Beloselsky-Belozersky Palace

Saint Petersburg, Russia

The Beloselsky-Belozersky palace belonged to the Princes Beloselskiy, a family who claimed descent from Yuri Dolgorukiy, the founder of Moscow. Their first palace was built on the same site by the Fontanka River in 1747, but it was a much more modest affair. The family's fortunes increased thanks to the close relationship between Prince Alexander Mikhailovich Beloselskiy-Belozerskiy and Emperor Paul I, and through marriage to two heiresses to Urals mining fortunes. It was one of those heiresses, the widowed Princess Elena Pavlovna Beloselskaya-Belozerskaya, who commissioned the present palace, petitioning Emperor Nicholas I to allow his court architect, Andrey Stackensneider, to design the building (his only civil commission in the city).

The palace was built 1847-1848, and became renowned for the lavish parties thrown there by Elena Pavlovna. A few decades later, however, the family found the palace too expensive to maintain, and it was sold to Grand Duke Sergey Alexandrovich, brother of Emperor Alexander III, in 1884. He had part of the interiors redesigned in 1888, and in 1897 the facades were restored and first painted in the deep pink that can be seen today.

Nationalised after the October Revolution, the Beloselskiy-Belozerskiy Palace became the headquarters of the Regional Committee of the Communist Party for the centre of Leningrad. In this role, its historic interiors were carefully maintained during the 20th century, despite significant damage in the Second World War, and the original rococo decorations have largely survived intact. The building is now home to a Municipal Cultural Centre (along with several smaller institutions), and hosts regular concerts of chamber music as well as offering occasional guided tours of the state rooms (three or four times per month or by appointment).

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Address

Nevski prospekt 41, Saint Petersburg, Russia
See all sites in Saint Petersburg

Details

Founded: 1747
Category: Palaces, manors and town halls in Russia

More Information

en.wikipedia.org
www.saint-petersburg.com

Rating

4.7/5 (based on Google user reviews)

Interesting Sites Nearby


Winter Palace (1,9 km)
Hermitage Museum (2 km)
Church of the Savior on Blood (1,2 km)
Saint Isaac's Cathedral (2,2 km)
Peter and Paul Fortress (2,5 km)
Peter and Paul Cathedral (2,5 km)
Russian Museum (0,9 km)
Kazan Cathedral (1,1 km)
St. Catherine's Church (0,9 km)


Peterhof Palace (24,9 km)
Catherine Palace (24,3 km)
Gatchina Palace (43,2 km)
House of Soviets (9 km)
Bip Castle (28,6 km)
Piskaryovskoye Memorial Cemetery (8,3 km)

User Reviews

Natalie Petrova (3 years ago)
The excursion to the Palace lasts about an hour, but it is certainly worth a visit. The interior decorations are amazing.
BradJill Travels (3 years ago)
The Beloselsky-Belozersky Palace is an attractive pink-coloured building situated along the bank of the Fontanka River near the famous Anichkov Bridge and Nevsky Prospekt in St. Petersburg. It was constructed in 1747 for the Belosselsky family. The building possesses an elegant Neo-Baroque exterior highlighted by half figures of human males holding up the ornate pillars. It is very attractive to see from the outside if you happen to be in this area of the city during your visit to St. Petersburg. Note: If you position yourself correctly on the opposite bank of the river, you can capture both the palace and the famous Anichkov Bridge and the landmark horse tamer sculptures in the same picture.
Sa Pr (3 years ago)
First built in 1747 for Prince Mikhail Andreevitch Belosselsky during the reign of Elizabeth of Russia. The palace is now own by the state, and it has a small concert hall that holds concerts and special events.
Hey Jude (4 years ago)
Beautiful building, smells like History
Tommes Januarius (4 years ago)
offering tours only in Russian. nevertheless I joined as I understand some. but mainly I have some knowledge about the history of the palace.thus it was fine. the great halls on first floor are being shown. the palace is in great condition. sometimes there are classical concerts here. worth a visit!!!
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Quimper Cathedral

From 1239, Raynaud, the Bishop of Quimper, decided on the building of a new chancel destined to replace that of the Romanesque era. He therefore started, in the far west, the construction of a great Gothic cathedral which would inspire cathedral reconstructions in the Ile de France and would in turn become a place of experimentation from where would later appear ideas adopted by the whole of lower Brittany. The date of 1239 marks the Bishop’s decision and does not imply an immediate start to construction. Observation of the pillar profiles, their bases, the canopies, the fitting of the ribbed vaults of the ambulatory or the alignment of the bays leads us to believe, however, that the construction was spread out over time.

The four circular pillars mark the start of the building site, but the four following adopt a lozenge-shaped layout which could indicate a change of project manager. The clumsiness of the vaulted archways of the north ambulatory, the start of the ribbed vaults at the height of the south ambulatory or the choice of the vaults descending in spoke-form from the semi-circle which allows the connection of the axis chapel to the choir – despite the manifest problems of alignment – conveys the hesitancy and diverse influences in the first phase of works which spread out until the start of the 14th century.

At the same time as this facade was built (to which were added the north and south gates) the building of the nave started in the east and would finish by 1460. The nave is made up of six bays with one at the level of the facade towers and flanked by double aisles – one wide and one narrow (split into side chapels) – in an extension of the choir arrangements.

The choir presents four right-hand bays with ambulatory and side chapels. It is extended towards the east of 3-sided chevet which opens onto a semi-circle composed of five chapels and an apsidal chapel of two bays and a flat chevet consecrated to Our Lady.

The three-level elevation with arches, triforium and galleries seems more uniform and expresses anglo-Norman influence in the thickness of the walls (Norman passageway at the gallery level) or the decorative style (heavy mouldings, decorative frieze under the triforium). This building site would have to have been overseen in one shot. Undoubtedly interrupted by the war of Succession (1341-1364) it draws to a close with the building of the lierne vaults (1410) and the fitting of stained-glass windows. Bishop Bertrand de Rosmadec and Duke Jean V, whose coat of arms would decorate these vaults, finished the chancel before starting on the building of the facade and the nave.

Isolated from its environment in the 19th century, the cathedral was – on the contrary – originally very linked to its surroundings. Its site and the orientation of the facade determined traffic flow in the town. Its positioning close to the south walls resulted in particuliarities such as the transfer of the side gates on to the north and south facades of the towers: the southern portal of Saint Catherine served the bishop’s gate and the hospital located on the left bank (the current Préfecture) and the north gate was the baptismal porch – a true parish porch with its benches and alcoves for the Apostles’ statues turned towards the town, completed by an ossuary (1514).

The west porch finds its natural place between the two towers. The entire aesthetic of these three gates springs from the Flamboyant era: trefoil, curly kale, finials, large gables which cut into the mouldings and balustrades. Pinnacles and recesses embellish the buttresses whilst an entire bestiary appears: monsters, dogs, mysterious figures, gargoyles, and with them a whole imaginary world promoting a religious and political programme. Even though most of the saints statues have disappeared an armorial survives which makes the doors of the cathedral one of the most beautiful heraldic pages imaginable: ducal ermine, the Montfort lion, Duchess Jeanne of France’s coat of arms side by side with the arms of the Cornouaille barons with their helmets and crests. One can imagine the impact of this sculpted decor with the colour and gilding which originally completed it.

At the start of the 16th century the construction of the spires was being prepared when building was interrupted, undoubtedly for financial reasons. Small conical roofs were therefore placed on top of the towers. The following centuries were essentially devoted to putting furnishings in place (funeral monuments, altars, statues, organs, pulpit). Note the fire which destroyed the spire of the transept cross in 1620 as well as the ransacking of the cathedral in 1793 when nearly all the furnishings disappeared in a « bonfire of the saints ».

The 19th century would therefore inherit an almost finished but mutilated building and would devote itself to its renovation according to the tastes and theories of the day.

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