The first building in the Northern capital, whose facade and interior was richly decorated with natural stone, was the Marble Palace of St. Petersburg. It was erected on the site of the Drinking Yard, where Emperor Peter I held assemblies (receptions and balls) and various holidays. Later, with the construction of a marina for two postal frigates (regular flights from Lübeck and Dansing), the courtyard became known as the Postal (Post-House).
Gift Favorite
A palace was built for Count G. G. Orlov on the
orders of Catherine II. Therefore, such a luxury is understandable. Marble of 32 varieties went to the decoration of the palace: Karelian, Ural and Siberian rocks, as well as Baikal lapis lazuli. Italian and Greek stone was brought from abroad. Expensive natural material of various shades turned the Marble
Palace of St. Petersburg into a fairy tale
. It was built in good faith and for a long time - from 1768 to 1785. Grigory Orlov died in 1783, having not lived to see the completion of construction for 2 years.
Decent response gesture
The empress gave the magic castle to her grandson Konstantin Pavlovich, and he forever remained a descendant for the descendants (the Grand Dukes of the Romanovs). But he still thought of it as a gift to G. G. Orlov, the man who played a huge role with his brother in the events of 1762, as a result of which the representative of the poor German family Sofia Frederick Augusta became the Russian Empress Catherine II. The history of the construction of the palace is very interesting. At first, such an inscription was supposed to be on the pediment: "They are erected by a grateful friendship." But the result was knocked out: "Building of gratitude." The richest, through the efforts of the empress, Grigory Grigorievich Orlov gave her in return a diamond weighing 189.62 carats, called Nadir Shah. Known now as the Orlov diamond. He is the largest of the seven Diamond Fund gems. He decorated the scepter of Catherine. Its then value of 460,000 rubles did not quite reach the costs of the palace. A worthy response from the favorite.
Karelian marble
A lot of Karelian marble, or Tivdian stone, which had mainly pink and reddish shades, went to the decoration of the facade of the building. Mineral deposits were discovered by the merchant Martyanov in the middle of the XVIII century in the vicinity of the villages of Tivdia and Belaya Gora and came in handy for the city under construction on the swamps. Not only the Marble Palace of St. Petersburg, but also other buildings and squares of this museum city were stone-trimmed from the banks of the Tivdiyka River. These are St. Isaac's and Kazan Cathedrals, Mikhailovsky Palaces (Engineering Castle) and Tauride, Palace Square and the Hermitage. Stone was also used in the construction of Petrodvorets and Tsarskoye Selo. Unfortunately, over time, this particular type of marble (having up to 30 shades, including lilac), which generously decorated the building’s facade, has faded, while the decor of its other types remained in excellent condition. The selection of minerals in the color scheme is amazing. The marble palace of St. Petersburg is striking in its beauty, sophistication, taste, grace.
Marble inside and out
The Palazzo, of course, is a historical and architectural monument. It is included in the Unified State Register of Cultural Heritage Objects. Both inside and outside the mansions are richly decorated with bas-reliefs, sculptures (about 40 works by the famous sculptor V. I. Shubin, known as the author of the famous marble bust of the Empress) and decorative compositions.
This is not only a valuable object related to early classicism (or Greek style). It stands out from the chain of palaces precisely because its walls, both external and internal, did not know the plaster - everywhere only marble.
The famous Italian creator of St. Petersburg
The architect Antonio Rinaldi (1710-1794) came to Russia in 1751 (invited by Count Razumovsky) and became one of the Italian architects of St. Petersburg. He designed and built 25 large objects in the city on the Neva and its environs. It was he who designed such unique masterpieces as the palace in Gatchina, Katalnaya Gorka and the Chinese Palace in Oranienbaum. In the second half of the XVIII century, he created the project of the Marble Palace. Rinaldi’s architecture is distinguished by the fact that its buildings do not have a single smooth wall with a window or door - they are all decorated. After Catherine II ascended the Russian throne, Antonio Rinaldi became the leading architect of St. Petersburg. According to legend, the empress herself sketched the sketches of the palazzo. But work on the Marble Palace A. Rinaldi did not finish, as he fell from the woods and, seriously ill, left for Italy.
Treasury of 190 rooms
The pearls of the palace - the Main Staircase and the Marble Hall - were built by the elder brother of Karl Bryullov, professor of architecture at the Imperial Academy of Arts, Alexander Pavlovich Bryullov. He also completed the construction of dozens of halls from 190 rooms on three floors, which, according to the project of the Italian architect, was to have the Marble Palace (St. Petersburg). The interior of the choir is very elegant. In the private chambers of G. Orlov there was a winter garden with five cherries and five apple trees. In other parts of the castle there is a unique art gallery with 206 masterpieces of the greatest artists of the world, a perfectly selected library, gyms - literally everything was provided for in the palace. There were Greek and Turkish baths, a Chinese sofa on the third floor, and many, many other expensive wonders. The palace is so beautiful that it is an interesting object for tourists interested in history and architecture.
Decent Framing
Therefore, any guide to St. Petersburg has a section devoted to this masterpiece. And its location is most remarkable, as a worthy setting for a priceless stone - Suvorov Square, Millionnaya Street, Palace Embankment and Marble Lane. All this splendor is located on the First Admiralty Island, that is, in the historical center of St. Petersburg and one of the most remarkable places of the city, because the Field of Mars is located very close, which on the one hand continues to Mikhailovsky and Summer Gardens, and on the other to Suvorov Square and Neva.
Present times
In the Soviet years, the palazzo was a branch of the Central Lenin Museum. Now the palace is a branch of the Russian Museum. In its halls, exhibitions such as the Ludwig Museum in the Russian Museum, the Collection of Petersburg Collectors of the Rzhevsky Brothers, and Foreign Artists in Russia of the 18-19th Centuries were permanently housed in its halls. These expositions make the Marble Palace very attractive for visiting. Exhibitions of contemporary painters, both domestic and foreign, are held here constantly.
Hint of magnificence
Time and the environment act destructively on natural stone, the appearance of the marble decor tarnishes, but they try to maintain it in decent condition. The name of the castle is not the only one corresponding to reality on the territory of the former USSR.
There is another marble palace. Morshin is a balneotherapy center, a resort in the Lviv region. In its decoration in 1939 went 11 varieties of marble, mined not only in Ukraine. In Ukrainian, it is called Marmurovsky Palace.