Russian Museum. Marble Palace
B is one of the most famous buildings of the XVIII century. The palace was built according to the calculations of the arch. A. Rinaldi at the order of Catherine II for its favorite G.G. Orlova. It is known that the Empress personally made a sketch of the future building, and the architect embodied her plan. The Count Orlov was so delighted with the work of the architect that as soon as he had taken into account, ordered to establish a relief from marble with a portrait of Rinaldi.
Such a royal gift graph was awarded that Catherine helped the Russian throne. The favorite appreciated the gift and for its part he presented to Catherine II a huge diamond, the cost of which was almost equal to the cost of the whole building. Today, this diamond is called "Orlov".
The construction of the palace began in 1769, the construction works were led by M. Mordvinov. The Empress often came to the construction site and noted good masters by special awards. In 1774, the trim of the facades and the inner halls of the granite and 32 points of marble began, and the white marble was browsed from Italy. The roof was covered with copper sheets, the connection and brand of which was carried out with such an effort that the roof stood without repair until 1931.
The construction of the palace was so long that Orlov did not wait for his completion, died in 1783, April 13th. Work on the construction of the marble was approached by an end, when another misfortune happened: A.rinaldi fell from the forests. Architect without waiting for the end of the construction, went to Italy, leaving behind him great creation.
All rooms, personal chambers, Boudois, stairs, Palace's art galleries are richly decorated with gilding, stucco and statues. On the third floor there were a library, residential chambers, a living room for card games, a Chinese sofa, a hall, where they played the ball. The palace is notable for the fact that there was an Ekaterininsky hall, a famous Catherine and an Orlovsky hall, glorifying Orlov and his brothers.
On the first floor there was a boiler room, a kitchen, a church and office rooms that were equipped with mechanisms that serve water into the garden, bath, kitchen and in the pool.
After the revolution, the building moved to various departments while the architect N. Ansenser, in 1937 he did not rebuild him under the museum, trying to keep the interior decoration in their original form.
Today, exhibitions, meetings of political figures are held in the marble palace, scientific work is being restored.
You can get to the marble palace from Art. Metro - Nevsky Prospekt ".
The gap of the marble palace lasted 17 years. The building harmoniously supplemented the ensemble of the Neva embankment. Granite and multicolored marble of various breeds have become the main materials of the construction and finishing of the premises. Stone originality of the structure over time was expressed in the name "Marble".
In a three-story building built from a motley stone, pilasters and columns alternately alternate with windows. The hour tower, attic, pilasters of the two upper floors of the palace are made of pink Tivy marble. The decor of the windows of the first and second floors is from the White Urals. From the Vyborg Pink Granite - Rapakivi - the base part of the building is performed with a rough structure. Copper frames of all floors are gilded. The appearance of the times of Catherine II was preserved in the interiors and decoration of the central hall. Ural marble gray-silver shade prevailed in the design of the front staircase. Steps - from Brusnenish sandstone color amulet. In niches - marble sculptures of the Fedot Schubin, embodying autumn and spring equinox, as well as the days of the day: Morning, day, evening, night.
The walls are placed on the walls: "Games of Amur" and four female figures on the sides, symbolizing the "spirituality of the Spirit", "Justice", "Prudence" and "moderation".
The marble hall almost completely retained the original stone finish. Its walls are divided by fourteen couples of vertical protrusions, on which oblong gutter with gilded capitals and grounds. On white-mounted wall garlands - eagles, symbolizing the first owner of the palace. Rounded marble bas-reliefs are placed in lines and are located on the walls of the hall. Elegantly complement the decor of the reliefs of the sculptor M. Kozlovsky - "The return of the regulance in Carthage" and "Camill delivers Rome."
In the bulkheads and above the crops are highlighted reliefs from white marble. Color variations of marble around panels are complemented by dazzling lazulites. Plafof S. Torelli "Wedding Amur and Psychia" decorates the upper part of the hall.
During the reconstruction of the intergenerational overlap of the second and third floors disassembled. The daylight began to penetrate the hall from the windows on both sides. The plander was raised to the height of the third floor and placed bronze chandeliers with a crystal. The decorated lepnel of the overlaps of the second floor remained since the rearrangement of the project A. P. Bryullov. Sculptures of knights and two-headed eagles were combined with national Russian motifs.
Received a thorough change - interior and architectural updates - a large white hall. Arched openings and crusades are completely covered with ornaments flattened in the Gothic style. Installed columns from artificial white marble. Six high palladian windows appeared above the attached oak gallery. From the Hall of the Greek Gallery passes in the winter garden.
In the ornamental pushing of the White Hall, Bhorlylov managed to combine the Gothic and original Russian motifs. The architect managed to leave the outdoor part of the building in the style of mature classicism of the XVIII century and at the same time created interiors in the non-monantic style of those years.
The marble palace was built as the gift of Empress Catherine II one of the favorites - Gregory Orlov. But the graph died even before the end of the premises finishes and could not see the palace in complete glory.
Under the emperor Nicolae I, the building of the palace was in disrepair. Capital reconstruction was commissioned by the court architect A. Brylov. He not only restored the building, but also partially redoned it. Preserved mainly layout of premises and design of facades. The surviving finish, including door canvases and parquet, was dismantled. The interiors of the halls were decorated in different styles: classicism, rococo, gothic and late Renaissance.
At the time of possession of the Palace, the Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich was created on the first floor there were several new premises: a musical living room in the Gothic style, a lower library, an English office. The Grand Duke, being a famous translator and the poet of the Silver Age, turned the palace to the center of cultural life of the capital. The intellectuals discussed the books of Russian and foreign authors, music evenings were held in the halls, the performances in which the princely couple with his children participated.
The greatest damage was made by the Marble Palace during the years of exposition of the branch of the Museum of V. I. Lenin. Architect N. E. Lancer was preparing halls for the museum premises and largely retained the decorative decoration of historical interiors. But during operation, the architectural design of the second floor was most affected. Murals painted and artificial marble, broke unique fireplaces, destroyed finishing fabrics.
Since the transfer of a marble palace as a branch of the Russian Museum, a detailed restoration of interiors is being conducted, recreation of the initial layout and the appearance of the premises. Color variety of perfectly treated marble and good location The halls allow the Palace to maintain the status of the most notable structure of the XVIII century.
Now there are permanent and temporary exhibitions of world artists. In the halls of the Museum of Ludwig in the Russian Museum, the pictures of modern artists brought by the Russian Museum of the German collectors Irena and Peter Ludwig are presented. In the middle of the second floor there are a large collection of Joseph's brothers and Yakov Rzhevsky.
Creation Antonio Rinaldi - Marble Palace - a gift of Catherine II to his favorite Gregory Orlov for services for the Fatherland, in other words, for active participation in the palace coup 1762, as a result of which Peter III was overthrown, and Ekaterina rose to the throne.
According to the legend, Catherine itself made the sketch of the palace, and Rinaldi, knowing about it, highly appreciated her work and received permission to build. 
Construction was carried out from 1768 to 1785 years.
The foundation of the building was lacquered with coins.
The marble palace received its name because of the abundance of marble finishes both the facade and inland chambers.
Only for the cladding of the walls 32 grades of marble were used.
Grigory Orlov did not have time to take advantage of the gift, since it did not survive until the end of construction.
Subsequently, Catherine bought the palace at the heirs of the count in the treasury and complained him to his grandson Konstantin Pavlovich.
The Grand Prince settled in the palace only after marriage with Princess Saxen-Zafeld-Koburg (in Orthodoxy Anna Fodorovna) in February 1796. Later, the bad behavior of the empress was evicted grandson from the palace. Konstantin Pavlovich, who at the time of the wedding was 16 years old (his wife 14), shot in rooms from the gun with live rats and mocked her wife. 
And in the XIX - XX, V.V. Palace generally became the generic home of the great princes of the Romanov dynasty from the branch of Konstantinovich.
In the palace, someone has always stayed or just lived.
For example, in 1795-1796, there was a plated leader of the Polish Confederates of Tadeush Kostyutko, who after the death of Catherine II liberated Paul I.
In 1797-1798, the marble palace occupied the former Polish king Stanislav Augustus understood. He dwells here with his yard out of 167 people and 83 representatives of the suite.
For the reception of the king and his environment, part of the marble palace was rebuilt
V. Barn.
During the years of its existence, the palace was repeatedly rebuilt inside: first in the Barnish, for understood, then a small anfilad was rebuilt along the Neva and partly - in terms of millions.
Konstantin Pavlovich in the end returned to his residence, but then, becoming the governor of the kingdom of Polish, left Petersburg.
After his departure, the palace passed the court office and here they began to give apartments to the court fins. And in 1832, after examining the palace, he was recognized as an emergency and overhaul began.
The next perestroika took place in 1845, with Konstantin Nikolayevich, and her brother painting Karl Bryullov - Alexander.
I will not go into technical details.
After Konstantin Nikolaevich Palace owned his son, Konstantin Konstantinovich, famous in the literature under the pseudonym K.R. After his death in 1915, the widow left the palace.
During World War I, a hospital for wounded officers was located in the palace.
After the February Revolution in the ground floor of the Marble Palace, the Ministry of Labor of the Provisional Government.
After October 1917, the building was nationalized. Most of the artistic collections were transferred to the State Hermitage.
Over time, the People's People's Commissariat worked here. After moving the government to Moscow, from 1918, the staff of the authorized drug addict, the management of the Palaces-Museums, the Academy of the History of Material Culture (in 1919-1936), Sociology Society and the Theory of Art, the Central Bureau of Local Studies.
After the Elimination of the Academy, the Marble Palace was transferred to the Leningrad branch of the Central Museum of V. I. Lenin. The building was rebuilt for museum purposes on the project N. E. Lancere and D. A. Vasilyeva.
The front staircase, the marble hall was preserved.
In some rooms, art decoration was installed. The museum opened on November 8, 1937. On January 22, 1940, the entrance was established by a armored car, from which Lenin performed on his arrival in Petrograd on April 3, 1917. In 1983, he was renovated and once again set on the marble palace on April 15 of the same year.
In 1992, the marble palace was transferred to the Russian Museum. Bronvory V. I. Lenin was sent to the Artillery Museum.
And now, in fact, the photo.
At the entrance to the palace, in front of the front staircase - the bas-relief depicting the chief architect - Antonio Rinaldi 
The front staircase is decorated with sculptures f.shubina "Night", "Morning", "Day", "Evening", "Autumn and Spring Equinox"
The door of the time of Rinaldi in the art gallery 
Parafon over the front staircase 
The most beautiful of the halls of the palace is the marble, the walls of which are faced with the Ural, Karelian, Greek, Italian marble and Baikal Lazarith. 
Plafond on the ceiling 
Domestic Crystal Chandelier 
Set of parquet 
Almost all the doors in the palace remained since Rinaldi, they simply led to 
Bas-relief on the wall and fireplace 
Next door to the marble hall there are rooms where the Museum of Lenin was previously located. Since intricate bourgeois phintiflushki prevented the right perception of the image of the leader, all architectural excesses, as well as walls of artificial marble, were painted, as if mothballed. The current restorers simply remove the paint on the ceiling, detecting gilding, 
and on the walls - a tricolor artificial marble is well preserved under the paint 
This is a white (dance) hall. On this day, a banquet was held here 
Stucco over the entrance to the hall 
Lighting in all rooms dim. As the guide explained, now they do not produce ordinary 100 - candlelights, only energy-saving, which ridiculously look in the ancient lamps, so they buy weak, but suitable for design. 
Fireplace with a mirror - original 
Winter Garden 
On the site of the winter garden was before Hanging garden Open-air, created by Antonio Rinaldi. In 1846, the architecture of the hall completely changed Alexander Bullov, reconstructed part of the premises of the palace on the eve of the wedding of the Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich and the Grand Princess Alexandra Josephovna.
The hall was blocked by a caissonated ceiling, resting on 2 cast-iron columns, and from the south side is closed with a glass wall. Instead of apple trees and cherries in the garden, exotic plants were planted in the garden, marble sculptures were installed among the greenery, and the fountain is equipped in the center. The garden was connected to a flower bed with three open arched openings.
In the period when the building occupied the Lenin Museum, the hall stopped being a garden: the fountain and decorative greens were removed, the glass doors were placed by the Ilyich monument, and the pictures of the revolutionary content were shut on the walls. After closing the exposure, the room was not used. Restoration began in 2005
During the restoration work, a fountain was recreated, 4 lashes from uranium glass with gilded bronze and a large three-gravel glazed door leading to the royal room. From the collection of the Russian Museum in the hall 2 sculptures are installed - "Neapolitan fisherman playing on Mandolin" (A. Bok, 1862) and "Amur, leaving the Moth" (M. Popov, 1872).
Caissonated ceiling 
Lamps 
The fountain 
Sculptures M. Popova and A. Bok 
Those the most doors, near which Ilyich mood 
Immediately at the winter garden there is a royal room, 
in which the floor of the Rinaldi Parquet Parquet is preserved. 
Then we went outside and through the arch, framed by niches with sculptures, 
past the Italian courtyard, the view of which opens from the Winter Garden, 
Konstantin Konstantinovich went to the personal rest of Konstantin Konstantinovich and his spouses, Elizabeth Mauriciyevna, neborn Elizaveta Augustus Maria Agnes Saxen-Altenburg.
About the most K.R. It is necessary to write separately, so interesting and versatile man. This is a poet, translator, playwright, an outstanding figure of Russian culture, President of the Academy of Sciences, one of the founders of Pushkin House
They had 9 children with his wife. Children's rooms in the palace were decorated as fabulous terme. Unfortunately, they are not preserved in pristine.
But the personal quartes of the prince and Princess did not imagine interest for the next owners of the palace, so the interior of the male half was completely preserved.
Unfortunately, it was impossible to remove there, I managed only to grab the parties, decorated in a Russian style, decorated with wood, 
Table - original 
ceiling in the library 
and walnut cabinet. 
Photo of the library itself, the gothic musical living room and the personal office of the Grand Prince took
In the rest of Elizabeth, Maurician was removed, yes, in fact, nothing: 
this is a former marriage bedroom 
Very beautiful room, I do not remember the purpose 
Actually, on this excursion ended.
To the courtyard to the long-suffering monument to Alexander III, who replaced here at least a long-suffering armored personnel carrier Ilyich. 
This monument to Paolo Trubetsky was initially in 1909, was established on the Znamenkaya Square (now - pl. Uprisings).
The place of installation of the monument is associated with the merits of Alexander III as the founder of the Siberian railway track from St. Petersburg to Vladivostok.
For the figure of the rider, P. Pottstvo P. Pustov, who has great external similarities with the emperor posed. For the figure of the horse, the prshrelon breed was chosen - heavy and massive, under the figure of the emperor.
The monument caused an ambiguous public reaction - from delight to a sharp rejection.
Nicholas II himself, according to Alexander Benua, expressed the desire to "Send a monument to Siberia." In the city he went a legend, according to the monument to Alexander III was supposed to establish in Ural Mountains, on the border of Europe and Asia, so it is created by such massive and heavy. It was assumed that the monument would be viewed from the windows of the rush train, from a long distance, so the massiveness of the statue would not be so rushed into the eyes.
Peola Trubetskaya himself signed peculiarly about the monument. To the question of what idea is laid in this monument, he was laughing: "I do not engage in politics. I portrayed one animal on the other. "
Poems were rapidly spread around the city:
Stands on the square of the chest
On the chest - hippopotam
On hippopotal - climb,
On the conversion - cap.
In 1937, under the pretext of the reconstruction of the area of \u200b\u200bthe uprising and laying of the tram paths along the Nevsky Prospect, the monument was removed to the store.
In 1939 he was transferred to the State Russian Museum, and the monument was moved to Mikhailovsky Garden.
And in 1994, the monument was installed at the Marmara Palace.
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The marble palace is one of the most beautiful buildings of St. Petersburg. It completes the composition Palace Embankmentwhich starts at the Winter Palace. Missed it seems that the palace seems to grow from the granite of the Neva. Gray-pink granite and marble walls echoes the colors of the St. Petersburg sky.
Marble Palace, Picture of the XIX century
In the Petrovskaya Epoch there was a Pite House. In 1714, a wooden building of a postal court with a pier appeared at this place. In 1716, it was prescribed, on the second floor Peter I organized the Assembly. The embankment in those times was called postal. After the time at the place of the postal court, a playpen was built, which later burned down.
On October 10, 1769, a huge palace began to build a great palace on the orders of Catherine. The architect was famous Antonio Rinaldi. However, according to one of the St. Petersburg legends, the empress personally sketched a sketch of the future structure. Sculptures were performed by Fedot Ivanovich Schubin. The Italian Master Antonio Valley, Austrian I.Dunger and many other famous sculptors and painters took part in the work. More than 100 Kamenotesov worked daily at a construction site.
Ekaterina Great presented her favorite another palace - also built by the project Antonio Rinaldi.
Palace was intended for a graph Grigoria Orlova (1734-1783) As a gratitude for his active participation in the events of 1762. In 1773, he responded with his Empress a huge faceted diamond in 189.62 carats, which is now stored in the diamond fund in Moscow and is the name of the "Orlov".
Long 16 years old have been construction. In 1783, the Count Orlov died, and without waiting for the end of work. In 1785, when the marble palace was ready, Catherine bought it from heirs for 1.5 million rubles.
Monument to Alexander III in the courtyard of the Marble Palace
In 1780-1788, a service corps was built in the eastern part of the project on the project of architect P.E. Georov, where the stables, a playpen, a kasher, hay sheds, etc. were located on the second floor there were apartments for servants. The new building deployed the facade of the Palace, facing the current Square of Suvorov. The grille was installed between the buildings, for its stylist resembling a fence.
In 1796, the Empress presented the Marble Palace to his 16-year grandson, the Grand Duke Konstantina Pavlovich, on the occasion of its marriage with Princess Saxen-Calfeld-Koburg Julian-Herrietta-Ulrik, in the baptism of Anna Fedorovna. However, soon Catherine was forced to take away the gift "For unworthy behavior" - the young prince shot in the corridor from the cannon with live rats, and his 14-year-old spouse was forced to hide in a vase.
In 1797-1798, the marble palace becomes the residence of the last Polish king Stanislav Schnisovsky (1732-1798). For him and his suits, part of the halls was framed V. Breno. Then, A. Voronichin continued to design the palace.
After the death of the concept, the palace returned to the possession of Konstantin Pavlovich and belonged to him until his departure to Poland as a governor of the Kingdom of Polish. In the future, the Palace owned the court office, passing the apartment to the court ranks that interviewed the interiors to their taste.
In 1832, Emperor Nicholas I presented the marble palace to my second son, the great prince Konstantin Nikolayevich. The palace by that time dilapidated, and in 1843-49 his reconstruction began on the project of architect A.P. Brullov. Brullov retained appearance Buildings and, mostly, its layout. A number of rooms he designed in the style of Gothic, late Renaissance, Rococo and Classics. A service case was prescribed, its facade was decorated with pilasters. Technical improvements have appeared in the palace: air heating, pneumatic furnaces, elevator prototype, water supply machines.
After restructuring, the marble palace named Konstantinovsky, although there was a palace with the same name in Strelna.
In 1888, the owner of the palace became the son of Konstantin Nikolayevich - Grand Duke Konstantin Konstantinovich, highly educated person, President of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Poet of the Silver Age. In his rest on the first floor, an English office, gothic and musical lines, lower library were decorated. The palace became one of St. Petersburg cultural life centers.
Marble Palace, pre-revolutionary photo
During the First World War, palace premises were converted as a hospital for wounded officers. After the February Revolution, various services were located in the palace. In 1919-1936, in the walls of the Marmara Palace was located Russian Academy Stories of material culture. Since 1937 - Leningrad branch of the Central Museum of V.I. Lenin. Almost all the floors of the II floor were rebuilt, the interiors are lost. Preserved initial finish only the front staircase and marble hall.
Marble room, photo from the Internet
Before the front entrance on the pedestal, the Armor of Capital was installed, from which on the night of April 3 to April 4, 1917, near the building of the Finnish station, V.I. Lenin was played. In 1990, the armored car was dismantled, and in his place they put the marble "Ford Mondeo" - a monument to the "Century of Motor".
In 1992, the dilapidated building of the Marble Palace was transferred to the Russian Museum, work began to restore initial planning and interiors. The North-West Correspondence University of Technical University is located in the service building.
In 1994, at the place of pedestal for the armored car was established equestrian statue of Emperor Alexander III. It was made in 1909 by the sculptor Paolo Trubetsky and stood on the Znamenkaya Square (now the area of \u200b\u200bthe uprising). After 1937, she managed to preserve in one of the closed courtyards of the Russian Museum.
Transportation of the monument to Alexander III in November 1994, photos of white
Exhibitions in the Marmara Palace
Currently in the Marmara Palace are placed permanent exposition Russian Museum, dedicated to Russian art of the XX century:
♦ "Foreign artists in Russia of the XVIII-XIX centuries",
♦ "Ludwig Museum in the Russian Museum" - a gift of collectors of Peter and Irena Ludwig: works of modern European, American and Russian artists,
♦ "Collection of St. Petersburg Collectors of the Rzhevsky Brothers",
♦ "Konstantin Romanov - the poet of the Silver Age."
In addition, exhibitions of works of modern Russian and foreign artists are held.
Facade of the Marble Palace on the part of the Neva, photo from the Internet
External and interior decoration of the Marble Palace
The marble palace is built in the style of early classicism and is characterized by the wealth of interior decoration, which was supposed to emphasize the power and masculine of its owner.
Special expressiveness Palace gives a combination of finishing stones of different colors and textures. 32 grades of marble, granite, agate went to the outer and interior decoration of the palace. White marble was brought from Italy - it was cheaper than to transport him from Siberia. Other marble varieties were mined from Karelia and Estlandia, white marble for sculptures - from the islands of the Greek Archipelago, Agatha - from the Urals. The copper roof was made in Sestroretsk and was so high quality that he served for about 150 years without repair.
The basement is decomposed with pink granite, which is perfectly combined with the Granite Navel Embankment. Upper floors are lined with gray. The portico is made of pink tivy marble.
Marble Palace by Neva
The thickness of the walls of the palace is 1.5-2 meters. The total height of the building is 22 meters, the height of the Corinthian orders of the upper floors is 12.5 meters.
The main facade of the palace is facing the garden, where the red channel was first held (subsequently buried), which brought the Neva with the sink. Above the entrance to the palace is written: "Gratitude building." Upstairs - a turret with a clock, on the sides of which the figures are melted loyalty and generosity of F.I. Skubin.
According to Rinaldi, the stone finish of the facades of the palace continued. It is distinguished by the restraint of the design. Statues Morning, day, evening and night symbolize childhood, youth, maturity and old age. Between the II and III floors, the sculptures of spring and autumn equinox are established. On the ceiling - the panel of the German painter I. Krista "Court of Paris".
On the first floor of the palace there were kitchens, boiler houses, other office space, as well as church of Introduction to the Temple of the Most Holy Virgin.
The front staircase leads to the second floor where the abrasions of the Paradinary Rooms are located: the Varnish Hall, the Tsarist Living Room ("Hall"), Gallery (Orlovsky Hall), Chinese Hall and Marble Hall. Behind them - the personal rooms of Grigory Orlova.
Lacquer trimmed with wood. His walls were decorated with wooden carved panels, depicting the feats of Alexander the Great (now stored in the State Hermitage). Initially, the ceiling was decorated with a picturesque plander I. Cris "Court of Paris", subsequently transferred to the parade staircase.
"Collected Hall" Deeds Catherine Great. Velvet walls are decorated with vensels of the empress. Under the carved canopy with the crown, there is a parade portrait of the empress, in front of which a pedestal was installed with a vase decorated with military trophies.
Picture gallery Located in the southeastern part of the palace. 206 works are presented here, among which are paintings by Rembrandt, Titian, Rafael. The portrait was 91 portrait of all representatives of the house of Romanov and ruling European monarchs of that time. In addition, there were horse portraits of the Orlich brothers.
Chinese Hall It was finished in a fashionable style at that time and served as a parade dining room.
- The most luxurious room of the marble palace. According to the project A.rinaldi, he was mon-date, was rebuilt into a two-pilot A. Brulylov. Its walls are separated by various marble varieties and are decorated with bas-reliefs originally made for St. Isaac Cathedral. The ceiling decorates the picturesque ceiling "Wedding Amur and Psychia" of the work of S.Terelli.
The marble palace is one of the most beautiful in St. Petersburg. Life in it, however, did not bring happiness to any of its owners. Its walls remember both theft and violence, and even shooting alive rats from the gun.
On the excursions, you will tell you that the Palace (on the site of the former postal court destroyed by a grandiose fire of 1737) ordered to build Catherine II - it was a gift of the Empress Grigory Orlov, her companion and many years of favorite. Orlov was supposed to live on the same street as the Empress, very close to Winter Palace. Writer and historian P.I. Sumarokers in their "Ferris of the reign and properties of Catherine Great" mentions that the Empress itself amounted to the project of the future palace; And she instructed him to assign him to the court architect Antonio Rinaldi. The architect had a lot to work hard to implement a plan for a royal hand in life - it is believed that that is why the building in terms of the wrong form (there are no direct angles). The means to build the palace did not regret - at the disposal of Rinaldi, the most different rocks of stones were provided: granite, agate, lapis and 32 marble breeds with different corners The lights that the Palace is decorated not only inside, but also outside.
By the way, where did the idea come from, instead of plastering, to separate the facades of the Marble Palace? Probably, this is due to the fact that it was during this period in Russia that marble began to produce (until the middle of the XVIII century. This material was extremely imported, expensive and rarely applied). The birthplace of the first Russian marble is the Karelian village of Tivdia. Beautiful pale pink tivdian marble began to supply it to St. Petersburg, it was used to finish St. Isaac Cathedral and other buildings; But it was this palace for the first time that marble outside. Unfortunately, marble has a property to fasten and collapse, especially under the influence of high humidity (and in St. Petersburg, as you know, almost all time runs Rain), so now the palace looks far away, as in the XVIII century.
Marble quarry in Ruskeal is one of the places where Karelian marble is mined.
History of the Marmara Palace in St. Petersburg
The Palace for Grigoria Orlova was built 17 years. During this time, his novel with the empress ended; The public service also stopped - the eagles resigned for health; And in a very solid for that time, the 43-year-old eagles unexpectedly married. His wife was 18-year-old Freillina Ekaterina Zinoviev, who had to him as a cousin. In the light there were rumors that the eagles were forced to marry, as the girl was pregnant; Other contemporaries argued about the insane love of Orlov to their cousin. Be that as it may, the marriage was illegal - the Orthodox Church prohibits marriages between close relatives. Scandal broke out, the case of Orlova reached the Senate, who decided to dilute the spouses and conclude them in monasteries; But here Ekaterina II came out for his former favorite and canceled the decision of the Senate, thereby showing a truly royal generosity. True, the marriage turned out to be short-lived - the princess Orlova died at the age of 23 from Chakhotka; And after the death of his wife, after the death of his wife, came crazy and two years later, died in his near Moscow estate. He could not live in his day in his luxurious residence - by the time of his death, the interior finishing (also, of course, marble) has not yet been completed.
After the death of Orlova Ekaterina II bought a palace in the treasury. According to the coincidence, all subsequent owners of the palace worn the name Konstantin. At first, the empress gave him his grandson, six-year-old Konstantin Pavlovich. The fate of this member of the Romanov family has developed peculiar. He could have become a dealer twice: Catherine II assumed after conquest Ottoman Empire To make your second grandson by the Byzantine emperor (therefore, the boy and received the name Konstantin), however, the Greek Project could not be implemented. Subsequently, Konstantin was supposed to take the Russian throne after the death of a childless Alexander I, but he refused himself from this perspective.
Shooting Rats from Cannus
Konstantin Pavlovich went to his father. He looked at Paul I externally - low, smoky.
Like the Father, he was fond of military affairs, and also differed with a shavily, eccentric character and unpredictable behavior. At the age of 16, he, like other great princes, entered into a dynastic marriage with the German princess (in Orthodoxy - Anna Fedorovna). Young spouses settled in a marble palace, and it was unlikely that this life could be called happy. Freillin and memoirovka Varvara Nikolaevna Golovin testifies: "The behavior of Constantine, when he felt his owner in his own home, showed that he still needs severe supervision. By the way, after some time after his marriage, he was amused in the Manege of the Marble Palace in that he shot from a gun charged with alive rats.<…> To the bad appeal, which the Great Princess Anna was supposed to endure from her husband from the first marriage day, his infidelity and their peculiarity were mixed. Konstantin started communications, unworthy of his Sana, and asked the actors and actresses in his rest. " At the same time, Konstantin jealously, even to his brother Alexander, did not let her go on balls, etc.
At the beginning of the board of Alexander I, another story had happened, which supported Konstantin's reputation. The Grand Duke was carried away by the wife of the court jeweler, the Frenchman Madame Arauhao, who did not respond to his courtship. Then she was brought to the marble palace, where Konstantin had raped her, after which his companions-Guards followed the same thing. From the shock of Madame Arahao on the same day died. The case was hushed up, but rumors about the participation of the emperor's brother spread quickly in St. Petersburg. There are no documentary evidence of this story, but given the identity of Constantine, it is impossible to be called an incredible. The family life of the Grand Duke ended in that Anna Fedorovna escaped from a spouse to Germany, which, however, the Grand Duke was not particularly upset. After some time, the Synod issued a divorce.
Liberal not only in politics
In 1814, Konstantin Pavlovich became the governor of the kingdom of Polish and left St. Petersburg forever. For some time, the palace did not have a permanent owner, until finally, Nicholas I did not give up the palace to his second son - which was also called Konstantin and who was also a very bright person.
Konstantin Nikolaevich, convinced of Liberal, was one of the largest figures of the reform era. He was one of the developers of the abolition of serfdom, one of the authors of the judicial reform, the fleet converter. However, there was a liberal not only in the state sphere, but also in family life. At first, his life with the Great Princess Alexandra Iosifovna was happily ever, six children were born in marriage. But in adulthood, as often happens, the Grand Duke fell in love. By his chief, the ballerina of the Mariinsky Theater Anna Kuznetsova, for which he shot the mansion in English Avenue. Konstantin Nikolayevich lived in fact into two families, and he also had children from Kuznetsova. The "official" family of the Grand Prince continued to live in a marble palace.
It also happened one of the most serious scandals in the family of Romanov. In the marble palace there was an icon, presented by Alexander Iosifovna Nikolai I, in the salary of precious stones. Once several diamonds lost from the salary. The investigation found that the theft was made by the eldest son of the Grand Duke - Nikolai. Parents were shocked. However, to arrange a court over a member of the imperial family was unthinkable for the prestige of the dynasty; And in the end, Nikolai was declared crazy and sent from St. Petersburg.
Sunny poet
The "jewel's kidnapper" was deprived of the inheritance, so the marble palace after the death of Konstantin Nikolayevich went to the next son-Konstantin Konstantinovich.
On debt, he was a general and inspector of military-educational institutions, and by calling - a poet. He published under the transparent pseudonym "K.R." His poems that highly appreciated contemporaries (including P.I. Tchaikovsky, who wrote several romances on his verses). The Grand Duke was in all respects an attractive person - a talented, intelligent, who has a thin mental organization and deeply religious (in his youth dreamed of going to monasticism); In addition, it was perfect for his wife and had nine children. But from the preserved personal diaries K.R. It is known that he was unsuccessful all his life to get rid of interest in male representatives. Although in that epoch, unconventional orientation was no longer perceived as something out of a series of outgoing; But K.R. I sincerely considered myself an unworthy sinner and all my life was tormented by the flour of conscience. Prince-poet died shortly before the revolution and did not know how the story of the Romanov family was tragicly ended (for which Konstantin Konstantinovich once decorated children's rooms in the Marble Palace) were in 1918. Allap was discarded in the mine near Alapaev ...
In 1937, a branch of the Museum V.I. was located in the Marmara Palace Lenin. The museum's creators did not ceremony with historical interiors - marble decoration disassembled, painted painted, sculptural decorations began the beginning of the XVIII century. And the entrance to the palace was installed armored vehicle "Enemy of Capital" - allegedly from him V.I. Lenin performed in April 1917; Although many historians doubt that the armored person is the same.
Of personal experience: For me, as for Petersburger, the marble palace has always been a symbol of those rapid changes through which our country passed. Children's memory, for some reason brightly embarrassed into consciousness: a marble car standing in the yard. Now they remember it a few, but she was! The sculpture of having a show appeared in 1992 and, of course, immediately received the nickname "Freight of Capital".
The marble "Mondeo Foundation" instead of Leninsky Armor - imagine how symbolic it was at that time! I still remember someone about this offered in Berlin to put marble T-34. However, Ford stood shortly. Where his Delhi, I could not find out (another St. Petersburg mystery!), But the place was taken by Emperor Alexander III. Also symbolically - return to the origins, reconciliation with the past. Now they started talking about the fact that Alexander would be nice to return to the original place, to the area of \u200b\u200bthe uprising. I wonder who eats down after him? And will our country calm down sometime?
Today it's all. Come to Petersburg!
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