Stroganov Palace

In the middle of the 18th century in the old house on Nevsky Prospekt, which belonged to Count S. G. Stroganov, there was a fire that completely destroyed this small mansion. Then in its place, under the leadership of the architect F.-B. Rastrelli, one of the most magnificent palaces of St. Petersburg was erected, named after its owner Stroganovsky. The owner of the future palace gave the court architect almost complete freedom of action, and in two years Rastrelli created a luxurious building with huge windows and stucco on the facade, which had fifty rooms, a large hall and a gallery, filled with sculptures and hung with tall mirrors. The entrance to the palace was decorated with relief images of the coats of arms of the Stroganov family with sables and spears symbolizing Siberia, from where this famous family originated. Surrounded by simple wooden houses, the palace looked particularly lush, and Count Stroganov at the sight of his new home came to complete delight. This was the only customer of Rastrelli, who thanked the master not only generously paid for the work, but also made him an expensive gift: Stroganov ordered a portrait of the architect to the famous artist P. Rotary, who came to St. Petersburg from Europe to paint portraits of members of the imperial family. After the completion of construction, the Stroganov Palace received a visit from Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, who wished to celebrate her birthday there. A few years later, another famous architect, A. N. Voronikhin, began to develop his talent in this building. At one time, Count S. G. Stroganov noticed artistic talent in one of his serfs, giving him the opportunity to study as an architect. And then the young Voronikhin, who had already received a free pass, had to pass the former master "exam": to redecorate and partially rebuild some of the interior of his palace. The rest of the interior of this building has not changed since then, which cannot be said about its appearance - in the 19th century the Stroganov Palace was repainted several times. At different times, it was pink, light lilac, and brick-red, until it acquired a greenish hue, well known to modern residents of St. Petersburg. The Stroganov House was famous for its "open lunches", which the owners arranged in the courtyard of the palace. Any neatly dressed person could come to these dinners, and many poor citizens took advantage of this opportunity to eat for free for several years. In addition, the Stroganov Palace was known in St. Petersburg as a meeting place for the cultural elite of the city: writers I. L. Krylov, G. R. Derzhavin, D. I. Fonvizin, composer D. S. Bortnyansky and other famous personalities often visited it. Several generations of the Stroganov family lived in their palace for more than a century and a half, until the October Revolution forced their descendants to leave the country. Collections of books and paintings and numerous expensive furnishings of the Stroganov Palace were looted, and only a small part of these treasures ended up in the museums and libraries of the city. The Stroganov Palace became one of the numerous historical and household museums at that time, which, however, was soon closed, as the palace building was decided to be transferred to several state institutions at once, including various secret departments. The courtyard of the building was closed, and some of its premises were redesigned. Only at the end of the 20th century, when this architectural monument was transferred to the Russian Museum, work began to restore its former appearance. Currently, the Stroganov Palace is a branch of the Russian Museum. There is a gallery of wax figures, where you can see all the famous people who were in this building - members of the Stroganov family, representatives of the imperial family and architects who built the palace. And at the entrance and in the window of the palace there are figures-"deceptions" - a guard in camouflage, a worker and two onlookers. Previously, onlookers and a worker, whom the museum staff gave the name San Sanich, were right in the halls, and visitors to the gallery from time to time took them for real people. After several school excursions were disrupted, it was decided to remove them in the window: seeing the waxy Sanych, the children began to giggle and the stories of guides about the Stroganovs were missed by the ears.