Winter Palace

The Winter Palace is a historic palace in Saint Petersburg that served as the official residence of Russia’s emperors from 1732 to 1917. Its Baroque architecture and role in imperial and revolutionary history made it a defining landmark of the city.

Peter the Great: The Russian ruler who founded Saint Petersburg in 1703 and made it the capital of his empire. His new capital provided the setting for a permanent imperial residence.
Elizabethan Baroque: An ornate architectural style used in Russia during the reign of Empress Elizabeth. The palace is among the style’s largest and most recognizable examples.
Bloody Sunday (1905): A 1905 massacre in Saint Petersburg, when troops fired on peaceful demonstrators petitioning Tsar Nicholas II. The march aimed for the palace, though the tsar was not there.
Russian imperial court: The monarch, household, officials, and institutions that governed and served the Russian Empire. The palace functioned as the court’s principal residence and ceremonial center.
Anna of Russia: Empress of Russia from 1730 to 1740, whose reign saw construction of the first Winter Palace. She commissioned the palace that established the site as an imperial residence.
Hermitage Museum: A museum complex in Saint Petersburg whose principal historic building is the Winter Palace. The palace’s later museum role is inseparable from this institution.
February Revolution: The 1917 uprising that ended the Russian monarchy and established a provisional government. The palace became the seat of the Provisional Government after the tsar’s abdication.
Imperial Russia: The Russian state governed by emperors from the establishment of the empire in 1721 until 1917. The palace’s official-residence period spans most of the empire’s existence.
Bartolomeo Rastrelli: An Italian-born architect who designed major Baroque buildings for Russia’s eighteenth-century rulers. His design gave the present palace its monumental Baroque form.
Jordan Staircase: A grand white-marble staircase in the Winter Palace, decorated with gilded stucco and columns. Its ceremonial route led visitors into the palace’s state apartments.

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