Winter Palace Rastrelli year. History of the Winter Palace

The Winter Palace in St. Petersburg is in the past the main imperial palace of Russia, located at the address: Palace Square, 2 / Palace Embankment, 38. The current building of the palace (fifth) was built in 1754-1762 by the Italian architect B. F. Rastrelli in the style of a magnificent Elizabethan baroque with elements of French rococo in the interiors. Since Soviet times, the main exposition of the State Hermitage has been located within the walls of the palace.

From the moment construction was completed in 1762 to 1904, it was used as the official winter residence of Russian emperors. In 1904, Nicholas II moved his permanent residence to the Alexander Palace in Tsarskoye Selo. From October 1915 to November 1917, a hospital named after Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich worked in the palace. From July to November 1917, the palace housed the Provisional Government. In January 1920, the State Museum of the Revolution was opened in the palace, which shared the building with the State Hermitage until 1941.

The Winter Palace and Palace Square form the most beautiful architectural ensemble of the modern city and are one of the main objects of domestic and international tourism.
In total, five winter palaces were built in the city during the period 1711-1764. Initially, Peter I settled in a one-story house built in 1703 not far from the Peter and Paul Fortress.

First Winter Palace - Wedding Chambers of Peter I

Peter the Great owned a plot between the Neva and Millionnaya Street (on the site of the present Hermitage Theatre). In 1708, here, in the depths of the site, a wooden "Winter House" was built - a small two-story house with a high porch and a tiled roof.

In 1712, the stone Wedding Chambers of Peter I were built. This palace was a gift from the governor of St. Petersburg, Alexander Danilovich Menshikov, for the wedding of Peter I and Ekaterina Alekseevna.

The Second Winter Palace - the palace of Peter I at the Winter Canal

In 1716, the architect Georg Mattarnovi, on the orders of the tsar, began the construction of a new Winter Palace, on the corner of the Neva and the Winter Canal (which was then called the "Winter Canal"). In 1720, Peter I and his entire family moved from their summer residence to their winter residence. In 1725, Peter died in this palace.

Third Winter Palace - Palace of Anna Ioannovna

Later, Empress Anna Ioannovna considered the Winter Palace too small and in 1731 entrusted its reconstruction to F. B. Rastrelli, who offered her his project for the reconstruction of the Winter Palace. According to his project, it was necessary to purchase the houses that stood at that time on the site occupied by the current palace and belonged to Count Apraksin, the Naval Academy, Raguzinsky and Chernyshev. Anna Ioannovna approved the project, the houses were bought up, demolished and construction began in the spring of 1732. The facades of this palace were facing the Neva, the Admiralty and the "meadow side", that is, the palace square. In 1735, the construction of the palace was completed, and Anna Ioannovna moved into it to live. The four-story building included about 70 ceremonial halls, more than 100 bedrooms, a gallery, a theater, a large chapel, many stairs, service and guard rooms, as well as rooms for the palace office. Almost immediately, the palace began to be rebuilt, an extension began to be added along the meadow side of technical buildings, sheds and stables.

Here, on July 2, 1739, Princess Anna Leopoldovna was betrothed to Prince Anton-Ulrich. After the death of Anna Ioannovna, the young emperor John Antonovich was brought here, who stayed here until November 25, 1741, when Elizaveta Petrovna took power into her own hands. Under Elizabeth, the addition to the palace of office premises continued, as a result, by 1750 it “represented a motley, dirty, unworthy view of the place it occupied and the very strangeness of the imperial palace, one wing adjoining the Admiralty, and the other on the opposite side, to the dilapidated chambers of Raguzinsky, not could be pleasing to the Empress. On January 1, 1752, the Empress decided to expand the Winter Palace, after which the neighboring plots of Raguzinsky and Yaguzhinsky were bought out. At the new location, Rastrelli built new buildings. According to the project he drew up, these buildings were to be attached to the existing ones and be decorated with them in the same style. In December 1752, the Empress wished to increase the height of the Winter Palace from 14 to 22 meters. Rastrelli was forced to redo the design of the building, after which he decided to build it in a new location. But Elizaveta Petrovna refused to move the new Winter Palace. As a result, the architect decides to rebuild the entire building, the new project was signed by Elizaveta Petrovna on June 16 (June 27), 1754:

“Because in St. Petersburg, our Winter Palace is not only for receiving foreign ministers and attending the Court on the appointed days of festive rites, due to the greatness of our imperial dignity, but also cannot be satisfied to accommodate us with the necessary servants and things, for which we We set out 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 900,000 rubles, what 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 or 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 "

Fourth (temporary) Winter Palace

It was built in 1755. It was built by Rastrelli at the corner of Nevsky Prospekt and the embankment of the river. Washers. It was demolished in 1762.

Fifth (existing) Winter Palace

From 1754 to 1762, the construction of the existing and currently existing palace building was underway, which at that time became the tallest residential building in St. Petersburg. The building included about 1500 rooms. The total area of ​​the palace is about 60,000 m². Elizaveta Petrovna did not live to see the completion of construction, Peter III took the job on April 6, 1762. By this time, the decoration of the facades was completed, but many of the interior spaces were not yet ready. In the summer of 1762, Peter III was overthrown from the throne, the construction of the Winter Palace was completed under Catherine II.

First of all, the Empress removed Rastrelli from work. The interior decoration of the palace was carried out by the architects Yu. M. Felten, J. B. Vallin-Delamot and A. Rinaldi under the guidance of Betsky.

Initially, the color of the palace had yellow shades, like those of Versailles and Schönbrunn


In the middle of the 19th century, red shades appeared in the color of the palace.

According to the original layout of the palace, made by Rastrelli, the largest front rooms were on the 2nd floor and overlooked the Neva. As conceived by the architect, the path to the huge “Throne” Hall (which occupied the entire space of the northwestern wing) began from the east - from the “Jordanian” or, as it was formerly called, the “Ambassadorial” stairs and ran through a suite of five anterooms ( of these, three middle halls subsequently made up the current Nicholas Hall). Rastrelli placed the palace theater "Opera House" in the southwestern wing. Kitchens and other services occupied the northeastern wing, and in the southeastern part, between the living quarters and the “Great Church” arranged in the eastern courtyard, a gallery was thrown.

In 1763, the empress moved her chambers to the southeastern part of the palace, under her rooms she ordered the chambers of her favorite G. G. Orlov to be placed (in 1764-1766, the Southern Pavilion of the Small Hermitage will be erected for Orlov, connected to Catherine’s chambers by a gallery on the arch ). In the northwestern risalit, the “Throne Hall” was equipped; a waiting room appeared in front of it - the “White Hall”. A dining room was placed behind the White Hall. Adjacent to it was the "Light Cabinet". The dining room was followed by the “Front Bedchamber”, which became the “Diamond Peace” a year later. In addition, the Empress ordered to equip a library, an office, a boudoir, two bedrooms and a lavatory for herself.

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

In 1764, Catherine II was transferred from Berlin 317 valuable paintings with a total value of 183 thousand thalers from the private collection of paintings by Johann Ernst Gotzkowsky (Johann Ernst Gotzkowsky, 1710-1775) on account of his debt to Prince Vladimir Sergeevich Dolgorukov. Of these 317 paintings (it is commonly believed that there were only 225) mostly of the Dutch-Flemish school of the first half of the 17th century, transferred to Russia in 1764 and laid the foundation for the Hermitage collections, at least 96 canvases have survived here today. The paintings were placed in secluded apartments of the palace, which received the French name "Hermitage" (a place of solitude); from 1767 to 1775 a special building was built for them to the east of the palace. In the 1780s-1790s, work on the decoration of palace interiors was continued by I.E. Starov and G. Quarenghi.

In 1783, by decree of Catherine, the palace theater was demolished.

In the 1790s, by decree of Catherine II, who considered it inappropriate for the public to enter the Hermitage through her own chambers, a lintel gallery was created with the Winter Palace - "Apollo Hall", with the help of which visitors could bypass the royal apartments. At the same time, Quarenghi also erected a new “Throne (Georgievsky)” hall, opened in 1795. The old throne room was converted into a series of rooms provided for the quarters of the newly married Grand Duke Alexander. The "Marble Gallery" (of three halls) was also created.

In 1826, according to the project of K. I. Rossi, a Military Gallery was built in front of St. George's Hall, which housed 330 portraits of generals who participated in the war of 1812, painted over almost 10 years by D. Dow. In the early 1830s, in the eastern building of the palace, O. Montferrand designed the Field Marshal's, Petrovsky and Armorial halls.

After the fire of 1837, when all the interiors were destroyed, the restoration work in the Winter Palace was led by architects V.P. Stasov, A.P. Bryullov and A.E. Shtaubert.

The modern three-story building has the shape of a square of 4 outbuildings with a courtyard and facades facing the Neva, the Admiralty and Palace Square. The splendor of the building is given by the magnificent decoration of the facades and rooms. The main façade, facing Palace Square, is cut through by the front passage arch, which was created by Rastrelli after his renovation of the Strelna palace, probably under the influence of Michetti's magnificent architectural design (forerunner of which was Leblon). Differently arranged facades, strong ledges of risalits, accentuation of stepped corners, changeable rhythm of the columns (changing the intervals between the columns, Rastrelli either collects them in bunches, or exposes the plane of the wall) create an impression of restlessness, unforgettable solemnity and magnificence.

Hermitage Museum. Winter Palace

Hermitage Museum. Museum tour.

The Hermitage is not only the greatest art museum, but also the main imperial residence for many years. Today I propose to inspect the interiors of the palace, including those that served the royal family.

The palace, first of all, is a baroque masterpiece by the famous Rastrelli.

In front of it is the main square of the city - Palace.


For a long time, this was the main flagpole of the country.


The roof of the palace is lined with numerous sculptures and vases.

In addition to the Winter Palace, the museum includes several buildings. There is even a covered passage above the canal - to the Hermitage Theatre.


The arch was thrown over the Winter Canal.


Yard facades are not inferior to the front

First of all, from the entrance we get to the main staircase, called the Jordanian.

It got its name from the Feast of Epiphany, when a procession to the Neva descended along it to plunge into the wormwood - Jordan


Originally built by Rastrelli, the staircase burned down in 1837 and was restored by the architect Stasov.


The staircase ceiling looks great as a backdrop for fresh flowers.


In general, when walking around the Hermitage, you need to constantly look up.


Absolutely everywhere the vaults are covered with different, but always magnificent ornaments.

Throwing back their heads, they imperceptibly reached the White Hall.


It was created by A.P. Bryullov for the wedding of the future Emperor Alexander II in 1841 on the site of three living rooms ..

The loggias are located in the building of the New Hermitage, not far from the main staircase.


The New Hermitage was built in 1842-1852 according to the design of the German architect Leon Klenze.


Next, we will examine a number of rooms in the Old Hermitage, decorated with interiors of the 19th century..


Furniture, carpets, paintings, etc. are presented in the unfinished halls.


But the window frames and many glasses in them are original, still from tsarist times ..


The interiors are decorated in different styles.


Strict classic..

Lush Baroque

Imperial style of Alexander I.

Gothic.

Very beautiful and also the largest palace in St. Petersburg is Winter Palace. This is his fourth building, leaving far behind all the previous ones, in terms of scale and luxury of decoration. The construction of the palace began in 1754, and the construction ended eight years later, in 1762.

The author of the project was the famous architect B. Rastrelli. In fact, the Winter Palace is an outstanding example of the late St. Petersburg Baroque. The layout of the Winter Palace, differs in that in plan, it is a clear, regular quadrangle with a fairly wide courtyard. It can be seen that the architect wanted to give this building grandeur and scale, because this is the future palace of the Russian autocrats, and he succeeded.

It can be seen with the naked eye that the colossal size of the palace dominates the entire nearby territory and buildings. And for all the enormity of the building, it is hard to find monotony here. Rastrelli planned all the facades individually, taking into account their location and purpose. For example, the facade on the north side is directed to the Neva, it was built in the form of a straight wall without any special protrusions. And the southern facade is a completely different matter, it overlooks Palace Square, three entrance arches were built here and this facade is the main one in the whole complex. Behind it is the front yard.

As for the eastern and western facades, it would be worth dwelling on the western one here, it goes to the Admiralty to the square where the famous Rastrelli planned to install the statue of Peter I created by his father on horseback. When talking about the Winter Palace, one cannot remain silent about Hermitage. Moreover, in the light of the events of the last century, it has become much more popular than the palace itself. After all, the only thing left behind the palace was that the rulers of great Russia were there. And the Hermitage is interesting every hour, every minute, because the masterpieces of the great masters of the brush are collected here. This is what attracts visitors here. Because the craving for beauty - exists forever.

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 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".

"Winter Palace? - Where is the Hermitage? - Are the Hermitage and the Winter Palace one and the same? Is the Hermitage the name of the museum located in the Winter Palace? - such questions can often be heard from both Russian and foreign tourists. To figure out what's what, let's start the story about the most famous building of St. Petersburg from afar, from the moment the city was founded on the Neva ...

First Winter Palaces

For those who know the history of St. Petersburg, it is not a secret that initially Peter I did not plan the construction of the city center on Admiralteysky Island. The first buildings of St. Petersburg were erected on Petersburg Island, around the current Trinity Square. Then, the tsar hatched plans to build a city center in Kronstadt, on Vasilyevsky Island, but not on the left bank of the Neva. The emergence of the current historical center was facilitated by chance, or rather royal passion. Peter I liked to work as a hatchet. And not only personally cut off the heads of the disgruntled, but also build ships.

After the founding of the Main Admiralty in 1705-1706, the sovereign builder of St. Petersburg faced a problem well known to many inhabitants of our sleeping areas. It was difficult and long to get from Petersburg Island to the Admiralty, even taking into account the absence of traffic jams at that time. So the sovereign wished to have housing near the place of work. In 1708, on the site between the Neva and the current Millionnaya Street, a wooden two-story "Winter House" was built for Peter. This building was located on the site of the current Hermitage Theater, and it is considered to be the first Winter Palace.

Now Peter has the opportunity to run to the shipyard every morning. Soon around the royal
chambers, houses of the sovereign's servants and hangers-on appeared, and the "industrial outskirts" suddenly became the political and aristocratic center of St. Petersburg.

In 1712, the "Winter House" was expanded by adding the so-called "Wedding Chambers" to it, but Peter Alekseevich, who settled down in a new place, began to think about a more representative residence. In 1716, according to the project of the architect Georg Mattarnovi, the construction of the new Winter Palace began, located on the site of the previous building. In the future, the researchers noted the successful choice of a place for the main royal residence: “... the palace is located so that most of the city, the fortress, the house of Prince Menshikov and, in particular, the open sea is visible from it”

The construction of Peter's Winter Palace was completed in 1723. This event was celebrated with a solemn feast, but Peter I did not live long in the new building. On January 28, 1725, the emperor died in the Great Hall of the Winter Palace from the effects of untreated gonorrhea.

Second Winter Palace of Peter I

After the death of Peter, his widow, Catherine I, lived in the Winter Palace for some time. Under Anna Ioannovna, the court settled in the neighboring mansion of Apraksin, located on the site of the current Winter Palace. Petrovsky "Winter House" was used by various palace services, and then was abandoned. Under Catherine II, the building of the Hermitage Theater was built in its place.

In the 1970s-1980s, Leningrad scientists discovered to their surprise that many elements of the Petrovsky Winter Palace have survived to this day. The architect Giacomo Quarneghi, who erected the theater building, used the walls and load-bearing structures of the old building, thanks to which today we can see the premises where Peter I spent the last two years of his life. Today they have been partially restored and tours are held in them.
Under Empress Anna Ioannovna, on the site of the houses of Apraksin, Chernyshev, Raguzinsky and the Naval Academy, the construction of a new Winter Palace, the third in a row, began. Work continued from 1732 to 1735. The new four-story building had about 70 ceremonial halls, more than 100 bedrooms, a theater, a chapel, an office, service and guard rooms.

Winter Palace of Anna Ioannovna

In the future, this Winter Palace was rebuilt and completed more than once, until Empress Elizaveta Petrovna discovered that the palace began to resemble not a front residence, designed to demonstrate the power of the Russian state, but a chicken coop. The appearance of the building was spoiled by countless stables, technical outbuildings and sheds, built mainly from the side of the Admiralteysky Meadow (the current Palace Square). The question arose again of rebuilding the palace, but then it turned out that it would be easier to demolish the old building and build a new palace in its place. The corresponding decree was signed by Elizaveta Petrovna on June 16, 1754:

“Because in St. Petersburg, our Winter Palace is not only for the reception of foreign ministers and the departure at the Court on the appointed days of festive rites, due to the greatness of our imperial dignity, but also to accommodate us with the necessary servants and things cannot be satisfied, for which we they set out to rebuild our Winter Palace with a large space in length, width and height, for which, according to the estimate, it is necessary to rebuild up to 900,000 rubles, which amount, spread over two years, it is impossible to take from our salt money. For this, we order our Senate to find and present to us from what income it is possible to take such an amount of 430 or 450 thousand rubles a year for that matter, counting from the beginning of this 1754 and the next 1755, and that this should be done immediately, so as not to miss the current winter way to prepare supplies for that building ... "

Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli, (1750-1760s)

Palace construction

The construction of the new Winter Palace was supervised by the court architect of Elizabeth Petrovna Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli. The architect understood that he was given a task of great political importance and began to zealously justify the high trust placed in him, because the palace was being built "for the united glory of all Russia."

According to the plan of the master, the Winter Palace was supposed to be a huge quadrangle with a courtyard. The facade and interiors were designed in the Baroque style, the unsurpassed master of which was Russterley. Each of the facades of the palace was individual. The main facade was considered to be the South, facing the Palace Square. He was the most magnificent. In its center were three arches leading to the front yard. The facade overlooking the Neva resembled an endless colonnade. The western facade also had a grand appearance, overlooking Razvodnaya Square, where Rasterly planned to erect a monument to Peter I, the work of his father, Carlo Bartolomeo.

Inside the Winter Palace, according to the Rasterly project, it was supposed to arrange 1050 front and living rooms with an area of ​​46 thousand square meters, 1945 windows, 1786 doors, 117 stairs, 329 chimneys.

The Winter Palace was conceived as the architectural dominant of the center of St. Petersburg and the tallest secular building in the city. Prior to the decree of Nicholas I, the construction of buildings higher than the Winter Palace in the center of the Northern capital was prohibited. The whole system of external decoration, columns installed in two rows, statues, was designed to emphasize the huge (four-story!) height of the building.
About four thousand people worked on the construction of the Winter Palace, including the best craftsmen from all over Russia. The territory of the current Palace Square and the Alexander Garden was covered with huts in which workers lived. The yard also had to change its place of residence. For him, Rastrelli built a temporary wooden Winter Palace, located on the site of the modern Chicherin house, at the corner of Nevsky Prospekt and the Moika River.

Elizaveta Petrovna really wanted to move to a new residence as soon as possible, but this did not happen. On January 25, 1761, the Empress died. And on April 6, 1762, the court moved to the Winter Palace built by Rasterli. The legend says that after the completion of the work, the Palace Square was a garbage dump. The cunning police general of St. Petersburg, Baron N.A. Korf proposed to announce through the heralds that every citizen is free to take everything he needs from the place of the former construction site. The next day, in front of the Winter Palace, it was possible to iron clothes ... Poor Petersburgers even stole heaps of lime.

The Winter Palace becomes the Winter Palace

Before the fresh lime that covered the walls of the Winter Palace had dried, they began to rebuild the building. The new Empress Catherine II, who ascended the throne after the short but memorable reign of Peter III, was not a fan of the Baroque. Rastrelli was forced to resign and leave St. Petersburg, and a new team of architects was invited to rebuild the Winter Palace: Yu.M. Felten, J.B. Vallin-Delamot and A. Rinaldi.

The interiors of the palace conceived by Rastrelli were almost completely destroyed. Today, only the magnificent Jordan Stairs have survived from them, along which thousands of tourists pass every day, going to inspect the treasures of the State Hermitage. In place of the old Throne Hall and the theater, a new Neva enfilade arose, which included the Anteroom, the Bolshoi and the Concert Halls.

The true decoration of the palace was the Great Throne or St. George Hall created by Giacomo Quarnegi. Its central object was a large throne made by P. Azhi. Colored marble and gilded bronze were used to decorate the interior of this main front hall of the Winter Palace.

Under Catherine II, the Winter Palace became the center of the social and cultural life of Northern Palmyra, a venue for pompous court festivities and balls.
The Englishman W. Cox, who attended a ball in the Winter Palace in 1778, described what he saw in the following words: “The wealth and splendor of the Russian court surpass the most pretentious descriptions. Traces of ancient Asian splendor are mixed with European sophistication ..., the splendor of court dresses and an abundance of precious stones leave behind the splendor of other European states. About eight thousand people attended the ball. True, this crowd of nobles, wealthy merchants and respected artisans did not mix with the aristocrats who danced behind the low barrier that separated the courtiers from other guests.

Work on the design of the Winter Palace continued in subsequent reigns. With the exception of Paul I, who preferred the Mikhailovsky Castle to the Winter Palace, each emperor sought to add something of his own to the decoration of the main palace of the Russian Empire.
Particularly large-scale work was carried out after 1812, when it became necessary to demonstrate to the whole world the new status of Russia - the winner of Napoleon, the leader of united Europe in the struggle for the bright ideals of consecrated absolutism.

Military gallery of the Winter Palace. G.G. Chernetsov

In 1826, Karl Rossi arranged a Military Gallery in front of the St. George Hall, the walls of which were decorated with 330 portraits of generals who participated in the Patriotic War of 1812. The paintings for this room were painted by the English artist D. Dow. It was to her that A.S. Pushkin dedicated his lines:

The Russian tsar has a chamber in his halls:
She is not rich in gold, not in velvet ...
Crowd close artist placed
Here the chiefs of our people's forces,
Covered with the glory of a wonderful campaign
And the eternal memory of the twelfth year.

Auguste Montferan also took part in the reconstruction of the Winter Palace. He built the staircase of the empress' entrance, decorating it with high reliefs, statues and columns, decorated the Field Marshal's, Petrovsky's and Armorial Halls. V.A. Zhukovsky enthusiastically wrote to the royal residence:

“The Winter Palace as a building, as a royal dwelling, perhaps, did not have anything like it in the whole of Europe. With its vastness, with its architecture, it depicted a powerful people that had so recently entered the environment of educated nations, and with its inner splendor it reminded of that inexhaustible life that boils in the interior of Russia ... The Winter Palace was for us the representative of everything domestic, Russian, ours ... "

But what about the Hermitage?

A tourist who has visited the suburbs of St. Petersburg will easily find that Pushkin and Peterhof have their own “Hermitage”. This word translated from French means "Secluded corner". Nobles and kings of the 18th century liked to set up secluded pavilions in their gardens and parks for intimate pastime. And Catherine II arranged her "secluded corner" right in the center of St. Petersburg.

For this purpose, in 1764-1775, a building was added to the Winter Palace, which is known today as the Small Hermitage. In it, Catherine II spent time with a select audience in an informal setting. Outsiders were not allowed into the Hermitage. Even the tables in this room were laid in advance, after which the servants left the "secluded corner" and left.
On the whole, the atmosphere of the Hermitage was reminiscent of modern corporate parties. Formally, the guests left their ranks and conventions at the door. Those who spoke nonsense had to drink a glass of cold water or read a page from Tredyakovsky's Telemachiad.

In order for evenings in the Hermitage to become a cultural pastime, Catherine II decided to decorate the premises with a proper collection of paintings. The Hermitage collection began in 1764, when the German merchant Gotskovsky gave Russia his collection of 225 paintings as a debt. The Empress also ordered that all valuable works of art that appeared at auctions be bought abroad.

Works by Rubens and Van Dyck were bought in England. Russian ambassador in Paris, Count D.A. Golitsyn, thanks to his connections with D. Diderot and other representatives of French culture, was able to acquire such world-famous masterpieces as Rembrandt's The Return of the Prodigal Son, two Danae by Titian and Rembrandt, Rubens' Bacchus, Giorgione's Judith, etc.

By the end of the reign of Catherine II, the Hermitage collection of paintings amounted to four thousand canvases. The Small Hermitage no longer contained all the masterpieces. For the collection had to build a special building called the Old Hermitage.

The Hermitage received not only paintings. Catherine's agents also bought engravings, drawings, ancient antiquities, works of arts and crafts, ancient coins, weapons, medals and books.

The tradition of replenishing the Hermitage collection continued into the 19th century. Under Alexander I, paintings by Rembrandt and Rubens "Descent from the Cross", "Potter's Farm", paintings by Claude Lorrain, "A Glass of Lemonade" by Terborch and "Breakfast" by Metsu were acquired. During this period, the Hermitage was gradually transformed from a personal collection of paintings by the emperor into a museum. True, it was by no means a public gallery. To visit the Hermitage, you need to take a special pass signed by the head of the court office. Even A.S. Pushkin received such a document only thanks to the patronage of the educator of the royal children V.A. Zhukovsky.

Interiors of the New Hermitage on a watercolor by K. Ukhtomsky, 1856

An important turning point in the "democratization" of access to the Hermitage was the construction of the New Hermitage building, which was completed in 1856. It was the first purpose-built museum building in Russia. Already in 1852, the exposition of the New Hermitage received its first visitors, and in 1866 access to the museum became open and ... free. The cost of tickets was compensated by the Ministry of the Imperial Court. Of course, only “European-style” dressed people were allowed inside, which in itself closed access for representatives of the poor strata of society.

After the revolution, the Hermitage Museum received valuable acquisitions, but at the same time suffered serious losses. Values ​​expropriated from private collections of Russian aristocrats and industrialists were brought to the main museum of the country. At the same time, in the late 1920s, some of the Hermitage paintings were sold abroad to finance industrialization. And the collection of paintings of Russian painting was transferred to the Russian Museum.

In the 1920s, the concepts of the Hermitage and the Winter Palace gradually became a single whole, since the museum received almost all the premises of the former royal residence to house its expositions.

After the Great Patriotic War, the collections and storerooms of the Hermitage were replenished with trophy works of art taken out of Germany as compensation for the masterpieces destroyed by the Nazi troops in Russia.

The legend of the gunsmith Tarasyuk

There are many interesting tales about the Winter Palace. The most banal of them are stories about the ghosts of Peter I, Nicholas I and Nicholas II, who regularly walk through the night halls of the Hermitage. There are legends about the underground passages of the Hermitage, which lead either to the Manege or to the Marble Palace.

Of all these legends, only one story is distinguished by its original content and dramatic plot. Allegedly in the early 80s, the First Secretary of the Leningrad City Committee of the CPSU Grigory Romanov, a fierce enemy of the freedom-loving intelligentsia, decided to celebrate his daughter's wedding in the Tauride Palace. For this, the satrap demanded that the leadership of the Hermitage give him Catherine II's ceremonial service for one hundred and forty-four persons. The director of the Hermitage, Boris Borisovich Piotrovsky, said that the service could only be taken over his corpse, but when the KGB leadership said that this could be arranged in principle, Boris Borisovich went home and told the sick.

Employees of the city committee went to the Hermitage for a service, and only one person stood in their way. It was an employee of the museum Tarasyuk. Dressed in medieval armor, he picked up a sword and menacingly moved towards the uninvited guests. The cowardly agents of tyranny retreated in panic, but then one extremely sad event happened for all honest museologists. Just at this time, at night, vicious dogs were released into the halls of the Hermitage. Tarasyuk was an expert on weapons, but the armor he wore was designed for riding. When the scientist was already triumphant, the evil dogs dug into his most vulnerable spot, unprotected by armor ... Tarasyuk lost his courage, and the jubilant city committee took away the service.

The further fate of the masterpiece was sad. When they shouted “Bitter!” at the wedding, the partocrats began to beat the precious dishes on the floor ... However, Romanov did not get away with it. Because of this story, he was not made General Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU, instead of Mikhail Gorbachev.

Tarasyuk was fired from the Hermitage and went to Israel, where his traces were lost.

Fire in the Winter Palace K.Zh. Vernet

From fire to war

A symbolic milestone in the history of the Winter Palace was the catastrophic fire of 1837. Later, the cause of the fire was said to be "a vent left unsealed during the last alteration of the large Field Marshal's Hall"; the air vent "was located in the chimney, held between the choir stalls and the wooden vault of the hall of Peter the Great, located side by side with the Field Marshal's, and adjoined very close to the boards of the rear partition. On the day of the accident, it was thrown out of the chimney, after which the flame communicated through this air vent to the boards of the choirs and the vault of the hall of Peter the Great; he was provided with plentiful food in this place by wooden partitions; on them the fire passed to the rafters. These huge rafters and supports, dried for 80 years in hot air under an iron roof incandescent heat in summer, ignited instantly.

The smell of smoke was noticed on the morning of December 17, but since no one could find the source of the fire for a long time, the necessary measures were postponed until the evening. By that time, the internal ceilings of the Winter Palace were already burning with might and main, and when the firemen broke down the walls, the flame burst out ...

The Winter Palace burned for three days. During this time, all of its interiors burned out. It was one of the largest fires in the history of St. Petersburg. The glow from the fire was visible for several kilometers from the city. Only the heroic efforts of the soldiers and servants managed to save almost the entire palace furnishings and paintings. They were taken out into the street and stacked at the Alexander Column.

Immediately after the disaster, repair work began in the Winter Palace, led by architects V.P. Stasov and A.P. Bryullov. Emperor Nicholas I ordered them to "restore to their original form" all the interiors of the palace. We note right away that the architects did an excellent job with the responsible government task. The appearance of the former Winter Palace was revived in just two years.

In some halls, with the consent of the sovereign, changes were nevertheless made. So the Stasov Armorial Hall was enlarged to a thousand square meters and seriously changed its decoration.

After this repair, the ceremonial interiors of the Winter Palace have survived to this day without significant changes. This truth cannot be said about the living quarters of the palace. Only the Alexander and White halls, the stairs of the entrance of "Her Imperial Majesty", the Rotunda, the Arapsky and Malachite halls have survived to us in the form in which A.P. conceived them. Bryullov. Other living rooms of the palace were repeatedly rebuilt in accordance with the tastes of their owners. Of course, one cannot speak of any artistic unity here, although the interiors of some private chambers are very interesting in themselves. Among them, it is worth noting the "Red Boudoir" of Empress Maria Alexandrovna, the "Golden Living Room" created by V.A. Schreiber and the personal library of Nicholas II (author A.F. Krasovsky).

Until the revolution, the Winter Palace continued to function as a platform for the most important political events of Tsarist Russia. Receptions of foreign ambassadors, solemn balls, receptions of loyal subjects of delegations, opening ceremonies of the State Duma were held here. In a difficult or solemn moment, crowds of loyal subjects rushed to this building. On January 9, 1905, columns of St. Petersburg workers moved to the Winter Palace, to the tsar, asking for mercy and intercession. Unfortunately, the dialogue between the authorities and the people did not work out that day ... But on August 1, 1914, a column of patriotic intelligentsia nevertheless reached Palace Square and fell to its knees in front of the adored monarch who appeared on the balcony of the Winter Palace.

In the 19th century, once a year, the doors of the Winter Palace were thrown open for the residents of the capital. On January 1, a New Year's masquerade was held in it. Moreover, not only nobles could come to the royal house, but also “merchants, philistines, shopkeepers, artisans of all kinds, even simple bearded peasants and serfs, decently dressed. All this crowded and pushed along with the first ranks of the court, representatives of diplomacy and high society. Dressed up ladies, in diamonds and pearls, military and civilian star-bearers, and interspersed with tailcoats, frock coats and caftans. The sovereign and the royal family, with a large retinue, walking from one hall to another, sometimes with difficulty could pass through the crowd. For many, this was a wonderful opportunity to refresh themselves: “In the halls there were many sideboards with gold and silver dishes, with all kinds of soft drinks, excellent wines, beer, honey, kvass, with an abundance of all kinds of food from the most refined to the most common ... The crowd around the sideboards replaced by a crowd as they emptied and refilled. At such annual holidays, sometimes from 25 to 30 thousand people came to the Winter Palace. Foreigners could not marvel at the order and decency of the crowd, and the credulity of the sovereign towards his subjects, who crowded around him with love, devotion and a sense of complacency for 5 or 6 hours. Not the slightest etiquette was observed here, at the same time, no one abused proximity to the royal person.

But as a royal residence, the Winter Palace was used less and less. It turned out that in the new historical realities, the huge building does not meet safety requirements well. And not just fire fighting. On February 5, 1880, Stepan Khalturin, a Narodnaya Volya member, carrying 30 kilograms of dynamite into the Winter Palace, set off an explosion under the dining room where Emperor Alexander II was supposed to dine. The sovereign was miraculously unharmed. 11 soldiers of the Finnish Life Guards Regiment were killed.

After the Narodnaya Volya nevertheless killed Alexander II in 1881, the new tsar, Alexander III, preferred to live in the safe Gatchina, and visit the Winter Palace on a rotational basis. Only when Nicholas II ascended the throne, the august family again returned to the banks of the Neva. True, after the start of the 1905 revolution, the Winter Palace looked more like a fortified camp. In addition to the tsar, some key figures of the regime also lived in it - for example, Prime Minister Stolypin. Only there they could feel safe. Nicholas II himself, following the example of his father, spent more and more time in Pushkin's Alexander Palace.

With the outbreak of the First World War, life in the Winter Palace underwent new changes. The imperial family appeared in the old walls less and less. In 1915, a number of palace halls were assigned to the hospital.

Winter Palace in the 20th century

After the February Revolution of 1917, the Extraordinary Commission of the Provisional Government to investigate the crimes of tsarism worked for some time in the premises of the Winter Palace, and from the summer of 1917, the Provisional Government itself "moved" into the former royal chambers. Newspapers wrote malicious articles about A.F. Kerensky blissful in the bed of Nicholas II. All palace valuables and collections of the Hermitage were sent to Moscow and hidden in the building of the Historical Museum.

On the night of October 25-26, 1917, the Winter Palace became the scene of historical events. The forces of the military revolutionary committee, the Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers' Deputies, after a series of short skirmishes, seized the former royal residence and arrested the ministers of the Provisional Government. The tabloid press was filled with chilling articles about the destruction of palace interiors by wild crowds of workers and peasants and the sad fate of the female shock battalion, whose fighters were in for a fate worse than death. True, it should be noted that the scientific literature does not confirm this information.

Three days after the arrest of the Provisional Government, the new Soviet authorities took the Winter Palace under protection as a cultural monument. However, at first it was used for a variety of purposes. The Museum of the Revolution, and the reception center for prisoners of war of the old army, and the headquarters for arranging mass celebrations, and even a cinema, operated in a huge building. Only from 1922 did all the premises of the Winter Palace begin to be gradually transferred to the Hermitage.

At the same time, work began on the redevelopment of the former living and service rooms of the Hermitage. On the first floor, the Rastrelli Gallery was restored, instead of 65 rooms of the maid of honor, 17 original rooms were recreated.

Vegetable gardens on the territory of the Winter Palace during the blockade

During the Great Patriotic War, the Winter Palace was seriously damaged. German bombs and shells damaged the Jordan Stairs, the Small Throne (Petrovsky) Hall, and the Armorial Hall. The restoration of these objects took a long time after the war. The most valuable exhibits were evacuated to Sverdlovsk. In the courtyard of the Winter Palace, a vegetable garden was laid out where vegetables were grown.

In subsequent decades, the Winter Palace-Hermitage became one of the largest museums in the world. It houses up to three million unique works of art. Every year the Winter Palace is visited by millions of tourists and Petersburgers.