Winter Palace

The southern facade is cut by three entrance arches, underscoring its importance as a principal. Entrance arch leads to front yard, where the center of the northern body was the main entrance to the palace. Ceremonial Jordan Staircase is located in the northeast corner of the building. On the second floor along the northern facade of the suite located five large halls, the so-called "antikamer" for them - a huge throne room, and in the southwestern part of the - palace theater. After 1762 the work on interior decoration of the palace continued assistants Rastrelli - SI Chevakinsky and YM Felten. Soon after this work were brought Wallen - la Mothe, and A. Rinaldi, they made some changes to the original layout and decoration of the palace. Initiated by these architects work on remaking the baroque interiors of the palace continued in 1780-1790-ies Quarenghi and I.

Starov. At the same time destroyed the palace vy theater, the Throne Room and a new suite of rooms overlooking the Neva River. In the 1820's Carlo Rossi has created in the palace of the famous Military Gallery in 1812. In the early 1830's, A. Montferrand rebuilt a number of state rooms: Field-Marshal, Peter, and others a large fire on 17-19 December 1837 destroyed a great finish down the whole of the Winter Palace. After the fire, have only walls and vaults, as well as details on the facades.

In 1838-1839 years the palace was restored but the project under the guidance of Stasov and A. Briullov. Furnish some rooms for the ability to play existed before the fire; design other rooms of the palace was carried out according projects developed from scratch. Significant artistic value is the decoration of St. George's Hall, the Military Gallery in 1812 with portraits of members of the Patriotic War, Jordan staircase, Small avant hall, Petrovsky, Concert, Alexander, White, etc. If you are restoring the palace were applied fire-resistant metal construction and floor covering large spans (20 m). In 1886 - 1887's St. Petersburg Metal Works has carried out a partial replacement of floor and roof trusses over the main ceremonial halls of the palace. In the years 1892-1894 on the parapets and pediments dilapidated palace sculptures, carved from limestone pudostskogo were replaced by hollow, carved out of sheet brass, twenty-seven models for them were performed on samples of old under the guidance of sculptor M. Popova. In 1896 the parade square in front of the western facade laid out Square. His wrought-iron grille, made in 1898 by architect R. Meltzer, now protects the Memory Garden on January 9 at the pro spectral strikes. During the Great Patriotic War, the palace suffered greatly from the artillery attacks, lack of heat and moisture. Excursions in St. Petersburg