Among the numerous architectural monuments located on Nevsky Prospekt, one of the most notable is the palace of the Beloselsky-Belozersky princes. It was built in 1848 by the famous architect of the era of Nicholas I A.I. Stackenschneider.
The building project was presented to the emperor, and he approved it. The completed palace delighted contemporaries.
They wrote about it that it was a “majestic palazzo”, “perfection of its kind”, and Stackenschneider “performed a real artistic feat”. The Palace of Princes Beloselsky-Belozersky became the last private palace built on Nevsky Prospect in the 19th century.
The first owners of the palace were representatives of the most ancient princely family, dating back to Vladimir Monomakh, the Beloselsky-Belozerskys. Many of them were military men, diplomats, and occupied important positions at the royal court.
The receptions held by the princes in their own palace on Nevsky were famous for their scope and luxury. In their splendor they were compared to the imperial receptions in Winter Palace. The Beloselsky-Belozersky princes were fond of music, theater, literature, and collected art collections (paintings, porcelain, silver) that decorated the halls of the palace.
At the end of the 19th century, the palace was acquired by the son of Emperor Alexander II, Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, on the occasion of his marriage to Princess Ella of Hesse (Grand Duchess Elizabeth Feodorovna). In 1911, the owner of the palace, Elizaveta Feodorovna, transferred the palace to her nephew, Grand Duke Dmitry Pavlovich (later known as a participant in the murder of Grigory Rasputin).
After the October Revolution of 1917, the building was nationalized. During the Soviet period, various public organizations were located here, and the main tenant was the Republican Committee of the CPSU of the Kuibyshev region. During the siege, the building was damaged by bombing and shelling, and after the war restoration work was carried out in the palace.
In 1992, the St. Petersburg Cultural Center was located in the palace. And since January 2003, the building has been transferred to the jurisdiction of the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation. Much attention is paid to its technical condition, inspections and restoration work are carried out.
The palace has preserved its original interiors, among which the state rooms on the 2nd floor stand out:
Oak Hall (former library), used as a small hall concert hall, Art gallery, State dining room, Beige living room, Mirror (ballroom) hall with excellent acoustics, as it was originally intended for concerts and is still used in this capacity, Golden Raspberry living room. In all these and other rooms, the artistic decoration of the mid-late 19th century has been preserved: fireplaces, lamps, stucco moldings, paintings, mirrors, furniture and much more.
When you come to the palace on a tour, you will see the magnificent interiors of the palace and learn all the details you are interested in about its architect, owners and events related to this ancient mansion.
Material and photos from the internet
Part 1
Palace of Beloselsky-Belozersky.
Sergievsky Palace is a former palace in St. Petersburg, on Nevsky Prospekt at its intersection with the Fontanka River.
The author of the project is the architect A. I. Stackenschneider, who carried out construction in the style of the so-called “second Baroque”.
Beloselsky-Belozersky Palace from Nevsky Prospekt
The site where the Beloselsky-Belozersky Palace is located, as well as other sites on the banks of the Fontanka River, was transferred to noble nobles for development at the beginning of the 18th century. At first it was owned by the senator, Prince A.I. Shakhovskoy. Under Catherine II, its owner was the director of the Assignation Bank, Senator P.V. Myatlev. For some time, the owner of the site was Senator I. A. Naryshkin.
View of the Fontanka. To the left of the bridge is the house of I. A. Naryshkin. 1820s
In 1797, Princess Anna Grigorievna Belselskaya-Belozerskaya purchased the plot from Naryshkin. She was the second wife of Prince Alexander Mikhailovich Beloselsky-Belozersky, with whose dowry this family purchased a house from Naryshkin, and in 1803 from the descendants of the Razumovskys - Krestovsky Island. In 1800, according to the design of F.I. Demertsov, a new house was built here in the style of classicism, main facade which overlooked Nevsky Prospekt.
Beloselsky-Belozersky Palace from the Fontanka side
View of the palace from Anichkov Bridge
Pediment of the facade from the side of the Fontanka River
attic window
Lion mask on the facade
Admiralty Tower (Belosselsky-Belozersky Palace)
Atlantean boy. Fragment of the attic. Sculptor D.I. Jensen. 1847-1848
Luchkovy pediment from Nevsky Prospect
Masks in the windows of the second floor
Sculptural decor of a second floor window
Atlas figure at the main entrance
Vase on the parapet
Masks in the windows
Decorative design of basement windows
Over time, this mansion ceased to suit the owners of the mansion. It began to seem uncomfortable, and the modest classical façade began to seem inappropriate to their high position in society. The new Beloselsky-Belozersky palace was designed by the architect Andrei Ivanovich Stackenschneider.
The development of the project was carried out in 1840-1841. Construction was carried out in 1846-1848, as a result of which the buildings facing Nevsky Prospekt and Fontanka were rebuilt, and two new outbuildings were erected in the courtyard.
Palace of Beloselsky-Belozersky. Facade from the Fontanka River. Design solution (Belosselsky-Belozersky Palace)
The facades of the Beloselsky-Belozersky Palace were made in the Baroque style, which was the first example of the use of this style in St. Petersburg in the 19th century. Apparently, the prototype of the building was the Stroganov Palace, located on the corner of Nevsky Prospect and the Moika River.
Figures of Atlases supporting a balcony
The terracotta figures of Atlases on the façade, the Atlanteans and caryatids inside the premises were made according to the models of the sculptor D. I. Jensen.
Main staircase
Most of the halls were decorated in Rococo style. The suite of halls on the second floor along the Fontanka begins with the Raspberry Living Room.
Its windows overlook both the river and the avenue. Next are the Green Living Room and Reception Room. The reception room is decorated with a picturesque panel “Feast of Venus” and furniture made at the F. Meltzer factory. The suite along Nevsky Prospekt began with the Living Room and the State Dining Room.
Oak Hall
Next was an art gallery, which in the 20th century was adapted into the foyer of a concert hall. Under the first owners, the double-height concert hall consisted of two separate rooms. From the foyer you could get into the Theater Hall.
On the ground floor the Reception Room, Study Room and Dining Room are partially preserved. The Grand Staircase is well preserved.
The customer of the construction, Prince Esper Alexandrovich Belselsky-Belozersky, died of typhus on June 15, 1846. He never settled in the new palace. His widow Elena Pavlovna was engaged in the reconstruction of the state halls and courtyard outbuildings. At this time, water supply was installed here. The wooden end pavement opposite the Beloselsky-Belozersky Palace was replaced with a pavement made of “Brusninsky stone”, and a cast-iron canopy was installed at the front entrance.
Elena Pavlovna soon enough after the death of her husband remarried Prince Vasily Viktorovich Kochubey. The Beloselsky-Belozersky Palace was being rebuilt at that time, the family lived in a mansion on Liteiny Prospekt.
Elena Pavlovna used the Beloselsky-Belozersky Palace to host balls and social evenings. Because of its proximity to the imperial Anichkov Palace, royalty often attended the balls. Sometimes they were arranged only for the emperor's family.
These events were especially liked by Alexander III, who did not favor official balls. The emperor's wife was ready to dance until the morning, and at that time he himself played whist.
In order to complete the ball, Alexander III, under various pretexts, called the musicians one by one until there was no one left to play. Only after this did he approach his wife and leave the palace with her.
The Beloselsky-Belozersky Palace was famous not only for balls, but also for musical evenings. Franz Liszt and Anton Rubinstein performed here. Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky attended the evenings as a listener.
In the 1880s, the capital of the Beloselsky-Belozersky princes was rapidly declining, their enterprises were operating at a loss. To distribute debts in 1884, the Beloselsky-Belozersky Palace was sold to Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich. He purchased this building on the occasion of his marriage to Elizabeth of Hesse-Darmstadt (Elizabeth Feodorovna). Prince Kochubey moved to his mansion on Krestovsky Island, where he transported some of the valuables from the palace on Nevsky Prospekt.
Since then, the Beloselsky-Belozersky palace began to be called Sergievsky. A number of premises have been remodeled for the new owners. The theater hall, designed by R. F. Meltzer, was converted into a Library.
Alexander Karlovich Beggrov (1841-1914) View of the Anichkov Bridge in St. Petersburg
In 1891, Sergei Alexandrovich became governor-general of Moscow and moved there with his wife. The palace was empty for a long time. On February 4, 1905, the Grand Duke was killed as a result of an assassination attempt. His widow, using her own funds, organized the Martha and Mary Convent in Moscow and became its abbess. The St. Petersburg Palace was transferred by Elizabeth Feodorovna to the nephew of the Grand Duke Dmitry Pavlovich. Elizaveta Fedorovna and Sergei Alexandrovich did not have their own children.
Parade on Nevsky Prospekt. 1850s
During the First World War, Grand Duke Dmitry Pavlovich provided the Beloselsky-Belozersky Palace to the Anglo-Russian hospital. The five largest halls (including a concert hall and an art gallery) were allocated for its needs. In 1917, due to his participation in the murder of Rasputin, the Grand Duke had to leave Russia.
"Anichkov Bridge and the Beloselsky-Belozersky Palace." Lithograph by J. Jacotte and Regame from the original by I. I. Charlemagne. 1850s
In 1918, the Beloselsky-Belozersky Palace was nationalized. The palace housed Red propaganda courses. At the end of 1919, part of the premises was transferred to the district committee of the Komsomol, and in 1920 - to the district party committee of the Central, and then the Kuibyshev district. The committees occupied only part of the building. Other premises were rented to various organizations. At the end of the 1920s, cosmetic renovations were carried out here.
During the Leningrad blockade, the Beloselsky-Belozersky Palace was significantly damaged.
In 1948-1949 and 1954 it was restored and restored. In 1960-1988, the interiors were recreated. Excursions began here, which since 1978 can be visited by anyone. Since 1989, concerts have been given in the palace.
Since the 1990s, the palace premises have been rented out to commercial organizations. In 2002-2003, the facade of the building was restored. In 2004-2005 - the main staircase, art gallery and oak hall.
After the 1917 revolution, the Beloselsky-Belozersky palace, like many others, was nationalized. Since 1920, the district committee of the Central Party was located here, later - the Kuybyshevsky district.
The Soviet era passed less painfully for it than for most other objects: the Sergievsky Palace regained the name of its first owners, the interiors of the monument were almost undamaged in the 20th century. The palace parted with the collection of paintings collected by the Beloselsky-Belozerskys: it was transported partly to the Hermitage, and partly to a mansion on Krestovsky Island, which also belonged to this family.
After the August 1991 putsch, the district committee of the CPSU ended its existence and in the 1990s the Beloselsky-Belozersky Palace was transferred to the Committee for Culture of the City Hall of St. Petersburg, and the city cultural center was also located in it, which was opened at the beginning of the 21st century Historical Museum wax figures. More than two hundred exhibits in this collection depict people who have gone down in history since the time of Ivan the Terrible.
The cultural center holds all kinds of exhibitions, conferences... There is a concert hall in the palace, and various musical performances are periodically held there.
Beloselsky-Belozersky Palace and Anichkov Bridge over the Fontanka. Saint Petersburg. Russia. Photolithography.
Legends and myths
This area on the left bank of the Fontanka has long acquired the mystical aura of the “District of Doubles”:
* On the site of the Trinity-Sergius courtyard, which is located next to this palace, there was once a palace where Empress Anna Ioannovna saw her double just before her death.
* Pyotr Andreevich Vyazemsky lived not far from here, and one day, when he came home, he saw in his office “himself, sitting at the table and writing something.”
St. Petersburg and suburbs
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Perhaps every tourist walking along the streets of St. Petersburg pays attention to the Beloselsky-Belozersky Palace, located in the very center of the city. And even if guests Northern capital They didn’t plan to inspect this building, they still wouldn’t pass by it. It's all about the location: the Beloselsky-Belozersky Palace is located on Nevsky Prospect next to the famous Anichkov Palace.
The wife of Alexander III was ready to dance at balls in the Beloselsky-Belozersky palace without stopping, and the emperor had to resort to all sorts of tricks to persuade his wife to go home. Usually, under some pretext, he summoned the musicians one by one. When all the musicians were busy with some other activity and there was no one left to play, Maria Fedorovna agreed to leave the palace and go home.
The majestic building was built according to the design of Andrei Stackenschneider. Interestingly, this house was the last private palace built in the 19th century. The history of the palace began in 1797, when Senator Naryshkin sold his plot of land to the Beloselsky-Belozersky princes. The family quickly built for themselves big house, but after a while a large-scale reconstruction began. The owners wanted to live in a real palace, which in all respects would correspond to their high position in society. In 1848, the Beloselsky-Belozersky Palace, built in the Baroque style, appeared on this site. It is worth noting that the new beautiful building charmed the St. Petersburg residents of that time. The prototype of the mansion was most likely the Stroganov Palace.
The Beloselsky-Belozerskys were collectors and brought porcelain, paintings, silver and rare books from their trips abroad. All these valuable things decorated the interior of the palace.
Alas, the customer of the house, Esper Aleksandrovich, never saw it. The head of the family died of typhus two years before the completion of construction. The widow Elena Pavlovna soon married Prince Vasily Kochubey. The couple organized magnificent balls in the Beloselsky-Belozersky palace, while they themselves lived in another house. By the way, balls and social evenings in the palace were considered one of the best in St. Petersburg. Emperor Alexander III and his wife were frequent guests of the events. Sometimes balls were held exclusively for the royal couple. Maria Fedorovna loved to dance, and Alexander III loved to play whist. The emperor's wife was ready to dance non-stop, and he had to resort to all sorts of tricks to persuade his wife to go home. Usually, under some pretext, he summoned the musicians one by one. When all the musicians were busy with some other activity, and there was no one left to play, Maria Fedorovna agreed to leave the palace and go home.
The owners of the Beloselsky-Belozersky palace organized musical evenings at which many famous composers played. Pyotr Tchaikovsky was a frequent guest at such events.
However, Vasily Kochubey's affairs went from bad to worse, and in 1884 he was forced to sell the palace to Prince Sergei Alexandrovich, the younger brother of Alexander III. That is why the palace later received the name Sergievsky. But in 1905, an attempt was made on the prince’s life. The mansion was transferred into the possession of his nephew Dmitry Pavlovich. In 1917, he took part in the murder of Grigory Rasputin and was then exiled to Persia. The owner of the Beloselsky-Belozersky Palace was a major industrialist Ivan Stakheev.
After the revolution, the building was nationalized. A variety of organizations were located here: red propaganda courses, the district Komsomol committee and others. During the Great Patriotic War, the palace was badly damaged, but was restored and restored. In 1991, the palace received the status of a St. Petersburg cultural center, which now often hosts exhibitions and concerts. Some of the premises are rented out to various commercial organizations.
Practical information
The Beloselsky-Belozersky Palace is located at the address: St. Petersburg, Nevsky Prospekt, 41, Mayakovskaya and Gostiny Dvor metro stations. A tour of the main halls of the palace will cost 300 RUB.
Prices on the page are as of September 2018.
At the corner of Nevsky Prospekt and the Fontanka River embankment there is a magnificent white and pink palace with atlases, as beautiful as a wedding cake. This is the Beloselsky-Belozersky Palace (Sergievsky). Admiring contemporaries wrote that the palace was a “majestic palazzo,” and the architect Andrei Ivanovich Stackenschneider “performed a real artistic feat.” But the history of the palace is not as simple as it seems at first glance.
To begin with, the name of the palace is illusory: after the customer of its current appearance, Prince Esper Beloselsky-Belozersky, who died in 1846, at the very time when the foundation of the building was being dug. The Beloselsky-Belozerskys owned the site between Nevsky and Fontanka since the end of the 18th century, having acquired it from Senator Naryshkin. Initially, a house was built here in the classicist style (1799-1800, architect Demertsov), with a facade overlooking Nevsky. Time passed, the position of the Beloselsky-Belozersky princes in society became more and more significant, and the mansion turned out to be too modest.
The mansion of the Beloselsky-Belozersky princes brought Andrei Stackenschneider the glory of “the successor to the elegant taste of Count Rastrelli” (in the words of the most authoritative media outlet in the 19th century - “Northern Bee”), and it also became the last private palace erected on Nevsky Prospect in the 19th century. To be fair, it must be said that this building will receive the official status of a palace later, when it becomes the property of the imperial family, but its elegant, ancient-style luxurious appearance betrayed the aristocratic claims of its owners. The Beloselsky-Belozersky princes were superior in nobility even to the Romanovs themselves, for they descended from Rurik, and therefore their blood was of the most heavenly hue.
The customer, Prince Esper Beloselsky-Belozersky, beautiful already by his name (translated from Greek as “evening star”), was a great clever man and a connoisseur of art, a connoisseur and collector of paintings. It was he, in sincere collaboration with Stackenschneider (for a moment, the son of a miller), who came up with the idea of reviving the style of the glorious times of Elizabeth Petrovna and Louis XV, that is, baroque-rocaille motifs. The first projects were developed in the 1840-1841s, but construction was carried out in 1846-1848, when Stackenschneider was freed from orders from the imperial family and was able to begin work for his friend. However, Prince Esper was too beautiful for there to be no tricks in his fate: having gone out of official necessity to inspect the Nikolaevskaya infirmaries railway, contracted typhus and died. His wife, Elena Pavlovna, is the stepdaughter of the formidable chief of gendarmes A.Kh. Benckendorff, the first beauty of the world, openly despised her husband even during his lifetime and soon married Prince Vasily Viktorovich Kochubey, a handsome man and numismatist, and did not live in the palace, although she appreciated Stackenschneider’s creation.
Most of the rooms are decorated in Rococo style. The suite of halls on the second floor along the Fontanka begins with the Raspberry Living Room with windows overlooking the river and the avenue. Then - the Green Living Room and Reception Room with the picturesque panel “Feast of Venus” and furniture from the F. Meltzer factory. Enfilade along Nevsky Prospekt: Living room and State dining room, art gallery, adapted into the foyer of a concert hall in the 20th century. The pride of the palace today is the well-preserved Grand Staircase.
The luxurious mansion became the center of the capital's social life: Elena Pavlovna organized magnificent balls here, often only for the emperor's family (the imperial Anichkov Palace is very close). It is known that Maria Feodorovna loved to dance, and Alexander III loved to play whist. Wanting to end the ball, Alexander III, under various pretexts, called the musicians one by one until the music naturally stopped. Only after this did he approach his wife and leave the palace with her. Franz Liszt and Anton Rubinstein performed at musical evenings here.
The palace received the name “Sergievsky” in 1884, when Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, the younger brother of Alexander III and uncle of Nicholas II, bought it for his wedding with the beautiful Ella of Hesse, known in Russia as Elizaveta Fedorovna. Elizaveta Feodorovna, in turn, was the elder sister of the future Alexandra Feodorovna, the last Russian empress, and in 1894, before her marriage, the young Princess Alice, or Alix, as her close people called her, lived here.
In 1905, Sergei Alexandrovich, appointed governor-general of Moscow fourteen years earlier, was killed by the terrorist Kalyaev. Elizaveta Fedorovna, who, at the behest of her soul, converted to Orthodoxy back in 1891 (as a Grand Duchess she was not obliged to do this), founded the Marfo-Maryinsky Convent of Mercy in Moscow after the death of Sergei Alexandrovich and became its abbess, and handed over the palace to her nephew and pupil of the great Prince Dmitry Pavlovich. First world war Dmitry Pavlovich donated the mansion to the Anglo-Russian infirmary, which was housed in its five largest halls (including the concert hall and the art gallery). In 1917, the Grand Duke participated in a conspiracy against Rasputin, and he was expelled from Russia. However, Dmitry Pavlovich managed to sell the palace from abroad to the banker and industrialist I. I. Stakheev.
In 1918, the Sergievsky Palace was nationalized, and Red propaganda courses were located there. At the end of 1919, part of the building was transferred to the district committee of the Komsomol, in 1920 - to the district party committee of the Central, then Kuibyshev district. The committees used part of the building, the rest was rented out to various organizations. In 1941, detachments were formed in the palace people's militia, and during the siege he suffered greatly. From 1948 to 1988, the building was restored, the lost interiors were recreated. Excursions began to take place here, and then concerts began. In 1991, the Beloselsky-Belozersky Palace acquired the official status of the St. Petersburg Cultural Center: the Academic Symphony Orchestra under the direction of R. Martynov performs here, exhibitions are held, various organizations are located, such as the City Tourist Information Center and even the Museum of the Formation of Democracy in Modern Russia them. Anatoly Sobchak.
HGIOLStory
In 1797, Princess A. G. Beloselskaya acquired a small stone house on the corner of Nevsky Prospekt and Fontanka embankment. The house was demolished, and in its place at the end of the 18th century, the architect F. I. Demertsov built the first three-story palace with a modest facade in the classical style. The appearance of this house was preserved in a drawing by M. N. Vorobyov.
Construction of a modern palace
In 1848, the palace was rebuilt by the architect A. I. Stackenschneider, acquiring a modern look. After reconstruction in the New Baroque style, the building began to resemble Rastrelli’s palaces. Stackenschneider completed the project commissioned by Prince E. A. Beloselsky-Belozersky. As part of this work, not only were the buildings facing Nevsky Prospekt and Fontanka completely rebuilt, but also new outbuildings were erected in the courtyard of the house. Not only the external appearance was created anew, but also the interior decoration of the building. There is an opinion that the prototype of the building was the Stroganov Palace, built according to the design of the architect Bartolomeo Rastrelli. Artistic techniques of the Russian Baroque of the 18th century were widely used in the decoration of the palace facades.
Sculptor D.I. Jensen was invited to decorate the palace. Based on his models, figures of Atlanteans and caryatids were created. Interior decoration The palace was made by Stackenschneider; striking examples of such decoration were the wide main staircase and marble fireplaces. Along the staircase there were caryatids and sculptures supporting gilded candelabra, and in the openwork lattice of the railing the author placed elegant monograms of the owner’s initials. The Beloselsky-Belozersky library was magnificently decorated: the walls were covered with carved wooden panels and covered with silk, the fireplace was decorated with a relief pattern, and a huge mirror in a gilded frame.
Hosts
The name “Beloselsky-Belozersky” is conditional: one of the heirs of the Myasnikovsky millions, the general of the retinue, Prince Esper Beloselsky-Belozersky, ordered a building in the spirit of Rastrelli to Andrei Stackenschneider, but died when the foundation of the mansion was being dug, in 1846. His wife Elena Pavlovna (née Bibikova) moved to his mansion on Liteiny Prospekt after marrying Prince Vasily Kochubey. She did not leave the palace on Nevsky, using it to hold balls and social evenings. It was located next to the imperial Anichkov Palace, and royalty often came here.
In 1865, Nadezhda Dmitrievna (nee Skobeleva) married Konstantin Beloselsky, an aide-de-camp, the son of Elena Pavlovna (in her second marriage, Princess Kochubey) from her first marriage and settled in the palace. The palace in that era continued to be considered the most secular place in the capital; the owners spoke Russian with a slight English accent - in the latest fashion of the 1880s. At this time, a crisis occurred - the capitalization of the metallurgical enterprises of the Urals - the main assets of the owner - was rapidly declining: the reason for this was unsuccessful management and lack of investment in the main production. Prince Kochubey tried to rectify the situation, for this he took out loans from the state, but could not save the situation, and in the end he was forced to pay off the treasury with this palace.
Since 1884, the palace has been associated with the name of Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich, the younger brother of Alexander III, becoming in some way a wedding gift for his marriage to Elizabeth of Hesse-Darmstadt (Elisaveta Feodorovna). The palace received a new name - “Sergievsky”.
Since 1891, the Grand Duke became Governor-General of Moscow and the palace was empty.
In 1905, Sergei Alexandrovich was killed by the Socialist Revolutionary militant Ivan Kalyaev, and everything changed in the mansion: Elizabeth became a nun, abbess of the Moscow Marfo-Maryinsky Convent. Since she was childless, her husband’s nephews, Dmitry and Maria, became her adopted children. Their mother died in childbirth, and their father, Grand Duke Pavel Alexandrovich, took the beautiful wife Olga from General Erich von Pistelkors and married her. After this, the Grand Duke was expelled from Russia for a long time.
Maria Pavlovna married a Swedish prince, and Dmitry Pavlovich received her St. Petersburg palace on Nevsky from her aunt. Dmitry was the favorite of the last sovereign and the conqueror of women's hearts. A master of horse riding and dressage, he led the Russian equestrians at the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm, and was a racing driver. In the last years of the empire, he lost interest in the sovereign and empress, and together with Felix Yusupov he carried out an attempt on the life of Grigory Rasputin. After the murder of the “elder,” the famous tsar’s resolution followed: “No one is allowed to kill in Russia,” and he parted with the palace: Dmitry Pavlovich was exiled to Persia. There is an assumption that he managed, while in exile, to sell the palace to Ivan Ivanovich Stakheev, the owner of a large financial and industrial monopoly, but there is no documentary evidence of this.
During the First World War, the Sergius Palace housed the Anglo-Russian Military Hospital, which was inaugurated by the British Red Cross in the presence of the Empress on January 30, 1916 and existed until January 1918. The hospital was staffed by English personnel under the leadership of Dr. Flemming. During its work, about 6,000 Russian soldiers were treated at the hospital.
After the October Revolution of 1917, the Beloselsky-Belozersky Palace, like many others, was nationalized. Since 1920, the district committee of the Central Party was located here, later - the Kuybyshevsky district. The palace parted with the collection of paintings collected by the Beloselsky-Belozerskys: it was transported partly to the Hermitage, and partly to a mansion on Krestovsky Island, which also belonged to this family.
After the failure of the August 1991 putsch, the district committee of the CPSU ended its existence and in 1992, the Beloselsky-Belozersky Palace was transferred to the Committee for Culture of the St. Petersburg City Hall and the state cultural institution “Petersburg Cultural Center” was located there.
From the mid-1990s until 2004, the palace housed the Historical Wax Museum.
Since January 2003, the building has been transferred to the jurisdiction of the Administration of the President of the Russian Federation. Much attention is paid to its technical condition. The last restoration work was carried out in 2015. During the restoration, the Mirror (Concert) Hall and the State Dining Room were returned to the original color schemes in the design, conceived by A. I. Stackenschneider, and all the paintings and panels built into the walls of the State Dining Room were restored.
The palace has preserved original interiors, among which the state rooms on the 2nd floor stand out: the Oak Hall (former library), used as a small concert hall, the Art Gallery, the State Dining Room, the Beige Living Room, the Mirror (Ballroom) Hall with excellent acoustics, as originally intended for concerts and is still used as such, the Golden Raspberry Lounge. In all these and other rooms, the artistic decoration of the mid-late 19th century has been preserved: fireplaces, lamps, stucco moldings, paintings, mirrors, furniture and much more.
Palace today
