Palace of Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich
From the facade, the palace of the son of Emperor Alexander III is more than modest, but inside hides luxurious interiors, a stunningly beautiful staircase and amazing details that can take you on a journey through time and tell about the distant 20th century. The palace is so beautiful that at one time it even became the setting for a cult Soviet film.
Address:
St. Petersburg, Angliyskaya embankment, 54, Galernaya st., 55
Who didn’t own a house on the Promenade des Anglais until the first half of the 19th century?
And merchants, and majors, and officials, and colonels. However, in 1830, the house was bought by His Serene Highness Prince Alexander Sergeevich Menshikov. He entrusted the reconstruction of his residence to the architect Glinka, who placed in the mezzanine a marble office, a library, blue and green living rooms, a round hall, a dining room decorated with columns, and on the ground floor - the chambers of the prince's wife Ekaterina Sergeevna. His Serene Highness Prince Menshikov lived for many years in a luxurious palace on the embankment, and after his death the house was inherited by his son, military general Vladimir Alexandrovich, whose heirs sold the palace to the Cabinet of His Imperial Majesty in 1896.
So the palace entered a new phase - turning from a princely residence into a grand ducal residence. At first, the palace passed to Mikhail Alexandrovich, who immediately set about rebuilding his possessions and invited the architect Karl Rachau for these purposes, who remodeled the building in an eclectic style, creating a grandiose marble curved staircase inside the palace - a real masterpiece, decorated on the second floor with atlases and gilded sculpting.
In 1911 - 1913, architect Robert Meltzer rebuilt the palace again, but this time for a new owner - Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich, the younger brother of Emperor Nicholas II.
The facades, wings, and living quarters underwent changes; an arch with a pavilion appeared at the entrance to Galernaya Street, and a garage appeared in the right wing (Mikhail Alexandrovich was a passionate car enthusiast). Alas, the prince saw the newly decorated mansion only with the beginning of the First World War - in 1912, Nicholas forbade him to live in Russia.
An unimaginable scandal then broke out: the prince dared to enter into a morganatic marriage with the divorced Countess Natalya Brasova. However, with the beginning of the war, the emperor forgot family squabbles and forgave Mikhail Alexandrovich, who immediately went to the front and received command of the Wild Division. He came to Petrograd rarely and not for long, staying more in his beloved Gatchina, where he was subsequently arrested by the Provisional Government. The Bolsheviks transported the Grand Duke to Perm, in the vicinity of which the count suffered the same fate as many prominent people connected to the royal family - execution. His widow, Countess Brasova, managed to leave with her daughter and son for Europe. In 1922, the palace was nationalized and transferred to the All-Russian Society of the Deaf, which is located there to this day.
Now in the palace, in addition to the Society, there are private offices and offices. In 1988, based on the story “The Gray Car” by Alexander Green, the film “Mr. Decorator” was filmed in the palace - the building acted as the home of the main character Platon Andreevich.
All that remains of the palace's former splendor of interiors is a picturesque staircase, a dance hall, and a study with a bay window.
Also here you can see marble fireplaces, original wall paneling, an Art Nouveau mirror and many other interesting details remaining from a previous era. Address: Angliyskaya embankment, 54, Galernaya st., 55.
And merchants, and majors, and officials, and colonels. However, in 1830, the house was bought by His Serene Highness Prince Alexander Sergeevich Menshikov. He entrusted the reconstruction of his residence to the architect Glinka, who placed in the mezzanine a marble office, a library, blue and green living rooms, a round hall, a dining room decorated with columns, and on the ground floor - the chambers of the prince's wife Ekaterina Sergeevna. His Serene Highness Prince Menshikov lived for many years in a luxurious palace on the embankment, and after his death the house was inherited by his son, military general Vladimir Alexandrovich, whose heirs sold the palace to the Cabinet of His Imperial Majesty in 1896.
So the palace entered a new phase - turning from a princely residence into a grand ducal residence. At first, the palace passed to Mikhail Alexandrovich, who immediately set about rebuilding his possessions and invited the architect Karl Rachau for these purposes, who remodeled the building in an eclectic style, creating a grandiose marble curved staircase inside the palace - a real masterpiece, decorated on the second floor with atlases and gilded sculpting.
In 1911 - 1913, architect Robert Meltzer rebuilt the palace again, but this time for a new owner - Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich, the younger brother of Emperor Nicholas II.
The facades, wings, and living quarters underwent changes; an arch with a pavilion appeared at the entrance to Galernaya Street, and a garage appeared in the right wing (Mikhail Alexandrovich was a passionate car enthusiast). Alas, the prince saw the newly decorated mansion only with the beginning of the First World War - in 1912, Nicholas forbade him to live in Russia.
An unimaginable scandal then broke out: the prince dared to enter into a morganatic marriage with the divorced Countess Natalya Brasova. However, with the beginning of the war, the emperor forgot family squabbles and forgave Mikhail Alexandrovich, who immediately went to the front and received command of the Wild Division. He came to Petrograd rarely and not for long, staying more in his beloved Gatchina, where he was subsequently arrested by the Provisional Government. The Bolsheviks transported the Grand Duke to Perm, in the vicinity of which the count suffered the same fate as many prominent people connected to the royal family - execution. His widow, Countess Brasova, managed to leave with her daughter and son for Europe. In 1922, the palace was nationalized and transferred to the All-Russian Society of the Deaf, which is located there to this day.
Now in the palace, in addition to the Society, there are private offices and offices. In 1988, based on the story “The Gray Car” by Alexander Green, the film “Mr. Decorator” was filmed in the palace - the building acted as the home of the main character Platon Andreevich.
All that remains of the palace's former splendor of interiors is a picturesque staircase, a dance hall, and a study with a bay window.
Also here you can see marble fireplaces, original wall paneling, an Art Nouveau mirror and many other interesting details remaining from a previous era. Address: Angliyskaya embankment, 54, Galernaya st., 55.
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