The Menshikov Palace () is a
Petrine Baroque edifice in
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 ...
, situated on
Universitetskaya Embankment of the
Bolshaya Neva
The Great Neva or Bolshaya Neva () is the largest armlet of the river Neva. It starts near the Old Saint Petersburg Stock Exchange and Rostral Columns, Spit of Vasilievsky Island (easternmost tip of the island).
The Great Neva is long; the width ...
on
Vasilyevsky Island
Vasilyevsky Island (, Vasilyevsky Ostrov, V.O.) is an island in Saint Petersburg, St. Petersburg, Russia, bordered by the Bolshaya Neva River, Bolshaya Neva and Malaya Neva Rivers (in the delta of the Neva River) in the south and northeast ...
.
[It is not to be confused with the Menshikov Palace in Oranienbaum, Russia, built by the same architects around the same time. ''Menshikov Palace'' can also refer to the Lefort Palace in ]Moscow
Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
. 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, and holds the large ...
.
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. It was opened in , but the construction continued until 1727 (assisted by
Domenico Trezzini
Domenico Trezzini (; – 1734) was an Italian Swiss architect who elaborated the Petrine Baroque style of Russian architecture.
Biography
Domenico was born in Astano, Landvogtei of Lugano (at that time a condominium of the Old Swiss C ...
,
Bartolomeo Rastrelli
Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli (; 1700 – 29 April 1771) was an Italian architect who worked mainly in Russia. He developed an easily recognizable style of Late Baroque, both sumptuous and majestic. His major works, including the Winter Palace ...
,
Georg Johann Mattarnovy and
Jean-Baptiste Le Blond), 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. From June to July 1917, the
was held in the building. 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.
See also
*
List of Baroque residences
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