The Marble Palace of St. Petersburg. Guide to St. Petersburg

The first building in the Northern capital, whose facade and interior interiors were richly decorated with a natural stone, was the Marble Palace of St. Petersburg. It was erected on the site of the Pitney Court, where the Emperor Peter I organized assemblies (receptions and balls) and various holidays. Later, with the construction of a pier for two post frigates (regular flights from Lubeck and Dansing), the courtyard became known as Postal (Post-Gauz).

Gift to the favorite

A palace was built for Count G. G. Orlov on the orders of Catherine II. Therefore, such a luxury is understandable. On the decoration of the palace went marble 32 varieties: Karelian, Ural and Siberian breeds, as well as Pribaikalsky lapis lazuli. From abroad, Italian and Greek stones were brought. Expensive natural material of various shades turned into a fairy tale Marble Palace of St. Petersburg. It was built in good faith and for a long time - from 1768 to 1785. Grigory Orlov died in 1783, not surviving the completion of the construction of 2 years.

A worthy reciprocal gesture

The Empress gave the magic castle to her grandson Konstantin Pavlovich, and he remained forever for the descendants (Grand Dukes of the Romanovs) a generic nest. But he still thought of it as a gift to GG Orlov, a man who played with his brother a huge role in the events of 1762, as a result of which the representative of the poor German family, Sofia Frederic Augustus, became the Russian Empress Catherine II. The history of the palace is very interesting. First, on the pediment, the following inscription was supposed: "They will be built up with thanksgiving friendship". But as a result, it was knocked out: "The building of gratitude." The richest, by the efforts of the Empress, Grigory Grigoryevich Orlov presented her with a diamond of 189.62 carats, called Nadir Shah. Known now as a diamond "Orlov". It is the largest of the seven gemstones of the Diamond Fund. He decorated the scepter of Catherine. At that time its value of 460,000 rubles did not quite fall short of the cost of the palace. Worthy reciprocal gesture favorite.

Karelian marble

To finish the facade of the building, a lot of Karelian marble, or the Tivdi stone, which had mostly pink and reddish shades, went. The deposits of the mineral were discovered by the merchant Martyanov in the middle of the 18th century near the villages of Tivdiya and Belaya Gora and were very suitable for the city being built on the swamps. Not only the Marble Palace of St. Petersburg, but other buildings and squares of this city-museum were trimmed with stone from the banks of the Tivdiyki River. These are the cathedrals of St. Isaac's and Kazan's, the palaces of Mikhailovsky (the Engineers' Castle) and the Tauride Palace , the Palace Square and the Hermitage. Stone was also used in the construction of Petrodvorets and Tsarskoe Selo. Unfortunately, in due course this type of marble (having up to 30 shades, including lilac), which is generously decorated with the facade of the building, has faded, while the decor of its other species remained in excellent condition. Selection of the mineral according to the color scheme is amazing. The Marble Palace of St. Petersburg impresses with its beauty, elegance, taste, elegance.

Marble inside and outside

The Palazzo, of course, is a historical and architectural monument. It is included in the Unified State Register of Cultural Heritage Objects. Both inside and outside the mansion are richly decorated with bas-reliefs, sculptures (about 40 works by the famous sculptor V. I. Shubin, known as the author of the famous marble bust of the empress) and decorative compositions. This is not only a most valuable object related to early classicism (or Greek style). It stands out from the succession of palaces precisely because its walls, both external and internal, did not know the plaster - only marble is everywhere.

The famous Italian creator of St. Petersburg

Architect Antonio Rinaldi (1710-1794) came to Russia in 1751 (was invited by Count Razumovsky) and became one of the Italian architects of St. Petersburg. He designed and built 25 large objects in the city on the Neva and in its environs. He designed such unique masterpieces as the palace in Gatchina, the Rolling Hill and the Chinese Palace in Oranienbaum. In the second half of the XVIII century he created the project of the Marble Palace. Rinaldi's architecture is distinguished by the fact that its buildings do not have any smooth walls with a window or door - they are all decorated. After Catherine II ascended to the Russian throne, Antonio Rinaldi became the leading architect of St. Petersburg. According to legend, the Empress herself sketched the sketches of the palazzo. But Rinaldi did not finish work on the Marble Palace, since he fell from the woods and, seriously ill, went to Italy.

Treasury of 190 rooms

The pearls of the palace - the Main staircase and the Marble Hall - were built by the elder brother of Karl Bryullov, professor of architecture of the Imperial Academy of Arts, Alexander Pavlovich Bryullov. He also completed the construction of dozens of rooms from 190 rooms on three floors, which, according to the project of the Italian architect, was to have the Marble Palace (St. Petersburg). The interior decoration of the chorus is very elegant. In private rooms G. Orlov was a winter garden with five cherries and five apples. In other parts of the castle there is a unique picture gallery with 206 masterpieces of the world's greatest artists, a superbly selected library, sports halls - everything was foreseen in the palace. There were Greek and Turkish baths, a Chinese sofa on the third floor and many, many other expensive wonders. The palace is so beautiful that it is an interesting object for tourists interested in history and architecture.

Worthy frame

Therefore, any guide to St. Petersburg has a section dedicated to this masterpiece. And its location is the most remarkable, as a worthy setting for an invaluable stone - Suvorov Square, Millionnaya Street, Dvortsovaya Embankment and Marble Lane. All this splendor is located on the First Admiralty Island, that is, in the historical center of St. Petersburg and one of the most remarkable places of the city, because very near is the Field of Mars, which on the one hand continues Mikhailovsky and Summer Gardens, and on the other - Suvorov Square and The Neva.

Present Times

In the Soviet years, the palazzo was a branch of the Central Lenin Museum. Now the palace is a branch of the Russian Museum. In its halls on an ongoing basis there are such exhibitions as "Ludwig Museum in the Russian Museum", "Collection of Petersburg collectors of Rzhevsky brothers", "Foreign artists in Russia of the 18-19 centuries". These expositions make it very attractive to visit the Marble Palace. Exhibitions of contemporary painters, both domestic and foreign, are held here permanently.

A Hint at Splendor

Time and the environment act on the natural stone destructively, the appearance of the marble decor dims, but it tries to maintain it in a worthy state. The name of the castle is not the only one that corresponds to reality on the territory of the former USSR. There is another Marble Palace. Morshin is a balneotherapeutic center, a resort in the Lviv region. For its decoration in 1939 went 11 varieties of marble, mined not only in the territory of Ukraine. In Ukrainian, it is called the Marmurovy Palace.