YUSUPOV PALACE
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Address: Moika Emb., 94 |
The Yusupov Palace located on Moika Embankment is
one of the most beautiful examples of classicism style constructions
in Saint Petersburg. Decorated with six-column portico, the palace delights
with harmony of proportions and silhouette elegancy. On the site where
the palace is situated used to be the mansion that belonged to Prince
Shuvalov. In 1760s the mansion was overbuilt and extended to the design
of the architect J.-B. Vallen de la Mothe. In 1830 the palace became
the property of Prince N. Yusupov, who was one of the richest and the
most powerful persons in Russia. He ordered to throw out a new wing
and rebuild the gala rooms' suite of the palace. In 1858-1859 such architects
as I. Monigetti, A. Stepanov, A. Vaitens and others participated in
the palace interiors planning.
The Yusupov Palace features original interiors of
the 19th-beginning of the 20th centuries. The rooms are decorated in
various styles: baroque (the theater), Empire style (gala halls), Oriental
style (the Turkish study), neoclassicism (some rooms of the ground floor)
and others. The interiors amaze with rich decorations that includes
paintings, carving, marble, mirrors, crystal chandeliers, silk, exquisite
furniture and so forth. The Yusupov family possessed extensive collections
of paintings, sculptures and applied art objects. Some of them are on
the display in the palace exposition.
The palace is worth visiting not only as one of the
best monuments of the palace architecture of the 19th - beginning of
the 20th century but also from the historical point of view. The palace,
to be precise - its cellar, became the setting of the murder of one
of the most scandalous figures in Russian history - Grigory Rasputin.
Nowadays the cellar where the dramatic events took place houses the
exhibition "Grigory Rasputin: Pages of Life and Death". The visitors
can see the wax figures of Rasputin and plotters and other interesting
exhibits.
In 1918, after the October Revolution, the Yusupov
Palace was expropriated, and the art objects from the palace were sold
or transmitted to the State Hermitage. Since 1925 the Teachers' House
was housed in the palace. In 1958 the interiors of the palace were badly
damaged by fire. It took several years to restore the rooms and the
halls of the Yusupov palace. In 1987 the theater of the palace was opened
to the public: it became the place for music concerts and literature
evening arrangements. Nowadays the visitors can admire the splendor
interiors of one of the most beautiful palaces in Saint Petersburg.
