Russia’s rich imperial history has left it with a legacy of beautiful palaces. This article gives an introduction to some of the finest Russian Palaces.
St Petersburg Palaces
St Petersburg was the capital city of Russia for more than two hundred years between 1712 and 1917, and has perhaps the greatest concentration of palaces in Russia. Most of them are now museums and are open to the public.
Winter Palace
The St Petersburg Winter Palace was the official residence of the Romanovs, the Russian monarchy.
The first Winter Palace was built by Peter the Great in 1711 and 1712, shortly after he founded the city of St Petersburg. Designed by Domenico Trezzini, the palace was actually quite small – only two floors. His second Winter Palace, built in 1721, was slightly larger, but still comparatively small for a European monarch’s residence.
Almost every Tsar that followed improved the Winter Palace in some way and, after it burnt down in 1837, it was completely rebuilt into the structure that exists today.
The palace became a focal point for protests against the Tsars rule in the early 20th century – notably the Bloody Sunday massacre of 1905 which took place in the Palace Square just outside the palace. The palace briefly became the seat of Provisional Russian Government until it was stormed in 1917 by the Bolsheviks.
Since 1917, the Winter Palace has served as a museum, and is today open to the public. Approximately 3.5 million visitors come each year. Part of the St Petersburg Hermitage collection can be found at the Winter Palace
Menshikov Palace
The Menshikov Palace has the distinction of being the first stone building to be built in St Petersburg. It was built between 1710 and 1727 as a residence for Alexander Menshikov, then Governor of St Petersburg.
Shortly after its construction was completed, however, Menshikov was arrested and exiled to Siberia. His palace was confiscated, and became the home of the Russian Cadet Corps.
Today, the Menshikov Palace is a museum, open to the public.
Mariinsky Palace
The Mariinsky Palace, built between 1839 and 1844, bears the honour of being the last Neoclassical Imperial Palace to be built in St Petersburg. Today, the Mariinsky (also known as the Marie Palace) is home to the St Petersburg Legislative Assembly – the city council.
Peterhof Palace
The Peterhof Palace is actually a group of gardens and palaces in St Petersburg. Known as the Russian Versailles, the Peterhof Palaces complex is recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Peterhof Grand Palace is the centrepiece palace and, although it looks impressive, is actually not all that large for a Russian imperial palace – it contains a mere 30 rooms.
The palace’s Lower Gardens are designed in the formal French style and, although they have fallen into decay over the past century, work has begun to resume the garden to its former glory. Throughout the garden you can see many beautiful fountains (which are famous for their beauty and because they operate without pumps, using only natural water pressure), and the Grand Cascade.
Marble Palace
The Marble Palace is in St Petersburg, near the Winter Palace. It was built by Count Grigory Orlov (of the Orlov Diamond fame) in the 1760s. Its name derives from, as you would expect, the vast quantities of marble used in its construction, from pink Karelian marble to White Urals marble.
Tsarskoye Selo Palaces
Tsarskoye Selo, also known as the Tsar’s Village, is an estate about 15 miles south of St Petersburg. The residence of the Tsars just outside of Moscow, it contains two palaces – the Catherine Palace and the Alexander Palace
Catherine Palace
The Catherine Palace was the Tsars’ primary summer residence. The palace dates from 1717, when Catherine I commissioned its construction, and is primarily known for its lavish exterior and interior. More than 100 kilograms of gold were used to gild the exterior of the building, and the palace is also well known for its Amber Room, which was looted during the Nazi occupation of Russia.
The Nazis looted the entire palace before retreating and destroyed its interior. The Catherine Palace is gradually being restored – work is almost complete but more is still to be done.
There is also a Moscow Catherine Palace, built in 1746 by Fyodor Golovin, which is not currently open to the public.
Alexander Palace
The Alexander Palace was another palace commissioned by Catherine the Great. It was used regularly by many of the Russian Tsars, but became the favourite residence of Russia’s final Tsar, Nicholas II.
Nichoas and his family spent much of their time at the Alexander Palace, where they were able to live much less formally than elsewhere. Following Nicholas II’s abdication, he and his family were held at the palace, under house arrest for the first six months, before they were evacuated to Toboslk.
Moscow Palaces
Moscow was Russia’s first capital, and most of its palaces pre-date the transfer of imperial power to St Petersbug in 1711. However, Soviet and Russian Government transferred back to Moscow after the Russian Revolution, and since then a few ‘palaces’ of note have also been built.
Kremlin Palaces
Most historical Moscow palaces are in the Kremlin, which today serves a dual purpose as centre of the Russian Presidential administration and as a tourist attraction. As well as the many Kremlin Cathedrals which are open to the public, there are also four historical palaces.
Grand Kremlin Palace
The Grand Kremlin Palace, built between 1837 and 1849, was the residence of the Tsars when they were in Moscow. 125 meters long and 47 meters high, it has a total area of 25,000 square meters.
Today the Grand Palace is used primarily for state and diplomatic receptions.
Palace of Facets
The Palace of Facets is a relatively small building in the Kremlin, the remains of a larger palace commissioned by Ivan III in 1485. However, it is one of the oldest palaces still in existence today. The Palace of Facets was used as the main banqueting hall of the Tsars, before the capital moved to St Petersburg. Today, it is still used for receptions.
Tsarina Golden Palace
Immediately next to the Palace of Facets is the even smaller Tsarina Golden Palace. It was the official reception room of Russia’s Tsarinas, used for any formal celebrations such as weddings and meetings with foreign dignitaries.
First mentioned in historical manuscripts in 1526 as Naugolnaya (Corner), its beautiful wall paintings (the only specimen of Old Russian secular monumental painting in Moscow to still survive) have been restored several times.
Terem Palace
The five story Terem Palace used to be the main residence of the Tsars of Russia during the 17th century. The first Terem palace was built in the 16th Century by Aloisio the New, but Mikhail Feodorovich (the first Romanov Tsar) has it rebuilt in 1635.
Today it is a part of the President of Russia’s official residence, and is sadly not accessible to the public.
Modern Moscow Palaces
State Kremlin Palace
The State Kremlin Palace is the most modern of the Kremlin ‘palaces’, which is why I’ve placed it in the modern palaces category.
Commissioned by Nikita Khrushchev as a venue for massive Communist Party meetings, it is a modern glass and concrete building that contrasts wildly with other Kremlin architecture. Built between 1959 and 1961, the construction of the State Palace required the demolition of a number of historic Kremlin palaces, including the State Armory and part of the Grand Kremlin Palace.
Today, the State Kremlin Palace is used mostly for pop concerts. It is currently the temporary home of the Boshoi Theatre, which is closed for restoration.
Palace of the Soviets
No discussion of Moscow Palaces would be complete without mentioning the Palace of the Soviets – perhaps the most ambitious Russian palace project to never be completed.
Construction of the Palace of the Soviets commenced in 1937 and, had it’s construction not been abandoned during the second world war, it would have become the world’s tallest building.
However, although the foundations and steel frame for the lower sections of the building had been completed by 1941, the more pressing need to defend Moscow from advancing German troops meant that construction was abandoned, and the steel frame re-used for the war effort.
Triumph Palace Moscow
A slightly tongue in cheek entry to finish off with – the Triumph Palace is a new apartment building in Moscow, filled with luxury apartments. Its architectural style is reminiscent of the Stalinist architecture used in constructing Moscow’s Seven Sisters and, until the construction of the Naberezhnaya Tower block, its 264.1 meter height made it the tallest building in Europe.
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