Where did the Romanovs live? Palace Embankment History of Palace Embankment

Palace Embankment - this is the Neva embankment in St. Petersburg.

The Palace Embankment is located on the left bank of the Neva and runs from the Kutuzov Embankment to the Admiralteyskaya Embankment. The length of the embankment is 1300 meters.

History of Palace Embankment

The Neva embankment was planned shortly after the founding of the city, in 1715. In those days it was called Verkhnyaya.

IN different time The embankment was called by different names: Cash Line, Verkhnyaya Kamennaya Embankment, Millionnaya. Sometimes it was called Pochtovaya because the Postal Yard was located here. After the Winter Palace was built here in 1762, the embankment began to be officially called the Palace Embankment. In Soviet times, the embankment was called the Ninth of January for a long time, but in 1944 it was returned to its old name.

Until the mid-18th century, all embankments were wooden, and Dvortsovaya became the first stone street. During the reconstruction, it was complemented by picturesque descents to the water, made by the master G. Nasonov according to the design of the architect I. Rossi.

Sights on Palace Embankment

  • Laundry Bridge
  • Summer garden
  • Upper Lebyazhy Bridge
  • Betsky's House
  • Saltykov House
  • Marble Palace
  • Mansion of Gromov (Ratkova-Rozhnova)
  • Apartment house Zherebtsova
  • Novo-Mikhailovsky Palace
  • Palace of Vladimir Alexandrovich
  • Spare house Winter Palace
  • Hermitage Theater
  • Hermitage Bridge
  • Great Hermitage
  • Small Hermitage
  • Winter Palace
  • Garden of the Winter Palace

Publications in the Architecture section

Where did the Romanovs live?

Small Imperial, Marble, Nikolaevsky, Anichkov - we go for a walk along central streets Petersburg and remember the palaces in which representatives of the royal family lived.

Palace Embankment, 26

Let's start our walk from Palace Embankment. A few hundred meters east of the Winter Palace is the palace of Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich, son of Alexander II. Previously, the building, built in 1870, was called the “small imperial courtyard.” Here, all the interiors have been preserved almost in their original form, reminiscent of one of the main centers of social life in St. Petersburg at the end of the 19th century. Once upon a time, the walls of the palace were decorated with many famous paintings: for example, “Barge Haulers on the Volga” by Ilya Repin hung on the wall of the former billiard room. On the doors and panels there are still monograms with the letter “B” - “Vladimir”.

In 1920, the palace became the House of Scientists, and today the building houses one of the main scientific centers of the city. The palace is open to tourists.

Palace Embankment, 18

A little further on the Palace Embankment you can see the majestic gray Novo-Mikhailovsky Palace. It was erected in 1862 by the famous architect Andrei Stackenschneider for the wedding of the son of Nicholas I, Grand Duke Mikhail Nikolaevich. The new palace, for the reconstruction of which neighboring houses were purchased, incorporated the Baroque and Rococo styles, elements of the Renaissance and the architecture of the times Louis XIV. Before the October Revolution, there was a church on the top floor of the main facade.

Today the palace houses institutions of the Russian Academy of Sciences.

Millionnaya Street, 5/1

Even further on the embankment is the Marble Palace, the family nest of the Konstantinovichs - the son of Nicholas I, Constantine, and his descendants. It was built in 1785 Italian architect Antonio Rinaldi. The palace became the first building in St. Petersburg to be faced with natural stone. At the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich, known for his poetic works, lived here with his family; in the pre-revolutionary years, his eldest son John lived here. The second son, Gabriel, wrote his memoirs “In the Marble Palace” while in exile.

In 1992, the building was transferred to the Russian Museum.

Admiralteyskaya embankment, 8

Palace of Mikhail Mikhailovich. Architect Maximilian Messmacher. 1885–1891. Photo: Valentina Kachalova / photobank “Lori”

Not far from the Winter Palace on Admiralteyskaya Embankment you can see a building in the neo-Renaissance style. It once belonged to Grand Duke Mikhail Mikhailovich, the grandson of Nicholas I. Construction began on it when the Grand Duke decided to get married - his chosen one was the granddaughter of Alexander Pushkin, Sofia Merenberg. Emperor Alexander III did not give consent to the marriage, and the marriage was recognized as morganatic: Mikhail Mikhailovich’s wife did not become a member of the imperial family. The Grand Duke was forced to leave the country without living in the new palace.

Today the palace is rented out to financial companies.

Truda Square, 4

If you walk from the Mikhail Mikhailovich Palace to Blagoveshchensky Bridge and turn left, on Labor Square we will see another brainchild of the architect Stackenschneider - the Nicholas Palace. The son of Nicholas I, Nikolai Nikolaevich the Elder, lived in it until 1894. During his life, the building also housed a house church; everyone was allowed to attend services here. In 1895 - after the death of the owner - a women's institute named after Grand Duchess Xenia, sister of Nicholas II, was opened in the palace. Girls were trained to be accountants, housekeepers, and seamstresses.

Today, the building, known in the USSR as the Palace of Labor, hosts excursions, lectures and folk concerts.

English Embankment, 68

Let's return to the embankment and go west. Halfway to the New Admiralty Canal is the palace of Grand Duke Pavel Alexandrovich, son of Alexander II. In 1887, he bought it from the daughter of the late Baron Stieglitz, a famous banker and philanthropist, whose name is given to the Academy of Arts and Industry he founded. The Grand Duke lived in the palace until his death - he was shot in 1918.

The palace of Pavel Alexandrovich was empty for a long time. In 2011, the building was transferred to St. Petersburg University.

Moika River Embankment, 106

On the right side of the Moika River, opposite the island of New Holland, is the palace of Grand Duchess Ksenia Alexandrovna. She was married to the founder of the Russian Air Force, Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich, grandson of Nicholas I. They were given the palace as a wedding gift in 1894. During the First World War, the Grand Duchess opened a hospital here.

Today the palace houses the Lesgaft Academy of Physical Culture.

Nevsky Prospekt, 39

We exit onto Nevsky Prospekt and move in the direction of the Fontanka River. Here, near the embankment, the Anichkov Palace is located. It was named after the Anichkov Bridge in honor of the ancient family of pillar nobles, the Anichkovs. The palace, erected under Elizaveta Petrovna, is the oldest building on Nevsky Prospekt. Architects Mikhail Zemtsov and Bartolomeo Rastrelli participated in its construction. Later, Empress Catherine II donated the building to Grigory Potemkin. On behalf of the new owner, architect Giacomo Quarenghi gave Anichkov a more austere, closer to modern look.

Starting from Nicholas I, mainly the heirs to the throne lived in the palace. When Alexander II ascended the throne, the widow of Nicholas I, Alexandra Feodorovna, lived here. After the death of Emperor Alexander III, the Dowager Empress Maria Fedorovna settled in the Anichkov Palace. Nicholas II also grew up here. He did not like the Winter Palace and spent most of his time, already as emperor, in the Anichkov Palace.

Today it houses the Palace of Youth Creativity. The building is also open to tourists.

Nevsky Prospekt, 41

On the other side of the Fontanka is the Beloselsky-Belozersky Palace - the last one built on Nevsky in the 19th century a private house and another brainchild of Stackenschneider. At the end of the 19th century, Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich bought it, and in 1911 the palace passed to his nephew, Grand Duke Dmitry Pavlovich. In 1917, while in exile for participating in the murder of Grigory Rasputin, he sold the palace. And later he emigrated and took the money from the sale of the palace abroad, thanks to which he lived comfortably for a long time.

Since 2003, the building has belonged to the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation; concerts and creative evenings are held there. On some days there are excursions through the halls of the palace.

Petrovskaya embankment, 2

And while walking near Peter’s house on Petrovskaya embankment, you should not miss the white majestic building in the neoclassical style. This is the palace of the grandson of Nicholas I, Nikolai Nikolaevich the Younger, the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of all land and naval forces The Russian Empire in the first years of the First World War. Today, the palace, which became the last grand ducal building until 1917, houses the Representative Office of the President Russian Federation in the Northwestern Federal District.

Palace Embankment was originally called Upper Embankment. It was built in the depths of the plots, because at the beginning of the 18th century the swampy banks of the Neva were not yet fortified. It passed in the middle of the block between Millionnaya Street and the Neva embankment. Due to the expansion of land plots, already in 1716 it was shifted to the north. In the shallow waters of the river, piles were driven and an embankment that has survived to this day was built.
In April 1707, a decree was issued, according to which strict regulations for the allocation of plots for development began. The priority was given to the official and property status of the petitioners. The same decree established the size of land plots. The narrow side of each plot faced the bank of the Neva. The plots were assigned only to persons related to the Admiralty Department.
Development of the modern Palace Embankment. What is on the left bank of the Neva began in the first years of the existence of St. Petersburg. In 1705, the first house appeared here, which belonged to Admiral General F.M. Apraksin, in 1707 the Kikin Chambers were rebuilt. Already by the mid-1710s, work was underway to strengthen coastline Neva on the site of the palace embankment. The banks were strengthened with wooden walls, and piers appeared along the embankment. Thus, it was possible to move the river bed by at least eighty meters. In the thirties of the 18th century, instead of the Apraksin House, the Winter House was built for Empress Anna Ioannovna. Since the second half of the 18th century, the embankment has been called Millionnaya.
By the sixties, the million-dollar embankment was turned into granite, and semicircular slopes to the Neva appeared here. But since the construction work of the architect Ignazio Rossi was carried out poorly, later the embankment had to be rebuilt according to the design of Yu.M. Felten. As a result, the bank of the Neva “moved back” another twenty meters.
On the embankment there was a Postal Yard (on the site of the modern Marble Palace) which is why it was often called Postal. In the sixties of the 18th century, the Hermitage Bridge and the Verkhne-Lebyazhy Bridge appeared, which connected the Palace Embankment with the Kutuzov Embankment.
By the end of the 18th century, a lot of interesting buildings were already appearing on the territory of the Palace Embankment in St. Petersburg. These are the buildings of the Hermitage, the Hermitage Theater, the Marble Palace, the Saltykov House, and many others. In the 19th century, the Novo-Mikhailovsky and Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich palaces and the service building of the Marble Palace were built here.
After 1917, the embankment became the 9th of January embankment.
The Palace Embankment is connected to Vasilievsky Island by the Dvortsovy drawbridge, which appeared here at the beginning of the 20th century. The embankment is connected to the Petrogradskaya side by the Trinity Bridge, erected here at the turn of the 19th – 20th centuries.

Palace Embankment (Russia) - description, history, location. Exact address, phone number, website. Tourist reviews, photos and videos.

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Palace Embankment can be called one of the most beautiful and famous embankments in St. Petersburg. This is where world-famous attractions are located Northern capital: Hermitage, Winter Palace, Russian Museum, House of Scientists and many others. From this street there is an excellent view of the Spit of Vasilyevsky Island and Peter and Paul Fortress. The Palace Embankment is located on the left bank of the Neva from the Kutuzov Embankment to the Admiralteyskaya Embankment. Its length is 1300 meters.

On the Palace Embankment there are world-famous sights of the Northern capital: the Hermitage, the Winter Palace, the Russian Museum, the House of Scientists and many others. From this street there is an excellent view of the Spit of Vasilyevsky Island and the Peter and Paul Fortress.

The development of the Palace Embankment began quite early - at the very beginning of the 18th century. The architectural tone of the buildings was set by the summer and winter residences of Peter I. People close to the Tsar also began to build their houses on this land. In 1705, the first wooden house of Admiral General Fyodor Apraksin appeared. The building defined the red line of the street, and all other buildings began to be erected according to this line.

Palace Embankment

Palace Embankment had many names: Cash Line, Verkhnyaya Kamennaya Line Embankment, Millionnaya. It was often called Pochtovaya due to the fact that the Postal Yard was located here. In 1762, the architect Rastrelli built the royal residence here - the Winter Palace. After this, the embankment, square and bridge located nearby began to be called palace. Already under Soviet rule, the street was renamed the Ninth January Embankment. But in 1944 it was given back its old name.

To transport the main part of the Alexander Column, which weighs 600 tons, a special pier was used on Palace Embankment. Engineer Glasin developed a special bot capable of lifting loads of up to 1,100 tons. In order to unload the monolith, they even built a new pier.

Gradually, the embankment became better and better: it was dressed in granite and made convenient descents to the river. By the way, until the mid-18th century, all St. Petersburg embankments were wooden. Palace Embankment became the first stone street. Nevertheless, in the 20s of the 19th century, the area around the Winter Palace remained unkempt. The construction of the General Staff building was planned here and therefore there were working materials, piles of sand and boards everywhere, as well as all kinds of warehouses and barns. Nicholas I commissioned the architect Carlo Rossi to put this place in order. Rossi developed a project for a beautiful descent to the Neva, decorated with sculptures of Dioscuri and lions. But the emperor was not impressed by the sculptures of young men holding back horses, so they were replaced with porphyry vases. Subsequently, in connection with the construction of the Palace Bridge, the pier with the lions was moved to the Admiralty Embankment.

Palace Embankment has always been famous for the fact that famous and influential people lived here: the Romanov dynasty, poet Ivan Krylov, Count Sergei Witte.