St. Petersburg:
Winter Palace

St. Petersburg has long been the capital of the Russian state. Due to this, he takes first place in the number of royal palaces in our country. Many palaces of the city are worthy of our attention, but the most famous and most visited of them is the Winter Palace. For civilized humanity, the Winter Palace is recognizable as infallibly as the Tower or the Louvre.

Few people know that the usual building of the Winter Palace is already the fifth in a row. The first Winter Palace was built for Peter I in the distant 1711, immediately after the transfer of the capital of our state from Moscow to St. Petersburg. Today’s building was built by the famous Italian architect

Rastrelli Bartolomeo, construction was carried out in the years 1754-1762. The square palace with a courtyard, its facades look at the Palace Square, the Neva and the Admiralty. Thanks to the lavish decoration of rooms and facades, the building looks grand. The main facade is south, it is cut through by an arch for travel. The Winter Palace until 1917 was the main imperial residence. Each Russian emperor remodeled the interior in accordance with his tastes and preferences. Only the malachite gallery of the palace was not subjected to alterations.

The Winter Palace began to be built under the Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, it ended under Catherine II. It was Catherine II who introduced the most alterations to the Winter Palace. With her participation, they arranged the Throne Hall, the St. George Hall was finally formed, and the Winter Garden appeared. By her order, a new building was built next to the palace, later called the Small Hermitage. Architects J.-B. worked on this building. Valen-Delamot and Yu.M. Velten. Empress Catherine II in the Small Hermitage kept her own collection of paintings, which laid the foundation for the exhibits of the future museum. The collection was constantly updated, so soon there was no free space in the building for new exhibits. The problem was solved by the construction of the Big Hermitage (architect Yu.M. Felten, years of construction - 1771-1787). Around the same time, the Hermitage Theater was erected on Palace Square, in which imperial performances were staged. The author of the project is architect D. Quarenghi.

The appointment of the New Hermitage was also the storage of works of art - sculptures and paintings, which in the Small and Large Hermitage already ran out of space. The design of this building was developed by architect L. Klenze, built by architects N.E. Efimov and V.P. Stasov.

During the reign of Emperor Nicholas I, the architect Carl Rossi created the Gallery in the Winter Palace in 1812. Nicholas I attached so much importance to the Winter Palace that in 1844 he issued a special decree that forbade the construction of civil buildings in St. Petersburg above the palace. Amazing but the facade Winter Palace is as much as 200 meters to accommodate the main residence of the emperors of Russia.

Under sovereign Nicholas II Zimny - the venue for ceremonial dinners, receptions and the residence of the king during his stay in the city. The Winter Palace was transferred to the Hermitage in 1917. In addition to the buildings mentioned above, the museum began to own the former building of the General Staff Building and the Menshikov Palace. Three halls have been recreated at the General Staff Building, in which contemporary art exhibitions are held today. And it also contains the administrative premises of the Hermitage.