Winter Palace of Peter the Great (1711-1753)
Upon his return from his Grand Embassy in 1698, Peter I of Russia embarked on a policy of Westernization and expansion that was to transform the Russian Tsardom into the Russian Empire and a major European power. This policy manifested itself in bricks and mortar with the creation of a new city, Saint Petersburg, in 1703. The culture and design of the new city was intended to be a conscious rejection of the traditional Byzantine-influenced Russian architecture, such as the then-fashionable Naryshkin Baroque"), in favor of the classically inspired architecture that prevailed in the great cities of Europe. The Tsar intended his new city to be designed in the Flemish Renaissance style, later known as Petrine Baroque, and this was the style he selected for his new palace in the city. The first royal residence on the site had been a humble wooden hut known then as the Domik Petra I"), built in 1704, overlooking the Neva River. In 1711 it was moved to the Petrovskaya Naberezhnaya,[20] where it still stands.[21] With the site cleared, the tsar then embarked on the construction of a larger house between 1711 and 1712. This house, known today Like the first Winter Palace, it was designed by Domenico Trezzini.[22].
The century was a period of great development in European royal architecture, as the need for a fortified residence diminished. This process, which had begun at the end of the century, accelerated and the great classical palaces quickly replaced fortified castles in the most powerful European countries. One of the first and most notable examples was the Louis XIV of Versailles. Largely completed in 1710, Versailles—with its size and splendor—increased rivalry among Europe's sovereigns. Peter the Great of Russia, eager to promote all Western concepts, desired to have a modern palace like his fellow sovereigns. However, unlike some of his successors, Peter I never aspired to rival Versailles.
The first Winter Palace was a modest building with two main floors under a slate roof.[23] It seems that Peter soon tired of the first palace, for in 1721 the second version of the Winter Palace was built under the direction of the architect Georg Mattarnovy. columns.[24] It was here that Peter the Great died in 1725.
The Winter Palace was not the only palace in the unfinished city, nor even the most splendid, for Peter had ordered his nobles to build stone residences and spend half the year there.[25] This was an unpopular order; St. Petersburg was founded on a swamp, with little sunlight, and it was said that only cabbages and turnips would grow there. Cutting down trees for fuel was prohibited, so the use of hot water was only allowed once a week. Only Peter's second wife, Empress Catherine, intended to enjoy life in the new city.[25].
As a result of slave labor pressured from across the Empire,[26] the city's works progressed rapidly. An estimated 200,000 people died in twenty years while the city was being built.[26] A diplomat of the time, who described the city as "a bunch of villages linked together, like some West Indies plantation," a few years later called it "a wonder of the world, considering its magnificent palaces."[27] Some of these new palaces in the Flemish baroque style, so dear to Pedro, such as the Kikin Hall and the palace Menshikov, still standing.
Construction
It was built between 1754 and 1762, being the tallest residential building in Saint Petersburg at that time. It had about 1,500 rooms in 60 thousand square meters. Commissioned by Isabel Petrovna, she did not live to see the construction completed; It was Peter III who took charge of the works on April 6, 1762. By then, the facades were finished, but many of the interior rooms were not yet ready. In the summer of 1762 Peter III was dethroned and the construction of the Winter Palace was completed by Catherine II.[28]
This first of all fired Rastrelli. Architects J. M. Felten, J. B. Vallin-Delamotte and A. Rinaldi, under Betsky's direction, completed the interiors.
According to Rastrelli's original layout, the largest state rooms were on the main floor and overlooked the Neva. The route to the Throne Room, which occupied the entire space of the northwest wing, began in the east - from the Jordan staircase or, as it was previously called, the Ambassadors' staircase and passed through a set of five antechambers (of which three medium-sized ones later formed the Nicholas Hall). In the southwest wing, Rastrelli placed the palatial opera theater." The kitchens and other services occupied the northeast wing, while in the southeast wing a gallery was built between the outbuildings and the "Great Church" in the east courtyard.[28].
In 1763 the empress moved her rooms to the southeast part of the palace. Below his rooms he arranged those of his favorite, Grigory Orlov (in 1764-1766 the South Pavilion of the Little Hermitage was built for Orlov and was connected to Catherine's apartments by a bridge over the canal). The Throne Room was installed in the northwest corner of the building and the White Room in front of it. A dining room was built behind the White Room. The Hall of Light is located next to it. The Dining Room was followed by the Ceremonial Alcove", which a year later would become the Diamond Room. The empress also commissioned a library, a study, a dressing table, two bedrooms and a washbasin.[28].
In 1764, 317 valuable paintings worth 183,000 thalers were donated to Catherine II from Berlin, from the private collection of Johann Ernst Gotzkowsky (1710-1775), to settle his debt to Prince Vladimir Sergeyevich Dolgorukov. At least 96 of the 317 paintings (it is believed that there were only 225), mostly from the Dutch-Flemish school of the first half of the century, which were donated to Russia in 1764 and formed the basis of the Hermitage collection, are still there today. The paintings were housed in an annex of the palace, which received the French name "Hermitage" (place of confinement); Between 1767 and 1775 a building was built to the east of the palace for them. In the 1780s and 1790s, work on decorating the interiors of the palace was continued by I. E. Starov and G. Quarenghi.[28].