Conclusion. The last years of life Since the late 1940s. in Einstein's letters, more and more often flashed remarks about the general weariness of life, a sad note of farewell sounded. This calm sadness is similar to the mood that sometimes engulfs a person on quiet evenings. Feelings experienced

Address: Palace Square, 2

Opening hours: from 10.30 to 18.00

The main palace of Russian emperors was built from 1754 to 1762 years as a court architect, Italian by birth B.F. Rastrelli. The palace was built in the then common style baroque, which was characterized by splendor, grandeur, pronounced contrast and solemnity.

The palace began to be built Elizabeth Petrovna, but the empress did not live to see the end of construction and the first mistress of the new Winter Palace turned out to be Catherine II. She was also the initiator of 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 residence acting emperors up to Nicholas II, although he was more fond of the Tsarskoye Selo Alexander Palace.

In difficult years First World War the palace halls were given over to military hospital. In 1917 (from March to October), members of the Provisional Government. From 1920 to 1941 the halls are occupied Museum of the Revolution and the Hermitage.

Today, the Winter Palace with the treasures of the Hermitage housed in it is the most visited tourist place Petersburg. People come here to see the palace itself - the brightest city landmark and the works of art that are in it.

History of creation

From the time of Peter the Great to the transformation of the palace into a majestic work of architectural art of the mid-18th century, 5 winter palace structures (together with the latter).

First Winter

The first stone Winter Palace was a palace presented to the first Emperor of Russia Peter on the day of his wedding with Ekaterina Alekseevna by the then governor of the city, friend and associate of Peter - A. Menshikov in 1712. That palace called wedding chambers, stood between the Neva and the current Millionnaya Street.

Second Winter

Peter, living in the Wedding Chambers, 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 perfectly visible both the city buildings, and the Peter and Paul Fortress, and the Menshikov Palace, and, of course, the banks of the Neva flowing to the sea.

A German architect began to build the Winter Palace of Peter the Great at the intersection of the Winter Canal with the Neva G.Mattarnovi. His project of the palace looked like a solid two-story German building, decorated with pilasters and rustication, with a central risalit part, on the pediment of which the coat of arms with a crown was to be placed.

Palace construction was in full swing when the architect suddenly dies. The construction was continued by the St. Petersburg architect N. Gerbel, who expanded the building, using the already rebuilt premises as the west wing. Having made the eastern wing similar to the western one, 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 magnificent, large-scale and solemn palace apartments, for which St. Petersburg is so famous today. Although, compared with subsequent palaces, Peter's palace decoration was more than humble. Nevertheless, with the creation of the second Winter Palace, the city ensemble building, characteristic of St. Petersburg architecture, begins.

In this Winter Palace, Peter the Great lived with his family from 1720. This is where Tsar Peter died. in 1725.

Catherine the First, after the death of Peter, work began 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 the grenadier company of the Preobrazhensky Regiment. A 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 missing, dismantled for theater construction, but in the late 70s of the 20th century, architectural research revealed several preserved parts of the first floor and the basement of the former Peter's building, which were located under the stage of the Hermitage Theater. In the preserved rooms, called "Small tents" of Peter managed to recreate the interiors of the Petrine era. The king's study with a tiled Dutch stove is furnished with his personal belongings. It was also possible to restore some of the chambers built under Catherine the Great.

Today you can see the expositions of the Dining Room, Peter's office where he died, turning, front yard. Presented and wax posthumous "Person" of Peter, created from the deceased emperor himself Rastrelli, who, having taken casts from the face, arms and legs, subsequently made a life-size Wax Person from them. Moreover, the hair for making a wig, mustache, eyebrows were real - imperial. The “person” is dressed 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 need to enter with Palace embankment, 32. The museum is open from Tuesday to Sunday from 10.30 to 17.00. Mondays are days off at the museum.

Third Winter Palace

As already mentioned, the next mistress of the Russian throne Anna Ioannovna Peter's palace seemed small. The creation of an enlarged palace analogue, she instructs F.Rastrelli. To make this a reality, nearby buildings are being bought out and demolished, and in 1732 the construction of the third Winter Palace building begins. The new four-story palace is being built in three years and includes seventy rooms, one hundred bedrooms, several galleries, rooms for the theater, as well as service rooms.

However, the empress who entered the palace constantly demanded some new additions, 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, untidy architectural forms and the absence of a common style.

In 1752 Elizabeth buys out the next neighboring plots to expand the palace building. Rastrelli proposed an increase in the palace area in breadth, due to new buildings, but Elizabeth demanded that the building be expanded upwards as well. Debate The architect and the empress led to the decision to demolish the existing palace and build a new one in its place! The construction of another palace structure began in 1754.

Fourth Winter

The Fourth Winter Palace as a temporary one (at the time of the creation of the fifth one) is being built on Nevsky Prospekt, which is already taking shape, where today there are 13 and 15 houses. After the construction of the fifth and last version of the Winter Palace was completed in 1761, the fourth, as unnecessary, was dismantled (1762). Elizaveta Petrovna, so dreaming of grand palace did not live to see the end of construction work.

Fifth Winter (last)

So, by the imperial order of Elizabeth Petrovna, the architect Rastrelli erects a three-story building - the highest at that time ( about 24 meters) – architectural structure Petersburg, whose area was about 60 thousand square meters. The palace, consisting of four buildings, closed in the form 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 territory was organized from Palace embankment. But even though the main facade, more than two kilometers long, faced the Neva, this did not mean that more attention was paid to it. The palace struck from all sides luxury, splendor, architectural decor with the changing rhythm of the columns.

The perimeter of the roof is decorated with vases and sculptures, which gives the building even more splendor and pomposity. The palace building had ocher color with highlighted decorative elements 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 interior of the palace was created enfilade, i.e. all rooms were on the same axis, connected by a through corridor and had a spatial perspective. Northern enfilade stretches along Nevsky Prospekt, southern along Palace Square. Three corner wings occupied the living quarters of the ruling emperors.

The final interior design of the building has already been completed under Catherine II, which removes Rastrelli from further work and the interiors continue to take shape Y. Felten, J. Vallin-Delamot and A. Rinaldi. Under 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, caused a terrible ruin to the palace - a huge part of the interiors died in the fire - but, nevertheless, the Winter Palace restored in record time. Moreover, some halls (Field Marshal's, Petrovsky, etc.) were recreated almost in the original version, and some of the rooms (Malachite, Gothic Library, Alexandra Fedorovna's White Drawing Room, etc.) were created in a new architectural style.

Therefore, it must be borne in mind that much in 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, related to by the second half of the 19th century.

The main halls of the Winter Palace (briefly)

The main palace halls, including the ceremonial ones, are occupied second floor Winter Palace.

jordan stairs

Acquaintance with the halls of the Winter Palace begins with a magnificent front staircase, originally called Ambassadorial, and then Jordanian. This staircase retained the Baroque Rastrelli style, restored by subsequent architects, who, however, made significant changes to the interior.

Here, the splendor of the white marble staircase with a carved balustrade, and granite columns, and the reflected light of mirrors, are striking. statues of gods and muses, gilded intricate ornament and, of course, incomparable plafond with images of the gods of Olympus.

The main staircase on the second floor diverges in two enfilade directions - in the north - along the Neva, and in the east - deep into the palace. In any case, you will be able to bypass all the premises of the second floor along the perimeter, thanks to their through enfilade device.

Nicholas Hall

If you go along the northern enfilade, then through Nikolaevsky anteroom with a malachite rotunda, you can go to Nikolaevsky hall, which is considered the largest room in the Winter Palace. It was named so after the portrait of the deceased Nicholas I was placed here, and was considered the main palace hall for receptions and balls, which could gather up to 3000 guests.

The interior of this hall is decorated in the post-fire period. V. Stasov in a different way than it existed before the fire - a strict monotonous decor is decorated Corinthian columns. From the Nikolaevsky Hall we get to the Concert Hall, having examined it, further along the way we move to the northwestern wing.

Concert hall

Originally intended for concerts, the hall several times changed. It is decorated with antique sculptures depicting various types of art, among them there are all kinds of goddesses and muses. Today, the hall presents an exposition of Russian silverware, as well as a unique Alexander Nevsky shrine, made of silver and transferred here from the Alexander Nevsky Lavra.

The northwestern wing was designed for the family during the recovery period after the fire 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 provisional government, and arrested here.

In this wing, the Arabic and Malachite Halls, the White Dining Room, and the Gothic Library of Nicholas II are available for viewing.

Malachite Hall

This is a well-known and unique hall in a bright green frame. malachite columns and fireplaces. The hall is created by the architect A. Bryullov after the fire in a new interior solution. Decorative painting with the figures of "Day", Night" and "Poetry" decorates the wall opposite the windows.

It was in this hall that the Provisional Government, which was overthrown in October 1917, met. Today, here you can see beautiful malachite products made by Russian craftsmen.

white dining room

This dining room has been redone in a mix 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.

A bronze mantel clock shows the time of the arrest of the Provisional Government, which was taken under arrest right here.

Gothic library

Library room completed in the spirit of the Middle Ages(arch. A.Krasovsky). Used in its decoration Walnut and embossed golden leather. Tall windows with openwork bindings, high choirs for bookcases with a massive staircase, a monumental fireplace - all create an atmosphere of strength and inviolability.

Coming through Rotunda we turn into 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 chambers, owned Maria Alexandrovna- the wife of Alexander II, among which are the Golden Living Room and the Blue Bedroom, the Raspberry Study and the Boudoir, the White Hall and the Green Dining Room.

white living room

This hall of Maria Alexandrovna appeared in the same period as the Malachite Hall, and is made in the same way. A. Bryulov. The White Hall is the most successful work of the architect, who combined three living rooms into a single architectural solution styled in ancient Roman villas. This style defines both the presence of Corinthian columns and the depiction of the Olympian gods.

The white living room was preparing for the marriage of Alexander II with Maria Alexandrovna and, as part of other rooms in this wing, was the apartments of the new imperial family.

During the period of placement in the Winter Provisional Government, the soldier garrison guarding it was located in these apartments. Soldiers, especially without ceremony, dried their wet clothes on Roman statues.

golden living room

Placers captivate us in this living room golden ornaments on white artificial marble walls. Interior made A. Bryulov for Empress Maria Alexandrovna, later improved A. Stackenschneider. Here you can admire the amazing marble fireplace for a long time. Its jasper columns, picturesque panels and bas-reliefs are harmoniously combined with gilded doors and beautiful parquet floors.

It was in this hall, after the tragic death of his father, that Alexander the Third, together with the State Council, discussed the further development of Russia.

Raspberry Cabinet

This is the premises of Maria Alexandrovna, we also see in the converted A. Stackenschneider form. This living room sometimes served as a dining room, and sometimes concert hall. From here, a staircase, hidden by drapery, led to the children's rooms.

By the design of the room, one can judge the personal preferences of the empress, who was fond of music and painting. The room is decorated with medallions depicting notes and musical instruments. We see and unique carved grand piano 19th century. Also here are applied arts, porcelain dishes and more.

Next, passing October stairs, we pass through the enfilades of the southern side of the palace, along the Palace Embankment, in which French art of the 18th century is presented and we get into the front Alexander Hall, built by A. Bryullov to perpetuate the memory of Alexander the First.

From Alexander Hall via Prechurch, you can get to the Great Palace church Savior Not Made by Hands, which after restoration is open to the public. The premises of the church have preserved the splendor of the baroque style of F. Rastrelli. The former church of the imperial family today houses objects related to Russian church art.

And through the nearby picket hall, where in the 19th century the guards officers were on duty, and the palace guard was divorced, we pass into the Military Gallery and the Armorial Hall.

Armorial hall

During the restoration of the Winter Palace after the fire, this hall, with an area of ​​about a thousand square meters, was given a different semantic direction than before. In the pre-fire period in this place of the palace was white gallery, in the hall of which luxurious 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 ceremonial receptions were planned here, and the decoration of the hall in classic style should have shown the power of Russia and the extent of her dominions. Therefore, sculptures of warriors are installed here. ancient Rus', equipped with provincial coats of arms. The same coats of arms are present in the design of chandeliers.

A colonnade with a balustraded balcony surrounding the hall gives it monumentality and solemnity. And the amazing aventurine bowl, located in the center, causes admiration for the skill of Russian stone cutters.

military gallery

Gallery dedicated to the participants heroic victory over the Napoleonic troops (architect C.Rossi)- one of the most famous palace galleries. It was formed in 1826 by combining several not very large palace premises.

The Military Gallery was created to accommodate generals' portraits of the Russian-French company 1812-1814. Each portrait was assigned a specific location by a specially created commission, where they were installed as they were painted. Almost everything from more than three hundred portraits created J. Doe. Some of them were written from the original source, some - from previously painted portraits. 13 images of the dead generals could not be found, so green silk is simply stretched over their names. A separate wall is occupied by a ceremonial portrait of Emperor Alexander the First.

Further in a straight line, it is supposed to inspect the Petrovsky and Field Marshal's halls. These halls, as well as the Armorial in the 30s. 19th century was decorated by the famous O. Montferrand. However, his work perished in the infamous fire of 1837. What we see is a talented reconstruction that was carried out by V.Stasov, A.Bryulov and E.Staubert.

Petrovsky Hall

From the ashes of 1937 Small throne room, dedicated to Peter the Great, is restored in the original idea of ​​Montferrand. Triumphal arch framed by columns. Silver and gilded throne. The canvas behind the throne, depicting Peter the Great and the goddess Minerva (author J. Amikoni).

On other canvases of the hall there are scenes of the famous battles of the Northern War. The decor of the interior contains the monograms of the first Russian emperor, images of double-headed eagles and the imperial crown.

Field Marshal's Hall

This hall was named after the placement in its niches of portraits of prominent field marshals Russia. From the walls of this hall they look at us Rumyantsev-Zadunaisky, Potemkin-Tavrichesky, Suvorov, Kutuzov and others. The decor of the hall is sustained military theme- these are laurel wreaths of winners, and military trophies. Also in the decoration of the hall there are art canvases with images of the military victories of the Russian army.

Today, the hall additionally houses paintings by foreign and domestic masters and houses the famous Imperial porcelain.

If we turn right from the Military Gallery, then we will get to the St. George's Hall (Great Throne Room).

St George's Hall

As the most majestic and solemn, Great Throne Room appeared by the end of the 18th century in the best examples of the classical style. Imperial solemn ceremonies and receptions were to be held there. On the day of St. George the Victorious, the consecration of the hall took place, which is why it began to be called St. George's. This hall completely burned down in 1837, and the splendor that we see is, again, a talented reconstruction created by 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, made up of wooden fragments of 16 types of wood.

From here, through the Apollo Hall, you can go to the halls of the Small Hermitage, where art galleries are located.

Apollo Hall

At the end of the 18th century, the Apollo Hall emerged as a connecting link between the halls of the Winter Palace and the pavilions of the Small Hermitage. Chambers of Catherine II occupied the southeastern wing and were located 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 chambers of the Empress, which caused her displeasure. Therefore, both the Apollo Hall and the new Throne George Hall were built ( arch. Quarenghi).

The Winter Palace is the largest palace building in St. Petersburg. Its dimensions and magnificent decoration make it possible to classify it with full right among the most striking monuments of the St. Petersburg baroque. “The Winter Palace as a building, as a royal dwelling, perhaps has nothing like it in the whole of Europe. With its immensity, its architecture, it depicts a powerful people, so recently entered the environment of educated nations, and with its inner splendor it reminds of that inexhaustible life that boils in the interior of Russia ... The Winter Palace for us is a representative of everything domestic, Russian, ours, ” - this is how V. A. Zhukovsky wrote about the Winter Palace. The history of this architectural monument is rich in turbulent historical events.

At the beginning of the 18th century, in the place where the Winter Palace now stands, only naval officials were allowed to build. Peter I took advantage of this right, being a ship's master under the name of Peter Alekseev, and in 1708 he built a small house in the Dutch style for himself and his family. Ten years later, by order of the future emperor, a canal was dug in front of the side facade of the palace, called (after the palace) the Winter Canal.

In 1711, specifically for the wedding of Peter I and Catherine, the architect Georg Mattarnovi, by order of the tsar, set about rebuilding the wooden palace into a stone one. In the course of work, the architect Mattarnovi was removed from business and the construction was headed by Domenico Trezzini, an Italian architect of Swiss origin. In 1720, Peter I and his entire family moved from their summer residence to their winter residence. In 1723, the Senate was transferred to the Winter Palace. And in January 1725, Peter I died here (in the room on the first floor behind the current second window, counting from the Neva).

Subsequently, 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 Ioanovna approved the project, the houses were bought up, demolished, and the work began to boil. In 1735, the construction of the palace was completed, and the empress moved into it to live. Here, on July 2, 1739, Princess Anna Leopoldovna was betrothed to Prince Anton-Urich. 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.

Elizaveta Petrovna also wished to remake the imperial residence to her taste. On January 1, 1752, she 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 decided to rebuild the entire building. The new project - the next building of the Winter Palace - was signed by Elizaveta Petrovna on June 16, 1754.

Construction lasted eight long years, which fell on the decline of the reign of Elizabeth Petrovna and the short reign of Peter III.

The story of the arrival at the palace of Peter III is curious. After the death of Elizabeth, 15 thousand dresses, many thousands of shoes and stockings remained in her wardrobe, and only six silver rubles turned out to be in the state treasury. Peter III, who replaced Elizabeth on the throne, wished to immediately move into his new residence. But the Palace Square was cluttered with piles of bricks, boards, logs, barrels of lime and similar building debris. The capricious disposition of the new sovereign was known, and the chief police chief found a way out: it was announced in St. Petersburg that all the townsfolk have the right to take whatever they please on Palace Square. A contemporary (A. Bolotov) writes in his memoirs that almost all of St. Petersburg with wheelbarrows, wagons, and some with sledges (despite the proximity of Easter!) ran to Palace Square. Clouds of sand and dust rose above her. The townsfolk grabbed everything: boards, bricks, clay, lime, and barrels... By evening, the area was completely cleared. Nothing interfered with the solemn entry of Peter III into the Winter Palace.

In the summer of 1762, Peter III was overthrown from the throne. The construction of the Winter Palace was already completed under Catherine II. In the autumn of 1763, the empress returned from Moscow to St. Petersburg after the coronation celebrations and became the sovereign mistress of the new palace.

First of all, Catherine removed Rastrelli from work, and Ivan Ivanovich Betskoy, the illegitimate son of Field Marshal Prince Ivan Yuryevich Trubetskoy and personal secretary of Catherine II, became the manager at the construction site. The empress moved the chambers to the southwestern part of the palace, under her rooms she ordered to place the chambers of her favorite G. G. Orlov.

From the side of the Palace Square, the Throne Hall was equipped, in front of it a waiting room appeared - the White Hall. A dining room was placed behind the White Hall. The Light Room adjoined it. The dining room was followed by the Front Bedchamber, which a year later became the Diamond Chamber. In addition, the Empress ordered to equip a library, an office, a boudoir, two bedrooms and a lavatory for herself. Under Catherine in the Winter Palace was also built winter Garden and the Romanov Gallery. At the same time, the formation of St. George's Hall was completed. In 1764, in Berlin, through agents, Catherine purchased a collection of 225 works by Dutch and Flemish artists from the merchant I. Gotskovsky. Most of the paintings were placed in secluded apartments of the palace, which received the French name "Hermitage" ("place of solitude").

Built by Elizabeth, the fourth, now existing palace was conceived and implemented in the form of a closed quadrangle with a vast courtyard. Its facades face the Neva, towards the Admiralty and the square, in the center of which F. B. Rastrelli planned to place an equestrian statue of Peter I.

The facades of the palace are divided by the entablature into two tiers. They are decorated with Ionic and Composite columns. The columns of the upper tier unite the second, front, and third floors.

The complex rhythm of the columns, the richness and variety of forms of architraves, the abundance of stucco details, the many decorative vases and statues located above the parapet and above the numerous pediments create the decorative decoration of the building, exceptional in its splendor and magnificence.

The southern facade is cut through by three entrance arches, which emphasizes its importance as the main one. The entrance arches lead to the main courtyard, where the main entrance to the palace was located in the center of the northern building.

The main Jordan Staircase is located in the northeast corner of the building. On the second floor along the northern facade there were five large halls, the so-called "anti-chambers", enfilade, behind them - a huge Throne Hall, and in the southwestern part - the palace theater.

Despite the fact that the Winter Palace was completed in 1762, for a long time, work was still being done on the interior decoration. These works were entrusted to the best Russian architects Yu. M. Felten, J. B. Ballin-Delamot and A. Rinaldi.

In the 1780s-1790s, I.E. Starov and G. Quarenghi continued the work on altering the interior decoration of the palace. In general, the palace was remodeled and rebuilt an incredible number of times. Each new architect tried to bring something of his own, sometimes destroying what had already been built.

Galleries with arches ran along the entire lower floor. Galleries connected all parts of the palace. The rooms on the sides of the galleries were of a service nature. There were pantries, a guardroom, employees of the palace lived.

The ceremonial halls and living quarters of members of the imperial family were located on the second floor and were built in the Russian Baroque style - huge halls flooded with light, double rows of large windows and mirrors, lush rococo decor. The apartments of the courtiers were mainly located on the upper floor.

The palace was also destroyed. For example, on December 17-19, 1837, there was a strong fire that completely destroyed the beautiful decoration of the Winter Palace, from which only a charred skeleton remained. They could not extinguish the flame for three days, all this time the property taken out of the palace was piled around the Alexander Column. As a result of the disaster, the interiors of Rastrelli, Quarenghi, Montferrand, Rossi were lost. Restoration work started immediately and lasted two years. They were led by architects V.P. Stasov and A.P. Bryullov. According to the order of Nicholas I, the palace was to be restored the same as it was before the fire. However, not everything was so easy to do, for example, only some interiors, created or restored after the fire of 1837 by A.P. Bryullov, have come down to us in their original form.

On February 5, 1880, S. N. Khalturin, a Narodnaya Volya member, made an explosion in the Winter Palace in order to assassinate Alexander II. At the same time, eight soldiers from the guard were killed and forty-five wounded, but neither the emperor nor members of his family were injured.

At the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th century, the interior design was constantly changing and replenished with new elements. Such, in particular, are the interiors of the chambers of Empress Maria Alexandrovna, wife of Alexander II, created according to the designs of G. A. Bosse (Red Boudoir) and V. A. Schreiber (Golden Living Room), as well as the library of Nicholas II (author A. F. Krasovsky). Among the renovated interiors, the most interesting was the decoration of the Nicholas Hall, which contained a large equestrian portrait of Emperor Nicholas I by the artist F. Kruger.

For a long time the Winter Palace was the residence of Russian emperors. After the assassination of Alexander II by terrorists, Emperor Alexander III moved his residence to Gatchina. From that moment on, only especially solemn ceremonies were held in the Winter Palace. With the accession to the throne of Nicholas II in 1894, the imperial family returned to the palace again.

The most significant changes in the history of the Winter Palace took place in 1917, along with the coming of the Bolsheviks to power. A lot of valuables were stolen and damaged by sailors and workers while the palace was under their control. A direct hit by a shell fired from a cannon of the Peter and Paul Fortress damaged the former quarters of Alexander III. Only a few days later, the Soviet government declared the Winter Palace and the Hermitage to be state museums and took the buildings under protection. Soon the valuable property of the palace and the collections of the Hermitage were sent to Moscow and hidden in the Kremlin and in the building of the Historical Museum.

An interesting story is connected with the October Revolution in the Winter Palace: after the storming of the palace, the Red Guard, who was instructed to set up guards to guard the Winter Palace, decided to get acquainted with the arrangement of guards in pre-revolutionary times. He was surprised to learn that one of the posts had long been located on an unremarkable alley of the palace garden (the royal family called it "Own" and under this name the garden was known to Petersburgers). An inquisitive Red Guard figured out the history of this post. It turned out that somehow Tsarina Catherine II, having gone out in the morning to the Adjustable platform, saw a sprouted flower there. So that soldiers and passersby would not trample it, Catherine, returning from a walk, ordered a guard to be placed at the flower. And when the flower withered, the queen forgot to cancel her order about the stay of the guard at this place. And since then, for about a hundred and fifty years, a guard stood at this place, although there was no longer a flower, no Empress Catherine, or even a Adjustable platform.

In 1918, part of the premises of the Winter Palace was given over to the Museum of the Revolution, which led to the reorganization of their interiors. The Romanov Gallery was completely liquidated, in which there were portraits of sovereigns and members of the Romanov dynasty. Many chambers of the palace were occupied by a reception center for prisoners of war, a children's colony, a headquarters for arranging mass celebrations, etc. The armorial hall was used for theatrical performances, the Nikolaevsky hall was converted into a cinema. In addition, congresses and conferences of various public organizations were repeatedly held in the halls of the palace.

When the Hermitage and Palace collections returned from Moscow to Petrograd at the end of 1920, there was simply no place for many of them. As a result, hundreds of paintings and sculptures were used to decorate the mansions and apartments of party, Soviet and military leaders, holiday homes for officials and their families. Since 1922, the premises of the Winter Palace began to be gradually transferred to the Hermitage.

In the early days of the Great Patriotic War many valuables of the Hermitage were urgently evacuated, some of them were hidden in basements. To prevent fires in the museum buildings, the windows were bricked up or closed with shutters. In some rooms, the parquets were covered with a layer of sand.

The Winter Palace was a big target. A large number of bombs and shells exploded near him, and several hit the building itself. So, on December 29, 1941, a shell crashed into the southern wing of the Winter Palace overlooking the kitchen yard, damaging the iron rafters and the roof over an area of ​​three hundred square meters, destroying the fire-fighting water supply installation located in the attic. The attic vaulted ceiling with an area of ​​about six square meters was broken through. Another shell that hit the podium in front of the Winter Palace damaged the water main.

Despite the difficult conditions that existed in the besieged city, on May 4, 1942, the Leningrad City Executive Committee ordered construction trust No. 16 to carry out priority restoration work in the Hermitage, in which emergency repair workshops took part. In the summer of 1942, the roof was blocked in places where it was damaged by shells, the formwork was partially repaired, broken skylights or iron sheets were installed, the destroyed metal rafters were replaced with temporary wooden ones, and the plumbing system was repaired.

On May 12, 1943, a bomb hit the building of the Winter Palace, partially destroying the roof over the St. George Hall and metal truss structures, and damaging the brickwork of the wall in the pantry of the Department of the History of Russian Culture. In the summer of 1943, despite the shelling, they continued to seal the roof and ceilings with tarred plywood, skylights. On January 2, 1944, another shell hit the Armorial Hall, severely damaging the finish and destroying two ceilings. The shell also pierced the ceiling of the Nicholas Hall. But already in August 1944, the Soviet government decided to restore all the buildings of the museum. Restoration work required huge efforts and stretched out for many years. But, despite all the losses, the Winter Palace remains an outstanding monument of baroque architecture.

Today, the Winter Palace, together with the buildings of the Small, Large and New Hermitages and the Hermitage Theater, forms a single palace complex, which has few equals in world architecture. In terms of art and town planning, it belongs to the highest achievements of Russian architecture. All halls of this palace ensemble, built over many years, is occupied by the State Hermitage - the largest museum in the world, which has huge collections of works of art.

In the guise of the Winter Palace, which was created, as the decree on its construction, "for the united glory of all Russia", in its elegant, festive form, in the magnificent decoration of its facades, the artistic and compositional concept of the architect Rastrelli is revealed - a deep architectural connection with the city on the Neva, which became the capital of the Russian Empire, with all the character of the surrounding urban landscape, preserved to this day.

Palace Square

Any tour of the Winter Palace begins on Palace Square. It has its own history, which is no less interesting than the history of the Winter Palace itself. The square was formed in 1754 during the construction of the Winter Palace designed by V. Rastrelli. An important role in its formation was played by K. I. Rossi, who in 1819-1829 created the General Staff building and the Ministry building and connected them into a single whole with a magnificent Arc de Triomphe. The Alexander Column took its place in the Palace Square ensemble in 1830-1834, in honor of the victory in the War of 1812. It is noteworthy that V. Rastrelli intended to place a monument to Peter I in the center of the square. The building of the Headquarters of the Guards Corps, created in 1837-1843 by architect A.P. Bryullov, completes the Palace Square ensemble.

The palace was conceived and built in the form of a closed quadrangle, with a vast courtyard. The Winter Palace is rather large and clearly stands out from the surrounding houses.

Countless white columns now gather in groups (especially picturesque and expressive at the corners of the building), then thin out and part, opening windows framed with platbands with lion masks and cupids' heads. There are dozens of decorative vases and statues on the balustrade. The corners of the building are lined with columns and pilasters.

Each facade of the Winter Palace is made in its own way. The northern façade, facing the Neva, stretches like a more or less even wall, without noticeable ledges. The southern façade, overlooking the Palace Square and having seven articulations, is the main one. Its center is cut by three entrance arches. Behind them is the front yard? where in the middle of the northern building used to be the main entrance to the palace. Of the side facades, the western one is more interesting, facing the Admiralty and the square, on which Rastrelli planned to place the equestrian statue of Peter I cast by his father. Each architraves decorating the palace is unique. This is due to the fact that the mass, consisting of a mixture of crushed bricks and lime mortar, was cut and processed by hand. All stucco decorations of the facades were made on the spot.

The Winter Palace was always painted in bright colors. The original color of the palace was pink-yellow, as evidenced by the drawings of the 18th - the first quarter of the 19th century.

From the interior of the palace, created by Rastrelli, the Jordan Staircase and partly the Great Church have preserved the baroque appearance. The front staircase is located in the northeast corner of the building. On it you can see various details of the decor - columns, mirrors, statues, intricate gilded stucco, a huge ceiling created by Italian painters. Divided into two solemn marches, the stairs led to the main, Northern enfilade, which consisted of five large halls, behind which there was a huge Throne Hall in the northwestern risalit, and the Palace Theater in the southwestern part.

The Great Church, located in the southeast corner of the building, also deserves special attention. Initially, the church was consecrated in honor of the Resurrection of Christ (1762) and again - in the name of the Savior Not Made by Hands (1763). Its walls are decorated with stucco - an elegant pattern of floral ornament. The three-tiered iconostasis is decorated with icons and picturesque panels depicting biblical scenes. Evangelists on the vaults of the ceiling were later painted by F.A. Bruni. Now nothing reminds of the former purpose of the church hall, ruined in the 1920s, except for the golden dome and the large pictorial ceiling by F. Fonte-basso, depicting the Resurrection of Christ.

white hall

It was created by A.P. Bryullov on the site of a number of rooms that had three semicircular windows along the facade in the center, and three rectangular windows on the sides. This circumstance led the architect to the idea of ​​dividing the room into three compartments and highlighting the middle one with especially magnificent processing. The hall is separated from the side parts by arches on protruding pylons, decorated with pilasters, and the central window and the opposite door are emphasized by Corinthian columns, above which are placed four statues - female figures, personifying the arts. The hall is covered with semicircular vaults. The wall against the central windows is designed with an arcade and above each semicircle there are pairwise bas-relief figures of Juno and Jupiter, Diana and Apollo, Ceres and Mercury and other deities of Olympus.

The vault and all parts of the ceiling above the cornice are finished with stuccoed caissons in the same late classical style rich in decorative elements.

The side compartments are decorated in the spirit of the Italian Renaissance. Here, under the common crowning cornice, a second smaller order with Tuscan pilasters, covered with small molding with a grotesque ornament, is introduced. Above the pilasters there is a wide frieze with figures of children engaged in music and dancing, hunting and fishing, harvesting and winemaking, or playing seafaring and war. Such a connection architectural elements different scales and the overload of the hall with ornaments are typical for the classicism of the 1830s, but the white color gives the hall integrity.

Georgievsky Hall and Military Gallery

Experts call the Georgievsky, or the Great Throne Room, designed by Quarenghi, the most perfect interior. In order to create the St. George Hall, a special building had to be attached to the center of the eastern facade of the palace. In the design of this room, which enriched the front suite, colored marble and gilded bronze were used. At the end of it, on a dais, there used to be a large throne, made by the master P. Azhi. Other well-known architects also participated in the design of palace interiors. In 1826, according to the project of K. I. Rossi, the Military Gallery was built in front of the St. George Hall.

The military gallery is a kind of monument to the heroic military past of the Russian people. It contains 332 portraits of generals, participants in the Patriotic War of 1812 and the foreign campaign of 1813-1814. The portraits were made by the famous English artist J. Dow with the participation of Russian painters A.V. Polyakov and V. A. Golike. Most of the portraits were made from life, but since in 1819, when work began, many were no longer alive, some portraits were painted according to earlier, surviving images. The gallery occupies a place of honor in the palace and is directly adjacent to the St. George's Hall. The architect K. I. Rossi, who built it, destroyed the six small rooms that previously existed here. The gallery was illuminated through glazed openings in vaults supported by arches. The arches rested on groups of twin columns that stood against the longitudinal walls. Portraits were arranged in five rows on the plane of the walls in simple gilded frames. On one of the end walls, under a canopy, was placed an equestrian portrait of Alexander I by J. Doe. After the fire of 1837, it was replaced by the same portrait by F. Kruger, it is his painting that is in the hall today, on the sides of it there is an image of the Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm III, also executed by Kruger, and a portrait of the Austrian Emperor Franz I by P. Kraft. If you look at the door leading to the St. George Hall, then on its sides you can see portraits of Field Marshals M. I. Kutuzov and M. B. Barclay de Tolly by Dow.

In the 1830s, A. S. Pushkin often visited the gallery. He immortalized her in the poem "The Commander", dedicated to Barclay de Tolly:

The Russian tsar has a chamber in his halls:
She is not rich in gold, not in velvet;
But from top to bottom, in full length, around,
With my brush free and wide
It was painted by a quick-eyed artist.
There are no country nymphs, no virgin madonnas,
No fauns with bowls, no full-breasted wives,
No dancing, no hunting, but all the raincoats and swords,
Yes, faces full of martial courage.
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.

The fire of 1837 did not spare the gallery, however, fortunately, all the portraits were taken out by soldiers of the guards regiments.

V. P. Stasov, who restored the gallery, basically retained its former character: he repeated the treatment of the walls with double Corinthian columns, left the same arrangement of portraits, and retained the color scheme. But some details of the composition of the hall have been changed. Stasov lengthened the gallery by 12 meters. A balcony was placed above the wide crowning cornice for passage to the choirs of adjacent halls, for which the arches were eliminated, which rested on columns that rhythmically broke the too long vault into parts.

After the Great Patriotic War, the gallery was restored, and four portraits of the palace grenadiers, veterans who passed the company of 1812-1814 as ordinary soldiers, were additionally placed in it. These works are also done by J. Doe.

Petrovsky Hall

Petrovsky Hall is also known as the Small Throne Room. Decorated with special splendor in the spirit of late classicism, it was created in 1833 by the architect A. A. Montferrand. After the fire, the hall was restored by V.P. Stasov, and its original appearance was preserved almost unchanged. The main difference of the later decoration is related to the processing of the walls. Previously, the panels on the side walls were divided by one pilaster, now they are placed in two. There was no border around each panel, a large double-headed eagle in the center, and on the scarlet velvet upholstery, bronze gilded double-headed eagles of the same size were fixed in diagonal directions.

The hall is dedicated to the memory of Peter I. The crossed Latin monograms of Peter the Great, double-headed eagles and crowns are included in the motifs of the stucco ornamentation of the capitals of columns and pilasters, the frieze on the walls, the painting of the ceiling and the decoration of the entire hall. On two walls there are images of the Battle of Poltava and the Battle of Lesnaya, in the center of the compositions - the figure of Peter I (artists - B. Medici and P. Scotty).

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