St. Petersburg is the northern capital of immense Russia, accustomed to amaze us with its special personality, originality of tastes and ambitiousness. Hundreds of magnificent attractions annually attract the views of many tourists and indigenous people. One of them is the Winter Palace, which is an invaluable monument of history and architecture of past years.
Description
Like many buildings of St. Petersburg, this building is distinguished by pomposity, which successfully combines with the special style and style of the author, which we will talk about later. The St. Petersburg Winter Palace is the cultural heritage of Russia, one of the main attractions of the country, which stores interesting historical events and facts. A lot of legends and myths go around the Palace; some of them can be quite justified by historical facts.
Thanks to the splendor of the building, being next to it or inside it, you can fully feel the imperial spirit and the features of social life several centuries ago. You can enjoy the magnificent architectural solutions, which to this day are considered the standard of beauty and sophistication. The design of the Winter Palace has repeatedly changed over the centuries, so we can observe the building not in its original form, which, however, does not make it less significant and worthy of attention, since all the main features conceived by the author of the project, Francesco Rastrelli, were carefully preserved and transmitted by architects of different times. This magnificent building is located on the Palace Square of the northern city and is perfectly reconnected with the surrounding landscape.
The history of the creation and development of the palace
The construction is made in the style called "Elizabethan Baroque". Since the days of the USSR, its territory has been equipped with the bulk of the State Hermitage. In earlier times, the Winter Palace has always been the main residence of the emperors of Russia. To fully experience the greatness of this place, you need to turn to the history of its creation.
Under the government of Peter I, in 1712, according to the law, land could not be placed at the disposal of ordinary people. Similar territories were kept for sailors belonging to the upper class of society. The site on which the Winter Palace is located today was taken under the control of Peter I.
From the very beginning, the emperor built a small and cozy house here, near which a small groove was dug closer to winter and which was given the name Zimnaya. Actually, from this came the further name of the palace.
For many years, the Russian emperor called various architects to reconstruct his house, and now, years later, the structure turned from a usual wooden house into a large palace made of stone.
And who built the Winter Palace? In 1735, Francesco Rastrelli was appointed the chief architect working on the building, who had the idea of buying out neighboring land and expanding the palace structure, which he told Anna Ioannovna, the ruler of Russia at that time.
The task assigned to the architect
It was this architect who became the creator of the image of the Winter Palace, which we are all used to observing. However, it is worth remembering that some features of the building have changed over time, but still the main ideas and works of Francesco Rastrelli have remained unchanged to this day.
The Winter Palace acquired a modern look with the advent of Elizabeth Petrovna to the imperial throne. As the ruler considered, the building does not look like a Palace worthy of Russian emperors to stay in it. Therefore, a task appeared for Rastrelli - to modernize the construction and design of the structure, because of which he acquired a new look.
During the construction of the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, the hands of 4 thousand workers were used, many of whom Rastrelli invited personally to collaborate. Every detail that differs from other elements of the structure was thought out by a great architect personally and successfully implemented.
About the architecture of the building
The architectural component of the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg is truly multifaceted. The large height of the structure is emphasized by weighty double columns. The chosen baroque style in itself brings notes of splendor and aristocracy. According to the plan, the Palace occupies a territory in the form of a square, which includes 4 wings. The building itself is three-story, with doors facing the courtyard.
The main facade of the palace is cut through by an arch, the other sides of the building are made in an exquisite style, which is expressed in the unique sense of taste of Rastrelli and his unusual solutions, traced everywhere. These include the extraordinary layout of the facades, differences in the design of facades, noticeable risalitic protrusions, uneven construction of columns, as well as the author's special emphasis on stepped corners of the building.
The Winter Palace, a photo of which is presented to your attention in the article, has 1084 rooms, where in total there are 1945 window structures. According to the plan, there are 117 stairs in it. Another unusual and memorable fact is that at that time it was a building with a very large, by European standards, amount of metal in the structures.
The color of the building is heterogeneous and is made mainly in sandy shades, which are Rastrelli's personal decision. After several reconstructions, the color scheme of the palace changed, but today the authorities of St. Petersburg have come to the conclusion that the best solution is to recreate the appearance of the palace in the version that was originally conceived by the great architect.
A few words about the architect
Francesco Rastrelli was born in the capital of France in 1700. His father was a talented Italian sculptor, who had no difficulty recognizing in his son the future skilled architect. After graduating in 1716, he and his father come to live in Russia.
Until 1722, Francesco worked only as an assistant to his father, but by 1722 he matured to begin an independent career, which at first did not develop very well in a country very unfriendly to him. Rastrelli Jr. spent 8 years traveling around Europe, where most of the time he did not work, but received new knowledge in Germany, Italy, France and other countries. By 1730, he had formed his own vision of the Baroque style, which was reflected in his most ambitious project - the Winter Palace.
The architect has repeatedly worked on the creation and reconstruction of buildings in Russia. His main work fell on the period from 1732 to 1755.
Exclusive facts about the Winter Palace
The building is the richest building in St. Petersburg, and the value of its exhibits still cannot be accurately calculated. The Winter Palace has many secrets and interesting stories, from which the following can be distinguished:
- During the war with the German invaders, the color of the palace was red. The building became white-green only after the war in 1946.
- At the end of the construction work on the square in front of the Palace, so much construction waste was collected that it could take weeks to clean it. However, the tsar got an interesting idea: he allowed absolutely anyone to take any thing from these building materials left after work. The area in front of the building cleared as soon as possible.
Fire
In 1837, all the efforts of Francesco Rastrelli and other architects practically came to naught. A terrible event happened: in the palace, due to a malfunction of the chimney, a considerable fire arose, which were extinguished by 2 companies of specialists. For 30 hours, firefighters tried to reduce the flames by laying bricks and other openings, but this did not bring any result. The fire died down only a day after the start of the fire, incinerating almost all the beauty of the structure. From the former palace there were only walls and columns that were scorched by heat.
Recovery work
Restoration work was started immediately and lasted 3 years. Unfortunately, from the first buildings, the masters of that time did not have any drawings, so they had to turn on improvisation and come up with a new style literally on the go. As a result of this, the “seventh version” of the palace appeared with a predominance of light green and white shades and gilding inside.
Along with the new look, electrification came to the palace. The largest power plant in all of Europe (considered one for 15 years) was installed on the 2nd floor and provided electricity to the entire building.
Not only was a fire knocking on the door of the Winter Palace with bad news. So, this building at one time survived the assault, and the assassination attempt on Alexander II, and the numerous bombardments of the Great Patriotic War.
