Menshikov Palace

The palace was built in the style of early Petrine Baroque with the inherent clarity and parade, corresponding to the uplifted spirit with which Peter conceived the city on the Neva. The architecture of the palace has Italian features, and at the same time resembles the Dutch buildings of that era. The use of cobalt-painted tiles in the decoration of walls, ceilings and furnaces is a Dutch feature. It is known that in Europe such extensive interiors, decorated with tiles, have not survived to this day. Contemporaries noted the luxury of the interior decoration of the palace. In the young city of Petra, the palace was a place where magnificent court festivities, assemblies, receptions of foreign ambassadors took place, so the palace was often called the Embassy House. From the side of the Neva at the Menshikov Palace was arranged pier, which allowed small ships to dock near the front entrance. Interesting is the fate of the owner of the palace Alexander Danilovich Menshikov, the first governor of St. Petersburg, who aroused the wrath of Peter and was sent into exile. After the death of Menshikov, in 1732, the confiscated palace was given to the land nobility Cadet Corps and underwent many reconstructions. The magnificent regular garden with a greenhouse and flower beds, which was decorated with fountains, statues and labyrinths, also died. Since 1956, restoration work began to be carried out in the palace, and it was restored in its original form, and in 1981 the Menshikov Palace was opened to the public and became part of the complex of buildings belonging to the Hermitage Museum, an exposition of Russian art of the first third of the 18th century - Peter's time. Your attention, of course, deserve the reception rooms of Menshikov, the rooms on the half of Prince Varvara Arsenyeva's sister-in-law, where unique Dutch painted tiles with pastoral subjects are preserved, Menshikov's office with a picturesque plafond on military subjects, where you can learn the features of Peter I in the image of a victorious warrior. In the central lobby, the walls of which are lined with imitation of marble, you will see in the niches of antique statues, in particular, the figure of Apollo, dating from the 2nd century AD. In the palace there are many unique objects of applied art, watches of that time, remarkable samples of weapons, astronomical instruments and a collection of paintings, among which there are especially many works by outstanding Dutch masters. The favorite room of Prince Menshikov himself was the Nut Cabinet, the decoration of which is made of rare varieties of wood with applications of bronze and tortoise shell. Among other relics of your attention, undoubtedly, deserves a portrait of Peter I, painted in Amsterdam in 1697 (98) when Menshikov was acting treasurer of Peter, and a mirror in an amber frame, presented to Peter the Great by the King of Prussia in 1709. The office also has a unique chess table with amber pieces – the owner of the palace was extremely fond of playing chess. Menshikov Palace is a unique place in St. Petersburg, where you can feel the authentic atmosphere of Peter’s time.