The Winter Palace is considered to be the most significant landmark of the city of St. Petersburg. The building, which seems to us today, is far from the first building on this site. The Winter Palace itself was built for 8 years (1754-1762). Currently, the attraction is an example of the famous Elizabethan Baroque and attracts its splendor of guests from all over the world.
As mentioned above, this Winter Palace in St. Petersburg was not the first. The first palace appeared in 1708. Peter the Great erected it for his family. The building was a small Dutch-style house. Three years later, the building was rebuilt in stone for the wedding of Katerina and Peter 1. The winter palace of Peter 1 was settled in 1720, when the emperor moved here with his family from a summer residence. In 1725, the emperor died here.
Anna Ioannovna, the new empress, found the building too small and insisted on perestroika. The famous architect Rastrelli designed a new building, which was completed in 1735. In 1739, the third Winter Palace in St. Petersburg hosted the solemn ceremony of the engagement of Princess Anna Leopoldovna and Anton-Ulrich. In 1752, the power passed to Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, who also did not like the appearance of the palace. At the beginning of 1752, she bought several more houses next to the building, and Rastrelli took up the extension of new buildings. After some time, the empress decided to increase the height of the palace, as a result of which it was dismantled in order to build a new Winter Palace.
The fourth Winter Palace in St. Petersburg was temporary. It was built during the construction of the fifth. It was demolished in 1762, when the construction of a new residence, the one we see today, was completely completed. The building became the tallest in the whole city, however, the empress did not live to see its full readiness. Peter 3 replaced her on the throne, but he did not live to see the end of the interior decoration, since in 1762 he was killed. The construction of the palace was completed under Catherine II, but another architect was already engaged in the decoration. It was under the Empress that the Throne Hall, the White Hall, the Light Room, the Front Bedside Room, the library, the imperial study, the boudoir, the famous Winter Garden, the St. George Hall and the Romanov Gallery appeared in the Winter Palace.
In 1837, the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg survived the fire, which was extinguished for more than three days. In 1880, a bomb was blown up in the palace, the purpose of which was to kill Alexander II. As a result, only the guards suffered.
In 1905, a working demonstration was shot in front of the Winter Palace, which resulted in the Revolution of 1905-1907. Since then, there was no person of imperial blood in the walls of the palace. During the First World War, there was a hospital in it, during the
February Revolution, the palace was occupied by troops, and in 1917 the Provisional Government was located here. In October 1917, the Provisional Government was arrested, and only in 1922 the palace was transferred to the
State Hermitage. Today, the Winter Palace, the Alexander Column and the General Staff Building form the most amazing ensemble in all of Russia.
The Winter Palace (St. Petersburg) has the shape of a square. Its facades overlook the Neva and Palace Square. In the very center of the main facade there is a front arch. In the Winter Palace - more than a thousand rooms, each of which is more solemn and magnificent than the other. Currently, the Small Hermitage is located in the palace building.