The Anichkov Palace, a former imperial

palace A palace is a large residence, often serving as a royal residence or the home for a head of state or another high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin name palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome whi ...

Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...

, stands at the intersection of Nevsky Avenue and the Fontanka River. Spb 06-2012 Nevsky various 04

History

18th century

The palace, situated on the plot formerly owned by Antonio de Vieira (1682?-1745), takes its name from the nearby Anichkov Bridge across the Fontanka. Designed for the Empress

Elizabeth of Russia Elizabeth or Elizaveta Petrovna (; ) was Empress of Russia from 1741 until her death in 1762. She remains one of the most popular List of Russian rulers, Russian monarchs because of her decision not to execute a single person during her reign, ...

() in a dazzling

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

style, the palace came to be known as the most imposing private residence of the era of Elizabeth Petrovna. Some suggest architects Bartolomeo Rastrelli and Mikhail Zemtsov were responsible for the design, though that is yet to be substantiated. The main frontage faces the river and was originally connected to it by a

canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface ...

. Construction works continued for thirteen years; when they finally finished in 1754 the Empress Elizabeth presented the palace to her favourite (and likely spouse), Count Aleksey Razumovsky. After his death in 1771, the palace reverted to the crown, but Catherine the Great of Russia () donated it to her own favourite,

Prince Potemkin Prince Grigory Aleksandrovich Potemkin-Tauricheski (A number of dates as late as 1742 have been found on record; the veracity of any one is unlikely to be proved. This is his "official" birth-date as given on his tombstone.) was a Russian mi ...

, in 1776. The architect

Ivan Starov Ivan Yegorovich Starov (; 23 February 1745 – 17 April 1808) was a Russian architect from Saint Petersburg, St. Petersburg who devised the master plans for Yaroslavl, Voronezh, Pskov, Dnipro, Mykolaiv, and many other towns in Russia and Ukr ...

was charged with extensive renovations of the palace in the newly-fashionable

Neoclassical style Neoclassicism, also spelled Neo-classicism, emerged as a Western cultural movement in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiquity. Neoclassici ...

, which were effected in 1778 and 1779. Simultaneously an English garden architect, William Hould, laid out a regular park. Anichkov

Upon Potemkin's demise (1791), the palace was restored to the crown and adapted to accommodate Her Imperial Majesty's Cabinet.

19th and 20th centuries

The last major structural additions occurred in the reign (1801–1825) of Emperor Alexander I, with Quarenghi's construction of the Imperial Cabinet along Nevsky Avenue. The latter structure was formulated in a rigorous Neoclassical style and many people feel that it doesn't complement Rastrelli's original work. Three years later, Alexander I bestowed the palace on his sister, Grand Duchess Elena Pavlovna of Russia – she later became the Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Schwerin by marriage. In 1816, Carlo Rossi presented his project of reconstruction of the palace, but it wasn't followed. Several architects, have worked on the edifice since then, and its interiors were continuously refurbished. Following his marriage in 1866 the future

Tsar Alexander III Alexander III (; 10 March 18451 November 1894) was Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Poland and Grand Duke of Finland from 13 March 1881 until his death in 1894. He was highly reactionary in domestic affairs and reversed some of the liberal ...

and his wife, Maria Feodorovna, made the Anichkov Palace their St. Petersburg residence, ensuring its refacing in a variety of historic styles. There their children, including the last Russian emperor, Nicholas II, spent their childhood years, and after Alexander III came to the throne in 1881, he preferred to stay at the Anichkov Palace (as opposed to the

Winter Palace The Winter Palace is a palace in Saint Petersburg that served as the official residence of the House of Romanov, previous emperors, from 1732 to 1917. The palace and its precincts now house the Hermitage Museum. The floor area is 233,345 square ...

). The Anichkov provided the setting for numerous family festivities, including the wedding of Emperor Nicholas's niece Irina Romanova to Prince Felix Yusupov in 1914. Nicholas II's mother, after becoming dowager empress, continued to have the right of residence in the palace until the

February Revolution The February Revolution (), known in Soviet historiography as the February Bourgeois Democratic Revolution and sometimes as the March Revolution or February Coup was the first of Russian Revolution, two revolutions which took place in Russia ...

of 1917, although she had moved to Kiev away from St. Petersburg. After the revolution the Ministry of Provisions moved in. Following the

October Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...

of November 1917, the Bolshevik government nationalized the Anichkov Palace and designated it the St. Petersburg City Museum. After 1934, when it was converted into the

Young Pioneer Palace Young Pioneer Palaces or Palaces of Young Pioneers and Schoolchildren were youth centers designated for the creative work, sport training and extracurricular activities of Young Pioneers (primarily in the Soviet Union) and other schoolchildre ...

, the palace housed over one-hundred after-school clubs for more than 10,000 children. While a small museum inside is open to the public at selected times, the edifice is normally not accessible to tourists. Image:Anichkov fontanka.jpg, Anichkov Bridge and Anichkov Palace in 1753. Image:Anichkov palace. 1750.jpg, Palace in the 1750s: Elizabethan Baroque at its most flamboyant Image:Fontanka anichkov 1838.jpg, Palace in the 1830s: after the Neoclassical renovation Image:Anichkov sadovnikov.jpg, Palace in 1862. Image:Anichkov interior.jpg, Interior of one of the halls in the early 20th century

References

* Axelrod V.I., Bulankova L.P. ''Anichkov dvorets – legendy i byli''. SPb, 1996.

External links

Official website

Anichkov Palace in Encyclopaedia of St. Petersburg
{{Authority control Palaces in Saint Petersburg Royal residences in Russia Nevsky Prospekt Carlo Rossi buildings and structures 1754 establishments in the Russian Empire Cultural heritage monuments of federal significance in Saint Petersburg