Universitetskaya Naberezhnaya 15
Tel. 328- 1112
Open: 10:30am- 6pm Tue- Sat, 10:30am- 5pm Sun
Closed: Mon
Bus: 7, 187
Trolleybus: 1, 10
Metro: Vasileostrovskaya
Menshikov's Palace is one of the first palaces in Saint Petersburg and the only such structure from the time of Peter the Great. Its original owner Count Menshikov was a son of a peasant. He met future emperor Peter the Great while selling pirogi at the market. They became best friends. Throughout life Menshikov was by Peter's side during lavish parties and at the battle field. As you walk through its maze of corridors and numerous rooms you can see a whole transformation from medieval Russian life to opulent beauty of European palace. Overall external appearance of Menshikov's Palace is that of Baroque architectural style with a small park adjacent to the building. Menshikov's Palace stretches for 210 meters along the bank of Neva river. At the time of its construction it was one of the stone buildings in the area. There were no bridges either. Menshikov used a boat to get across Neva river to see his friend and Emperor Peter the Great. The main building of Menshikov's Palace is a two storey building with two adjacent wings- pavilions. One is reserved for house church while another is reserved for Japanese pavilion. After Menshikov's Palace was turned to the state it served as a school for Royal pages and later officers of the Russian army.
As a result of the Northern War, new lands were annexed to Russia on
the coast of the Gulf of Finland and at the mouth of the Neva, the
eleventh part of which was given to the associate of Peter the Great and
the talented commander of the Northern War Alexander Menshikov. Among
them were the territory of a city estate, as well as a country
residence.
The construction of the palace began in May 1710
according to the project of Giovanni Maria Fontana, who was replaced in
1713 by Gottfried Johann Schedel, the “master of the ward and plaster
business”. In 1711, when the first stage of construction work was
completed, Menshikov celebrated his housewarming party, according to
Peter I's Journal, on October 1st. By 1714, most of the construction
work was completed, but the interior decoration was carried out until
1727, when the Most Serene Prince was sent into exile.
The estate
of the Most Serene Prince with a flower garden and a garden stretches
across the entire Vasilyevsky Island from Bolshaya to Malaya Neva. On
its territory there were baths, a honey factory, a bakery, a forge. The
French traveler O. de la Motre, having examined the palace, called it
the main decoration of Vasilyevsky Island. Tsar Peter the Great called
this palace the Embassy House (here they gave audiences to foreign
ambassadors) and held almost all festive feasts and gala dinners there.
In the Menshikov Palace, the wedding was played by Tsarevich Alexei and
the German Princess Charlotte Sophia (in Orthodoxy Natalia Alekseevna)
and the niece of Peter the Great, the future Russian Empress Anna
Ioannovna, with the Duke of Courland.
Here, in 1726, in the
presence of Empress Ekaterina Alekseevna, the engagement of Menshikov's
daughter Maria with Peter Sapega was celebrated. The marriage, however,
did not take place, since Menshikov soon decided to marry his daughter
to the future Emperor Peter II.
By 1727 the palace was a closed
quadrangle with two courtyards and exits to the north, east and west.
The central building overlooking the banks of the Neva is four-story
with a high attic covered with iron. On the western side, a two-story
wing-gallery and "coal chambers" adjoined; only the foundation was laid
under the mirrored eastern wing. The western and eastern wings, also
four-story, were closed by two-story courtyards. The main entrance was
from a high porch with a portico on wooden columns, highlighted by a
balustrade with statues over the wall. The side risalits were completed
with baroque pediments with vases and princely crowns.
Trezzini,
B.-K. Rastrelli, Mattarnovi and Leblon. Among Russian artisans are
Suzdal masons, Kostroma plasterers, Kozlov and Tambov carpenters,
carpenters Dementy Ivanov and Fedot Maksimov, carvers Fyodor Ulyanov and
Yerofey Savelyev, artists Andrey Petrov and Savely Rodionov, tiler
Vasily Yakovlev and others.
Cadet Corps
In 1727, Prince
Menshikov was accused of treason and embezzlement and exiled to Berezov.
His palace and all property came under the jurisdiction of the
Chancellery from the buildings.
In 1731, the architect Domenico
Trezzini rebuilt the building for the Land Gentry Corps (since 1800 the
Cadet Corps), and already in 1731 the building and the entire huge land
plot were transferred to the use of the Cadet Corps. Soon a complex of
new buildings was built on the territory (houses 1, 3, 5 along the
Kadetskaya line).
Later, the main, Nevsky facade of the palace
was changed and received a more simplified look. Instead of a mansard
roof, a gable roof appeared, instead of a central attic with sculptures,
a beamed pediment appeared. Ivan Starov, Vasily Bazhenov, Yuri Felten
participated in the reconstruction of the palace for the needs of the
Cadet Corps in the second half of the 18th century. The interiors were
also rescheduled, but the unique chambers with decoration from the times
of Peter the Great - four rooms decorated with Dutch tiles and the
"Walnut Room" - have been preserved.
Modernity
In Soviet times
(since 1927), the Military-Political School named after A.I. Engels.
Before the Great Patriotic War, the building housed the Military
Transport Academy of the Red Army and the 1st Law Institute. In 1966, it
was decided to give the building its original appearance. The
restoration was completed in 1981. The Menshikov Palace became a branch
of the Hermitage. Since that time, there has been an exposition of the
history and culture of Russia in the time of Peter the Great. Until our
time, only the palace has survived from the Menshikov estate.