Place: St. Petersburg Palace Square, 2
Nearest subway stations: Admiralteyskaya, Nevsky Prospekt, Gostiny Dvor
Winter Palace - the largest palace in St. Petersburg, the largest museum in Russia, one of the largest museums in the world. Winter Palace - UNESCO World Heritage Site and a major tourist attraction of St. Petersburg.
Working hoursTuesday, Thursday, Saturday, Sunday from 10:30 to 18:00; Wednesday and Friday: from 10:30 to 21:00; day - Monday.
Tickets price:
600 rubles - a single ticket to the Winter Palace, in the General Staff, the Winter Palace of Peter 1, Menshikov Palace, the Imperial Porcelain Museum (valid for all citizens);
400 rubles - ticket for citizens of Belarus and the Russian Federation in the Winter Palace, the General Staff and the Winter Palace of Peter the Great;
300 rubles - a classic ticket to one of the museums that are part of the Hermitage;
free ticket available for children of school and pre-school age, students and pensioners, only for Russian citizens;
the first Thursday of every month - free of charge for all citizens.
Phone: +7-812-710-96-60, +7-812-710-90-79
Description of the Winter Palace
Photo Winter Palace
Construction of the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg began in 1754 and continued until 1762 under the direction of the architect of Italy's Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli.
Winter Palace - the oldest architectural monument in the style of St.Petersburg baroque. Prior to the completion of the winter residence of the royal court changed its location five times. The first and second winter home of Peter the Great adhered to the Winter Canal, the third palace belonged to Anna Ivanovna, was the fourth Palace on Nevsky Prospekt. The new palace, Empress Elizabeth, the youngest daughter of Emperor Peter I and Catherine I, wanted to see the luxury and grandeur of apartments and business premises. The Winter Palace was built like a great and powerful city in the city with their kitchens, stables, laundries and his personal army - the palace guard and grenadiers of the Guard regiments. All buildings of the Winter Palace were connected to each other hanging passages and halls decorated with gilded carvings and countless mirrors.
In 1837, in the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, there were about four thousand employees. December 17, 1837 there was a huge fire, which was considered the most large-scale damage caused by external and internal decoration of the palace. During the fire completely burned 2 and 3 floors of the Winter Palace with the interior decorated by BF Rastrelli, Quarenghi, Montferrand and KI Rossi. Recreating palace Russian architects were engaged in VP Stas and AP Bryullov, they coped with their work for 2 years.
The photo. View of the Winter Palace from Palace Square in St. Petersburg.
At the Winter Palace was not the end of the incident. So, 43 years later in 1880 Narodovolets SN Khalturin produced a burst to kill Alexander II. However, the plans were not fulfilled: the emperor and not a single member of his family was not injured, killed 11 soldiers from the Guard, and about 50 people were injured. January 9, 1905 during the march was shot a peaceful demonstration of workers. The events of 1905 were the start of the Revolution, which lasted from 1905 to 1907. The October Revolution of 1917 for the Winter Palace was completed gun attack from the fortress and the overthrow of the Provisional Government.
October 30, 1917 People's Commissar AV Lunacharsky, announced the Winter Palace - Hermitage State Museum.
Hermitage Collection
The Hermitage collection in St. Petersburg:
monuments of ancient and early medieval cultures, ancient monuments belong to the Paleolithic era (small sculpture, pottery, idols, images of ancient tribes);
antiquities and discoveries found during excavations, the times of Ancient Greece, Ancient Rome, Egypt and other ancient civilizations;
art galleries with works by prominent artists, sculptors and painters, artists from England, Germany, Holland, Spain, Italy, France and other Western European countries;
collection of weapons from all over the world.
Neares attractions: Palace's square, Spas na Krovi