Russia 2019 (49) SAINT PETERSBURG - Winter Palace

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We arrived to port in SP at 06:00. Breakfast at 7:30. Hopped on the bus for our tour of the Winter Palace and the Hermitage Museum. The weather was 50 shades of gray with clouds, wind, and rain. On the ride to the museum, we listened to facts, figures, and history of this great institution.

Keep in mind the Winter Palace was the official residence of the imperials (tzars and tzarinas, and their "support team") during the winter seasons between 1732-1917. This photo shows only a quarter of the building, as it forms a rectangle with three more sides like this one.

In the middle is a courtyard. There PtG developed formal gardens in the Western European, especially the French, style.
The River Neva flows along the back side of the palace. Seen from one of the 1,945 windows.

In the beginning, the private art and artifact collections here were strictly for the pleasure of the imperials. Over time, through additions, renovations and political change, the museum (within the Winter Palace) was transformed into the State-owned and controlled Hermitage we see today.

Imagine ... this everyday home of the royals is said to have 1,500 rooms. Here are some interior photos of the rooms that are not filled with art or historical objects.

This is the formal entrance at the Jordan Staircase. Look how tiny the guards are! The walls are 90 feet tall. There are about 117 staircases in the palace.

I'm not about to describe the beauty, extravagance, luxury of the details found throughout the palace and others we would see later. I just don't have enough superlatives. Here is a pergola with malachite columns.

This is the Hall of Twenty Columns with gray-blue granite columns. Found here are some of the giant vases you will see in the next blog entry.

Principal throne room (or Saint George's Hall), where tzars gave audience. Nice view of the imperial Russian coat of arms (used until the Revolution of 1917). Can't tell from this photo, but this was a huge room.

This is the "Small Throne" room (or PtG Memorial Hall). PtG in the huge painting, along with Minerva (Roman goddess of wisdom and strategic warfare).

Armorial Hall. Seating is comfortably 1,200, but in a pinch it can seat 2,000 here.

Two of 1,886 doors.

The Blue Room.

More exquisite details in the lobby to the Hermitage Theatre. 

Catherine the Great never visited Rome, but commissioned copies of hallways in the papal palace, particularly the Raphael loggias. They are not exact imitations, however, because religious emblems were replaced with imperial double-headed eagle insignias. This one is quite reminiscent of what we observed on our visit to the Vatican several years ago.

Back stairs on the way out.