The Menshikov Palace (russian: Меншиковский дворец) is a Petrine Baroque edifice in

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

, situated on

Universitetskaya Embankment Universitetskaya Embankment (russian: Университетская набережная) is a 1.2 km long embankment on the right bank of the Bolshaya Neva, on Vasilievsky Island in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Starting at the Spit of V ...

of the Bolshaya Neva on

Vasilyevsky Island Vasilyevsky Island (russian: Васи́льевский о́стров, Vasilyevsky Ostrov, V.O.) is an island in St. Petersburg, Russia, bordered by the Bolshaya Neva and Malaya Neva Rivers (in the delta of the Neva River) in the south a ...

.It is not to be confused with the Menshikov Palace in

Oranienbaum, Russia Oranienbaum (russian: Ораниенба́ум) is a Russian royal residence, located on the Gulf of Finland west of St. Petersburg. The Palace ensemble and the city centre are UNESCO World Heritage Sites. History In 1707, four years af ...

, built by the same architects around the same time. ''Menshikov Palace'' can also refer to the Lefort Palace in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

. It was the first stone building in the city. Since 1981, it has served as a public museum, a branch of the

Hermitage Museum The State Hermitage Museum ( rus, Государственный Эрмитаж, r=Gosudarstvennyj Ermitaž, p=ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)ɨj ɪrmʲɪˈtaʂ, links=no) is a museum of art and culture in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It is the larges ...

. The palace was founded in 1710 as a residence of Saint Petersburg Governor General Alexander Menshikov and built by Italian architects Giovanni Maria Fontana, and, later, German architect

Gottfried Johann Schädel Johann Gottfried Schaedel (german: Johann Gottfried Schädel) was a German Baroque architect who worked in Russia and Ukraine. Schaedel was born in 1680 in Wandesbek, Duchy of Holstein, Holy Roman Empire (now part of Hamburg). In 1713, Prince A ...

. It was opened in 1711, but the construction continued until 1727 (assisted by Domenico Trezzini,

Bartolomeo Rastrelli Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli (russian: Франче́ско Бартоломе́о (Варфоломе́й Варфоломе́евич) Растре́лли; 1700 in Paris, Kingdom of France – 29 April 1771 in Saint Petersburg, Russian Em ...

Georg Johann Mattarnovy Georg Johann Mattarnovi (russian: Георг Иванович Маттарнови, ''Georg Ivanovich Mattarnovi''; died 2 November 1719) was a German Baroque architect and sculptor, notable for his work in Saint Petersburg.V.K. Dmitriyev А ...

and

Jean-Baptiste Le Blond Jean-Baptiste Alexandre Le Blond (1679 – 10 March 1719) was a French architect and garden designer who became the chief architect of Saint Petersburg in 1716. Career in France He was the son of Jean Le Blond, painter in ordinary to the king, a ...

), when Menshikov with his family was exiled to Siberia and his property was confiscated. In 1731 the First Cadet Corps were established and occupied the palace and neighboring buildings. At the end of the 19th century the Menshikov Palace was restored and became the museum of the Corps. In 1924, its collections were moved to the Hermitage and other museums. From 1956 to 1981 the Menshikov Palace was restored again and finally opened to the public as a branch of the Hermitage Museum with a collection of Russian art of the late 17th-early 18th century.

References

Sources

* Калязина Н. В. Меншиковский дворец-музей. 2nd ed. Leningrad: Lenizdat, 1989. .

External links

Menshikov Palace (Saint Petersburg)
{{Authority control Palaces in Saint Petersburg Hermitage Museum Houses completed in 1727 Museums established in 1981 Art museums and galleries in Saint Petersburg Historic house museums in Saint Petersburg Universitetskaya Embankment Baroque architecture in Saint Petersburg Domenico Trezzini buildings and structures 1981 establishments in the Soviet Union Cultural heritage monuments of federal significance in Saint Petersburg

See also

References

Sources

External links