Address: 34 Palace Embankment, St. Petersburg
www.hermitagemuseum.org

The Winter Palace, the main building of the Hermitage complex, was designed by Bartolomeo Francesco Rastrelli and constructed in 1754-1762. The first winter residence of the Czar was constructed on the bank of the Winter Ditch (Zimnyaya Kanavka) in the reign of Peter the Great, in 1711. The second winter residence appeared at the place of the present Hermitage Theater. It was designed by the architect Georg Mattarnovi constructed in 1716-1719. In the 1720s, it was reconstructed by the architect Domenico Trezzini. In 1732, the architect Carlo Bartolomeo Rastrelli began the construction of the third Winter Palace facing the Neva and Palace Square . This palace would be rebuilt several times. The fourth palace was temporary (wooden). It was designed by Bartolomeo Francesco Rastrelli and constructed in 1755 at the corner of Nevsky prospect and the Moika Embankment. In 1762, when the permanent building of the palace was constructed, the wooden building was demolished. The existing Winter Palace is the fifth. It was designed by Bartolomeo Francesco Rastrelli and constructed in 1754-1762. The first owner of the existing Winter Palace was Emperor Peter III. The huge size of this building, as well as special architectural techniques, contributes to the palace looking so magnificent, rich and important. The original façades of the Winter Palace have been almost completely preserved, but the interiors were reconstructed several times. The best Russian and European architects, such as Yuri Felten, Jean-Baptiste Vallin de la Mothe, Antonio Rinaldi, Giacomo Quarenghi, Ivan Starov, Carlo Rossi and Auguste de Montferrand contributed to reconstruction and decoration of the Winter Palace . The dramatic changes in the interiors of the Winter Palace followed the terrible fire which took place on December 17-19, 1837 . The fire almost completely destroyed the palace interiors. The interiors of the Winter Palace were reconstructed after the fire by Vasily Stasov and Alexander Bryullov who significantly transformed the interiors of the Emperor's residence. The palace was seriously damaged due to the revolution and the subsequent events in 1918-1920. The reconstruction works of the 1920s-1950s were supervised by the architect A.V. Sivkov. In 1922, the greatest part of the building (and in 1945 – all the building) was given to the Hermitage Museum . During World War II, the palace was damaged by the enemy's shell and bombs. But the repair works began as early as in 1942, and the first 69 reconstructed rooms of the Hermitage were opened for visitors in 1945. Now, the Winter Palace houses one of the world's biggest collections of the works of art.