HERMITAGE, Winter Palace

The Winter Palace, residence of the tsars until 1917, is the main building of the Hermitage, and the most famous palace in St. Petersburg.

The first royal residence, commissioned by Peter the Great, was a wooden construction in Dutch style, built in 1708 and replaced three years later with a stone building.

In 1731, Empress Anna commissioned the architect Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli to build a new palace, which was completed in 1735. Just 17 years later, Tsarina Elizabeth asked Rastrelli to expand the palace, but the architect preferred to rebuild it from scratch. Work on the building began in 1754, and by the time Catherine the Great was crowned Empress in 1762, the new palace was almost complete. Although the new empress chose to replace the talented Italian engineer, the exterior of the building remained faithful to his project.

The colorful facades you can see, embellished with two levels of Ionic columns, are richly decorated in Baroque style, and the balconies are enhanced with magnificent statues. The three arches overlooking Palace Square lead into a magnificent large courtyard....