We all walk around Zimniy, we look at paintings, shades, vases, trellises, parquet, gilding in general, all sorts of works of art, but there wasn’t always a museum here, people lived here and not some, but the rulers of a great state, so I want to see what kind of chambers their life passed. Therefore, we will visit the living quarters of the Winter Palace. Currently, only a part of the magnificent series of residential apartments that once occupied a significant place in a huge building has been preserved in the Winter Palace.
On April 16, 1841, the marriage of the heir to the Tsarevich Alexander Nikolayevich, the future Emperor Alexander the Second and the Princess of the General Secretary of State, who received the title of Grand Duchess Princess on that day, took place. Maria Alexandrovna, the future empress settled in the rooms of the second floor of the northwestern part of the palace intended for her. In these chambers, she lived until her death in 1880. Maria Alexandrovna’s apartments consisted of eight rooms, some of which have retained their decoration to date.
Grand cabinet of Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna, watercolor by E.P. Gau
The boudoir, or Small Cabinet, was one of Maria Alexandrovna's favorite places. Its decoration was made in the mid-nineteenth century by the architect Harold Bosse in the style of the second rococo, fashionable at that time.
Boudoir of Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna, watercolor by E.P. Gau 
The bedroom of Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna, watercolor by E.P. Gau Here, it is as if the atmosphere of a fairy tale is created, patterns are curiously fanciful, the gleam of gilding sets off the slender figures of snow-white caryatids. A magnificent bronze chandelier is reflected in mirrors of various shapes. In her cozy boudoir, Maria Alexandrovna spent a lot of free time, read, wrote letters to her family, drank tea with her husband. From here there was an exit to the stairs, along which one could go down to the first floor, into the rooms of the children.
Raspberry Cabinet
Raspberry cabinet of Empress Maria Alexandrovna, watercolor by E.P. Gau Receptions of the Empress’s personal guests and meetings with relatives of the royal family were held in the Big or Raspberry cabinet. The office was also a kind of music salon. In the drawings of fabric tight-fitting walls, you can see numerous images of musical instruments and notes. The frame of the huge fireplace mirror is crowned with cupids with a shield in their hands, which depicts the monogram of Maria Alexandrovna.
Raspberry cabinet of the Winter Palace, © The State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg Golden living room
With a shining abundance of gilding, the Golden Living Room resembles the chambers of the Moscow Kremlin with their vaulted ceilings and richly decorated walls. True, the hostess herself compared her living room with the throne room of the Bavarian kings.
Small photo selection
On October 10, 1894, Her Highness Princess Alice of Hesse arrived by regular train to Livadia, accompanied by Their Imperial Highnesses Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich and Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna (her older sister). The imminent arrival of the bride of the Heir was caused by the critical state of health of Emperor Alexander III, who was supposed to bless the marriage of Cesarevich. The engagement itself took place in Coburg on April 8 of the same year.
M. Zichy
November 14, 1894 in the Cathedral of the Imperial Winter Palace held the highest wedding. 
L. Tuxen
After the ceremony, the August couple went to the Imperial Anichkov Palace, under the shelter of the Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna.
On November 18, visits to the Personal Rooms of the newlyweds of the Grand Duchess Ksenia Alexandrovna and Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich, married on July 25, took place in Zimny. Then the final decision was made to relocate to Winter.
The arrangement of the future Apartment was entrusted to the new Palace Architect A.F. Krasovsky. A place for her was chosen in the second floor of the northwestern part of the palace. The alteration was supposed to be the former chambers of Empress Maria Feodorovna, previously owned by the wife of Sovereign Nikolai Pavlovich. It should be noted that the magnificent Bryullovsky and Stackenschneider interiors under Sovereigns Aleksander II and Alexander III did not undergo significant changes. The abundance of gilding, French silk and museum values \u200b\u200bof the canvas did not meet the taste of Tsesarevich and Her Highness. To help academician A.F. Krasovsky, N. I. Kramskoy and S. A. Danini were appointed to reconstruct these chambers. According to the results of the announced competition for the best interior design for the new Imperial chambers, the team included Academician M. E. Mesmakher, architect D. A. Kryzhanovsky and Academician N. V. Nabokov. Joiner's artwork was performed in the best workshops of F. Meltzer, N. Svirsky and Shteingolts.
Her Imperial Highness Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna took an active part in the arrangement of the Imperial private chambers. She negotiated with architects and artists. All direct executors of the order had to reckon with her instructions.
In the spring of 1895, the interiors of the new Imperial personal chambers were finally approved in all details. Finishing was carried out as quickly as possible and already on December 16, 1895, after participating in the New Year's charity bazaar held in the halls of the Imperial Hermitage, the August couple visited their fully finished chambers in the palace.
Before you begin to get acquainted with the Apartment, you should get some idea of \u200b\u200bthe Imperial Winter Palace. According to a note in 1888, the total area of \u200b\u200bthe palace with the Imperial Hermitage and the building of the Imperial Hermitage Theater occupied 20,719 square meters. soot. or 8 2/3 tithes, the building of the palace itself - 4 902 square meters. Soot., the main courtyard - 1 912 square meters. soot .; The residential floors of the palace contained 1,050 chambers, the floor area of \u200b\u200bwhich was 10,219 square meters. soot. (4 1/4 dess.), And the volume is up to 34 500 cubic meters. soot .; in these chambers 6,333 square meters. soot. parquet floors: 548 - marble 2,568 - slab, 324 - pre-finished, 512 - asphalt, mosaic, brick, etc .; doors - 1,786, windows - 1,945, 117 stairs with 3,800 steps, 470 different stoves (after the fire of 1837, the palace was heated according to the method of General Amosov: the stoves were in the basement and the rooms were heated with warm air through pipes) ; the roof surface of the palace is 5 942 sq. m. soot .; on the roof there are 147 dormers, 33 glass gaps, 329 chimneys with 781 smoke; the length of the cornice surrounding the roof is 927 soot and the stone parapet is 706 soot .; lightning rods - 13. The cost of maintaining the palace extended to 350 thousand rubles. per year with 470 employees.
Plan: 
Malachite living room. Anticipated the Personal chambers of Their Majesties. It was part of the Front Neva Enfilade. Here the ancient ceremonies of the Royal House were held, courtiers were received, relatives gathered, and numerous Councils of committees headed by Her Majesty met. During court balls, Their Majesties rested in solitude here. From here began the Solemn exits of Their Majesties. 
Her Majesty's Salon or Her Majesty's First Living Room. This room, decorated in the Empire style, was intended for the reception of the maid of honor. Restrained decor was made by masters G. Bott, A. Zabelin and painter D. Molinari. Furniture work workshop N.F. Svirsky. 
The silver drawing room of Her Majesty, or the Second drawing room of Her Majesty. Living room in the style of Louis XVI. Intended for receptions of Her Majesty's maid of honor and the ladies of the Diplomatic Corps, as well as for Her Majesty's relaxation. Ladies on duty were also here. Her Majesty, who possessed a good soprano, often played music with her associates in this living room. Being a keen collector of French glass, Halle and Daum Her Majesty posted the best samples here. 
Her Majesty’s office. It is noteworthy that Her Majesty's particularly respectful attitude to the memory of the former owners of chambers. So, a portrait of the work of Vigee-Lebrun of the first August Hostess, Empress Elizabeth Alekseevna, was installed on the work table of Her Majesty. A small podium behind the screens in the northwest corner of the Cabinet served as a viewing platform for admiring the views of North Palmyra. 
Her Majesty's bedroom. The modest room of the August couple, with children's furniture belonging to Grand Duchess Olga Nikolaevna. The decoration is widely used French chintz. 
Wardrobe of Her Majesty. Made in the style of Louis XVI. 
Boudoir of Her Majesty. Adjacent directly to the Cabinet of His Majesty. Solved in the style of low-key Gothic. 
Concluding my acquaintance with Her Majesty's chambers, I would like to say that during the presence of Their Majesties in the palace these rooms were filled with a great many flowers and greenery. Countless vases, pots, flowerpots of various shapes and sizes with roses, orchids, lilies, cyclamens, azaleas, hydrangeas and violets filled the apartments with subtle smells.
Cabinet of His Majesty. Made in the style of Gothic. His Majesty, in memory of his trip to the countries of the Near and Far East, placed many art objects of China, Japan and India. All things were picked up and arranged by hand. By the way, the Sovereign was versed in Asian culture, sent an expedition to Tibet, assembled a unique collection of Japanese Shung prints (perished in 1918), unique to Russia, even had a small tattoo. 
Valet. 
The White Dining Room of Their Majesties, or the Small Dining Room of Their Majesties. Made in the style of Louis XVI. The walls were decorated with 18th-century Russian tapestries. It was illuminated by a musical chandelier of English work. 
Moorish. Intended for the rest of the courtiers during the Great Imperial balls. In ordinary times, it was used as the ceremonial dining room of Their Majesties. 
Library of His Majesty. The only surviving room of Their Majesties' Apartments. Solved in the style of Gothic. As in the Cabinet of His Majesty, the carpentry works were performed by the workshops of N.F. Svirsky. Coats of arms of the Royal House and the House of the Dukes of Hesse were placed on the fireplace. Their Majesties were passionate bibliophiles, subsidized a number of literary and artistic publications (including the famous Diaghilev magazine "World of Art"), had their own book signs. The library served as the official Reception and Front Office of His Majesty. At the same time, she was the most beloved room of the August couple. Here Their Majesties had breakfast, played music, read aloud, sorted out new books, played board games, had a snack in the evenings after the theater or the bathroom, and played with children. 
Rotunda. The main hall of the Imperial Palace, in which buffets were set during balls, and during normal times the little Grand Duchesses roller skated there. 
Small church. 
Billiard room of His Majesty. 
Adjutant of His Majesty. Intended to be on duty at His Majesty. 
On the ground floor, exactly under the Personal half of Their Majesties, children's rooms of Their Imperial Highnesses were arranged. The rooms were decorated in modern style.
Visitors who arrived at the palace on official needs entered the Emperor’s apartments through the west, Saltykovsky entrance.
Own Entrance of Their Imperial Majesties. 
Nearly nine years of life gave Their Majesty an apartment in the Imperial Winter Palace. Since the summer of 1904, Their Majesties appeared here only during official receptions. The main residence was the Imperial Alexander Palace in Tsarskoye Selo. In 1904, the last high society ball was given in the Empire. In 1915, the Empress arranged an infirmary for the lower ranks in the Grand Enfilade.
To summarize this acquaintance, you should know that all these interiors have not been preserved. Partially surviving exceptions: Rotunda, Moorish, Malachite, Small Canteen, His Majesty's Library.
However, there is a "Inventory of the Things Belonging to Their Imperial Majesties and Stored in Own Rooms in the Winter Palace" compiled by the Chief Overseer of room property in the Imperial Winter Palace and the Imperial Hermitage, Nikolai Nikolayevich Dementyev, who held this position from 1888 to 1917. This inventory differs in exact location fixation items and their detailed description.
As an epilogue:
After the fall of the Monarchy, Own half of Their Imperial Majesties was open to the public. In 1918, the palace was plundered by Bolsheviks.
The end of 1918.
Cabinet of the Tsar Liberator. 
Wardrobe of Her Majesty. 
Her Majesty’s office. 
The rooms of the Grand Duchess Tatyana Nikolaevna. 
PS - thanks to Vladimir (GUVH) for the idea to make this message.
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Winter Palace on Palace Square - the former royal residence, a symbol of the architectural style of 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.
The first Winter palaces. Winter Palace of Anna Ioannovna
Palace F.M. Apraksin
The first building appeared on the site of the world-famous St. Petersburg Winter Palace under Peter I. In 1705, in the northwestern corner of the site occupied by the current palace, the wooden house of Admiral Fedor Matveevich Apraksin was built. It was designed by an architect Domenico Trezzini . The admiral's place was chosen, among other things, because of the rules of the "fortification esplanade." They demanded that the nearest building should be at least 200 fathoms (1 fathom \u003d about 2.1 meters) from the fortress, that is, from the Admiralty.
In 1707, near the house of Apraksin, from the south, the house of A.V. Kikin appeared. Plots of S.V. Raguzinsky, P.I. Yaguzhinsky and G.P. Chernyshev were located east of the admiral's possession. Apraksin House, as the first built on Palace Embankment asked her 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 the house number 32 on the Palace Embankment, where it is now Hermitage Theater . This building was rebuilt several times, the founder of St. Petersburg died in it.
In 1712, the Apraksin house was rebuilt in stone. Soon, he stopped arranging an admiral who wanted to live in a more luxurious setting. In 1716, for Apraksin, the house was rebuilt for the third time, and after the arrival of the famous architect Leblon in Petersburg, the fourth. Due to constant employment, Leblon was unable to complete this project. The construction plan was revised by the architect Fedor Vasilyev. At the same time, he added a third floor to the building and somewhat redesigned its facade.
First Winter Palace of Peter I
In 1718, after the execution of Kikin, the Naval Academy was located in his house.
In 1725, the newlyweds were temporarily inhabited by the Duke of Holstein and the daughter of Peter I Anna. They were the first to occupy “half” for high-ranking persons in these chambers. The former Junker chamber Berchholz noted that he:
“The largest and most beautiful in all of St. Petersburg, moreover, it stands on the Big Neva and has a very pleasant location. The whole house is beautifully furnished and in the latest fashion, so that the king could decently live in it ... "
In 1728, the admiral died. He bequeathed his property to relatives. Apraksin was in a kinship with the Romanovs, he was the brother of Tsarina Martha Matveevna, the second wife of the elder brother of Peter I. Therefore, something had to go to the young emperor Peter II. The admiral bequeathed to him his Petersburg palace. However, Peter II never lived here, as he moved to Moscow.
Upon ascension to the throne of Empress Anna Ioannovna, the capital status selected by Peter II was returned to Petersburg. The new ruler needed to equip her residence here. Anna Ioannovna considered the Winter Palace of Peter I too modest for herself and in 1731 decided to settle in the Apraksin Palace. She entrusted his restructuring with Domenico Trezzini. But his work did not impress the Empress, she wanted to live in splendor and luxury. As a result, the work went.
He designed the Winter Palace of Anna Ioannovna with his father Bartolomeo Carlo Rastrelli. This is indicated by the following message by Jacob Shtelin:
“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, gallery and court theater.
His son had to break everything and build a new winter palace for Empress Elizabeth on this site. ”
[Cit. 2, p. 329].
Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli
This means that the main architect of the Winter House of Anna Ioannovna was not Francesco Bartolomeo, but his father Bartolomeo Carlo Rastrelli. The son only helped his father, later attributing this work to himself.
On May 3, 1732, a decree was issued on the allocation of 200,000 rubles for the construction of the palace. May 27, the ceremony of laying it took place.
For the new building, the house of the Maritime Academy (Kikin's house) was demolished. This was necessary in order to arrange the main facade of the royal residence from the Admiralty. From the Neva side, it could not be executed due to the fact that plots of Raguzinsky and Yaguzhinsky located in the east of Apraksin’s house had not yet been bought. Their demolition, in contrast to the demolition of the house of the Naval Academy, would require more time. The new third Winter Palace was completely ready in 1735, although Anna Ioannovna spent the winter of 1733-1734 here. Since then, this building became the ceremonial imperial residence for 20 years, and Rastrelli from 1738 became the chief architect of the court of her imperial majesty.
In the premises of the former Apraksin Palace, 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 Admiralty was 185 meters. The throne room, Blue, Winter, Red and Side Chambers, Anticamera are located in the newly constructed end building.
Winter Palace of Anna Ioannovna
In the Winter Palace of Anna Ioannovna on July 2, 1739, the betrothal of Princess Anna Leopoldovna and Prince Anton-Ulrich took place. The young emperor John Antonovich was 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 reorganizing the imperial residence in her own way. Then she ordered to decorate for herself the rooms adjacent to the Light Gallery from the south. Next to her bedchamber were the “raspberry cabinet” and the Amber cabinet. Later, when dismantling the third Winter Palace, the amber panels will be transported to Tsarskoye Selo and will be part of the famous Amber Room. Since the dimensions of the cabinet were larger than the dimensions of the rooms where the panels were located before (the Royal Palace in Berlin, the human rooms in the Summer Garden), Rastrelli placed 18 mirrors between them.
In 1745, the wedding of the heir to the throne, Pyotr Fedorovich, and Princess Sophia Frederic Augusta Anhalt-Zerbst (future Catherine II) was celebrated here. The decoration 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 from the Admiralty, the main facade of which faced south. It was a two-story building with a wooden upper floor and a side facade abutting the canal at the Admiralty. That is, the Winter House has become even closer to the shipyard. A year later, a chapel, a soap bar and other chambers were added to this building. The main goal of the new premises, a year before their appearance, was the placement in the Winter House of the Hermitage, a secluded corner for intimate meetings (source No. 1). Two enfilades here led to a corner hall, in which there was a lift table for 15 people. Elizaveta Petrovna realized this idea before Catherine II. East No. 2 claims that the new building was necessary for the newlyweds Pyotr Fedorovich and Ekaterina Alekseevna.
Winter Palace of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna
On January 1, 1752, the Empress decided to expand the Winter Palace. For this, the neighboring sections 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 redesign in the same style with the whole building. But in February of the following year, the decree of Elizabeth Petrovna followed:
"... With a new house from the river and the courtyard, it will be a lot of breaking and building two buildings again with stone buildings, which is why the architect and architect de Rastrelli should compose the design and drawings and present them to the highest E.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 whole building in a square. Two thousand soldiers began construction work. They dismantled the houses on the waterfront. At the same time, the laying of the foundations of the southern building, the main facade of the new Winter Palace, began on the Admiralty meadow. The premises in the former Apraksin house were also rebuilt. They even removed the roof to raise the ceilings. The Light Gallery, Avantzal underwent changes, the premises for the theater and front halls were 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 introduced the new drawings to the Empress on the 22nd. Rastrelli proposed building the Winter Palace in a new place. But Elizaveta Petrovna refused to relocate 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. Victor Buzinov in the book “Palace Square. Architectural Guide ”indicates the date of its adoption as June 16, 1754. Yuri Ovsyannikov in the book "The Great Architects of St. Petersburg" writes that the decree was issued in July:
“Earlier in St. Petersburg, our Winter Palace is not only for receiving foreign ministers and for departing at the court on established days of festive rites according to the greatness of our Imperial dignity, but also to accommodate us with needed servants and things, I cannot be pleased, for which purpose rebuild our Winter Palace with a large space in length, width and height; for which perestroika is estimated at 990,000 rubles. ”
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 devoted to the construction of walls, and the third to the decoration of the premises. The Empress was planning a housewarming party by the fall of 1756, the Senate was counting on three years of construction.
After the approval of the project, Rastrelli did not make any significant changes to it, but made adjustments to the internal relationships of the premises. He located the main halls in the second floor of the corner risalits. The Main Staircase was designed from the north-east, the Throne Hall from the north-west, the church from the south-east, and the theater from the south-west. They were connected by the Nevskaya, western and southern enfilades of rooms. The architect took the first floor for office premises, the third for maids of honor and other servants. The apartments of the head of state were arranged in the southeast corner of the Winter Palace; it is best lit by the sun. The halls of the Neva Enfilade were intended for the reception of ambassadors and ceremonies.
Together with the creation of the Winter Palace, Rastrelli was planning to re-plan the entire Admiralty meadow and create a unified architectural ensemble here. But it was not implemented.
Few builders of the Winter Palace found housing in neighboring settlements. Most built huts for themselves right on the Admiralty meadow. Thousands of serfs were engaged in the construction of the palace. Seeing workers flooding St. Petersburg, sellers inflated food prices. The office of the buildings was forced to cook for the builders here, at the construction site. The cost of food was deducted from the salary. It often turned out that after such a deduction, the worker was even indebted to the employer. According to an eyewitness:
“Soon, due to climate change, lack of healthy food and bad clothes, diverse diseases appeared ... Difficulties resumed, and sometimes even worse, because in 1756 many bricklayers went around the world for non-payment of earned money and even, as they said then, starved to death ”[Cit. by: 2, p. 343].
The construction of the Winter Palace was delayed. In 1758, the Senate removed the blacksmiths from the construction site, since there was no one to chain the wheels of carts and guns. At this time, Russia was at war with Prussia. Not only not enough workers, but also finances.
“The situation of workers ... in 1759 presented a truly sad picture. The riots continued throughout the construction and began to decrease only when some of the most important work stopped and several thousand people dispersed back home ”[Cit. 2, p. 344].
Elizaveta Petrovna did not live to see the end of construction; Peter III was already taking work. By this time, the decoration of the facades was completed, but many of the internal premises 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, the court cathedral church was consecrated, a service was held. Presumably, in the decoration of the chambers of Peter III and his wife, an architect took part S. I. Chevakinsky .
Apartments of Peter III were closer to Millionth Street , his wife settled in rooms closer to the Admiralty. Under himself, on the ground floor, Peter III settled his favorite Elizaveta Romanovna Vorontsova.
At the grand consecration of the building, architect Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli was awarded the Holstein Order, he received the rank of Major General.
The building included about 1,500 rooms. The perimeter of its facades was about two kilometers. The Winter Palace became the tallest building in St. Petersburg. From 1844 to 1905, a decree of Nicholas I was in effect in the city, limiting the height of private houses one fathom below the eaves of the Winter Palace. 2 622 020 rubles 19 kopecks were spent on the construction of the royal residence.
The eaves of the Winter Palace were decorated with 176 statues and vases. They were carved from Pudozh limestone according to the drawings of Rastrelli by the German sculptor Boumchen. They were later whitened.
From the side of the Palace Embankment, the Jordan entrance leads to the building, so called according to the royal custom to leave it on the feast of the Epiphany to the ice-hole “Jordan” cut through on the opposite, in the Neva. In the 1930s, it began to be called Excursion. The Saltykovsky staircase leads to the western facade, the name of which is given by the name of the Count, educator of the future Emperor Alexander I, Field Marshal Ivan Petrovich Saltykov. He had a huge apartment in the Winter Palace, which could be reached through this entrance. The Saltykovsky porch is also called the porch of His Imperial Majesty, as he led to the emperor’s chambers. From here the king went out for a review of the troops.
Three entrances lead to the palace from the south facade. The one that is closer to the Admiralty is Her Imperial Majesty. Hence, there was the shortest path to the chambers of the empresses, as well as to the apartments of Paul I. Therefore, for some time he was called Pavlovsky, and before that - the Theater, as he led to the home theater arranged by Catherine II. Closer to Millionnaya Street is the Curfew, which housed the services of the commandant of the palace. Access to the courtyard Rastrelli did not plan to close the gate. He remained free.
According to the Rastrelli project, the first floor of the Winter Palace was occupied by large vaulted galleries with arches that permeated all parts of the building. On the sides of the galleries office premises were arranged where the maid lived, the guard was resting. It also housed warehouses, utility rooms.
In the summer of 1762, Peter III was killed, the construction of the Winter Palace was completed already under Catherine II. First of all, the empress suspended Rastrelli from work, Ivan Ivanovich Betskoy became the manager of the construction site. For Catherine II, the interior chambers of the palace were redone by the architect J. B. Wallen-Delamot . At the same time, bay windows were created above the entrances of Her Imperial Majesty and Komendatsky, which were not in the Rastrelli project. In these bay windows, Peter III loved to smoke pipes. Catherine II on the day of the overthrow of her husband from one of them made a speech for the audience at the Guard Square.
Almost immediately after 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 be accessed only through the Winter Palace. In its halls the empress placed her rich collection of paintings, sculptures and objects of applied art. Later, the Great Hermitage and Hermitage Theater .
Reception of the Turkish Ambassador at the Winter Palace, 1764
In 1763, the empress moved to the rooms of the deceased spouse, in the southeastern part of the palace. The place of Vorontsova was taken by the favorite of Catherine Grigory Orlov. From the side of the Palace Square under Catherine II was Primnaya, where her throne stood. In front of the Reception there was a cavalry room where the guards stood - guard cavaliers. Its windows open onto a balcony above the curfew entrance. From here one could get into the Diamond Room, where the Empress kept her jewelry. Behind the Brillaunt room, closer to Millionnaya street, there was a toilet room, then a bedroom and a boudoir. Behind the White Hall was a dining room. The Light Cabinet adjoined to it. Behind the dining room was the ceremonial bedchamber, which became a Diamond Quiet a year later. In addition, the empress ordered to equip a library, office, restroom. In the restroom, the empress built a toilet seat from the throne of one of her lovers, the Polish king Ponyatovsky. Under Catherine in the Winter Palace was built a winter garden, the Romanov Gallery. Then the formation of the St. George Hall was completed.
The winter garden covered an area of \u200b\u200b140 square meters. Exotic bushes and trees grew in it, flower beds and lawns were arranged here. The garden was decorated with sculpture. In the center was a fountain. 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 significant quadrangular space and encloses flowering bushes of laurel and orange trees, always fragrant, green and in severe frosts. Canaries, robins, chizhik flutter from branch to branch and glorify their freedom with sweet, loud singing or casually splash around in the jasper pool, which was filled with Portuguese goldfish under Empress Catherine ... ”[Cit. by: 3, p. 24, 25]
At the request of Catherine II, the central entrance to the courtyard in 1771 was blocked by a pine gate. They were made in just 10 days according to the project of architect Felten.
Since Catherine’s time cats have been living in the Winter Palace. 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 specific schedule of events held here. Balls were held on Sundays, French comedy was given on Monday, Tuesday was a day of rest, on Wednesday they played Russian comedy, on Thursday - a tragedy or French opera, followed by an exit masquerade. On Friday, masquerades were given at court, on Saturday they rested.
On September 29, 1773, the wedding of the future Emperor Paul I with Wilhelmina of Hesse-Darmstadskaya (in Orthodoxy, Natalya Alekseevna) took place in the Winter Palace. After the wedding, the highest noble gathered in the throne room, where a table was served. This was followed by a ball that the newlyweds opened. However, Natalia’s dress was so heavy because of precious stones scattered across the sky that she managed to dance only a few minuets. While Natalya was undressed, Paul was having dinner in the next room with his mother.
In 1776, Grand Duchess Natalya Alekseevna died during childbirth in the chambers of the Winter Palace. An unborn child died with her.
In 1780, Catherine II decided it was inappropriate for the public to go to the Hermitage through her own chambers. By her decree, a jumper gallery was created between the Winter Palace and the Small Hermitage, with which visitors could pass the royal apartments. Thus, the Marble Gallery and the new Throne Hall appeared. It was opened on November 26 (St. George's Day) in 1795 and is called "St. George's". Behind him was the Apollo Hall.
Until 1790, from the front door (later the Ambassadorial, Jordanian) stairs, there was an entrance to the enfilade of five rooms of approximately the same size. They led to the sixth - Throne Hall, located in the northwest corner of the palace. In the 1790s, three advance halls were combined into the Big (later - Nikolaev) Hall. The Advance Hall was decorated in front of them, and the Concert Hall behind it.
In 1796, Catherine II died in the Winter Palace. The coffin with her body for farewell was exposed in the bedroom (the third and fourth windows on the right, from the side of Palace Square).
Winter Palace, 1810s
Under Paul I, a memorial cabinet of his father Peter III was created in the Diamond Room. Immediately after accession to the throne, he ordered the construction of a wooden bell tower for the Cathedral of the Savior of the Holy Face, whose dome is clearly visible from Palace Square. The bell tower was built on the roof of the palace, west of the cathedral. In addition, the bell tower was built for a small church. In place of the White Hall, then the rooms of the emperor’s children were located.
After the death of Paul I, the suite of rooms on the third floor from the Palace Square belonged to his widow, Empress Maria Fedorovna.
In 1817, Alexander I invited the architect Carl Rossi to work in the Winter Palace. He was tasked with remodeling the rooms where the daughter of the Prussian king Princess Carolina, the bride of Grand Duke Nikolai Pavlovich (future Nicholas I), would stay. In five months, Rossi redid ten rooms located along Palace Square: Shpalernaya, Big Dining Room, Living Room ...
In 1825, the courtyard of the Winter Palace was paved with cobblestones.
Even Alexander I planned to create the Gallery of 1812 in the Winter Palace. He learned about the creation of the Waterloo Memorial Hall in Windsor Castle 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, an 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 with the opening of the memorial hall. But Nicholas I immediately after ascending the throne, hastened to open it. The architectural design of the hall was entrusted to the architect Karl 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, on the fourteenth anniversary of the expulsion of the French army from Russia. At the time of the opening, 236 portres of the participants of World War II hung on the walls. Many years later, there were 332 of them.
In early January 1827, Nicholas I instructed Carl Rossi to remake the apartments of Empress Maria Fedorovna in the Winter Palace. Projects were ready by early March. But due to his own illness, the architect took leave for six weeks. Returning from a well-deserved rest, he found out that the work was transferred Auguste Montferrand .
On December 25, 1827, the Gallery was solemnly consecrated as described in the journal Domestic Notes:
“This gallery was consecrated in the presence of the imperial family and all the generals, officers and soldiers holding medals of 1812 and for the capture of Paris. These cavalry guards were assembled in the St. George Hall, and the cavalry guards in Belaya ... The Sovereign Emperor deigned to give directions for storage henceforth ... the banner 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 unending glory.
... All the lower ranks collected here were admitted to the gallery, where they passed before the images ... of Alexander and the generals - who led them repeatedly to the field of honor and victories, before the images of their valiant military commanders who shared their labors and dangers ... ”[Cit. by: 2, p. 489]
After Carl Rossi opened the gallery, the rooms around her were designed. The architects conceived the Advance Hall, the Stamp, Petrovsky and Field Marshals' halls. After 1833, these rooms 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 today is clearly visible from Palace Bridge . From here the king had connections with Kronstadt, Gatchina, Tsarskoye Selo and even Warsaw. Telegraph workers were housed in a room underneath in the attic.
Fire at the Winter Palace, 1837
On December 17, 1837, a fire broke out in the Winter Palace. They could not put out it for three days, all this time the property taken out of the palace was piled around Alexander Column . It was impossible to see every little thing from all the things folded on the Palace Square. Here lay expensive furniture, china, silverware. And despite the lack of adequate protection, only a silver coffee pot and a gilded bracelet disappeared. Thus, many things were saved. A coffee pot was discovered a few days later, and a bracelet in the spring when the snow melted. The palace building was damaged so that it was considered almost impossible to restore it then. From it there were only stone walls and arches of the first floor.
The rescue of property killed 13 soldiers and firefighters.
On December 25, a Commission was set up to renew the Winter Palace. Restoration of facades and decoration of ceremonial interiors was entrusted to architect V.P. Stasov. The private 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 finish the construction in the time appointed by the emperor. The interior decoration continued to work in the most severe frosts. In total, there were six thousand workers at the construction site, of whom many died every day, but these unfortunate people were immediately replaced by others, who, in turn, were destined to die soon. And the sole purpose of these countless sacrifices was to fulfill the royal whim ...
In severe 25-30 degrees of frost, six thousand unknown martyrs, without compensation, forced against their will by only obedience, which is a natural, violent, grafted virtue of Russians, were locked in the palace halls, where the temperature, due to the intensified firebox for speedy drying, reached 30 degrees of heat . And the unfortunate, entering and leaving this palace of death, which, thanks to their victims, was to become a palace of vanity, splendor and pleasures, experienced a temperature difference of 50-60 degrees.
Work in the mines of the Urals was much less dangerous for human life, but meanwhile the workers employed in the construction of the palace were not criminals, like those sent to the mines. I was told that the unfortunate people who worked in the most heated rooms had to put on some kind of ice caps on their heads in order to be able to withstand this monstrous heat without losing consciousness and the ability to continue their work ..."[Cit. 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 corrected”, the historian Z. F. Semenova described in detail the changes made and pointed out their reasons. It turned out that the northern facade of the building was largely changed. The semicircular pediments were replaced by triangular ones, the rendering of stucco decorations changed. The number of columns that were evenly spaced in each piers increased. Such rhythm and ordering of columns is not characteristic of the baroque style of Rastrelli.
Particularly significant changes in the design of the Jordanian entrance. Here, the absence of a bend of the entablature, which is replaced by supporting columns, supporting columns, is clearly visible. In his practice, Rastrelli never used this technique.
The “amendments” to the style of the author of the Winter Palace are primarily associated with a different understanding of the architecture of Russian architects in the mid-19th century. They perceived baroque as a bad taste, diligently correcting it for the correct classical forms.
The layout of the building, created at that time, was kept almost unchanged until 1917. The wooden belfries built under Paul I were not recreated.
The celebration 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 splendor of the main gallery in the Winter Palace positively blinded me. It is all covered with gold, whereas before the fire it was painted white ... Even more worthy of surprise than the sparkling gold hall for dancing, a gallery appeared in which dinner was served ”[Cit. by: 3, p. 36]
The gallery of 1812 by the architect Stasov was recreated with changes. He increased its length, removed the dividing room into three parts of the arch.
The statues on the roof of the Winter Palace cracked due to a fire and began to crumble. In 1840, they were restored under the leadership 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 was called the kitchen.
Winter Palace, 1841
The gates closing the entrance to the courtyard were also restored. They accurately repeated the appearance of the gates created by Felten.
Catherine’s rooms under Nicholas I began to be called "Prussian-royal." The emperor’s son-in-law used to stay here: the Prussian King Frederick William IV. The former rooms of Maria Fyodorovna after the fire became the Russian department of the Hermitage, and after the construction of the New Hermitage the hotel became a hotel for senior officials. They were called the Second Spare Half.
In general, the “halves” in the Winter Palace were called the system of rooms for one person. Usually these rooms were grouped on the same floor around the stairs. For example, the emperor’s apartments were on the third floor, and the empress on the second. They were united by a common staircase. The room system included everything necessary for a luxurious life. So, half of the Empress Alexandra Feodorovna included the Malakhitovaya, Rosova and Raspberry living rooms, Arapskaya, Pompeii and Bolshoi dining rooms, an office, a bedroom, a boudoir, a kindergarten, 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 halves of Nicholas I and his wife, in the Winter Palace there were half the heir, the Grand Dukes, Grand Dukes, the Minister of the Court, the first and second reserve 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 XX century there were five of them.
The central part of the second floor of the facade of the Winter Palace from the Palace Square is occupied by the Alexander Hall. To his left is the White Hall, recreated by the architect Bryullov in place of the rooms of the children of Paul I. In 1841, he became part of the apartments of Maria Alexandrovna, the wife of the heir to the throne, the future Emperor Alexander II. The chambers of Maria Alexandrovna also consisted of seven more rooms, including the Golden Living Room, whose windows overlook Palace Square and the Admiralty. The White Hall was used for receptions. Here tables were laid and dances were held.
In the 1860s, the entrance gate was very dilapidated. They decided to replace them, the architect Andrey Ivanovich Shtakenschneider proposed a cast-iron gate design. But this project has not been implemented.
In 1869, instead of a candlelight, gas lighting appeared in the palace. Since 1882, telephone installation of premises began. In the 1880s, a water supply system was built here (before that, everyone used the washstand). 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 station was built in the second hall of the Hermitage, which has been the largest in Europe for 15 years.
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 would have breakfast in the Yellow drawing room. To do this, Khalturin got a job as a joiner in the palace, settled in a small room with a carpentry. This room was located in the basement, above which was the cardard of the palace guard. Above the cardegardia there was a 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 floors of two floors and kill the emperor. The explosive device was activated on February 5, 1880, at 20 minutes past seven in the morning. The royal family was delayed, by the time of the explosion did not even have time to reach the Yellow Living Room. But the Life Guards of the Finnish Regiment, who were in the cardardia, suffered. Killed 11 people, 47 were injured.
Winter Palace, garden fence, 1900s
After the death of Alexander II in 1881, the attitude of the imperial family towards the Winter Palace changed. Before this tragedy, it was perceived by emperors as a house, as a place where it was safe. But Alexander III treated the Winter Palace differently. Here he saw a mortally wounded father. The emperor also remembered the explosion of 1880, which means that he did not feel safe here. In addition, the huge Winter Palace ceased to meet the requirements for comfortable housing at the end of the 19th century. Gradually, the imperial residence becomes only a place for official receptions, while kings more often live 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 that were arranged for gymnasium students and students. Balls under Alexander III were not held here. This tradition was renewed by Nicholas II, but the rules for their implementation were changed.
In 1884, the architect Nikolai Gornostaev set about designing a new gate to the Winter Palace. As a basis, he took the project of Steckenschneider. He developed designs for both the entrance gates and fences for 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, the artist Roman Meltzer, got it. This was his first major work. Meltzer reworked the Gornostaev’s project somewhat, at the same time presenting to the highest persons not only drawings, but also a full-size wooden model. After their approval, gates and fences were made at the San Galli Iron Foundry.
In the late 1880s, the architect Gornostaev landscaped the courtyard of the Winter Palace. In its central part, a garden was planted, where oaks, lindens, maples and white American ash were planted. The garden was surrounded with a granite base; a fountain was built 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, copying them three times. All vases were repeated with one single model. In 1910, the remains of the original sculptures were found during the construction of a residential building on the corner Zagorodny Avenue and Big Cossack Lane. The heads of statues are now kept in the Russian Museum.
Nicholas II lived in the Winter Palace until 1904. Since that time, the Tsarskoye Selo Alexander Palace became the place of his permanent residence. The Winter Palace became a place for ceremonial receptions, gala dinners, and the king’s stay during short visits to the city.
With the outbreak of World War I, the building was given over to the infirmary. In the Winter Palace opened operating, therapeutic, examination and other services. The coat of arms became a chamber for the wounded. They were courted by Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, the eldest daughters of the king, court ladies.
In the summer of 1917, the Winter Palace became the meeting place of the Provisional Government, which until then was located in Mariinsky Palace . In July, Alexander 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 on the Admiralty and the Neva. The interim government was located in the chambers of Nicholas II and his wife - on the second floor, under the apartments of Alexander III. The meeting room was the Malachite living room.
Before the First World War, the Winter Palace was repainted in red-brick color. It was against this background that revolutionary events took place on Palace Square in 1917. On the morning of October 25, Kerensky left the Winter Palace for the troops located 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 1:30 a.m., ministers of the Provisional Government were arrested in the Winter Palace. Subsequently, this entrance to the palace, like the stairs behind it, was called October.
Winter Palace after 1917, State Hermitage Museum
Before the Bolshevik revolution, the basement of the Winter Palace was occupied by a wine cellar. Centennial, Spanish, Portuguese, Hungarian and other wines were stored here. According to the City Duma, a fifth of the total alcohol supply in St. Petersburg was stored in the basements of Zimny. November 3, 1917, when pogroms began in the city, the repositories of the former royal residence also suffered. From the memoirs of Larisa Reisner about the events in the cellars of the Winter Palace:
“They were littered with firewood, walled up first in one brick, then in two bricks - nothing helps. Every night a hole is punched somewhere and sucked, licked, pulled out, which is possible. Some kind of mad, naked, arrogant voluptuousness leads one crowd after another to the forbidden wall. With tears in his eyes, the sergeant-major Krivoruchenko, who was entrusted with protecting the ill-fated barrels, told me about that despair, about complete powerlessness at night, protecting one, sober, with his few guards, against the persistent, all-pervasive lust of the crowd. Now they have decided this: a machine gun will be inserted into each new hole. ”
Winter Palace, modern look
But this did not help either. In the end, it was decided to destroy the wine on the spot:
“... Then firemen were called. They turned on the cars, pumped full cellars of water and let's pump everything into the Neva. Muddy streams flowed from the Winter Palace: there was wine, and water, and mud - everything was mixed up ... This story dragged on for a day or two, while nothing was left of the wine cellars in Zimny. ”
Winter Palace, modern view
In Soviet times, the Winter Palace began to belong to the state museum - the Hermitage. The building was rebuilt again, now for the needs of the museum in 1925-1926. Then the bay windows over the entrances from the Palace Square were dismantled. In 1927, during the restoration of the facade, 13 layers of different colors were discovered. Then the walls of the Winter Palace were repainted in gray-green, the columns in white, and the stucco molding in almost black. At the same time, the mezzanines and partitions of the eastern gallery of the first floor were dismantled. She was called the Rastrelli Gallery, they began to arrange temporary exhibitions here.
During the blockade, in the spring of 1942, a garden was built in the garden of the courtyard of the Winter Palace. They planted potatoes, rutabaga, beets. The same garden was in the Hanging Garden.
In 1955, P. Ya. Cannes provided such information about the palace: it had 1050 front and living rooms, 1945 windows, 1786 doors, 117 stairs.
At present, the Winter Palace together with the Hermitage Theater, the Maly, New and the Big Hermitage makes up a single complex " State Hermitage Museum ". Its basement is occupied by production museum workshops.
Address: Palace Square, 2
Opening hours: from 10.30 to 18.00
The main palace of the Russian emperors was built from 1754 to 1762 years as a court architect, Italian by birth B.F. Rastrelli. The palace was created in the then widespread style. baroquewhich was characterized by splendor, grandeur, pronounced contrast and solemnity.
The palace began to be erected at Elizaveta Petrovna, but before the end of construction the empress did not survive and was the first mistress of the new Winter Catherine II. She also initiated the creation of an art gallery and collections of other works of art, which eventually formed priceless Hermitage treasures. Subsequently, the palace turns into a permanent the residence acting emperors up to Nicholas II, although he loved the Tsarskoye Selo Alexander Palace more.
In difficult years World War I palace halls were given under military hospital. In 1917 (from March to October) members of the Winter Palace sat and practically lived Interim government. From 1920 to 1941, the halls are occupied Museum of the Revolution and the Hermitage.
Today the Winter Palace with treasures placed in it The Hermitage - the most visited tourist place in St. Petersburg. People come here to see the palace itself - the brightest city attraction and the works of art that are in it.
History of creation
From the time of Peter the Great until the palace became a magnificent work of architectural art of the mid-18th century, it was built 5 winter palace buildings (along with the latter).
First Winter
The first stone Winter Palace was the palace, donated to the first Emperor of Russia Peter on his wedding day with Ekaterina Alekseevna, then governor of the city, friend and ally of Peter - A. Menshikov in 1712 year. That palace, nicknamed Wedding chambersstood between Neva and present Millionnaya street.
Second Winter
Peter, living in the Wedding Chambers, he decided to build a new royal winter residence, which was supposed to be located on the formed new embankment (now Palace), from where it was clearly visible and city buildings, and the Peter and Paul Fortress, and the Menshikov Palace, and, of course, the banks of the Neva, flowing to the sea.
The construction of the Winter Palace of Peter the Great at the intersection of the Winter Canal with the Neva began by a German architect G. Mattarnovi. His palace design was like a solid two-story German building, decorated with pilasters and rustics, with a central risalit part, on the pediment of which was to be placed a coat of arms with a crown.
Palace construction was in full swing when the architect suddenly dies. Construction continued by a St. Petersburg architect N. Gerbel, which expanded the building, using the already rebuilt premises as the western wing. Having made the eastern wing similarly to the west, Gerbel focuses on the central part, decorating it with columns and creating the effect of a triumphal Roman arch.
The Winter Palace of Peter the Great begins a new era in the creation of the magnificent, large-scale and solemn palace apartments, which Petersburg is so famous for today. Although in comparison with subsequent palaces, the Petrine palace decoration was more than modest. Nevertheless, with the creation of the second Winter Palace, the city ensemble development characteristic of St. Petersburg architecture begins.
In this Winter Palace, Peter the Great lived with his family from 1720. Here, Tsar Peter died in 1725.
Catherine the First, after the death of Peter began work to expand the palace (architect D. Trezzini), interior work continued under Peter the Second. But then, already under Anna Ioannovna, the royal persons did not live in the Winter Palace of Peter. Elizaveta Petrovna placed in it a grenadier company of the Preobrazhensky regiment. AND towards the end of the 18th century Catherine II instead of the Winter Palace of Peter the Great was erected Hermitage Theater (architect J. Quarenghi) for entertainment.
For a long time it was believed that the Palace of Peter the Great gone, dismantled for theatrical construction, but in the late 70s of the 20th century, architectural studies revealed several surviving parts of the first floor and the basement of the former Peter's building, which were under the stage of the Hermitage Theater. In the preserved rooms called "Small tents" Peter, managed to recreate the interiors of the Petrine era. The king’s office with a tiled Dutch stove is furnished with his personal belongings. Some of the chambers built under Catherine the First were also restored.
Today you can see the exposition of the Dining Room, Peter's cabinetwhere he passed away, turning, Front yard. Introduced and wax posthumous "Person" of Petercreated by the deceased emperor himself Rastrelliwho, having taken the casts from the face, hands and feet, subsequently made a full-size Wax person from them. Moreover, the hair for making a wig, mustache, eyebrow was real - imperial. Dressed "person" in a European costume from the royal wardrobe.
To get acquainted with the exposition of this little-known, but very unique Winter Palace of Peter the Great, you must enter with Palace Embankment, 32. The museum is open from Tuesday to Sunday from 10.30 to 17.00. On Mondays, the museum has a day off.
Third Winter Palace
As already mentioned, the next mistress of the Russian throne Anna Ivanovnapeter's palace seemed a little small. The creation of an enlarged palace analogue she entrusts F. Rastrelli. To carry out this task, nearby buildings are bought and demolished, and in 1732the construction of the third Winter Palace construction begins. The new four-story palace is being built in three years and includes seventy halls, one hundred bedrooms, several galleries, theater rooms, as well as service rooms.
However, the empress, who entered the palace, constantly demanded some new outbuildings, the organization of new premises, etc. Since 1741, the new mistress of the palace - Elizaveta Petrovna - continued the policy of adding new premises, which ultimately led the palace to a state of decentralization, untidiness of architectural forms and the absence of a common style.
In 1752 Elizabeth buys next neighboring plots to expand the palace building. Rastrelli proposed an increase in the palace territory in breadth, due to new buildings, but Elizabeth demanded expansion of the structure and up. Debate the architect and the empress led to the decision to demolish the existing palace and to build a new one in its place! The construction of the next palace building began in 1754.
Fourth winter
The Fourth Winter Palace as a temporary (at the time of the creation of the fifth) is being built on the existing Nevsky Prospect where today are 13 and 15 houses. After the construction of the fifth and last version of the Winter Palace in 1761, the fourth, as unnecessary, dismantled (1762 g). Elizaveta Petrovna, so dreaming of a large palace, did not live to see the completion of construction work.
Fifth Winter (last)
So, by imperial command of Elizabeth Petrovna, architect Rastrelli erects a three-story - the highest at that time ( about 24 meters) - an architectural structure in St. Petersburg, the area of \u200b\u200bwhich was about 60 thousand square meters. The palace, consisting of four buildings, closed in the shape of a square, forming a courtyard. Such a palace layout was characteristic of Western architecture of that time.
The main arched entrance to the palace grounds was organized with Palace Embankment. But even though the main facade, more than two kilometers long and overlooked the Neva, this did not mean that more attention was paid to it. The palace was amazing from all sides luxury, magnificence, architectural decor with a changing rhythm of columns.
The perimeter of the roof is decorated with vases and sculptures, which gives the building even greater pomp and pomp. The palace building had ocher color with highlighted decor and columns. The palace consisted of over a thousand rooms, had more than a hundred stairs and about one and a half thousand windows.
The internal structure of the palace was created enfilade, i.e. all rooms were on the same axis, connected through a corridor and had a spatial perspective. North enfilade stretches along Nevsky Prospect, south - along Palace Square. Three corner wings occupied the living quarters of the ruling emperors.
The final interior decoration of the building has already been completed under Catherine II, which removes Rastrelli from further work and the interiors continue to take shape J. Felten, J. Wallen-Delamotte and A. Rinaldi. With further emperors, reconstruction work was also carried out, the purpose and interior design of the premises changed.
In 1837 powerful fire, which raged for three days, inflicted terrible ruin on the palace - a huge part of the interiors perished in the fire - but, nevertheless, the Winter Palace restored in a record period. Moreover, some rooms (Field Marshalsky, Petrovsky, etc.) were recreated almost in their original form, and part of the rooms (Malakhitovaya, Gothic Library, White Living Room of Alexandra Fedorovna and others) were created in a new architectural style.
Therefore, it must be borne in mind that much of the interiors and the purpose of the premises has been changed compared to the original plan, and today we see the halls in their reconstructive and new design, relating to the second half of the 19th century.
Main halls of the Winter Palace (briefly)
The main palace halls, including the main ones, occupy second floorOf the Winter Palace.
Jordan stairs
Acquaintance with the halls of the Winter Palace begins with a magnificent front staircase, originally called the Ambassadorial, and then the Jordanian. This staircase retained the baroque Rastrelli style, restored by subsequent architects, who, however, made significant changes to the interior.
The splendor of a white marble staircase with a carved balustrade, granite columns, and the reflected light of mirrors amazes here. statues of gods and muses, gilded intricate ornament and, of course, peerless shade with images of the gods of Olympus.
The main staircase on the second floor diverges in two enfilade directions - along the north - along the Neva, and along the east - inland. In any case, you can bypass all the premises of the second floor around the perimeter, thanks to their through enfilade device.
Nikolaev Hall
If you go along the northern enfilade, then through Nikolaev entrance with malachite rotunda, you can go to nikolaevsky hall, which is considered the largest room of the Winter. It was named after the portrait of the late Nicholas the First, and was considered the main palace hall for receptions and balls, which could be attended by up to 3,000 guests.
The interior of this room is decorated in the post-fire period. V. Stasov in a different vein than it existed before the fire - a strict monotonous decor is decorated corinthian columns. From the Nikolaev Hall we find ourselves in the Concert Hall, having examined which, further along the course of the movement we move to the northwest wing.
Concert hall
Designed originally for concerts, the hall several times mutated. It is decorated with antique sculptures depicting various forms of art, among them there are all kinds of goddesses and muses. Today, the hall presents an exposition of Russian silver products, as well as the unique cancer of Alexander Nevsky, made of silver and transferred here from the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.
The northwest wing in the recovery period after the fire took shape for the family Nicholas II and at the beginning of the 19th century there were the chambers of Alexander the First. In 1917, it was this wing that occupied Interim governmentarrested here.
In this wing, the Arabic and Malachite halls, the White dining room, as well as the Gothic library of Nicholas II are available for inspection.
Malachite Hall
This is a well-known and unique hall in a bright green setting. malachite columns and fireplaces. The hall is created by an architect A. Bryullov after a fire in a new interior solution. Decorative painting with figures of the Day, Night, and Poetry adorns the wall opposite the windows.
It was in this hall that the Provisional Government, overthrown in October 1917, met. Today you can find here beautiful products from malachite made by Russian craftsmen.
White dining room
This dining room has been redone in a combination of styles. classicism and rococo at the end of the 19th century to the marriage of Nicholas II. The dining room is furnished with elegant furniture.
The mantelpiece made of bronze shows the time of the arrest of the Provisional Government, which was here just taken into custody.
Gothic library
Library room completed in the spirit of the middle ages (arch. A.Krasovsky) In its decoration used walnut and embossed gilded skin. High windows with openwork bindings, high choirs for bookcases with a massive staircase, a monumental fireplace - everything creates an atmosphere of strength and stability.
Further through Rotunda we turn to the western gallery, where samples of works related to Russian art of the 18th century are exhibited. We move along the gallery to the southwestern wing of the palace, where the former chambersowned Maria Alexandrovna - the wife of Alexander the Second, among whom are the Golden Living Room and the Blue Bedroom, the Raspberry Study and the Boudoir, the White Room and the Green Dining Room.
White living room
This hall of Maria Alexandrovna appeared in the same period as the Malachite Hall, and was made in the same way. A. Bryulov. The White Hall is the most successful work of the architect, who combined the three living rooms into a single architectural solution, decorated in the style of ancient Roman villas. This style determines the presence of Corinthian columns, and the image of the Olympic gods.
The white drawing room was preparing for the marriage of Alexander the Second with Maria Alexandrovna and, as part of the other rooms of this wing, was the apartments of the new imperial family.
During the placement in the Winter Provisional Government, the guard garrison guarding his soldiers was located in these apartments. The soldiers, not particularly ceremonial, dried their wet linen on Roman statues.
Golden living room
In this living room, placers captivate us. gold ornaments over white faux marble walls. Interior made A. Bryulovfor Empress Maria Alexandrovna, later perfected A. Stackenschneider. Here you can admire the amazing marble fireplace for a long time. Its jasper columns, a picturesque panel and a bas-relief are harmoniously combined with gilded doors and a beautiful parquet floor.
It was in this hall, after the tragic death of his father, that Alexander the Third, together with the State Council, discussed further ways of Russia's development.
Raspberry Cabinet
This is the premises of Maria Alexandrovna, we also see in the redone A. Stackenschneider form. This living room sometimes served as a dining room, and sometimes a concert hall. From here, a staircase hidden by drapery led into children's rooms.
By designing the room, one can judge the personal preferences of the empress, who was fond of music and painting. The room is decorated with medallions with images of musical signs and musical instruments. We see and unique carved 19th century piano. Applied art, china and more are also presented here.
Further bypassing October staircase, we pass along the enfilades of the south side of the palace, along the Palace Embankment, in which 18th-century French art is presented and fall into the front Alexander Hall, built by A. Bryullov to perpetuate the memory of Alexander the First.
From the Alexander Hall through The church, you can get into the Grand Palace church Savior Not Made by Handswhich, after restoration, is open to the public. The premises of the church retained the splendor of the baroque style of F. Rastrelli. In the former church of the imperial family today are objects related to Russian church art.
And through located nearby picket Hall, where guards officers were on duty in the 19th century, and the palace guard was being divorced, we pass through the Military Gallery and the Armorial Hall.
Coat of arms
During the restoration of the Winter Palace after the fire, this hall, with an area of \u200b\u200babout a thousand square meters, was given a different semantic direction than before. In the pre-fire period, this place of the palace was White gallery, in the hall of which magnificent palace balls were held.
Architect V. Stasov creates a hall with an interior in a completely different thematic content, in accordance with its new purpose - now solemn receptions were planned here, and the design of the hall in classic styleshould show the power of Russia and the vastness of her possessions. Therefore, sculptures of warriors of ancient Russia, equipped with provincial arms, are installed here. These coats of arms are also present in the design of chandeliers.
The colonnade with a balustrade balcony surrounding the hall gives it monumentality and solemnity. And the amazing aventurine bowl located in the center evokes the skill of Russian stone-cutters.
Military gallery
Member Gallery heroic victory over the Napoleonic troops (architect K. Rossi) - one of the most famous palace galleries. It was formed in 1826 by combining several not very large palace rooms.
A military gallery was created to accommodate general portraits of the Russian-French company 1812-1814. Each portrait by a specially created commission was determined by a specific location where they were installed as they were written. Almost all of over three hundred portraitscreated J. Dow. Some of them were written from the source, some from previously painted portraits. 13 images of the deceased generals could not be found, so green silk was simply pulled over their names. A ceremonial portrait of Emperor Alexander the First is occupied by a separate wall.
Further along the straight line it is supposed to inspect the Petrovsky and Field Marshals' halls. These halls, as well as the Stamp in the 30s. 19th century decorated the famous O. Montferrand. However, his work perished in the fire of the infamous fire of 1837. What we see is a talented reconstruction that was carried out V. Stasov, A. Bryulov and E. Staubert.
Petrovsky Hall
From the Ashes of 1937 Small Throne Halldedicated to Peter the Great, is restored in the original idea of \u200b\u200bMontferrand. Arc de Triomphe framed by columns. Silver with gilt throne. The canvas behind the throne, depicting Peter the Great and the goddess Minerva (author J. Amikoni).
On other canvases of the hall are scenes of the famous battles of the Northern War. The interior decor contains the monograms of the first Russian emperor, images of double-headed eagles and the imperial crown.
Field Marshal Hall
This hall was named after the placement of portraits of outstanding field marshals Of Russia. They are looking at us from the walls of this room. Rumyantsev-Transdanubia, Potemkin-Tauride, Suvorov, Kutuzov other. In the decor of the hall military subjects - This is the laurel wreaths of the winners, and military trophies. Also in the decoration of the hall there are art paintings depicting military victories of the Russian army.
Today, the hall additionally contains paintings by foreign and domestic masters and the famous Imperial china.
If you turn right from the Military Gallery, then we will get to St. George Hall (Big Throne Hall).
St. George's Hall
As the most magnificent and solemn Big Throne Hall appeared by the end of the 18th century in the best examples of the classical style. Imperial ceremonies and receptions were to be held in it. On the day of St. George the Victorious, the hall was consecrated, that's why they began to call it St. George's. This hall was completely burned down in 1837, and the splendor that we see is again a talented reconstruction, created V. Stasov.
George the Victorious Present in the decoration of the hall in the form of a bas-relief located above the royal throne of London work. This throne, by the way, belonging to the first half of the 18th century, was made especially for Anna Ioannovna. Ornamental drawings of the ceiling are similar to the drawings of the parquet floor, composed of wooden fragments of 16 species of wood.
From here, through the Apollo Hall, you can go to the halls of the Small Hermitage, where art galleries are located.
Apollon Hall
At the end of the 18th century, the Apollon Hall appeared as a jumper-link between the halls of the Winter Palace and the pavilions of the Small Hermitage. Chambers of Catherine the Secondoccupied the southeast wing and were in front of the Alexander Hall. The southern pavilion of the Small Hermitage occupied Count G. Orlov. Their chambers were connected by a gallery built between the palace and the pavilion.
When Catherine began collecting paintings for which the Northern Pavilion was built, visitors to the Hermitage area walked past the Empress’s chambers, which caused her discontent. Therefore, both the Apollon Hall and the new Throne St. George Hall ( architect Quarenghi).