Imperial mansions: the history of the Winter Palace. History of the Winter Palace

The largest palace building in St. Petersburg is the Winter Palace. The large size and magnificent decoration make it possible to rightfully classify the Winter Palace as one of 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. With its vastness, with its architecture, it depicts a powerful people who have 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, ”V.A. Zhukovsky wrote about the Winter Palace.

History of the Winter Palace

Varfolomey Varfolomeevich (Bartolomeo Francesca) Rastrelli (1700-1771) - the largest representative of Russian baroque. By origin. In 1716 he came with his father to Petersburg. Studied abroad. In 1730-1760 he was appointed court architect. His brainchildren include the Cathedral of the Smolny Monastery, the Grand Palace in Peterhof (now Peterhof), the Great Catherine Palace in Tsarskoye Selo, the Strogonov Palace, the Vorontsov Palace and, of course, the Winter Palace.

The Winter Palace was built immediately with the goal that it would be the main residence of the kings. The palace was built "for the united glory of all Russia," Rastrelli emphasized. While the palace was being built, the royal court was located in a temporary wooden palace built by Rastrelli in 1755 at the corner of Nevsky Prospekt and the Moika Embankment. In 1754 the project of the palace was approved. Its construction lasted eight long years, which fell on the decline of the reign of Elizabeth Petrovna and the short reign of Peter III. In the autumn of 1763, Catherine II returned from Moscow to St. Petersburg after the coronation celebrations and became the sovereign mistress of the new palace.

At first the Winter Palace was built as a small two-storey house, covered with tiles, with two ledges along the edges and a central entrance. But later another floor was added.

The construction of the Winter Palace required a huge amount of money and a huge number of workers. About 4 thousand people worked at this construction site. The best masters from all over the country were gathered here.

Construction was completed in 1762, but for a long time, work was still underway to finish the interior. Interior decoration was entrusted to the best Russian architects Yu. M. Felten, J. B. Vallin-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 destroyed many times. For example, a strong fire on December 17-19, 1837 almost completely destroyed the beautiful decoration of the Winter Palace, from which only a charred skeleton remained. The interiors of Rastrelli, Quarenghi, Montferrand, Rossi perished. Restoration work continued for 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.

At the end of the 19th - beginning of the 20th century, the interior design was constantly changing and adding 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.

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. Direct hit by a projectile fired from a gun Peter and Paul Fortress, the former chambers of Alexander III were damaged. 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, valuable palace property and the Hermitage collections were sent to Moscow and hidden in and in the building of the Historical Museum.

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.

The Winter Palace was seriously damaged during the war. Shells and bombs damaged the Small Throne or Petrovsky Hall, destroyed part of the Armorial Hall and the ceiling of the Rastrelli Gallery, and damaged the Jordan Stairs. Restoration work required huge efforts, stretched out for many years.

Features of the structure of the Winter Palace

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 main courtyard, where in the middle of the northern building there 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 carvers. 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 drawings from the 18th and 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. Main staircase located in the northeast corner of the building. It contains various decorative details - columns, mirrors, statues, intricate gilded stucco, a huge ceiling created by Italian painters. Divided into two solemn marches, the staircase 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. Fontebasso depicting the Resurrection of Christ.

Experts call the Georgievsky, or the Great Throne, hall, created according to the project of 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 front suite, found the use of colored marble and gilded bronze. 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, a Military Gallery was built in front of the St. George Hall, on the walls of which 330 portraits of the participating generals were placed. Patriotic War 1812. Most of the portraits were painted by the English artist D. Dow.

Worthy of attention are the Anteroom, the Big and Concert Hall. All of them are characterized by rigor and artistic integrity, which distinguishes the style of classicism. Most Big hall The winter one is the Nikolaevsky hall (one thousand one hundred square meters). Especially remarkable is the Malachite Hall - the only surviving example of malachite decoration of an entire residential interior. The main decoration of the hall are eight malachite columns made in the Russian mosaic technique, the same number of pilasters and two large malachite fireplaces.

Location of the Winter Palace

Three central squares- Palace Square, Decembrists Square and St. Isaac's Square form a single spatial element on the banks of the Neva. It is on these squares that the main attractions of St. Petersburg are located.

With their northern facades, the Winter Palace, the Admiralty, St. Isaac's Cathedral, the Senate and the Synod face the Neva. Its wide expanses of water are inextricably linked with the prospects of grandiose squares and powerful arrays of buildings located on them.

The official address of the Winter Palace is Palace embankment, house 36.

Today it is difficult to separate the Winter Palace from the Hermitage. Valuable exhibitions and expositions are now located here, and the palace itself has long been perceived as a historical value. Its history is a direct continuation of the history of Russia, St. Petersburg and the imperial dynasty.

We can say that the winter palace is known all over the world, it is also known as the French and as the English Tower. St. Petersburg is one of the most interesting cities in Russia and is very attractive for tourists. And almost all tour groups visit the Hermitage, where they learn the history of the Winter Palace.

Where did the tradition of dividing the houses of monarchs into winter and summer ones come from? The roots of this phenomenon can be found in the times of the Muscovite kingdom. It was then that the tsars first began to leave the walls of the Kremlin for the summer and go to breathe the air in Izmailovskoye or Kolomenskoye. This tradition was carried over by Peter I to new capital. The winter palace of the emperor stood on the site where the modern building is located, and summer palace can be found in summer garden. It was built under the direction of Trezzini and is, in fact, a small two-story house with 14 rooms.

Source: wikipedia.org

From house to palace

The history of the creation of the Winter Palace is no secret to anyone: Empress Elizaveta Petrovna, a great lover of luxury, in 1752 ordered the architect Rastrelli to build for herself the most beautiful palace in Russia. But it was not built in an empty place: before that, on the territory where the Hermitage Theater is now located, there was a small winter palace of Peter I. The wooden palace of Anna Ioannovna, which was built under the direction of Trezzini, replaced the house of the Great. But the building was not luxurious enough, so the empress, who returned the status of the capital to St. Petersburg, chose a new architect - Rastrelli. It was Rastrelli Sr., the father of the famous Francesco Bartolomeo. Almost 20 years new palace became the residence of the imperial family. And then came the very Winter, which we know today - the fourth in a row.

Source: wikipedia.org

The tallest building in St. Petersburg

When Elizaveta Petrovna wished to build a new palace, the architect, in order to save money, planned to use the previous building for the foundation. But the empress demanded to increase the height of the palace from 14 to 22 two meters. Rastrelli redid the building project several times, and Elizabeth did not want to move the construction site, so the architect had to simply demolish the old palace and build a new one in its place. Only in 1754 did the empress approve the project.

It is interesting that for a long time the Winter Palace remained the most tall building In Petersburg. In 1762, even a decree was issued prohibiting the construction of buildings in the capital higher than the imperial residence. It was because of this decree that the Singer company at the beginning of the 20th century had to abandon its idea to build a skyscraper for itself on Nevsky Prospekt, like in New York. As a result, a tower was built over six floors with an attic and decorated with a globe, creating the impression of height.

Elizabethan Baroque

The palace was built in the style of the so-called Elizabethan Baroque. It is a quadrilateral with a large courtyard. The building is decorated with columns, architraves, and the roof balustrade is lined with dozens of luxurious vases and statues. But the building was rebuilt several times, Quarenghi, Montferrand, Rossi worked on the interior decoration at the end of the 18th century, and after the infamous fire of 1837, Stasov and Bryullov, so baroque elements were not preserved everywhere. Details of the magnificent style remained in the interior of the famous front Jordan Stairs. It got its name from the Jordanian passage, which was nearby. Through it, on the feast of the Epiphany of the Lord, the imperial family and the higher clergy went out to the ice hole in the Neva. Such a ceremony was traditionally called "the march to the Jordan." Baroque details are also preserved in the decoration of the Great Church. But the church was ruined, and now only a large ceiling by Fontebasso with the image of the Resurrection of Christ reminds of its purpose.

Source: wikipedia.org

In 1762, Catherine II ascended the throne, who did not like the pompous style of Rastrelli. The architect was dismissed, and new masters took up the interior decoration. They destroyed the Throne Hall and erected a new Neva enfilade. Under the leadership of Quarenghi, the Georgievsky, or Great Throne Room, was created. For him, a small extension had to be made to the eastern facade of the palace. At the end of the 19th century, the Red Boudoir, the Golden Living Room and the library of Nicholas II appeared.

Difficult days of the Revolution

In the early days of the Revolution of 1917, sailors and workers stole a huge amount of treasures from the Winter Palace. Only a few days later the Soviet government guessed to take the building under guard. A year later, the palace was given over to the Museum of the Revolution, so some of the interiors were rebuilt. For example, the Romanov Gallery was destroyed, where there were portraits of all the emperors and members of their families, and films began to be shown in the Nicholas Hall. In 1922, part of the building went to the Hermitage, and only by 1946 did the entire Winter Palace become part of the museum.

During the Great Patriotic War, the palace building was damaged by air raids and shelling. With the outbreak of war, most of the exhibits exhibited in Zimny were sent for storage to the Ipatiev Mansion, the same one where the family of Emperor Nicholas II was shot. About 2,000 people lived in the Hermitage bomb shelters. They did their best to preserve the exhibits that remained within the walls of the palace. Sometimes they had to fish out china and chandeliers floating in flooded cellars.

furry guards

Not only water threatened to spoil the art, but also voracious rats. For the first time, a mustachioed army for the Winter Palace was sent from Kazan in 1745. Catherine II did not like cats, but she left the striped defenders at court in the status of "guards of art galleries." During the blockade, all the cats in the city died, which is why the rats bred and began to spoil the interiors of the palace. After the war, 5 thousand cats were brought to the Hermitage, which quickly dealt with tailed pests.

The Winter Palace is a masterpiece of Russian baroque. Part 1. Architecture

Winter Palace in St. Petersburg (Palace Square, 2 / Palace Embankment, 38)

Winter Palace - former imperial palace, is currently part of the Chief museum complex State Hermitage.

The monumental and elegant Winter Palace, commissioned by Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, was built by the architect Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli in 1754-1762, - a vivid monument of the Baroque style. The building is a brilliant example of the synthesis of architecture and decorative plastics. All of its facades are decorated with a two-tiered colonnade. Forming a complex rhythm of verticals, the columns rush upwards, and this movement is picked up by numerous statues and vases on the roof.

The abundance of stucco decorations - bizarre cornices and window trims, mascarons, cartouches and rocailles, torn gables - creates a rich play of light and shadow, gives the building a special magnificence. Is an object cultural heritage federal significance and object world heritage UNESCO in historical center Petersburg

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

The Winter Palace and Palace Square form a beautiful architectural ensemble modern city and are one of the main objects of domestic and international tourism.

Story

In total, five winter palaces were built in the city during the period 1711-1764. Initially, Peter I settled in a one-story house built in 1703 not far from the Peter and Paul Fortress.

First Palace - Wedding Chambers

Peter the Great owned the site between the Neva and Millionnaya Street (on the site of the present Hermitage Theatre). In 1708, here, in the depths of the site, a wooden "Winter House" was built - a small two-story house with a high porch and a tiled roof. In 1712, the stone Wedding Chambers of Peter I were built. This palace was a gift from the governor of St. Petersburg, Alexander Danilovich Menshikov, for the wedding of Peter I and Ekaterina Alekseevna.

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

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

The third palace - the palace of Anna Ioannovna

Later, Empress Anna Ioannovna considered the Winter Palace too small and in 1731 entrusted its reconstruction to F. B. Rastrelli, who offered her his project for the reconstruction of the Winter Palace. According to his project, it was necessary to purchase the houses that stood at that time on the site occupied by the current palace and belonged to Count Apraksin, the Naval Academy, Raguzinsky and Chernyshev. Anna Ioannovna approved the project, the houses were bought up, demolished and construction began in the spring of 1732.

The facades of this palace were facing the Neva, the Admiralty and the "meadow side", that is, the palace square. In 1735, the construction of the palace was completed, and Anna Ioannovna moved into it to live. The four-story building included about 70 ceremonial halls, more than 100 bedrooms, a gallery, a theater, a large chapel, many stairs, service and guard rooms, as well as rooms for the palace office. Almost immediately, the palace began to be rebuilt, an extension to it began on the meadow side of technical buildings, sheds and stables [

Anna and Anton-Ulrich

Here, on July 2, 1739, Princess Anna Leopoldovna was betrothed to Prince Anton-Ulrich. After the death of Anna Ioannovna, the young emperor John Antonovich was brought here, who stayed here until November 25, 1741, when Elizaveta Petrovna took power into her own hands.

Fourth (temporary) Winter Palace
It was built in 1755. It was built by Rastrelli at the corner of Nevsky Prospekt and the embankment of the river. Washers. Was taken apart in 1762

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

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

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

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

On January 1, 1752, the Empress decided to expand the Winter Palace, after which the neighboring plots of Raguzinsky and Yaguzhinsky were bought out. At the new location, Rastrelli built new buildings. According to the project he drew up, these buildings were to be attached to the existing ones and be decorated with them in the same style.

In December 1752, the Empress wished to increase the height of the Winter Palace from 14 to 22 meters. Rastrelli was forced to redo the design of the building, after which he decided to build it in a new location. But Elizaveta Petrovna refused to move the new Winter Palace. As a result, the architect decides to rebuild the entire building, new project was signed by Elizaveta Petrovna on June 16 (June 27), 1754

Rastrelli placed the palace theater "Opera House" in the southwestern wing. Kitchens and other services occupied the northeastern wing, and in the southeastern part, between the living quarters and the “Great Church” arranged in the eastern courtyard, a gallery was thrown.

In the northwestern risalit, the “Throne Hall” was equipped; a waiting room appeared in front of it - the “White Hall”. A dining room was placed behind the White Hall. Adjacent to it was the "Light Cabinet". The dining room was followed by the “Front Bedchamber”, which became the “Diamond Peace” a year later.

In addition, the Empress ordered to equip a library, an office, a boudoir, two bedrooms and a lavatory for herself. In the dressing room, the empress built a toilet seat from the throne of one of her lovers, the Polish king Poniatowski. In 1764, in Berlin, through agents, Catherine purchased a collection of 225 works by Dutch and Flemish artists from the merchant I. Gotskovsky. The paintings were placed in secluded apartments of the palace, which received the French name "Hermitage" (a place of solitude); from 1767 to 1775 a special building was built for them to the east of the palace.

In the 1780s-1790s, I.E. Starov and G. Quarenghi continued to decorate the palace interiors.

In 1783, by decree of Catherine, the palace theater was demolished.
In the 1790s, by decree of Catherine II, who considered it inappropriate for the public to enter the Hermitage through her own chambers, a lintel gallery was created with the Winter Palace - "Apollo Hall", with the help of which visitors could bypass the royal apartments. At the same time, Quarenghi also erected a new “Throne (Georgievsky)” hall, opened in 1795. The old throne room was converted into a series of rooms provided for the quarters of the newly married Grand Duke Alexander. The "Marble Gallery" (of three halls) was also created.

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

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

Historical events

On April 7 (according to another version - April 11), 1762, on Easter, the ceremony of consecrating the palace took place, the next day the imperial court entered it.

C. J. Vernet. Fire in the Winter Palace

On December 29, 1837, a fire broke out in the Winter Palace. They could not extinguish it for three days, all this time the property taken out of the palace was piled around the Alexander Column. Restoration work required enormous efforts, but the palace was revived in two years. The work was supervised by V.P. Stasov, who used new structures for floors and roofs.

Women's shock battalion defending the Winter Palace from the Bolshevik rebellion.

On February 5, 1880, Narodnaya Volya member S. N. Khalturin exploded in the Winter Palace in order to kill Alexander II, while eleven soldiers from the guard were killed and fifty-six were wounded, but neither the emperor nor his family members were injured.

On January 9, 1905, during the procession of columns of workers to the Winter Palace, a peaceful workers' demonstration was shot, which was the beginning of the Revolution of 1905-1907. In August 1914, after the outbreak of World War II (World War I), part of the cultural property from the palace, including the Jewel Gallery, was taken to Moscow, but the Art Gallery remained in place.

In mid-October 1915, a military hospital named after Tsarevich Alexei Nikolayevich was located in the palace. The halls of the Nevsky and the Grand Enfilade, as well as the Picket and Alexander Halls were assigned to the hospital wards.

Since July 1917, the palace became the seat of the Provisional Government, which announced the nationalization of the royal palaces and formed an art-historical commission to accept the values of the Winter Palace. In September, part of the art collection was evacuated to Moscow.

On the night of October 25-26 (November 7-8), 1917, during the days of the October Revolution, the Red Guard, revolutionary soldiers and sailors surrounded the palace, which was guarded by a garrison of junkers and a women's battalion, totaling 2.7 thousand people. The palace was fired upon by the cannons of the Peter and Paul Fortress. By 2 o'clock 10 min. On the night of October 26 (November 8), they stormed the palace and arrested the Provisional Government. In cinematography, the storming of the Winter Palace was portrayed as a battle. In fact, it passed almost without bloodshed - the defenders of the palace offered almost no resistance.

On October 30 (November 12), 1917, People's Commissar of Education A. V. Lunacharsky declared the Winter Palace and the Hermitage to be state museums. For several months, Narkompros was located in the rooms on the first floor of the palace. Cinematic sessions, concerts, lectures, and meetings began to be held in the front halls. In 1919, the first after the revolution exhibitions of paintings from the paintings left in Petrograd, as well as the exposition "The Funeral Cult of Ancient Egypt" were opened in the palace.

Workers of the Kirov factory and young sailors on the bridge. Defenders of Leningrad during the blockade. Siege of Leningrad Russia, Leningrad region
On June 22, 1941, after the start of the Great Patriotic War, twelve bomb shelters were equipped in the basements of the palace, in which about two thousand people permanently lived until 1942. Part of the non-evacuated museum collection of the Hermitage, cultural treasures from suburban palaces and various institutions of Leningrad were hidden in the palace.

During the war years, the buildings of the palace were damaged by Wehrmacht artillery shelling and Luftwaffe bombing, a total of seventeen artillery shells and two aerial bombs hit them. The Small Throne (Petrovsky) Hall was damaged, part of the Armorial Hall and the ceiling of the Rastrelli Gallery were destroyed, and the Jordan Staircase was damaged. On November 7, 1944, the palace was partially opened to the public. The restoration of the halls and facades of the palace continued for many years after the war.

Architecture

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

The clockwork of the Zimny clock tower

The palace building has 1084 rooms, 1945 windows, 117 stairs (including secret ones). The length of the facade from the side of the Neva is 137 meters, from the side of the Admiralty - 106 meters, the height is 23.5 meters. In 1844, Nicholas I issued a decree prohibiting the construction of civil buildings in St. Petersburg higher than the height of the Winter Palace. They had to be built at least one fathom less.

Despite the restructuring and many innovations, the main planning scheme of the palace retained the ideas of F.-B. Rastrelli. Palace buildings are formed around the inner Great Courtyard. Light courtyards were created in the northwestern and southwestern wings on the site of the Throne Hall and the Opera House, around which enfilades of living quarters were formed.

From the east, the Small Hermitage, built along the Black Passage, adjoins the Winter Palace. The buildings of the St. George's Hall, the Great Church, the southeast and northeast wings of the palace go into this passage; the space is divided into a system of yards and pits: “Small” and “Large Church” yards (from the Big Church located here, founded back in 1763), “Church” and “Garage” (from the garage located here) pits, “Kitchen Yard”.

Design features

The three-story building of the palace has a basement floor and numerous mezzanine floors, some of the ceremonial halls of the second floor are double-sided. The brickwork of the walls on lime mortar is very massive, the interfloor ceilings are made both in the form of brick vaults and on beams. The massive cornice of the palace is built on a stone foundation, which is supported by iron braces passing through the brickwork of the outer walls, which have been preserved since the time of Rastrelli.

The entire rafter system and all ceilings above the halls in the 18th century were made of wood (the ceilings were insulated with felt and canvas, the rafters were pitched). There were no firewalls in the attics before the fire. During the restoration of the palace, iron structures began to play the main role. Such a massive use of iron in construction was unusual in world practice. Engineer M. E. Clark developed triangular truss trusses - "roofing trusses" to support the roof of the Winter Palace, and "inflated elliptical beams" for the ceilings of the palace halls.

The ceiling of the St. George Hall was one of the first examples of the use of rolled metal in domestic construction. In 1887, under the guidance of the architect Gornostaev, some deformed structures were renovated and old structures were strengthened. Most of them still regularly carry out their service in the Winter.

During the construction of ceilings between the nearest beams, micro-arches were made from hollow pottery pots on lime mortar. From below in the halls, a metal ceiling was fixed or plastered.

In the 1840s, a unique heating system was installed in the building with Ammos furnaces, which were located in the basements, and heated clean air entered the premises through the fire channels (later, a water-air system would be created on this basis). At the end of the 19th century, much attention was paid to the ventilation system. Sewage was accumulated in a sewer built by Rastrelli, which diverts sewage to the Neva. After the reconstruction of the embankment, this sewer was closed up and the Winter Palace "went under itself" for some time. In 1886 the Winter Palace was electrified.

Rafters above the Great Throne Room.

A brace carrying a cornice

I-beam elliptical

Pottery pots in the vaults of the palace

The facades and roof of the palace changed their color scheme several times. The initial color had a very light warm ocher color, with the order system and plastic decor highlighted with white lime paint.
In the second half of the 1850s - 1860s, under Emperor Alexander II, the color of the facades of the palace changed. The ocher becomes more dense. The order system and plastic decor are not stained with an additional color, but acquire a very slight tonal highlight. In fact, facades are perceived as monochrome.

Historical paint clearing

In the 1880s, under Emperor Alexander III, the coloring of the facades was carried out in two tones: a dense ocher expression with the addition of red pigment and a weaker terracotta tone. With the accession of Nicholas II in 1897, the emperor approved the project of painting the facades of the Winter Palace in the color of the “new fence of the Own Garden” - red sandstone without any tonal highlighting of the columns and decor.

Winter Palace. Coloring of the second half of the 18th century. B.F. Rastrelli

Winter Palace. Painting at the turn of the 18th - 19th centuries.

All the buildings on Palace Square were painted in the same color - the headquarters of the Guards Corps and the General Staff, which, according to the architects of that period, contributed to the unity of perception of the ensemble. In 2011, during the restoration of the Hermitage garage for painting it

Winter Palace. Painting of the first quarter of the 20th century.

The terracotta-brick color of the palace was preserved until the end of the 1920s, after which experiments and the search for a new color scheme began. In 1927, an attempt was made to paint it gray, in 1928-1930. - in brown-gray tones, and the copper sculpture on the roof - in black.

Winter Palace. Painted in the 1880s - 1890s.

In 1934, for the first time, an attempt was made to paint the palace with orange oil paint, highlighting the order system with white paint, but oil paint had a negative effect on stone, plaster and stucco decoration. In 1940, a decision was made to remove the oil paint from the façade.

Winter Palace. Coloring present

With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, in order to camouflage the palace, they painted it with reversible adhesive gray paint.
Since the 1960s, when painting the facade, instead of lime paints, synthetic dyes have been used, which negatively affect stucco decoration, plaster and natural stone. In 1976, on the recommendation of the All-Union Central Research Laboratory, a decision was made to clear the surface of the sculptures from the paint coating to form a natural layer of patina, which at that time was considered a natural protection against aggressive environmental influences. Currently, the surface of copper is protected with a special paint composition containing a copper corrosion inhibitor.

For sixty-five years, the public and the authorities of the city have developed a certain stereotype in the perception of the color scheme of the palace, however, according to the Hermitage researchers, the currently existing color scheme of the facades does not correspond to the artistic image of the palace, in connection with which it is proposed to recreate the color scheme of the facades as close as possible to the three-dimensional composition of the palace created by Bartolomeo Rastrelli.

Elegance and magnificence of the silhouette of the building are given by sculptures and vases installed above the cornice along the entire perimeter of the building. They were originally carved from stone and replaced with metal ones in 1892-1902 (sculptors M.P. Popov, D.I. Jensen). The “opened” composition of the Winter Palace is a kind of Russian adaptation of the closed palace building with a courtyard, common in the architecture of Western Europe.

To be continued

in St. Petersburg (Palace Square, 2 / Palace Embankment, 38) - the former imperial palace, currently part of the Main Museum Complex of the State Hermitage. The current building of the palace (fifth) was built in 1754-1762 by the Italian architect B. F. Rastrelli in the style of lush Elizabethan baroque with elements of French rococo in the interiors. It is an object of cultural heritage of federal significance and a UNESCO World Heritage Site as part of the historical center of St. Petersburg.

History of the Winter

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

and Palace Square form the most beautiful architectural ensemble of the modern city and are one of the main objects of domestic and international tourism.

Fifth (existing)

South facade on Palace Square

From 1754 to 1762, the construction of the existing and currently existing palace building, which at that time became the tallest residential building in St. Petersburg, was underway. The building included about 1500 rooms. The total area of the palace is about 60,000 sq.m. Elizaveta Petrovna did not live to see the completion of construction, Peter III took the job on April 6, 1762. By this time, the decoration of the facades was completed, but many of the interior spaces were not yet ready. In the summer of 1762, Peter III was overthrown from the throne, the construction of the Winter Palace was completed under Catherine II.
First of all, the Empress removed Rastrelli from work. The interior decoration of the palace was carried out by the architects Yu. M. Felten, J. B. Vallin-Delamot and A. Rinaldi under the guidance of Betsky.

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

History of the Winter Palace

In 1763, the empress moved her chambers to the southwestern part of the palace, under her rooms she ordered the chambers of her favorite G. G. Orlov to be placed (in 1764-1766, the Southern Pavilion of the Small Hermitage will be erected for Orlov, connected with Catherine’s chambers by a gallery on the arch). In the northwestern risalit, 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. Adjacent to it was the "Light Cabinet". The dining room was followed by the “Front Bedchamber”, which became the “Diamond Peace” a year later. In addition, the Empress ordered to equip a library, an office, a boudoir, two bedrooms and a lavatory for herself. In the dressing room, the empress built a toilet seat from the throne of one of her lovers, the Polish king Poniatowski. In 1764, in Berlin, through agents, Catherine purchased a collection of 225 works by Dutch and Flemish artists from the merchant I. Gotskovsky. The paintings were placed in secluded apartments of the palace, which received the French name "Hermitage" (a place of solitude); from 1767 to 1775 a special building was built for them to the east of the palace.

In the 1780s-1790s, I.E. Starov and G. Quarenghi continued to decorate the palace interiors.
In 1783, by decree of Catherine, the palace theater was demolished.
In the 1790s, by decree of Catherine II, who considered it inappropriate for the public to enter the Hermitage through her own chambers, a gallery-link with the Winter Palace - the Apollo Hall - was created, with the help of which visitors could bypass the royal apartments. At the same time, Quarenghi also erected a new “Throne (Georgievsky)” hall, opened in 1795. The old throne room was converted into a series of rooms provided for the quarters of the newly married Grand Duke Alexander. The "Marble Gallery" (of three halls) was also created.
In 1826, according to the project of K. I. Rossi, a Military Gallery was built in front of St. George's Hall, which housed 330 portraits of generals who participated in the war of 1812, painted over almost 10 years by D. Dow. In the early 1830s, in the eastern building of the palace, O. Montferrand designed the "Field Marshal", "Petrovsky" and "Armorial" halls.

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

The Winter Palace in St. Petersburg is one of the most famous sights of this city, along with the cruiser Aurora. Now it houses the world-famous Hermitage exhibition, which hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world come to see every year.

During its history, the Winter Palace was the residence of monarchs, a military hospital, the place of work of the Provisional Government, and then it housed the Hermitage exposition. Before the start of the Second World War, half of the palace halls were occupied by the Museum of the Revolution.
In total, there were five winter palaces in St. Petersburg, which Russian emperors built for themselves. The Elizabethan Baroque building on Palace Square was the last of these.
At the time the construction was completed, the palace was the tallest building in St. Petersburg, and until 1905 it was forbidden by law to build houses that exceeded the royal residence in height. The palace with an area of about 60,000 square meters originally consisted of 1,500 rooms.
The customer of the new palace, Elizaveta Petrovna, died before the completion of construction. Peter the Third accepted the job, but during the time it took to finish the facades, the monarch managed to overthrow his wife Catherine from the throne.
The Hermitage was founded by Catherine II, who received 317 valuable paintings by Dutch artists from Germany as a debt payment. To this day, at least 96 of these paintings have been preserved in the museum's funds. The Empress placed the canvases in the remote chambers of the palace, calling these rooms the “Hermitage” (translated from French - “a secluded place”).
Now the palace has more than 1050 rooms, about 1950 windows and 117 staircases. The length of the cornice encircling the building reaches 2 kilometers.
The parapet by Rastrelli is decorated with 176 sculptures. The exact number of vases on the façade is unknown.
4,000 workers and craftsmen from all over the empire were involved in the construction of the palace.
After the construction of the palace was completed, a huge pile of garbage remained on the square in front of it. Peter the Third came up with an unexpected solution to this problem - the townspeople were told that they could take whatever they wanted from the square, and a few hours later it was empty.
In the 1830s, the palace burned down. More than 6,000 workers were able to eliminate the consequences of the fire in 15 months, returning the roof over their heads to the monarchs.
During its existence, the palace was rebuilt many times - it was red, pink and even brown. Finally, after the war, the façade was painted white and green — it is this color that Russians now associate with the Hermitage.
Ordinary Russians gained access to the palace only in 1851, when a museum was opened in part of the luxurious premises. True, tickets were sold little, and they cost a lot of money.
The Bolsheviks, after coming to power, renamed the Winter Palace into the "Palace of Arts", but the new name did not take root among the people.
During the Second World War, 12 bomb shelters for Leningraders were built under the Winter Palace. 2 air bombs and 17 shells hit the building, but they were able to eliminate all the destruction and reopen the museum for visitors in just six months after the victory in the war.
Alexander Sokurov shot the first film in the history of Russian cinema in the walls of the Winter Palace, for which editing was not used. Filming lasted about an hour and a half.