The Mikhailovsky Palace is one of the masterpieces of architectural St. Petersburg. Today, without its rather large-scale premises, the Northern capital would look meager, however, only external attributes remained from the original splendor for the most part - the internal layout and decor suffered greatly during the next reconstruction, when it was decided to arrange a permanent exhibition of the Russian Museum within its walls. , which is here today. It is here that more than a complete collection of ceremonial portraits of Russian emperors and empresses, some statesmen and military geniuses is collected. It should be noted that the creation of such a portrait gallery was the first experience for the Russian Empire as a whole, but a really successful experience.
History
Initially, it was assumed that the Mikhailovsky Palace would be the result of the restructuring of one of the St. Petersburg buildings, however, after some calculations it turned out that it would be easier and cheaper to start building from scratch, and not rebuilding or, moreover, reconstruction.
Even Paul I was seriously thinking about building a palace complex especially for his son, Mikhail. Based on these considerations, considerable sums were postponed every year, but the loving father did not live to see the realization of his own plan. The palace was being built already during the reign of brother Mikhail. Another noteworthy fact is connected with this moment: Karl Rossi expressed the wish that the Mikhailovsky Palace, on which he was just starting to work, should be smaller in size and more modestly decorated than the Anichkov Palace, which then served as the imperial residence. After all, if the estate of the brother of the reigning monarch overshadowed the splendor of his own palace, the situation would become somewhat awkward. In the end, this "wish" was forgotten, and the great architect was allowed to create on the scale in which he was accustomed, and he was accustomed to create on a grand scale.
So the project of an ordinary palace turned into another layout of urban planning. On the new map of St. Petersburg, very suddenly there was a place for the palace, and for the square in front of it (now it is called the Square of Arts), and even for two new streets - Mikhailovskaya and Inzhenernaya. And this project was carried out with all possible brilliance.
The White Hall became a real treasure of the Mikhailovsky Palace, the crown of Rossi's creation, which for several centuries amazed and discouraged guests of the palace, including foreign ones. So, at the request of the British ambassador, a model of this hall was even made, which was later solemnly handed over to the British crown. Paintings and furniture made according to the sketches of the greatest architect have survived to this day, as well as some elements of the main staircase, but all that remains is to read about the sublime beauty of everything else in the enthusiastic descriptions of balls and memoirs of people who visited this religious building before its last plundering already in the end of the nineteenth century, when it was decided to place here some of the exhibits that simply could not fit in the Hermitage.
Perestroika was entrusted to V. Svinin, whose surname simply obliged him to commit some atrocity against the culture of this place. And so it happened - the new architect turned out to be a convinced hater of everything that somehow reminded of the genius of Carl Rossi, and therefore most of the bas-reliefs, wall paintings, statues, chandeliers, upholstery fabrics and everything else simply did not survive during this "reconstruction". All these priceless elements of the Mikhailovsky Palace were simply destroyed and ended up with a short flight from the palace windows.
But, despite this, one cannot also ignore the fact that the Mikhailovsky Palace still remains part of the Russian Museum, and the presence in its collections of works by Vrubel, Bryullov, Shishkin, Rublev, Malevich and other recognized masters of the world of fine arts compensates for the violence that was perpetrated over the original building.
Ticket prices
The Mikhailovsky Palace has a fairly good location. So, you can get here using the metro - you just have to get off at one of the nearest stations, namely the "Gostinichny Dvor" or "Nevsky Prospekt". There are two options for visiting it. The first is in a "duet" with the Benois corps. A single ticket for an adult will cost 450 rubles, for a child - 200 rubles. There is also a complex option of visiting, which includes excursions to all buildings located in the complex of the Russian Museum: Mikhailovsky, Stroganov and Marble palaces. Such a ticket will be considered valid for three days from the date of purchase and will cost 600 rubles for an adult and half the price for students and schoolchildren. Tuesday is considered a day off, on other days of the week (not counting Thursday - the work schedule on this day changes) Mikhailovsky Palace is open for visits from ten in the morning to six in the afternoon.
