The Winter Palace (Зи́мний
дворе́ц) in Saint Petersburg (Санкт-Петербург), Russia, was, from 1732 to 1917, the official
residence of the Russian monarchs. The present and fourth Winter Palace was
built and altered almost continuously between the late 1730s and 1837, when it
was severely damaged by fire and immediately rebuilt.
The palace was constructed
on a monumental scale that was intended to reflect the might and power of
Imperial Russia. From the palace, the Tsar ruled over 22,400,000 square
kilometres (8,600,000 sq mi) (almost 1/6 of the Earth's landmass) and over 125
million subjects by the end of the 19th century. The palace is in Elizabethan Baroque style.
The green-and-white palace has the shape of an elongated rectangle, and its
principal façade is 250 m long and 100 ft (30 m) high. The Winter Palace has
been calculated to contain 1,786 doors, 1,945 windows, 1,500 rooms and 117
staircases. The rebuilding of 1837 left the exterior unchanged, but large parts
of the interior were redesigned in a variety of tastes and styles, leading the
palace to be described as a "19th-century palace inspired by a model in
Rococo style."
Today, the restored palace
forms part of the complex of buildings housing the Hermitage Museum.
This postcard shows the
Winter Palace circa 1903. It was sent
(14 March 2014) by Eva (Postcrossing).
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