Winter Palace

The Winter Palace is in Saint Petersburg, a big city in Russia.

It stands beside a river called the Neva. In front of it is a huge open square. Emperors and empresses once lived here.

The Winter Palace stands on the bank of the Neva River in the center of Saint Petersburg, Russia. On its other side is Palace Square, a vast open space with a tall column in the middle.

Until 1917, this was the main home of Russia's emperors in the city. Here they held grand receptions and important state ceremonies. The building is three stories high and has about 1,050 rooms. Today it is part of the State Hermitage museum, and it belongs to the Historic Centre of Saint Petersburg, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The Encyclopaedia of Saint Petersburg describes the Great Winter Palace, on Palace Embankment, as a Baroque monument of 1754–1762 by F. B. Rastrelli, the main imperial residence in the city until 1917, used for state ceremonies and holding gala rooms, living quarters and service rooms. It counts it among the largest palaces in Europe.

The three-story building forms a square of four wings around inner courtyards: the Neva front is 137 m long, the front toward the Admiralty 106 m, and the height 23.5 m, with about 1,050 rooms. UNESCO's Historic Centre of Saint Petersburg (inscribed 1990) names it among the Baroque and neoclassical works that define the city, and ICOMOS writes that on Palace Square Rastrelli gave free rein to his imagination.

Inside are giant halls and a grand staircase.

One room is decorated with a green stone called malachite. Outside, a tall column stands in the middle of the square.

Inside the palace are long rows of halls opening one into the next, called enfilades. The grand Jordan Staircase leads up from the river entrance. Famous rooms include St George's Hall, the throne room, the Military Gallery and the Malachite Hall, decorated with a green stone.

In the photo you can see the palace from Palace Square. In front stands the Alexander Column, built from 1830 to 1834 by the architect Auguste de Montferrand, with a statue on its top. The palace behind it has pale green walls with white columns, and a golden dome rises at the right.

Notable interiors include Rastrelli's Baroque enfilades and the Jordan Staircase, Quarenghi's St George's (throne) Hall, Montferrand's Peter Hall, the 1826 Military Gallery and the Malachite Hall and Emblem Hall created after the fire. Entrances from Palace Square include the triple arch and two porches, with a third porch toward the Admiralty.

The photo looks across Palace Square at the palace's square-facing front, with the Alexander Column, which ICOMOS dates to 1830–1834 and credits to Auguste de Montferrand, standing in front. The facade shows pale green walls with white columns in two tiers, the statues of the roof balustrade, and a golden dome at the right.

Today, visitors walk through the palace's beautiful rooms.

In summer, music concerts are held in its courtyard. People stroll across the big square outside.

Since 1945–1946, the whole Winter Palace has belonged to the State Hermitage museum, so visitors can walk through the halls where emperors once held their ceremonies.

In 2001 the palace's inner courtyard opened to the public for the first time. Today symphony concerts are held there regularly in summer. Outside, people stroll across Palace Square, as in the photo.

Since 1945–1946 the whole palace has belonged to the State Hermitage, according to the Encyclopaedia of Saint Petersburg. Its inner courtyard opened to the public for the first time in 2001 and hosts regular summer symphony concerts.

It lies within UNESCO's Historic Centre of Saint Petersburg, a planned city begun in 1703 under Peter the Great, whose ensembles by Rastrelli, Rossi, Montferrand and others influenced architecture in Russia and Finland in the 18th and 19th centuries.