The current Winter Palace in St. Petersburg is the sixth in a row. year was founded Peter-Pavel's Fortress, under whose protection the construction began new capital Russian Empire - the city of St. Petersburg. In the autumn of 1704, a shipbuilding shipyard, the Admiralty, was founded on the left bank of the Neva. Settlements populated by shipbuilders and sailors arose around it.
In one of these settlements, in the early 1710s, the Winter House of Peter I was built, next to which the Winter Canal was later dug.
The first Winter Palace was a small two-story building covered with a high tiled roof. It was very modestly decorated - pilasters on the corners, rectangular frames on the windows, a central portal. Low service wings adjoined it on both sides.
By 1721, according to the design of the architect I.S. Mattarnovi, the Second Winter Palace was erected, with facades overlooking the Neva and the Winter Canal. It was larger than the First Winter Palace, had a high sloping roof, an emphasized center and a modest façade decorated with pilasters. Soon Domenico Trezzini (c. 1670-1734) begins to build the third Winter Palace. He included the second palace in the new one as the western wing. The new building was distinguished by the elegant design of the center.
The next Winter Palaces were built closer to the Admiralty, where the palace of Admiral General Apraksin, the Kikin house, and the chambers of Raguzinsky and Yaguzhinsky had previously stood. In 1783-89, the Italian architect Giacomo Quarenghi, by order of Empress Catherine II, began to build the Hermitage Theater on the site of the Third Winter Palace. He used the ground and first floors of the former royal residence as load-bearing structures. Later, Emperor Nicholas I tried unsuccessfully to find traces of her. It seemed as if the palace had disappeared forever...
Opening of the Winter Palace of Peter I
During the archaeological and restoration work of 1976-1986, truly sensational results were obtained. Researchers discovered six rooms of the central building of Peter's palace, fragments of the former front courtyard, bypass galleries and several rooms of the residential building.
Fragment of the front courtyard, bypass galleries and “Small Tents” of the Third Winter Palace. Photo from Wikipedia
Premises and interiors of the restored Winter Palace of Peter I
Front courtyard of the Winter Palace of Peter I located under the stage of the Hermitage Theater. Five arches of the facade have been preserved. The three right arches belonged to the central risalit of the Third Winter Palace. In Peter's time, above them was Cavalier Hall, where in the winter of 1725 the farewell ceremony for the Russian Emperor took place.
In 1725-26, two-story galleries were added to the risalit, two of which have been preserved on the ground floor level.
As archaeological studies have shown, the courtyard was originally laid out with bricks in a herringbone pattern. In the middle of the 18th century it was paved with cobblestones.
Truly fantastic discoveries awaited archaeologists and restorers. The so-called "Small tents"— living quarters of Emperor Peter I, built according to the design of the architect I.G. Mattarnovi in 1716-1719 The two-story residential wing was part of the Third Winter Palace and was connected by a passage with "Embankment Chambers".
In 1719 it was dug Winter groove. Along it, in front of the chambers, a parterre garden with a fountain was laid out and a harbor was built. Peter I did not like to live in spacious rooms with high ceilings. The area of living rooms is 16-21 square meters. m, the ceiling height of the first floor is 3.8 m, the second floor is 3 m.
The “small tents” were covered with a red tiled roof, the facade was painted gray. In 1726-27, when work was carried out to expand the palace, the “Small Tents” were not affected, because Catherine I wanted to keep her chambers and those of Peter I intact. During the construction of the Hermitage Theater, the second floor, where the Empress’s chambers were located, was dismantled, and the walls of the first floor, where Peter’s chambers were located, became load-bearing structures. Five of the seven chambers of the emperor have retained their layout.
During restoration work 1989-1992. interiors restored Turners, Desk, Dining Room, Stoker's Closet and Seine. Tiled stoves and fireplaces, windows with oak frames, wall panels and parquet floors, and the original façade painting with gray lime were recreated. The other two rooms were cut off by the theater wall.
The height of the desk is noteworthy. Unfortunately, this impression is hidden in the photograph, but when you see it in reality, you understand how enormous Peter the Great was.
In one of the restored rooms there are portraits of members of the imperial family. The photograph below shows portraits of Tsarevich Alexei (1690-1718), the son of Peter the Great from Evdokia Lopukhina, his wife Charlotte Sophia Christina of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel (1694-1715), Peter II (1715-1730), the eldest daughter of Peter I and Catherine I Anna Petrovna (1708-1728), Catherine I (1684-1727), wife of Peter I.
On the wall of one of the halls you can see an old engraving of the farewell ceremony for Peter I. The Emperor died on January 28 (February 8), 1725, and was buried on March 10, 1725.
In one of the halls - "Wax Person" of Peter I. It was created by B.K. Rastrelli at the request of Empress Catherine I. On the third day after Peter’s death, plaster casts were taken from the exposed parts of the body and then molds were cast from a mixture of pure beeswax, pine resin and chalk. The figure is carved from wood, the joints of the arms and legs are made on hinges so that their position can be changed. The wig is made from the king's own hair, cut in 1722 during the Persian campaign. Work on the “wax person” was completed in July 1725.
"Wax Person" of Peter I
After the death of Catherine I, court painters, sculptors, and craftsmen lived and worked in the Winter Palace. In 1738, by decree, the first “music school” in Russia was opened, where 12 Russian boys and girls, under the guidance of an Italian dance master, studied the art of dance.
In 1749, Empress Elizabeth Petrovna donated the palace for apartments to veterans of the first guards company of the Preobrazhensky Life Guards Regiment as a token of gratitude for the services provided to her during the palace coup of 1741. From that time on, the Petrovsky Palace began to be called the Life Campaign Corps. In 1762, by decree of Catherine II, the “life company” was abolished, the building was transferred to the palace servants and the Italian troupe. In 1766 it came under the jurisdiction of the Directorate of Imperial Theaters. In 1783-87. Giacomo Quarenghi built the Hermitage Theater on this site.
Ancient drawings presented in the museum’s exhibition give an idea of what the Third Winter Palace of Peter I looked like:
Information for visitors
- Address: St. Petersburg, Dvortsovaya embankment, 32
- Operating mode: Tuesday - Saturday 10.30 - 17.00, Sunday 10.30 - 16.00, day off - Monday. The ticket office closes one hour before the museum closes.
© , 2009-2019. Copying and reprinting of any materials and photographs from the website in electronic publications and printed publications is prohibited.
Summer Palace of Peter I in St. Petersburg. A historical building in the Petrine Baroque style, a former imperial residence, built according to the design of D. A. Trezzini in 1710-1714. Currently, the building is part of the Russian Museum.
Summer Palace of Peter I is one of oldest buildings St. Petersburg, it was built in 1714 and has been preserved in its original form to this day. The two-story palace was intended only for summer residence, so it had thin walls and single window frames. The emperor first settled in the unfinished palace already in 1712 and lived there during the summer for the remaining years. It was the Summer Palace that gave the name to the Summer Garden.
The facade of the palace is decorated with bas-reliefs from the events of the Northern War by A. Schlüter, where Peter I himself is depicted in the image of Perseus, and the hipped roof is decorated with corner gutters in the form of winged dragons. The roof itself was crowned with a weather vane, indicating the direction and strength of the wind. The general appearance of the Baroque palace is outwardly modest, the building has even proportions and an abundance of windows on all sides of the building. It is interesting that the building is strictly oriented to the west and east, this was the embodiment of the emperor’s idea that Russia was equally aimed at both of these sides of the world.
The Summer Palace is quite small - it consists of only 14 rooms (7 per floor). The discreet appearance of the external forms was compensated by the richness of the interior decoration. The interiors were painted by Russian artists A. Zakharov, I. Zavarzin and F. Matveev. Among the most noticeable decorations inside the palace are an oak panel in the lower vestibule, unique Dutch tiles, fireplaces with stucco bas-reliefs, and picturesque lampshades. The themes of glorifying Russian culture were widely used in decoration. military glory, many sculptural and artistic decorative elements are dedicated to this.
The rooms of Peter I were located on the first floor, and his wife and children on the second. The palace also included reception rooms (“assembly rooms”), an office, a throne room, and even the king’s personal punishment cell. One of the rooms of the palace was occupied by a mechanical turning workshop, where the emperor loved not only to work personally, but also to receive reports from nobles.
In Peter's time, there was a small harbor near the palace - Gavanets, which was later filled up after a flood. It made it possible to swim up to the entrance to the palace directly by boat. The water surrounding the palace was also used for sewerage.
After the death of Peter I, the palace was used for a long time as a summer residence for dignitaries and courtiers; the Supreme Privy Council met here, but the reigning persons themselves no longer lived in the palace. It is to this that the palace owes its preservation - Elizabeth built herself a new summer residence, but no one began to rebuild Peter’s palace.
In 1925, the palace came under the jurisdiction of the Russian Museum, and since 1934 it has become a full-fledged museum exhibition dedicated to Peter I.
The Summer Palace of Peter I is included in the Unified State Register of Objects cultural heritage(historical and cultural monuments) of Russia.
Note to tourists:
A visit to the Summer Palace of Peter I will be interesting for tourists interested in the architecture of the early 18th century, for everyone who wants to see the exhibitions located on the territory, and can also become one of the points excursion program while exploring nearby attractions -
K. P. Beggrov. View of the Palace of Peter I in the Summer Garden. Lithograph based on a drawing by V. S. Sadovnikov. 1830
About Peter's residence in the Summer Garden of St. Petersburg.
It seems that the rare researcher working on the “Summer House” - as the palace of Peter I was called at the beginning of the 18th century - did not complain about the lack of sources related to this building by the architect D. Trezzini. “No correct information has been preserved about the construction of the [Summer Palace],” wrote the writer A. P. Bashutsky in 1839. “The history of the Summer Palace has not yet been clarified,” summed up the art critic I. E. Grabar at the beginning of the 20th century. “The early history of the royal summer residence is covered in legends,” echoes archaeologist V. A. Korentsvit. The tsar's small two-story house, pushed into a corner of the Summer Garden, looked least like the residence of an all-powerful monarch. “Peter I founded it more for his own amusement than with the intention of building an imperial palace,” noted the Swedish scientist K. R. Burke in 1735. The Prussian official J. G. Fokkerodt, who apparently visited the palace during Peter’s lifetime, even calls Trezzini’s creation “a miserable house, not at all commensurate with everything else.” According to him, the Summer Palace was “so cramped that a wealthy nobleman probably would not have wanted to fit in it.” Fokkerodt considered the reason for this to be the poor taste of the Russian monarch, who loved small, low chambers. “The drawing presented by one Dutch architect, with cramped rooms and successfully gaining free space,” writes an official about some of Peter’s buildings, “forever retained Peter’s advantage over the plan that was drawn with great taste by one Italian or French architect.” Sometimes the opinion is expressed that the tsar, who built such an outwardly inconspicuous palace for himself, wanted to live in it as a private person, while the palace of Prince A.D. Menshikov had “representative functions.” This is hardly true. Sources report: the summer residence of Peter I was visited by foreign ambassadors, prominent dignitaries, and architects. For example, in October 1722 “in the Summer House of His Imperial Majesty<…> there was a consultation” about stone construction in St. Petersburg, where, in addition to the tsar, the head of the office of city affairs U.A. Sinyavin and architects D. Trezzini and Stefan van Zwieten were present. Entertainment also took place here: the Scotsman P. G. Bruce, who served under Peter I, reports that he often gave balls and held receptions in his Summer Palace, “and not at Prince Menshikov’s, as before.” Audiences of ambassadors also took place in the Summer Palace, as mentioned by one of the participants in the Polish embassy that visited St. Petersburg in 1720. The testimony of an unknown author, who appears in the literature as a “Pole eyewitness,” is extremely valuable, since it is the only description of the inner chambers of the Summer Palace of the era of Peter I. The Tsar took the ambassador with him to the palace, “very beautifully decorated with various Chinese upholstery.” In three rooms the Pole saw velvet beds with wide braiding, many mirrors and decorations. The floor is marble. The kitchen is “like rooms in other palaces.” In the kitchen there are pumps for water supply, cabinets for silver and pewter utensils. Getting acquainted with the “equipment” of the royal kitchen, you involuntarily come to the conclusion: it was with the construction of the Summer Palace that Peter finally received a well-established life. In any case, now the words of the Danish envoy Yu. Yul, who wrote the following about the first Winter Palace in 1709, seem anachronistic: “The Tsar ate at home. It is curious that his cook ran around the city from house to house, borrowing dishes from some, tablecloths, plates, and food supplies for the household, because the king did not bring anything with him.” The following fact also attracts attention: although Peter had already been living in his new residence for several years, it was still not finished - apparently, his constant absence from the capital due to the wars prevented Peter from controlling the process of decorating the palace. At the same time, the monarch could not help but notice how quickly A. D. Menshikov’s palace was being rebuilt and modified, which caused the highest discontent. The Austrian resident in Russia, O. Player, reports on the scolding that Peter I gave to His Serene Highness on the latter’s name day, November 23, 1714. Reproaching the favorite for numerous wastes, the king angrily said to him: “You, prince, always build well: at the end of summer you ordered half of your house to be demolished, and by winter it was already rebuilt again, and not like the old one, but better and taller. You started a guest house at the end of summer, which is larger than mine, and yours is more than half ready, but mine is not.” Researchers often agree that the palace of Peter I in the Summer Garden is an imitation of country Dutch villas. Indeed, in the explication to the plan of the 1740s from the collection of Trinity College in Dublin (Ireland), this palace is designated as “a Dutch estate in which Tsar Peter I lived with his entire family.” By the way, a statement on this subject by the owner of the “Dutch estate” himself, heard by an eyewitness, has been preserved. Apparently, Peter did not consider the Trezzini chambers as final version, and was thinking in the future - probably after the end of the war with Sweden - to build a residence in the garden more appropriate to his rank: “For now, let’s live like good Dutch citizens,” he told Catherine, “and when I manage my affairs, I’ll build you a palace, and Then we’ll live as princes should live.” According to the Traveling Journals of Peter I, the royal family moved from the Winter Palace to the Summer Palace in April or May (apparently depending on the weather). For example, in 1715 the move took place on April 16, and in 1720 - on May 21. We returned to our “winter apartments” with the first cold weather that arrived in October. Following the family, the “Office-Chancery” moved, headed by A. V. Makarov, which apparently occupied the first floor of the People’s Apartments adjacent to the palace (in the inventory of this building on the first floor under No. 11 it says: “Government from Makarov”...
The Summer Palace of Peter I in St. Petersburg was built in 1711–1712. designed by the architect Domenico Trezzini. Architects and sculptors from Western Europe: Andreas Schlüter, Georg-Johann Mattarnovi, Jean-Baptiste-Alexandre Leblond.
The Summer Palace of Peter I has a happy fate: after the death of Peter the palace never rebuilt, although there were some losses in interior decoration. The layout and appearance of the building, picturesque lampshades with allegorical content, pine wardrobes, tiled stoves and wall decoration with painted Dutch tiles, wooden paneling of the ground floor premises, have remained unchanged to this day. interior decoration Lower and Upper Cook and Green Cabinet. The unique wind instrument in the Cabinet of Peter I still shows the direction and strength of the wind, as well as time. On the second floor there is a Danzig wardrobe, in which, according to legend, Peter I kept his linen and boots.
The Summer Palace is valuable not only as one of the early architectural monuments of St. Petersburg, but also as evidence of the tastes, interests, and aspirations of Peter I, which were reflected in the architectural features of the monument.
To set up his residence, Peter I chose a habitable and advantageously located manor on a cape between the Neva and the Nameless Erik (now the Fontanka River), where the estate of the Swedish major Erich Berndt von Konow (Konau) was located - a small house with a farm yard and garden. At first, Peter could use the Konau house for living, but perhaps even then he built his own house for him. Ivan Matveev (Ugryumov), who from 1705 to 1707 supervised all engineering and construction work on the former Swedish manor. It was this building that I saw in 1710–1711. author of “Description of St. Petersburg and Kronshlot”: “Right by the river,” he writes, “the royal residence, that is, a small house in the garden of the Dutch facade, colorfully painted with gilded window frames and lead ornaments.”
On Peter’s instructions, a stone building was built on the site of his former house according to the design of the architect D. Trezzini. On April 17, 1712, Peter had already moved to live in the Summer Palace, and a year later the royal residence was visited by “overseas” guests: “On the third day [July] 6 Dutch and English trading ships came here, of which galliot and gukar (types of Dutch ships XVIII c.) they moored to me, that is, to my very chambers...”
After the death of Peter I, the Summer Palace lost its significance as a royal residence. Court servants lived here for some time . During the reign of Elizabeth Petrovna, Peter’s daughter, who honored the memory of her father, the “dilapidations” were repaired, and the former royal residence in the first half of the 19th century began to be used as a place for the summer residence of prominent dignitaries of that time.
For the 200th anniversary of St. Petersburg, an exhibition of monuments from the Peter the Great era was held in the Summer Palace. Portraits and engravings, banners, military weapons, pieces of furniture and applied art, books, and drawings were delivered from the imperial palaces, the Hermitage, and the State Archives. The bed of Peter I from the Alexander Nevsky Lavra, presented at the exhibition, is still on display at the palace.
After 1917, the palace was preserved as a historical and architectural monument, but did not yet have museum status. In 1925, the palace was transferred to the jurisdiction of the historical and everyday life department of the State Russian Museum, where exhibitions were held that were not related to the historical past of the palace.
Since 1934, the Summer Palace of Peter I has become an independent museum of memorial, historical and artistic nature. At the museum's exhibition you can see the clothes of Peter I, furniture, paintings and engravings, and objects of applied art from Peter's time.
During the Great Patriotic War The Summer Palace was damaged by a blast wave, but the damage was repaired already in 1946, and the following year the palace-museum was opened to visitors. In the 1960s The palace underwent a comprehensive restoration under the leadership of the architect A. E. Gessen.
Since 2004, the Summer Palace has become part of the State Russian Museum. In 2015–2017 A comprehensive restoration was carried out in the palace, which was preceded by the painstaking work of historians and art critics. During the restoration process, the atmosphere of a royal home from the early 18th century was restored in the palace.
Of particular note is the restoration of the picturesque lampshades in seven rooms of the Summer Palace, after which the darkened unique painting was brought closer to its original color. There was a feeling of air and floating of allegorical figures.
In the Green Cabinet, where Peter’s rarities were located in special display cabinets, which marked the beginning of the history of the Kunstkamera in St. Petersburg, the unique wall painting on wood of the early 18th century was cleaned and strengthened. The oak doors and shutters in the palace have been restored, and the parquet floors and fabrics on the walls have been updated in accordance with historical materials. Window sashes from the 19th century. have been replaced.
Particular attention was paid to the famous wind instrument (anemometer), which was ordered by Peter I in Dresden and installed in the Summer Palace in 1714. The device combines three dials: one of them is an hour dial, the other two are indicators of wind direction and speed. The arrows of the right and left dials are connected to the weather vane located on the roof through a shaft cut into the wall. The device is an integral part of the Summer Palace, its most unique rarity. The wind device has a carved frame on which mythological characters are represented: the lord of the winds Aeolus, the lord of the seas Neptune and sea emblems - rudders of ships, oars, tridents and a crown of rostra - prows of ships - crowning the frame.
Specialists carefully approached the restoration of the Lower and Upper Povaren, decorated with painted Dutch tiles. In Nizhnyaya Povarna there is a sink made of black marble, which is part of the water supply system of Peter the Great's time. Under the palace building, a brick vaulted tunnel has been preserved, which provided the operation of a flow-through flush sewer system - the first in St. Petersburg.
An updated gilded weather vane shone on the roof of the palace.
Previous photo Next photo
The Summer Palace of Peter I is considered one of the oldest buildings in St. Petersburg. The house is in a very beautiful place called Summer Garden. This park was laid out at the beginning of the 18th century, when the Northern capital was just beginning to be built up. Peter I invited famous architects and gardeners to work on his summer residence. The Tsar dreamed of arranging a garden here in the Versailles style. Looking ahead, let's say that he succeeded and to this day the Summer Garden remains one of the favorite vacation spots for tourists and city residents.
The Summer Palace of Peter I in St. Petersburg is not distinguished by its splendor. This is a very modest building in the Baroque style, completely different from the royal mansions.
Peter chose the location for the Summer Palace between the Neva and Fontanka (in those years - Nameless Erik), exactly where the estate of the Swedish major Erich von Konow was located. It was here that a small two-story stone house designed by the architect Domenico Trezzini. True, Peter initially made the house plan on his own, and Trezzini only corrected it. It is worth noting that the Summer Palace of Peter I is not distinguished by its splendor. This is a very modest building in the Baroque style, completely different from the royal mansions. The layout of both floors is exactly the same. There are only 14 rooms, 2 kitchens and 2 internal corridors. The tsar's rooms were located on the first floor, and his wife Catherine's on the second. The owners used this house only in warm weather - from May to October. That is why the Summer Palace of Peter I has thin walls and single frames in the windows. The façade of the palace is decorated with 28 bas-reliefs depicting the events of the Northern War.
On the roof of the Summer Palace of Peter I there is a copper weather vane in the form of St. George the Victorious slaying a serpent. The weather vane sets in motion the mechanism of the wind device located inside the house. A special display panel indicated the direction and strength of the wind. Peter I ordered this unusual device for that time in Dresden from the court mechanic.
Despite its outward simplicity, the Summer Palace of Peter I had everything that was required for the needs of the sovereign. In the reception room he read letters, dealt with complaints and sometimes received visitors. Next door there was a lathe and a lathe, at which Peter worked, a bedroom, a dressing room, a kitchen, a dining room and a large room - the assembly. A punishment cell was provided for those who were guilty. The interior decoration of the palace glorified Russia's victory over the Swedes in the Northern War in allegorical form. On the second floor there was Catherine's bedroom, a children's room, a room for maids of honor and a separate room for dancing.
It is interesting that the Summer Palace of Peter I was equipped with a sewerage system - the very first in all of St. Petersburg. The building was washed on three sides by water, which entered the house using pumps. The flow of the Fontanka River served as the driving force for the sewerage system.
Next to the palace there is another building - the Human Quarters. Here was the famous Amber Room, a huge library and numerous collections of various things that Peter collected. For example, the anatomical collection of the Dutch scientist Ruysch was kept in the Human Chambers. In fact, this house housed a large museum: here the king brought various curiosities, mechanisms, many compasses, astronomical instruments, stones with inscriptions, and household items different nations and many many others.
Its main function country residence The Summer Palace served the Tsar until the mid-18th century. Then officials began to use it. For some time the palace even stood abandoned. This is what saved it from perestroika. In 1934, a historical and art museum was located here. The building was damaged during the Great Patriotic War. But a large-scale reconstruction in the mid-50s of the 20th century helped to completely restore the palace. Today the Tsar's residence is part of the Russian Museum; anyone can go inside and find out how Peter I lived.
Practical information
Summer Garden address: St. Petersburg, Kutuzov embankment, 2. The nearest metro station is Gostiny Dvor. Entrance to the garden is free, opening hours are from 10.00 to 20.00. Day off is Tuesday.
