.

Since 1882, the installation of telephones in the premises began. In the 1880s, a water supply system was built here (before that, everyone used washstands). At Christmas 1884-1885, electric lighting was tested in the halls of the Winter Palace; from 1888, gas lighting was gradually replaced by electric lighting. For this, a power plant was built in the second hall of the Hermitage, which for 15 years was the largest in Europe.

After the death of Alexander II in 1881, the attitude of the royal family towards the Winter Palace changed. Before this tragedy, he was perceived by the emperors as a home, as a place where it was safe. But Alexander III treated the Winter Palace differently. Here he saw his mortally wounded father. The emperor also remembered the explosion of 1880, which means he did not feel safe here. In addition, the huge Winter Palace no longer met the requirements for comfortable housing at the end of the 19th century. Gradually, the imperial residence became only a place for official receptions, while the royal family more often spent time in other places, in the suburbs of St. Petersburg.

Alexander III made the Anichkov Palace his official residence in St. Petersburg. The ceremonial halls of the Winter Palace were open to them for excursions, which were arranged for high school students and students. Balls under Alexander III were not held here. This tradition was resumed by Nicholas II, but the rules for holding them were changed.

In 1884, architect Nikolai Gornostaev began designing the new gates of the Winter Palace. He took the Stekenschneider project as a basis. He developed projects for both the entrance gate and the fence for the ramps leading to the Commandant, Her Imperial Majesty and His Imperial Majesty, Front (in the courtyard) entrances. One of the projects was approved, but the owner of the furniture company, artist Roman Meltzer, got to carry it out. This was his first major work. Meltzer somewhat altered Gornostaev's project, and at the same time presented to the highest persons not only drawings, but also a life-size wooden model. After their approval, the gates and fences were made at the San Galli iron foundry.

In the late 1880s, the architect Gornostaev landscaped the inner courtyard of the Winter Palace. A garden was laid out in its central part, where oaks, lindens, maples and white American ash were planted. The garden was surrounded by a granite plinth, a fountain was arranged in its center.

Once, a fragment of one of the figures on the roof of the Winter Palace fell in front of the windows of the heir to the throne, the future Emperor Nicholas II. The statues were removed, and in the 1890s they were replaced by copper figures under the models of the sculptor N.P. Popov. Of the 102 original figures, only 27 were recreated by copying them three times. All vases have been replicated from one single model. In 1910, the remains of the original sculptures were found during the construction of a residential building at the corner of Zagorodny Prospekt and Bolshoy Kazachy Lane. The heads of the statues are now kept in the Russian Museum.

On November 14, 1894, the wedding of Nicholas II and Alexandra Feodorovna took place in the Court Cathedral of the Savior Not Made by Hands, seven days after the funeral of Alexander III. A week after the wedding, the new emperor decided to once again make the Winter Palace the permanent residence of the Russian tsar. The private quarters of the imperial couple were created in the former rooms of Nicholas I and his wife - on the second floor of the northwestern risalit, with the exception of the Arap dining room, the Rotunda and the Malachite living room. Projects of new interiors were developed by academicians of architecture M. E. Mesmacher, D. A. Kryzhanovsky and A. F. Krasovsky. Carpentry and art work was carried out by the furniture and parquet factories of F. F. Meltzer and N. F. Svirsky. The decoration of the rooms was completed in November 1895. For Nicholas II were created: Adjutant Room, Billiard Room, Library, walk-through room, Bathroom with pool, Cabinet and Lavatory. For Alexandra Feodorovna: Small Dining Room, Malachite Living Room, First and Second Living Rooms, Corner Study and Bedroom. For the first time in the Winter Palace, elements of the Art Nouveau style were used in the rooms of Nicholas II. The transfer of the imperial family from the Alexander Palace to the Winter Palace took place on December 30, 1895.

The working day of Nicholas II was held in the office. Here he received visitors, listened to reports and signed documents. He did not have a secretary, because he did not want an outsider to influence the course of his thoughts. The Emperor spent the evening hours in the Library with the Empress. This is one of the few rooms that have preserved the interiors to this day. Its decoration was carried out by the architect Alexander Fedorovich Krasovsky. Here, by the burning fireplace, the couple talked, read to each other aloud.

In January, one big and two or three small balls were held in the Winter Palace. Up to 5,000 people were invited to the big ball, the congress was scheduled for 9 pm, the event ended at about 2 am. 800 - 1,000 people took part in small balls.

On July 30, 1904, the heir to the throne, Tsarevich Alexei Nikolayevich, was born. It soon became clear that he inherited from his ancestors an incurable disease - hemophilia. After the diagnosis was made, the imperial family decided to move back to the Alexander Palace of Tsarskoye Selo in order to hide their grief from prying eyes. The Winter Palace remained a place for ceremonial receptions, ceremonial dinners, and the seat of the king during short visits to the city. Balls were no longer held here.

One of the last celebrations held in the Winter Palace under Nicholas II was the 300th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty. Festive events were held from 19 to 25 February 1913.

During the First World War (October 5, 1915), the building was given over to the infirmary, named after the heir to the throne, Tsarevich Alexei Nikolayevich. An operating room, therapeutic, examination and other services were opened in the Winter Palace. The armorial hall became a ward for the wounded. Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, the eldest daughters of the tsar, court ladies looked after them.

In the summer of 1917, the Winter Palace became the meeting place of the Provisional Government, which until then had been housed in the Mariinsky Palace. In July, Alexander Fyodorovich Kerensky became chairman of the Provisional Government. It was located in the chambers of Alexander III - in the northwestern part of the palace, on the third floor, with windows overlooking the Admiralty and the Neva. The provisional government was located in the chambers of Nicholas II and his wife - on the second floor, under the apartments of Alexander III. The Malachite Living Room became the meeting room.

The jewels stored in the Winter Palace were looted even before the October Revolution. This was facilitated by the work here of the hospital, various public organizations, the deployment of military units guarding the Provisional Government. Door decorations, a significant part of the candelabra were stolen, marble statues in the White Hall were damaged, furniture was damaged, portraits were torn by bayonets. In this regard, it was decided to transfer most of the valuables from the Winter Palace to Moscow. At the same time, on August 25, 1917, preparations began for the evacuation of the Hermitage collections to Moscow.

Before the First World War, the Winter Palace was repainted in red-brick color. It was against this background that the revolutionary events took place on Palace Square in 1917. On the morning of October 25, Kerensky left the Winter Palace to join the troops stationed outside Petrograd. On the night of October 25-26, a detachment of sailors and Red Army soldiers entered the building through the entrance of Her Imperial Majesty. On October 26, 1917, at 1:50 a.m., the ministers of the Provisional Government were arrested in the Winter Palace. Subsequently, this entrance to the palace, as well as the staircase behind it, was called October.

Winter Palace after 1917, State Hermitage Museum

On the night of October 25-26, 1917, many rooms of the Winter Palace were devastated. With particular frenzy, the pogromists smashed the private quarters of Nicholas II. On October 27, by decision of the newly created Council of People's Commissars, the hospital was closed in the Winter Palace.

Before the Bolshevik revolution, the basement floor of the Winter Palace was occupied by a wine cellar. Centenary cognacs, Spanish, Portuguese, Hungarian and other wines were stored here. According to the city duma, one fifth of the entire supply of alcohol in St. Petersburg was stored in the basements of the Winter Palace. On November 3, 1917, when wine pogroms began in the city, the storehouses of the former royal residence were also damaged. From the memoirs of Larisa Reisner about the events in the cellars of the Winter Palace:

“They were heaped with firewood, walled up first in one brick, then in two bricks - nothing helps. Every night they make a hole somewhere and suck, lick, pull out what they can. Some crazy, naked, impudent voluptuousness attracts to the forbidden wall With tears in his eyes, Sergeant Major Krivoruchenko, who was assigned to protect the unfortunate barrels, told me about the despair, about the complete impotence that he experienced at night, defending alone, sober, with his few guards against the persistent, all-pervading lust of the crowd. Now we have decided this: a machine gun will be inserted into each new hole.

But that didn't help either. In the end, it was decided to destroy the wine on the spot:

"...They called firefighters then. They turned on the cars, pumped full cellars of water and let's pump everything into the Neva. Muddy streams flowed from Zimny: there is wine, and water, and dirt - everything was mixed up ... This story dragged on for a day or two until there was nothing left of the wine cellars in Zimny".

Against the backdrop of widespread renaming of streets, squares, former royal and princely residences, a new name appeared at the Winter Palace, which became the Palace of Arts.

In 1922, the "Museum of the Revolution" was organized in the Winter Palace. Under it, three floors of the western half of the building were assigned, including the Nikolaevsky and Concert halls, the Anteroom and 27 rooms with partially preserved pre-revolutionary decoration. The created exposition was called "The Historical Rooms of the Emperors Alexander II and Nicholas II". Other state rooms of the Winter Palace were transferred to the Hermitage. V. V. Shulgin, who visited the Museum of the Revolution in 1925, wrote:

“We entered the Winter Palace. It was cold, uncomfortable, not heated below. We took tickets to the Museum of the Revolution. We climbed some, apparently service stairs and entered the hall, where, freezing in boots and felt boots, some "women-watchdogs". More and more photography. February days, February newspapers, all kinds of members of the Duma, Rodzianko, Kerensky. All this is collected conscientiously, but boring ...
... the rooms, indicating the modest private life of the sovereigns and especially the empresses, produced some sensation among the handful of people around us. Wasn't expecting it...
There are no particularly valuable things in the chambers of Nicholas II and Alexandra Feodorovna: all these are intimate things that were of value only to themselves. The pens and pens that Nicholas II wrote with have been preserved here; this is Alexandra Feodorovna's writing-book. This is a collection of Easter eggs that they received as a gift...
As we passed the swimming pool, the only luxury that the late Sovereign seemed to allow himself, my companion showed me a spiral staircase that ran up, and remarked in my ear: “There is a room where that scoundrel, Sashka Kerensky, lived "" [Cited in: 6, pp. 245, 246].

In addition to the Museum of the Revolution, the premises of the Winter Palace were occupied, replacing each other, by a variety of institutions: the bodies of the Congress of the Committees of the Poor Peasants of the Northern Region and the Congress of Workers of the Northern Region. The former maid of honor rooms were occupied by the hostel of preschool colonies. Thus, on the third floor there was a colony of homeless children. The headquarters of the October and May Day celebrations worked on the second floor. In some ceremonial halls (including the Georgievsky) exhibitions were held by the Department of Public Education of the People's Commissariat of Education, in the Armorial Hall - concerts and performances, in the Nikolaev Hall for some time a cinema was equipped, and later party meetings and rallies of the Central City District of Petrograd began to be held. The former chief marshal's premises were occupied by a club and a children's dining room. The stables and adjacent utility rooms began to serve as warehouses for children's colonies for homeless children, both the one in the Winter Palace and those located in the Tsarskoye Selo palaces.

A huge number of people who wanted to get acquainted with the former private chambers of the royal family and their completely different reaction to what they saw than what the authorities expected, led to the closure of the Museum of the Revolution. On August 1, 1926, the private rooms of Alexander II and Nicholas II were transferred to the Hermitage.

The Winter Palace has been rebuilt for the needs of the museum since 1927, and especially actively in the early 1930s. Then the bay windows above the entrances from the side of the Palace Square were dismantled. In 1927, during the restoration of the facade, 13 layers of different paints were discovered. Then the walls of the Winter Palace were repainted gray-green, the columns white, and the stucco molding almost black. At the same time, the mezzanines and partitions of the eastern gallery of the first floor were dismantled. It was called the Rastrelli Gallery.

On August 31, 1932, the Lenin Komsomol Museum was opened in the Winter Palace, the entrance to which was through the Oktyabrsky entrance from the side of Palace Square. By 1938, almost all the premises were transferred for museum purposes.

During the siege, in the spring of 1942, a vegetable garden was set up in the courtyard garden of the Winter Palace. Potatoes, turnips, and beets were planted here. The same garden was in the Hanging Garden.

The last historical rooms of the imperial residence, which retained their furnishings, were converted for museum purposes in 1946. In 1955, P. Ya. Kann provided the following information about the palace: there were 1050 front and living rooms, 1945 windows, 1786 doors, 117 stairs.

At present, the Winter Palace, together with the Hermitage Theatre, the Small, New and Large Hermitages, constitutes a single State Hermitage complex. Its basement floor is occupied by production museum workshops.

Back in 1752, F. B. Rastrelli drew up several projects for the restructuring of the existing Winter Palace during the time of Anna Ioannovna. These projects have clearly shown that the possibilities of expanding the former building have been completely exhausted. In 1754, the final decision was made to build a new palace in the same place.

In terms of size and magnificence of architectural decoration, it was supposed to surpass all previous imperial palaces in St. Petersburg, to become a symbol of the wealth and power of the Russian state. Empress Elizaveta Petrovna, especially noted, addressing the Senate through the architect F.B. Rastrelli: towards the end."

The New Winter Palace was conceived as a closed quadrangle with a vast front yard. The northern facade of the palace was facing the Neva, the western - towards the Admiralty. In front of the southern facade, F. B. Rastrelli designed a large square, in the center of which he proposed to install an equestrian statue of Peter I, sculpted by the father of the architect Bartolomeo Carlo Rastrelli. A semicircular square was also planned in front of the eastern facade of the Winter Palace, from the side of the modern Small Hermitage. These plans were not implemented.

The construction of the grandiose building lasted 12 years. For this period, the imperial court moved to a temporary wooden Winter Palace, built on Nevsky Prospekt. During the warm season, the Summer Palace served as the capital's imperial residence.

On the eve of Easter 1762, a solemn consecration of the house church of the Winter Palace took place, marking the end of construction, although many rooms were still unfinished. Elizabeth Petrovna did not have a chance to live in the new palace - she died in December 1761. Emperor Peter III moved to the palace.

During the reign of Catherine II, part of the interiors of the Winter Palace was decorated in accordance with new artistic tastes. Changes and additions were made in the 1st third of the 19th century. A devastating fire in 1837 destroyed the magnificent interior decoration to the ground. Its restoration in 1838-1839 was carried out by the architects V.P. Stasov and A.P. Bryullov.

The Winter Palace belongs to one of the most outstanding works of Russian Baroque. The three-storey building is divided into two tiers by an entablature. The facades are decorated with Ionic and Composite columns; the columns of the upper tier unite the second (front) and third floors.

The complex rhythm of the columns, the richness and variety of forms of architraves (one can count two dozen of their types), abundant stucco work, many decorative vases and statues on the parapets and pediments create an extraordinary decoration of the palace in terms of splendor and magnificence. The bright contrasting coloring of the walls and architectural decorations enhances the overall picturesque impression. Its original gamut was somewhat different compared to the modern one - the palace was “painted from the outside: the walls with sandy paint with the thinnest yellow, and the ornaments with white lime.”

The southern facade of the palace is cut through by three entrance arches leading to the front courtyard. In the center of the northern building was the main entrance. Through the long vestibule one could go to the main Jordan staircase, which occupied a whole risalit in the northeast corner of the building. On the second floor, along the Neva façade, a solemn enfilade passed from the stairs, closed by the grandiose Throne Hall. None of the existing halls of the Winter Palace can compare with its size: F. B. Rastrelli, while maintaining the width of the Throne Hall from the time of Anna Ioannovna (28 meters), brought its length to 49 meters.

Along the eastern façade, from the Jordan Stairs, there was a second enfilade, ending in the palace church. Behind the church, in the southeastern risalit, personal apartments of Elizabeth Petrovna were planned.

All of Rastrelli's interiors were destroyed in a fire in 1837. By special order of Nicholas I, the Jordan Staircase and the palace church were restored to their original form. The latter suffered again already in Soviet times - in 1938 the magnificent carved iconostasis was dismantled. The interior of the church was restored in 2014.

Now the building of the Winter Palace belongs to the State Hermitage Museum, the museum's expositions are located here.

St. Petersburg is a northern city, it is used to surprise with its luxury, ambition and originality. The Winter Palace in St. Petersburg is just one of the sights, which is an invaluable masterpiece of architecture of past centuries.

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

History of the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg

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

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

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

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

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

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

When the construction was completed, St. Petersburg received an architectural masterpiece that struck with its size and luxury. The Winter Palace had two exits, one of which faced the Neva, and the square was visible from the other. The first floor was occupied by utility rooms, above were the front rooms, the gates of the winter garden, the third and last floor was for servants.

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

Fire in the palace

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

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

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

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

Winter Palace in 2017: its description

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

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

Exclusively about the palace

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

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

Reminder for the tourist

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

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 Rus' 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

The history of the Winter Palace begins with the reign of Peter I.

The very first, then still the Winter House, was built for Peter I in 1711 on the banks of the Neva. The first Winter Palace was two-storey, with a tiled roof and a high porch. In 1719-1721, the architect Georg Mattornovi built a new palace for Peter I.

Empress Anna Ioannovna considered the Winter Palace too small and did not want to settle in it. She commissioned the construction of the new Winter Palace to the architect Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli. For new construction, the houses of Count Apraksin, Raguzinsky and Chernyshev, located on the embankment of the Neva River, as well as the building of the Naval Academy, were purchased. They were demolished, and by 1735 a new Winter Palace was built in their place. At the end of the 18th century, the Hermitage Theater was erected on the site of the old palace.

Empress Elizaveta Petrovna also wished to remake the imperial residence to her taste. The construction of the new palace was entrusted to the architect Rastrelli. The Winter Palace project created by the architect was signed by Elizaveta Petrovna on June 16, 1754.

In the summer of 1754, Elizaveta Petrovna issued a nominal decree on the beginning of the construction of the palace. The required amount - about 900 thousand rubles - was withdrawn from the "tavern" money (collection from the drinking trade). The previous palace was demolished. During construction, the yard moved to a temporary wooden palace built by Rastrelli on the corner of Nevsky and Moika.

The palace was notable for its incredible size for those times, magnificent exterior decoration and luxurious interior decoration.

The Winter Palace is a three-storey rectangular building with a huge front yard inside. The main facades of the palace face the embankment and the square that was formed later.

Creating the Winter Palace, Rastrelli designed each facade differently, based on specific conditions. The northern façade, facing the Neva, stretches like a more or less even wall, without noticeable ledges. From the side of the river, it is perceived as an endless two-tiered colonnade. The southern façade, overlooking the Palace Square and having seven articulations, is the main one. Its center is highlighted by a wide, richly decorated risalit cut through by three entrance arches. Behind them is the main courtyard, where in the middle of the northern building was the main entrance to the palace.

Along the perimeter of the roof of the palace there is a balustrade with vases and statues (originally made of stone in 1892-1894 were replaced by a brass knockout).

The length of the palace (along the Neva) is 210 meters, width - 175 meters, height - 22 meters. The total area of ​​the palace is 60 thousand square meters, it has more than 1000 halls, 117 different staircases.

There were two chains of ceremonial halls in the palace: along the Neva and in the center of the building. In addition to the ceremonial halls, on the second floor there were living quarters of members of the imperial family. The first floor was occupied by utility and service premises. The apartments of the courtiers were mainly located on the upper floor.

About four thousand employees lived here, even had its own army - palace grenadiers and guards from the guards regiments. The palace had two churches, a theater, a museum, a library, a garden, an office, and a pharmacy. The halls of the palace were decorated with gilded carvings, luxurious mirrors, chandeliers, candelabra, patterned parquet.

Under Catherine II, a winter garden was organized in the Palace, where both northern plants and plants brought from the south grew, the Romanov Gallery; at the same time, the formation of St. George's Hall was completed. Under Nicholas I, a gallery was organized in 1812, where 332 portraits of participants in the Patriotic War were placed. The architect Auguste Montferrand added the Petrovsky and Field Marshal's Halls to the palace.

In 1837, a fire broke out in the Winter Palace. Many things were saved, but the building itself was badly damaged. But thanks to the architects Vasily Stasov and Alexander Bryullov, the building was restored two years later.

In 1869, instead of candlelight, gas lighting appeared in the palace. Since 1882, the installation of telephones in the premises began. In the 1880s, a water pipe was built in the Winter Palace. At Christmas 1884-1885, electric lighting was tested in the halls of the Winter Palace; from 1888, gas lighting was gradually replaced by electric lighting. For this, a power plant was built in the second hall of the Hermitage, which for 15 years was the largest in Europe.

In 1904, Emperor Nicholas II moved from the Winter Palace to the Alexander Palace in Tsarskoye Selo. The Winter Palace became a place for ceremonial receptions, ceremonial dinners, and the seat of the king during short visits to the city.

Throughout the history of the Winter Palace as an imperial residence, the interiors were redesigned in accordance with fashion trends. The building itself changed the color of its walls several times. The Winter Palace was painted in red, pink, yellow colors. Before the First World War, the palace was painted red-brick.

During the First World War, there was an infirmary in the building of the Winter Palace. After the February Revolution of 1917, the Provisional Government worked in the Winter Palace. In the post-revolutionary years, various departments and institutions were located in the building of the Winter Palace. In 1922, part of the building was transferred to the Hermitage Museum.

In 1925 - 1926 the building was rebuilt again, now for the needs of the museum.

During the Great Patriotic War, the Winter Palace suffered from air raids and shelling. In the cellars of the palace there was a dispensary for scientists and cultural figures who suffered from dystrophy. In 1945-1946, restoration work was carried out, at the same time the entire Winter Palace became part of the Hermitage.

At present, the Winter Palace, together with the Hermitage Theatre, the Small, New and Large Hermitage, forms a single museum complex "The State Hermitage".