MARBLE PALACE
A branch of the Russian Museum

      The Marble Palace is a remarkable monument of early Neoclassicism (1768-85, architect Antonio Rinaldi). It is one of St. Petersburg's few buildings characterized by the use of natural stone, including many different varieties of finely-hued marble, as opposed to the traditional covering of stucco.
      The palace was built by Catherine II for her favourite Grigory Orlov, but the count died before it was completed. At a later date, the palace became the residence of Stanislas Augustus Poniatowski, the last King of Poland. It then passed to Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich and, after him, to Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich. The last private owner of the palace was Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich, a famous poet who wrote under the pseudonym K.R.
      From 1937 the palace accommodated the Lenin Museum. After the latter closed in 1992, the building was made over to the Russian Museum. Today it houses the permanent exhibition "Foreign Artists in Russia" (featuring works by German, French, Italian and English masters of the 18th and 19th centuries who were active in Russia) and the "Peter Ludwig Gallery" (a collection of 33 works by 20th-century artists, presented to the museum by the German collector). The Russian Museum's Contemporary Art Department arranges displays of modern art here.
      In Soviet times, an armoured car, "The Enemy of Capital" stood in front of the east facade. Lenin addressed a crowd from the vehicle in 1917, after his return from emigration. Its place has since been taken by a monument to Alexander III, the founder of the Russian Museum, which was created in 1908 by the sculptor Pavel Trubetskoi.

MENSHIKOV PALACE
Part of the Hermitage
Department of the History
of Russian Culture

      The palace of Prince Alexander Danilovich Menshikov is a veritable museum of Russian art from the first quarter of the 18th century. It was built for the Prince from 1710 to 1712 and from l713 to 1727 (architects: Giovanni Mario Fontana and Gottfried Johann Schadel, assisted by DomenicoTrezzini, Bartolomeo Francesco Rastrelli, Georg Johann Mattarnovy and Jean-Baptiste Le Blond). One of the largest and most splendid buildings of its time, the palace was surrounded by a regular garden with sculptures, fountains, grottoes and greenhouses. Moreover, a pier was built on the Neva side. The official residence belonging to Menshikov, governor-general of the capital and president of the College of War, was used for diplomatic receptions and gala celebrations. Following Menshikov's downfall and exile in l732, the palace was turned over to a military school called the "Land Nobility Corps" (later the First Cadet Corpus) and, as a result, underwent certain modifications.

      Among die pupils of the Cadet Corps were the future Russian commanders Peter Rumiantsev-Zadunaisky and Alexander Suvorov, the dramatist Alexander Sumarokov, the actor and founder of the Russian theatre Fedor Volkov and the Decembrist poets Kondraty Ryleev and Fedor Glinka.
      After the I917 revolution, the building was used by various educational establishments. In 1956 restoration work began and in the late 1970s the palace resumed its original form.

      The museum opened its doors to the public in 1981, revealing the beautiful restored interiors of the entrance hall, main staircase, Walnut Study, reception room, bedchamber and dining-room. The rooms that are lavishly decorated with white and blue Dutch tiles are especially striking. On view are objects of everyday life and works of art from the late 17th to the first quarter of the eighteenth century, as well as several personal effects that once belonged to Emperor Peter I and his closest associate, Prince Menshikov.

PETER I'S HOUSE
Part of the "Summer Gardens
and Peter I's Summer Palace"
Museum

      Peter I's House, the first royal residence on the banks of the Neva, is the only structure to have survived from the early days of St. Petersburg. It was built by military carpenters in three days of May 1703 (24-26). The construction, made up of pine logs, was modelled on the traditional Russian izba (hut). The house has an area of 60 sq.m and its height to the ridge of the shingle roof is 5.7 m. Originally, the walls were painted in oils to imitate brick and the building was consequently known as the krasnye khoromy (red chambers). As early as the eighteenth century, the house was enclosed by a stone awning to preserve this treasured monument for posterity. The existing brick basement was built in 1844 by Roman Kuzmin. In 1875 a bronze bust of Peter the Great was erected in front of the house by the sculptor Parmen Zabello.
      The museum was opened in 1930, and in 1971-76 extensive restoration work was carried out. The study, the dining-room and the bedroom each contain displays of Peter's personal belongings, items from the domestic life of his period, and materials relating to the Northern War (1700-21), the founding of St. Petersburg and the construction and restoration of the house itself.

SHEREMETEV PALACE
(FOUNTAIN HOUSE)
A branch of the Museum
of Theatrical and Musical Arts

      The Sheremetev Palace on the Fontanka River Embankment ("Fountain House") is a fine example of Baroque architecture (1750-55, designed by Sab-bas Chevakinsky and Fedor Argunov). It is located on the site that Peter I presented to his field-marshal, Count Boris Sheremetev. From the late 18th century the palace was the centre of St. Petersburg's theatrical and musical life. The counts Sheremetev kept a splendid serf theatre which was well known in the capital. The palace also recalls the romantic lovestory of Count Nikolai Sheremetev and the brilliant serf singer Prascovya Kovaleva-Zhemchugova, who later became Countess Sheremeteva.
      The Sheremetevs owned the palace for more than 150 years. At different times it was frequented by Alexander Pushkin, Vasily Zhukovsky, Alexander Turgenev, Mikhail Glinka, Alexander Serov, Vladimir Stasov, Mily Balakirev and many others. In 1918, its last private owner, Sergei Sheremetev, gave the palace and its art collections to the Soviet state. In the years that followed it was used by various institutions and organizations, and the artistic decoration of its halls and rooms was eventually lost. Restoration work began in 1990, when the palace became part of the Museum of Theatrical and Musical Arts.
      The beautiful interiors of the mid-18th century have now been restored. The exhibition recounts the history of the Sheremetev family, and a collection of musical instruments is on display. Chamber music concerts and musical soirees are regularly held in the palace.

ST. MICHAEL'S CASTLE
A branch of the Russian Museum

St. Michael's Castle (1796-1800, architects Vasily Bazhenov, Vincenzo Brenna) was built as a residence for Paul I, who personally contributed to its design. The emperor, however, was destined to stay here for a mere forty days: on the night of 12 March 1801, Paul I was murdered in his state bedroom by officers of the Guards.
      In 1819 the building was given over to the Main Engineering School and henceforth the castle, which was originally named in honour of the Archangel Michael (the patron saint of Paul I), was known as the Engineers' Castle. Among the students of this school were the writers Fedor Dostoevsky, Dmitry Grigorovich, the composer Cesar Cui, the scholars Ivan Sechenov, Pavel Yablochkin, the army commanders Eduard Totleben, Roman Kondratenko and others. In Soviet times the building housed the Central Naval Library. In 1991 St. Michael's Castle became a branch of the Russian Museum.
      At present the museum houses a permanent exhibition of formal portraits - the first attempt to create a national portrait gallery. On display are portraits of Russian monarchs from Peter I to Nicholas II, outstanding commanders and statesmen. Several of the interiors have been restored and the palace is slowly being returned to its former state.
      In 1800 an equestrian statue of Peter the Great by the sculptor Carlo Bartolomeo Rastrelli, the father of the celebrated architect, was put up in front of the castle.

STROGANOV PALACE
A branch of the Russian Museum

      The Stroganov Palace was built by the architect Bartolomeo Francesco Rastrelli in 1753. Some of its interiors were redesigned and finished in the 1790s by Andrei Voronikhin. Commissioned by Count Sergei Stroganov, a well-known connoisseur of art, the palace very soon became a depository for various art collections, including Western European and Russian painting.
      The Stroganovs owned the palace until 1917. After the revolution it was opened to visitors as a museum of history and everyday life (subsequently dissolved). In 1991 it was turned over to the Russian Museum.
      Once the current restoration work is complete, the Stroganov Palace will house an exhibition of Russian decorative and applied arts from the 19th and 20th centuries. The rooms that have already been restored house temporary displays from the reserves of the Russian Museum and an exhibition of wax figures of members of the Romanov family.

SUMMER GARDENS AND PETER I'S SUMMER PALACE

      The ensemble of the Summer Gardens and Peter I's Summer Palace is a magnificent example of early 18th century Russian architecture and landscape gardening.
      St. Petersburg's oldest gardens were founded in 1704 in keeping with the instructions and initial design proposed by Peter I. Laid out in the formal style at his summer residence, they were adorned with numerous sculptures and fountains. Unfortunately, the original system of pipes and fountains was destroyed in the flood of 1777 and was never restored. Of the 250 marble sculptures by 17th- and early-18th century Italian masters, only 89 have survived. The Summer Gardens were the venue of Peter's famous assemblies (evening parties), and court celebrations. He also received foreign ambassadors here. Until the end of the 18th century they were open only to a select circle of royal courtiers. Gradually, however, they became one of the most popular pleasure grounds in St. Petersburg.
      The strict, modest facades of the Summer Palace (1710-14, architects Domenico Trezzini and Andreas Schluter) are decorated with 29 bas-reliefs which extol Russia's naval glory. The ground floor houses Peter's two reception rooms, study, bedroom and workshop, as well as his dining-room and kitchen. The apartments of Catherine I on the first floor include the Green Drawing-Room, containing period paintings, furniture, tapestries, glassware and china. In spite of the fact that the palace has undergone numerous reconstructions, the finish and decor of the vestibules, the oak stairs and the upper and lower kitchens have survived.
      Some of Peter's and Catherine's clothes and other personal effects are on permanent display.
      The magnificent wrought-iron railings of the Summer Gardens on the Neva side were designed between 1773 and 1786 by Yuri Velten and Peter Yegorov. The fence on the Moika side was put up in the 1820s by Louis Charlemagne. There is a monument to Ivan Krylov, the famous Russian fabulist, sculpted by Peter Klodt (1854-55), and an Alvdalen vase of pink porphyry installed in 1839 on the bank of the Carpiev Pond. The two pavilions -the Coffee House (1826, architect Carlo Rossi) and the Tea House (1887, architect Charlemagne) - are used for temporary exhibitions.
      The Summer Gardens are among St. Petersburg's finest cultural landmarks. A visit to the Summer Gardens is a must for all those wishing to imbibe the city's atmosphere.

YELAGIN PALACE

      The ensemble of palaces and parks on Yelagin Island is a monument to Russian architecture and landscape gardening of the early 19th century. The suburban palace of Catherine the Great's dignitary, Ivan Perfil'evich Yelagin, was reconstructed between 1818 and 1822 by the architect Carlo Rossi for Empress Maria Fedorovna, widow of Alexander I. At the same time, a magnificent landscape park was laid out. Prior to 1917, the palace complex served as a summer residence for the imperial family.
      On the ground floor is the suite of state rooms, decorated by renowned painters and sculptors of the late 18th and early 19th centuries such as Antonio Vighi, Barnaba Medici, Pietro Scotti, Vasily Demuth-Malinovsky and Stepan Pimenov. Of particular interest are the Oval Hall, the Crimson Room and the Blue Room, which contain examples of the palace's decor from the first half of the 19th century.
      On the first floor, visitors can enjoy a splendid exhibition of decorative items made from Karelian birchwood, and displays of porcelain, glass, embroidery, fabrics, wood- and metal-work from the late 18th to the early 20th centuries.
      Twice a week, musical events are held in the palace.
 

YUSUPOV PALACE

      The Yusupov Palace acquired its present appearance in the course of several reconstructions (1760s, architect Jean-Baptiste Vallin de la Mothe; 1830, architect Andrei Mikhailov II; 2nd half of the 1850s, architect Ippolit Moni-ghetti). The inner rooms are remarkable for their rich decor. The painted ceilings of the Large Rotunda, the Red and Blue Drawing-rooms and the Corinthian colonnade of the White-Columned Hall are especially attractive. The Turkish Study, the Pompeian, Oak, Heinrich II's Parlour and the Music Parlour are decorated with motifs of different historical styles. The exotic Moresque Drawing-room is a veritable highlight of the palace. The domestic theatre is built in the Baroque style and some of the ground-floor rooms in Neoclassical style (1910s, artists Nikolai Tyrsa, Vladimir Konashevich and Sergei Chekhonin).
      The building belonged to the Yusupov princes from the 1830s. Here, on the night of 16-17 December 1916 (New Style, 29-30 December), Grigory Rasputin, the favourite of Emperor Nicholas II's family, was murdered by a group of monarchists, including Prince Felix Yusupov. Grand Duke Dmitry Pavlovich, Duma deputy Vladimir Purishkevich, Lieutenant A.S.Sukhotin and Doctor Stanislav Lazobert. After the 1917 revolution, the palace became state property and was converted into a museum about the lifestyle of the nobility. Today it houses the Palace of Culture for Educational Workers.
      Since the 1950s restoration work has been carried out on practically all the interiors. Frescoes, carvings, marble, Venetian mirrors, gilded chandeliers, soft silks, tapestries and superb sets of furniture, are all part and parcel of the magnificent decor of the palace. A popular exhibition, "Grigory Rasputin: The Story of His Life and Death", opened in 1991, tells the story of his murder with the help of wax figures.
      Guided tours of the interiors are available to visitors. The palace hosts concerts of Russian and Western European classical music.