The Palace Embankment was originally called the Upper Embankment. It was built in the depths of the plots, because at the beginning of the 18th century the marshy banks of the Neva had not yet been fortified. It took place in the middle of the block between Millionnaya Street and the Neva embankment. In connection with the expansion of land, already in 1716 it was shifted to the north. In the shallow water of the river, piles were beaten and the embankment that has survived to this day was built.
In April 1707, a decree was issued, according to which strict regulations began on the allocation of plots for building. At the same time, the official and property status of the petitioners became a priority. The same decree established the size of land plots. The narrow side of each allotment faced the side of the Neva bank. The plots were intended only for persons related to the Admiralty department.
Modern building Palace embankment. What is on the left bank of the Neva, began from the first years of the existence of St. Petersburg. In 1705, the first house appeared here, which belonged to General-Admiral F.M. Apraksin, in 1707 the Kikiny Chambers were rebuilt. By the mid-1710s, work was underway to strengthen coastline Neva on the site of the palace embankment. The shores were strengthened with wooden walls, piers appeared along the embankment. Thus, it was possible to move the riverbed at least eighty meters. In the thirties of the XVIII century, instead of Apraksin's house, the Winter House was built for Empress Anna Ioannovna. Since the second half of the 18th century, the embankment has been called Millionnaya.
By the sixties, the millionth embankment was dressed in granite, semicircular descents to the Neva appeared here. But since the construction work of the architect Ignazio Rossi was performed poorly, later the embankment had to be rebuilt according to the project of Yu.M. Felten. As a result, the bank of the Neva "moved away" for another twenty meters.
On the embankment there was the Post Office Yard (on the site of the modern Marble Palace), which is why it was often called the Post Office. In the sixties of the XVIII century, the Hermitage Bridge and the Verkhne-Lebyazhy Bridge appeared, which connected the Palace Embankment with the Kutuzov Embankment.
By the end of the 18th century, a mass of interesting buildings. These are the buildings of the Hermitage, and the Hermitage Theatre, and the Marble Palace, and the Saltykovs' house, and many others. In the 19th century, the palaces of Novo-Mikhailovsky and Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich, the office building of the Marble Palace were built here.
After 1917, the embankment became the 9th of January embankment.
The Palace Embankment is connected to Vasilyevsky Island by the drawbridge of the Palace Bridge, which appeared here at the beginning of the 20th century. The embankment is connected with the Petrogradskaya side by the Trinity Bridge, built here at the turn of the 19th - 20th centuries.

The bridge was built in 1856: the merchants needed a direct connection with the Stock Exchange and trading port. In the manufacture of the structure, the floating St. Isaac's Bridge was used. Then it was modernized and named Palace. A permanent bridge appeared in 1916, although it was planned earlier. The construction was hindered by a variety of events: first - a flood, then - the First World War. In 1917, the bridge was renamed Republican, but in 1944 its original name was returned. Cast iron gratings were installed only in 1939. In 2013, this architectural monument was reconstructed.

 Palace Bridge

The garden owes its name to the fact that earlier the palace guard was bred here. The garden was laid out in 1896 and separated the royal residence - the Winter Palace - from the roadway. The architect Nikolai Kramskoy was in charge of planning, according to the project of which the garden was raised above the street by about a meter. A fountain and tree seedlings appeared in it. The garden fence was made in the Rastrelli baroque style: the leaf pattern was supplemented with the emblem of the imperial family and state emblem. In 1920, the fence was dismantled and installed in. In 2008, the original appearance of the fountain was restored. Now the garden perfect place for relaxation in the center. In summer you can hide from the sun here, and in winter you can admire the multi-colored garlands decorating the branches of trees.



Winter Palace 0+

The main residence of the Russian emperors changed its appearance five times. Construction began under Peter I, and ended under Peter III. Bartolomeo Rastrelli gave the building a modern baroque look.

Many decisive events for the country took place in this place: here the revolutionary Stepan Khalturin tried to kill Emperor Alexander II, a demonstration of workers was shot here in 1905, a little later the Provisional Government, displaced by the Bolsheviks, met in the palace. For 20 years, the Museum of the Revolution functioned in the Winter Palace, which closed in 1941. Now the palace is the main building of the Hermitage, which stores many cultural and historical values ​​and art objects.

 sq. Palace, 2

The museum was built by Yuri Velten and Jean-Baptiste-Michel Vallin-Delamote in 1775. The miniature gallery is fraught with many famous exhibits: the Peacock Clock, the Pavilion Hall, and the Hanging Garden. Initially, unique works of art acquired by Catherine II were exhibited here. Only the elite could see them - it is not for nothing that the word "hermitage" is translated as "a place of solitude". Only in 1852 did the Hermitage become accessible to the public.

 Palace Embankment, 36

The museum was built in 1787 by the architect Yuri Felten. Built in the style of classicism, the building amazes with its interior: the rooms are painted with gilding, decorated with colored stones and skillful stucco. Now administrative premises are located here and works of Italian painting of the 13th-18th centuries are exhibited. Five years after the construction of the building, Raphael's loggias were added to the Great Hermitage, in which there are copies of the artist's frescoes.

Among the famous objects inside are the Theater and Soviet stairs. The first connects the floors of the Great Hermitage and allows you to go to the Hermitage Theater and the Raphael Loggias. The second staircase appeared due to the need for its own entrance to the premises where the Committee of Ministers and the State Council met. Architect Andrei Shtakenshneider finished the staircase with marble, and decorated the lobby with red porphyry columns.

The New Hermitage, designed by Leo von Klenze in 1851, is located behind the building of the Greater Hermitage. Known for its portico with ten atlantes, the museum was created specifically for public visits. Initially, it housed halls of Russian and Western European sculpture, now there is a Knights' Hall with a rich collection of armor and weapons. Also a curious exhibit is the Big Kolyvan vase made of green jasper weighing 19 tons.

 Palace embankment, 34

winter groove

The groove was dug in 1719 and named the Old Palace Canal. It connects the Neva and the Moika and stretches for 228 meters. Despite the fact that the canal is so short, several bridges are thrown across it. The Hermitage Bridge became the ancestor of stone construction in the city: before it, all bridges were constructed exclusively from wood. It was built in the 18th century, like the 1st Winter Bridge. The 2nd Winter Bridge was erected in the middle of the 20th century, but made in the style of the previous two. The buildings of the Greater Hermitage and the Hermitage Theater are connected by an arched structure supporting a transition-gallery. From the side of the embankment, it looks very beautiful: the groove flows under the arch, disappearing into perspective.

 Embankment of the Winter Canal

Hermitage Theater

Originally located here. In 1787, in its place, Giacomo Quarenghi built a luxurious theater in antique style. The Hermitage Theater was intended for the imperial family and the highest nobility: in addition to operas and performances, balls, masquerades, and amateur performances were staged here. The chamber hall is located as an amphitheater and is designed for 250 people. The interior of the theater is framed by marble columns, statues of Apollo and the Muses of Art, portraits of great musicians and poets. Since 1990, performances by the troupe of the Russian Ballet, the St. Petersburg Ballet Theatre. Tchaikovsky, the St. Petersburg Opera Chamber Theater and the L. Yakobson Ballet Theatre.

 Palace embankment, 34

Previously, on the site of the palace was the mansion of Ivan Musin-Pushkin, then - Dmitry Volkonsky, which later housed the French embassy. In 1872, the architect Alexander Rezanov erected a palace intended for the third son of Alexander II, Vladimir. The building was built in the Florentine style, decorated with large Venetian windows and family coats of arms. They called him "Little imperial palace»because the interior decoration was amazing: different architectural styles harmoniously intertwined in the decor of the halls. The Grand Duke was president of the Academy of Arts and collected paintings.

In the first third of the 20th century, the House of Scientists was opened in the palace, where meetings, round tables, open lectures, and debates were held. Now there are several dozens of scientific sections dealing with issues of technology and science. Also in this place, historical films are shot, exhibitions and presentations are arranged.

 Palace Embankment, 26

The palace was erected for the family of Grand Duke Michael, son of Nicholas I. Architect Andrey Shtakenshneider created the building in the eclectic style, combining the trends of various architectural trends. During the construction, metal structures were used, which was an innovation of that time. In 1911, a museum was opened here, the exposition of which tells about the life and work of Prince Mikhail, who for a long time was the governor in the Caucasus. On the this moment The palace houses the Institute of the History of Material Culture and a big library containing many oriental manuscripts.

 Palace Embankment, 18

Marble Palace (Russian Museum) 0+

This is the first palace in St. Petersburg, the lining of which is made of natural stone. Antonio Rinaldi used more than 30 varieties of marble in his work on the exterior and interior decoration of the building. Many of them are presented in the Marble Hall. Forged lattice and marble vases adorn the main entrance to the palace. Previously, the site of the palace was the Post Office Yard, and then the menagerie, where the elephant lived.

The palace was intended for Count Orlov, but he never settled in it - the Count died two years before the completion of construction work. Catherine II had to buy the palace from his heirs. For some time, the favorite of the Empress Stanislav Poniatowski lodged here, and then the building passed into the possession of the Romanov princes. Here lived the grandson of Catherine II, Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich, then the son of Nicholas I, Konstantin, and the heirs of his family.

For 17 years, the Russian Academy of the History of Material Culture functioned here, then the Lenin Central Museum worked. In 1996 the palace became a branch of the Russian Museum. The exposition presents works by foreign artists of the 18th - early 19th centuries. From time to time there are exhibitions of works by contemporary masters.

For a long time, the armored car "Enemy of Capital" stood at the walls of the Marble Palace. The car was installed in memory of Lenin, who spoke on an armored car of a similar model in 1917. Now here is the authorship of Paolo Trubetskoy, who worked on it at the beginning of the 20th century. Previously, it stood on Znamenskaya Square, not far from the modern Moscow railway station. The monument was created as a tribute to the memory of the founder of the Siberian Way. The sculpture captured not the appearance of the emperor, familiar from the ceremonial paintings, but a true portrait resemblance. In 1919, an ironic poem by Demyan Bedny "Scarecrow" appeared on the monument. He was also involved in a holiday dedicated to the tenth anniversary of the October Revolution. The monument was placed in a cage, decorated with a sickle, a hammer and the emblem of the "USSR". Since 1937, the monument rested in the Russian Museum and was returned to the city only in the early 90s.

 st. Millionnaya, 5/1

Trinity bridge

Initially, it was a floating bridge, named Troitsky in honor of the nearby square. A permanent drawbridge was built at the beginning of the 20th century in honor of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the marriage of Alexander III and Maria Feodorovna. The grilles and lanterns are decorated in the Art Nouveau style by the architects René Patoulliard and Vincent Chabrol, the granite columns with bronze rostra and eagles on top by Amandus Adamson. Troitsky Bridge survived two reconstructions. According to legend, it is above this architectural monument Valery Chkalov flew during his famous non-stop flight from Moscow to the North Pole.

 Trinity bridge

The territory belonged to Count Alexander Vorontsov, who renounced his own rights. By decision of a neighbor, Field Marshal Nikolai Saltykov, a garden was planted here. In 1818, the state bought the site, and a square was created on this site, the plan of which was worked out by Carl Rossi.

In the center of the square, a bronze monument to the commander Alexander Suvorov was erected, on which Mikhail Kozlovsky worked. It originally stood on the Champ de Mars. Suvorov is depicted in the allegorical image of Mars, the god of war. It was the country's first monument to an uncrowned person, erected by decree of Paul I in honor of the commander's victorious campaign in Italy.



It was erected in 1788 by Giacomo Quarenghi in the classical style and belonged to the merchant Groten. The house changed several more owners and, at the behest of Catherine II, was bought by the state and presented to Nikolai Saltykov as a thank you for raising Konstantin Pavlovich, the empress's beloved grandson. Alexander Suvorov was a frequent guest of the house, it was here that Mikhail Kutuzov was appointed field marshal of the army. Before the October Revolution, the house was rented by various foreign embassies. Despite the fact that the building was rebuilt several times, beautiful interiors have survived in the White Hall and the lobby. Now the St. Petersburg State University of Culture and Arts is located here.

 Palace Embankment, 4

Initially, a spruce grove grew here. A little later, Domenico Trezzini built a pavilion for Peter I, where the tsar spent hours of rest. In 1750, Bartolomeo Rastrelli erected the Opera House on the vacated space, where European troupes gave performances. For a long time the building was rented by the Italian theater. After 22 years, the Opera House was demolished, and construction began on the mansion of Catherine II's personal secretary, Ivan Betsky. Among the official's guests were Denis Diderot and Ivan Krylov. It was here that the fabulist took up publishing activities and published the magazines Spectator and St. Petersburg Mercury.

In 1830, the mansion was purchased by the state treasury and presented to the Prince of Oldenburg. Architect Vasily Stasov redecorated the building. The son of the Prince of Oldenburg sold the mansion to the Provisional Government for 1.5 million rubles. After the October Revolution, the inner chambers were divided into communal apartments, then a museum and a circle named after Saltykov-Shchedrin appeared in the former palace. In the second half of the 20th century, the mansion was connected to the Saltykov house, so a wing of the St. Petersburg State University of Culture and Arts is also located here.

One of oldest buildings The city was built in 1714. Dominico Trezzini created a baroque palace, very simple and modest inside. Outside, the building is decorated with bas-reliefs depicting the events of the Northern War. The palace has 14 rooms and 2 kitchens. The palace was built for the rest of Peter I in the summer. After the death of the king, dignitaries lived here, and under Alexander I the palace became public. In 1934 a museum was opened there. In the middle of the 20th century, a major restoration was carried out. Now the building is a branch of the Russian Museum.

It was conceived as a regular park and the personal residence of the king. In 1704 official landscaping work began. Within 15 years, the garden acquired the desired appearance. They began to let visitors into it, they did it selectively and on Sundays. Jean-Baptiste Leblon was engaged in the composition of the Summer Garden, and Bartolomeo Rastrelli created a wooden palace for Anna Ioannovna, the Amphitheater cascade and the Crown fountain. The garden was filled with Venetian sculptures, becoming, along with fountains, its main decoration. Later, the flood destroyed the fountains and the Grotto pavilion, which it was decided not to restore. The fence appeared in 1784, and in 1855 a monument to Krylov was erected here. Gradually, the garden acquired the features of a landscape English park and fully opened its doors to the public. In 2012, the reconstruction of the Summer Garden was completed, the layout of which was given its original appearance.

 emb. Kutuzova, d. 2

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Photo 21.07.2011:

Photo May 2015:

Palace embankment- one of the most famous streets. It stretches along the left bank of the Neva River from to. It is a continuation, and after it begins.

There are many architectural monuments and attractions on the Palace Embankment:

• house number 2 - Palace of the Prince of Oldenburg
• house number 4 - House of Count Saltykov
• house number 8 - Cantemir Palace
• house number 10 - Gagarin's Mansion
• house number 12 - Saltykova's house
• house number 16 - Ushakov's Mansion
• house number 18 - Novo-Mikhailovsky Palace
• house number 20 - Moshkov House
• house number 22 - Chertkov's Mansion
• house number 24 - Trofimov's Mansion
• house number 26 - Palace of Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich
• house number 28 - Spare house of the palace of Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich
• Upper Swan Bridge
• Sculpture "The First Horsewoman"
• Monument to Emperor Alexander III

Palace embankment(Based on the materials of the book “St. Petersburg and suburbs: A guide to cultural and historical monuments / Yu.G. Ivanov, O.Yu. Ivanova, R.A. Khalkhatov. - Smolensk: Rusich, 2010. - 336 p.: ill. — ( Memorable places Russia)"):

In 1763, after the completion of the construction of the next one, the creation of a granite embankment began. For four years, under the guidance of master T. Nasonov, the capital (now Palace) embankment, 1.6 km long, was laid out of granite blocks in front of the palace. Above the retaining wall, set with a slight slope, a rounded sidewalk cornice slightly overhangs. The parapet is made of massive blocks with rounded edges. Rhythmically repeating seven semicircular staircases, the Hermitage horse descent, as well as humpbacked stone bridges across the sources, the Red Canal, and the Fontanka completed the creation of the architectural and artistic appearance of the city's front embankment. Stretching on the left bank of the Neva from to the bridge, Palace Embankment stood without major repairs for almost two centuries and served as a model for the creation of other St. Petersburg embankments.

The appearance of the embankment is formed by buildings outstanding in their artistic value, and, as well as former palaces and mansions of the nobility. From here you have a wonderful view of the wide expanses of the Neva, and.

Palace embankment(Based on the book " Historic quarters Petersburg / A.G. Vladimirovich, A.D. Erofeev. - M.: AST, 2014. - 544 p."):

This name is familiar and dear to every Petersburger. Today it is even hard to imagine that the embankment could bear any other names besides this one. Meanwhile, it first appeared in 1776, when the current architectural miracle of Francesco Bartolomeo (or, as he was called in Russian, Bartholomew Varfolomeevich) Rastrelli already existed.

Initially, since 1737, the embankment was called the Cash Line, which was typical for the front, front streets of the city. On April 20, 1738, Empress Anna Ioannovna, at the suggestion of the Commission on the St. Petersburg building, gave it the name Upper Embankment Street. This was due to the fact that the street was located upstream of the Neva with respect to the Lower Embankment Street (modern).

The name was used until the middle of the 18th century. In parallel, there were options: Upper Embankment Line, Embankment Upper Stone Line, Upper Embankment of the Neva River Line, Embankment of the Neva River Line or simply Embankment Line, Embankment Street, Nevskaya Embankment or Upper Embankment.

But this is far from all the names. In the second half of the 18th century, the definition "Million" was stuck to the embankment - along the parallel one. Accordingly, the embankment was Millionnaya Embankment Street, Millionnaya Embankment line, Millionnaya or Big Millionnaya embankment. The last two options were used in parallel with the Palace Embankment until the mid-1790s.

At the beginning of the 19th century, the embankment was called Bolshoy and Bolshaya Dvortsovaya, and the name Palace Embankment Street was used until 1822. After that, the embankment was finally fixed modern name. For 101 years. For on October 6, 1923, it was renamed the Embankment of the Ninth of January (1905). Moreover, the year was taken in brackets, therefore, when using this name, it was often omitted.

The development of the Palace Embankment began to take shape one of the first in St. Petersburg. Its character was determined by the construction of both the summer and winter residences of Peter I on this bank of the Neva. Due to the proximity to the Admiralty, the highest naval authorities settled here in the first place. A little further, upstream of the Neva, ship masters settled. Among them are Pyotr Mikhailov (the "tsar-carpenter" Peter I himself), Fedosey Sklyaev, Philip Palchikov, Gavrila Menshikov.

The first buildings on the Palace Embankment, as well as throughout the city, were wooden. In the summer of 1705, at a distance of 200 sazhens from the Admiralty, according to the project of Domenico Trezzini, a wooden house was built by Admiral General Fyodor Matveyevich Apraksin. Such a distance from the Admiralty was required by the rules of the "fortification esplanade". In the same summer, the construction of a wooden choir for Vice Admiral Cornelius Kruys began. The house of Apraksin set the red line of the Palace Embankment, while the house of Kruys was located a little further from the low bank of the river in this place. The gap between these two buildings marked the beginning of Srednyaya Street, which ran parallel to the banks of the Neva.

The next building on the Palace Embankment in 1706 was the Post Office Yard. At the same time (in 1706-1708), the wooden house of the Swedish major Konou was moved closer to the banks of the Neva, which became the predecessor of the Summer Palace of Peter I. In 1708, the first Winter Palace of Peter I was built on the site of house No. 32. Srednaya Street was extended to its main facade from Apraksin's house. The latter did not last long, since Peter I did not want to have narrow "medieval" passages between houses in St. Petersburg.

At the beginning of the 18th century, the embankment was called Pochtovaya, since on the site where the Marble Palace is now located, there was a Post Yard. Next to it, in 1711, the Red Canal was dug, which connected the Neva and the Moika. Parallel to it, on the other side of the Tsaritsyn Meadow (now the Field of Mars), the Swan Canal was dug.

After the victory at Poltava (1709) and the capture of Vyborg (1710), active stone construction began in St. Petersburg. Not everyone could afford the construction of an expensive stone house, but the inhabitants of the Palace Embankment had enough funds for this. Apraksin's house was rebuilt in stone in 1712, but four years later the admiral wanted to have more spacious apartments. The new building was moved closer to the river by about 50 meters, which determined the modern red line of the embankment. Then they started building new luxury buildings for Raguzinsky, Yaguzhinsky, Olsufiev, Kruys, Golovin. The construction of these palaces was completed by 1721, when the construction of the palace of Dmitry Kantemir (house No. 8) began at the opposite end of the embankment. This was the first project of the young F. B. Rastrelli in St. Petersburg.

In those same years, the new Winter Palace of Peter I was being built, which was moved to the Neva itself. To do this, the coast was strengthened with wooden walls, equipped with piers. Thus, more than 80 meters were "recaptured" from the Neva. In 1718, a canal was dug between the Neva and the Moika, called the Winter Canal. Through it, in the alignment of the embankment, engineer Herman van Boles built a wooden drawbridge Zimnedvortsovy Bridge.

The development of the banks of the Neva had to be regulated by administrative methods. January 30, 1720 issued a decree of Peter I:

"The Great Sovereign ... indicated to those who, along the banks of the Neva River down from the Post Office Yard, built under the roof of the chamber, so that, of course, in those chambers they built 2 or 3, or 1 chambers by this winter and went to live in them, so that the street leading from the Postal Court to the Winter Tsar's Majesty's house should already be blocked off in those courtyards when it is commanded. stone building. And if someone is ordered to build a wooden one, giving way from the chambers to the courtyards of twenty and not less than fifteen sazhens, and with those embankment chambers from the river, of course, all the places were properly placed and were not occupied by anything ... "[ Quoted from: 2, p. 6, 7]

One of the decrees of 1721 lists all the owners of plots on the embankment [Cited in: 2, p. eight]:

• 1. Yard Postal
• 2. Mr. Prince Volosky
• 3. Yagana Feltin, cochmeister
• 4. Prokofey the Short
• 5. Danilo Chevkina
• 6. Cue ball booty
• 7. Major Ushakova
• 8. Major Volkova
• 9. Life Guards clerk Andrey Ivanov
• 10. Major Korchmina
• 11. Dr. Areskin
• 12. Petra Moshkova
• 13. Lieutenant Prokofy Murzin
• 14. Prince Vasily Dolgorukov
• 15. Count Musin-Pushkin
• 16. Gavrily Menshikov
• 17. Theodosia Sklyaeva
• 18. His Royal Majesty's Winter House

The name of Pyotr Moshkov, who lived on the site of the modern house No. 20, remained on the maps of St. Petersburg in the form of the name Moshkov Lane. Nearby lived the legendary Vasily Korchmin, after whom, according to legend, Vasilyevsky Island is named. Most of the buildings existing at that time were erected according to standard designs and resembled each other. The houses of Peter I and Admiral Apraksin stood out especially.

Until 1724, the Winter Palace of Peter I expanded along the embankment. In it, the emperor died in 1725. At the same time, the newlyweds were temporarily settled in the Apraksin mansion: the Duke of Holstein and the daughter of Peter I Anna.

Petersburg in 1726 is captured in the memoirs of the Frenchman Aubrey de la Motre. He wrote about the future Palace Embankment as follows:

"You find yourself on an embankment 800 steps long and 30 wide, dominated by a number of palaces. Russian nobles built these palaces, as well as a lot of other large houses and public buildings that adorned Petersburg" [Cit. according to: 2, p. 12, 13].

Apraksin's house in 1728 was handed over to Peter II by will. The young emperor never settled here, he moved with the government to Moscow, where he died of cholera. Apraksin's house was empty all this time, since 1731 it began to be rebuilt as the residence of Anna Ioannovna. Domenico Trezzini began these works, continued at the request of the Empress F. B. Rastrelli. To accommodate new premises, a neighboring site belonging to the Maritime Academy was purchased. By 1735, the new Winter House of Anna Ioannovna was built here, the main facade overlooking the Admiralty.

In 1729, the artist H. Marcelius created two drawings that conveyed in sufficient detail the nature of the development of the entire Palace Embankment. They became the first such historical document.

Initially, from 1737, the embankment was called the Cash Line. It ended at the border of the city, which was the Fontanka in the 18th century. The numbering of houses then went against the flow of the river. On April 20, 1738, the highway was named Upper Embankment Street (Lower was the modern Promenade des Anglais). Along with this name, there were others: Upper Embankment Line, Embankment Upper Stone Line, Upper River Embankment Line, Neva River Embankment Line, Embankment Line, Embankment Street, Nevskaya Embankment or Upper Embankment. In the 1740-1790s, the embankment was also called Millionnaya. There were also other names: Millionnaya Embankment line, Millionnaya Embankment Street, Bolshaya Millionnaya Embankment. The last two options were used together with the "Palace Embankment" until the 1790s.

In 1746, Moshkov Lane appeared, facing the Neva between houses No. 20 and 22 along Palace Embankment.

The most notable building on the Palace Embankment is the Winter Palace, built in 1754-1762 by architect F. B. Rastrelli. After the start of its construction, it turned out that the construction site was separated from the Neva by a very narrow strip of coast, inconvenient for travel. In this regard, the architect submitted to the Chancellery from the buildings a plan and a profile of an expanded and additionally fortified wooden embankment.

The plan began to be implemented by the carpenter I. Erich, called from Moscow, who in 1758 provided two projects for strengthening the coast, providing for its facing with stone. Work began in December 1762, until the following May, piles were driven into the ground, and on June 7, a team of masons began to make a foundation for a stone wall. At the same time, the supply of hewn stone for facing began.

The first stone lay on the embankment in mid-June 1763. The construction work was carried out under the supervision of the stone craftsmen B. Manijotti, G. Liceni and P. Korti. The construction of the stone embankment opposite Winter Palace completed, most likely, in 1764. But due to miscalculations in the design, very soon it began to collapse. In September 1765, in some places, the bank noticeably sank due to the fact that the foundation was not given enough time to settle. Lieutenant-General N.E. Muravyov and engineer-major-general I.M. Golenitsev-Kutuzov, who discovered these shortcomings, reported to Catherine II that it was impossible to repair the embankment, it was necessary to redo it anew.

Most local historians believe that the Palace Embankment was built according to the project of Yuri Matveyevich Felten. This assumption was made by I. E. Grabar at the beginning of the 20th century, without backing it up with documents. Therefore, the authorship of Felten was easily refuted by the historian V.I. Kochedamov. He proved that Felten was mentioned in documents related to the stone Palace Embankment only six years after the start of its creation, when the embankment wall from the Foundry Yard to the Admiralty had already been built.

So who actually became the author of the Palace Embankment project? Various local historians proposed such candidates as J. B. Vallin-Delamot, architect S. A. Volkov. The author of the book "St. Petersburg of the 18th century" K. V. Malinovsky proves that he is the adviser to the Chancellery from the buildings of Ignatio Rossi. He refers to documents in which Rossi is directly called the author of the Palace Embankment project and the corresponding estimate. For example, the protocol of the Office from the buildings on September 7, 1762: " ... Mr. collegiate adviser Ignati Rossi, who, according to his ability, drafted the banks and bridges for the structure and estimate"[Quoted from: 4, p. 379]. On September 10, he was appointed head of the "Office of the building along the Neva river of the stone bank."

Rossi's initial project involved the creation of a stone embankment wall and a metal balustrade. Descents to the water were straight stairs with the same metal railings. It was proposed to make the piers in the form of doubled descents. The bridge across the Fontanka was designed as a stone one, lifting on chains. Therefore, its central part had to be made of wood.

It is worth noting that at that time not only the Palace Embankment was being built. The project envisaged stone cladding of the entire bank of the Neva from the Foundry Yard to the Galernaya Shipyard. On February 14, 1763, the first piles began to be driven into the shore. Already in the process of these works, their volume increased significantly, since it was decided to drive not one row of piles, but 13. In this case, round pine logs were used eight to ten meters long and 20 to 30 centimeters thick.

During the construction process, adjustments were made to the project. Since 1764, the descents to the water were created not straight, but oval. Fences "for strength" began to be made entirely of stone. The author of these changes is unknown. It is possible that they were offered to Catherine II by J. B. Vallin-Delamot, who was then engaged in the reconstruction of the premises in the Winter Palace. The museum of the city of Angouleme in France contains a drawing of Delamotte depicting an oval descent to the Neva.

In 1763-1766, a stone Hermitage bridge was built across the Winter Canal instead of a wooden one. To improve transport links with the Moscow side, the embankment was extended beyond the Fontanka. At the same time, in 1766-1769, the Prachechny Bridge was built across the Fontanka, and in 1767-1768, the Verkhne-Swan Bridge across the Swan Canal was built. The profile of these crossings is organically introduced into the silhouette of the granite embankment. Bridges form a single architectural ensemble with it.

Already in January 1765, Catherine II checked the finished section of the embankment opposite the old Winter Palace. On February 8, a decision was made to increase the minimum height of buildings being built here. On April 27, 1766, the Commission on the stone structure of St. Petersburg and Moscow determined this height to be ten sazhens.

The construction of the Palace Embankment was fully completed in November 1767. The following January, "architecture assistant" Neelov installed stone pillars tied with iron chains near the slopes in the Neva.

After the completion of the main part of the work on facing the left bank of the Neva with stone, Ignatio Rossi resigned. He was replaced by the architect Yuri Matveyevich Felten, who had to deal with the creation of the famous fence of the Summer Garden. The bank opposite it was carried out into the river bed by 20 meters.

Dvortsovaya became the first embankment lined with granite in St. Petersburg. It is equipped with seven descents to the water. The granite parapet is interrupted only at the Hermitage Bridge, where the cobbled shore is protected only by bollards with chains hanging from them.

The construction of new buildings on the Palace Embankment began simultaneously with its stone cladding. In 1762-1769, the building of the Small Hermitage (house No. 36) was added to the Winter Palace, and then the Great Hermitage (house No. 34). In 1762-1785, the Marble Palace was built on the site of the old Post Office. At the same time, the Red Channel was filled up. An office building (house number 6) was erected next to the Marble Palace. In 1784-1788, the Saltykovs' house (No. 4) was built. The neighboring house of Betsky (No. 2) was also built in the 1780s. In 1783-1787, on the site of the old Winter Palace of Peter I, the Hermitage Theater was erected by the architect Quarenghi, which was connected to the Great Hermitage by an arch.

On October 6, 1778, the highway became officially known as the Palace Embankment. At the beginning of the 19th century, it was also called Bolshoi and Bolshoy Dvortsovaya. The name "Palace Embankment Street" existed until 1822.

In 1799, two buildings on the site of the now existing house No. were merged into one according to Quarenghi's project. This was a gift from Emperor Paul I to his favorite Anna Petrovna Lopukhina for her wedding to Prince Gagarin.

At the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries, the Palace Embankment was painted by the Swedish artist Benjamin Patersen. He created a series of watercolors, in which from Hare and Vasilyevsky Islands the left bank of the Neva is visible.

In 1803, the Palace Embankment was connected to the Petersburg side by the floating Trinity Bridge. Initially, it went to the left bank of the Neva in the area of ​​the Summer Garden.

The site between the Saltykovs' house and the service building of the Marble Palace was originally intended for development. But by the end of the 1810s, nothing had been erected here. In 1818, at the suggestion of the architect C. Rossi, the site became a new square, which connected the Field of Mars with the Palace Embankment. A monument to A.V. Suvorov was erected in its center, the square was called Suvorovskaya.

In the early 1820s, the section of the embankment near the Winter Palace was a construction site. There were barns, sheds, piles of stone, heaps of sand and stacks of boards prepared for the construction of the General Staff building. Nicholas I decided to improve this territory, the work was entrusted to the architect Carl Rossi. According to his project, a wide descent to the Neva was arranged here. Rossi planned to decorate it with sculptures of Dioscuri (youths holding back horses) and cast-iron lions, replicas of those at the Mikhailovsky Palace. The emperor forbade placing the Dioscuri here, the architect replaced them with porphyry vases.

In 1827, in connection with the construction of the first floating Trinity Bridge on the embankment, the fence and lanterns were updated. In 1857-1862, the Novo-Mikhailovsky Palace (house No. 18) was built, in 1867-1872 the palace of Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich (No. 26).

By the 1860s, the development of the Palace Embankment had grown far beyond the Fontanka. At this time, the "fountain" part of the highway was allocated to a separate Gagarin embankment, which now bears the name of the great Russian commander M.I. Kutuzov. At the same time, the numbering of houses that exists to this day was introduced.

After the construction of the first permanent bridge across the Neva, the floating St. Isaac's Bridge was moved closer to the Winter Palace. He was given another name - Palace.

In 1903, a permanent metal Trinity Bridge was built between Palace Embankment and Troitskaya Square. In 1915, in connection with the commissioning of the permanent Palace Bridge, the pier with lions was moved to the Admiralteyskaya Embankment. The route of the new crossing passed just through the old pier.

Of the nineteen houses here, half belonged to the royal family. Thanks to this, until 1917, the Palace Embankment lived according to its own "schedule". In the summer, the palaces located here were empty. Their owners left for country estates, and a large retinue left St. Petersburg with them. At this time, the facades of houses were put in order, repainted. The bridge was repaired. In winter, the palaces came to life. The embankment was filled with luxurious carriages, walking people.

On October 6, 1923, the Palace Embankment was renamed the "Ninth January Embankment (1905)". The year was given in brackets, so it was often omitted. This name was given to the highway due to the fact that the order to shoot a peaceful demonstration on January 9, 1905 was given by Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich, who lived here.

On September 9, 1941, during an air raid, one of the bombs fell in front of house number 14, destroying its facade and the facades of neighboring houses number 12 and 16. After the war, the facades of these buildings were combined.

In 1944, the former name of the embankment was returned - Dvortsovaya.

Justifies its name: there are almost a dozen large palaces in which the most important figures of Russian history of the 18th-19th centuries lived: the offspring of the Romanov dynasty, great nobles, cultural figures. We have selected the most popular.

1. summer palace Peter the Great

A very modest two-story palace in the Summer Garden, where Peter the Great lived from May to October for twelve years, from 1712 to 1725. During the time of Peter the Great, a small canal was dug from the Fontanka to the entrance to the palace, so that the royal residence was located on the peninsula. The Emperor loved it when guests came to him by boat.

Modesty was generally inherent in Peter's buildings. For example, in the Marly Palace there was no main hall at all, and the Summer Palace did not much resemble the residence of the emperor of a vast country. Luxury is in Menshikov. Peter tried to avoid excesses and used only the most necessary. So all the palaces of those times turned out to be small and cramped. Formally, the palace is registered in the Summer Garden, but is located a few meters from the Palace Embankment.

The address: Summer garden, 2

2. Palace of the Prince of Oldenburg (Betsky House, University of Culture and Arts)

Until the 1770s, there was a theater building in which the Italian troupe constantly performed: as a rule, courtiers of Elizabeth Petrovna went to its performances. After the death of the empress and the departure of the Italians, the Rastrelli building was demolished, and in 1784-1787 a house was built here for Ivan Betsky, who conducted classes here for his pupils. educational institutions, and also gradually collected a collection of works of art. Ivan Krylov lived there, who opened a printing house in the building and printed his own magazines.

The house received its second name when Prince Peter of Oldenburg settled in it in 1830. Under him, the architect Stasov built on and reconstructed the building. His son, Alexander of Oldenburg, sold the building to the Provisional Government for a large sum for those times (1.5 million rubles). In 1962, the Leningrad Library Institute was placed here, and the building of the Betsky House was connected to the neighboring Saltykov House. Now here is the University of Culture and Arts, the famous "bag".

Address: Palace embankment, 2

3. Marble Palace

Before the construction of a palace for the favorite of Catherine the Second Grigory Orlov, according to the project of the architect Rinaldi, there was first a postal yard, then an animal yard, where the first St. Petersburg elephant lived for a short time, then the building burned down, and then they cleared a place for the square.

The count did not wait for the queen's gift, but she bought the palace from the descendants of Orlov and gave it to her grandson Konstantin Pavlovich. After that, until 1918, it remained the residence for members of the Romanov House. Then there was the Russian Academy of the History of Material Culture, then a branch of the Lenin Museum was opened, and since 1992 the Marble Palace has become a branch of the Russian Museum, where exhibitions are held mainly contemporary art(Warhol, Ludwig Museum, etc.).

Address: Millionnaya street, 5/1

4. Novo-Mikhailovsky Palace

The third palace built by Stackenschneider for the children of Nicholas I (after the Mariinsky and Nikolaevsky). Its design began after the wedding of Mikhail Nikolayevich. To erect the building, several older buildings in the neighborhood were demolished. The palace itself is an excellent example of early eclecticism and combines in its appearance the features of a variety of architectural styles: baroque, rococo, classicism. In addition, metal structures rare for those times were used in the construction of the Novo-Mikhailovsky Palace.

Mikhail Nikolayevich did not have time to immediately enjoy the beauty of the palace, because literally after settling in 1862 he was forced to go as governor to the Caucasus. He returned home only in 1881, when he was appointed chairman of the State Council. In recent years, he usually did not leave the palace anywhere and sat thoughtfully at the windows of the ground floor. Passers-by sometimes noticed him and saluted him. After his death, the building passed into the hands of his son Nikolai Mikhailovich. And now there is a library of oriental manuscripts.

Address: Palace embankment, 18

5. Palace of Vladimir Alexandrovich

Vladimir Alexandrovich is the third son in the family of Emperor Alexander II. The architect of the palace was Messmacher, who will soon build another grand ducal palace (the future House of Music on the Moika). It turned out to be a modest eclectic building, which, due to its masonry, does not fit into the ensemble of the Palace Embankment.

Subsequently, by decision of the Petrograd Soviet, the palace of the Grand Duke was turned into the House of Scientists. Herbert Wells used to visit here, Academician Vavilov worked here (as chairman of the council). During the Blockade, a hospital was located here. At the moment, there are dozens of various scientific sections in various fields.

Address: Palace embankment, 26

6. Small Hermitage

Despite the fact that this building, the work of Velten and Wallen-Delamote, is the smallest in the Hermitage ensemble, it is here that some of the most famous exhibits of the Hermitage are located: including the Pavilion Hall, the Clock with a peacock, as well as the famous hanging gardens. At first, the Winter Garden was located there, but then, when the building turned from a home residence into a museum, the concept had to be changed. You can look at this garden only from the window.

Address: Palace embankment, 30

The main St. Petersburg Palace, one of the most important museums in the world, a repository of hundreds of masterpieces of artistic culture, is already the fifth in a row. The first was built under Peter, the second - too, the third ordered to be built by Anna Ioannovna, the fourth - temporary - was built by Rastrelli, while he was building a new one for Elizabeth Petrovna. Only Catherine II settled in the current one: Elizabeth did not live to see the completion of construction, Peter the Third was overthrown shortly before the palace was handed over.

The Winter Palace has witnessed almost all major events in the history of Russia since the 18th century. Monuments to the main military victories of the country were built around it, almost all Russian emperors lived here, it was here that one of the most high-profile attempts on the emperor was made (Khalturin exploded a bomb right under the dining room, Alexander II was not injured), a peaceful demonstration was shot near him on Bloody Sunday ”, the Provisional Government met here and the Bolsheviks overthrew it here. Finally, some of the largest rallies for democracy in 1991 and 1993 took place near the Winter Palace. Now there are more concerts and street sports festivals near the Hermitage.

Address: Palace embankment, 32