Vorontsov Palace

Vorontsov Palace is one of the most magnificent buildings of St. Petersburg in the 18th century.

The cultural monument is located on Sadovaya Street. This building is considered the main structure of Vorontsov’s estate. The palace is not only attractive from the facade, but also has an unsurpassed interior, which was decorated with decorative modeling and carvings.

The building has about fifty luxurious rooms and halls, and there is also a huge library. The chambers of the Vorontsov Palace are decorated with expensive mirrors and stone sculptures. One of the most beautiful buildings of the mid-18th century, the author of which is B.F. Rastrelli, has survived to this day.
Among many less than attractive buildings on Sadovaya Street, it immediately attracts attention with its beauty. This is the main building of the estate of Count Mikhail Ilarionovich Vorontsov - Vorontsov Palace. Mikhail Ilarionovich came from an ancient aristocratic family, had excellent manners and delicate taste. In the palace coup on November 25, 1741, which brought Empress Elizaveta Petrovna to the throne, he played an important role, winning the Preobrazhensky residents to the side of the future empress. Elizaveta Petrovna did not forget his merits; she promoted him to chamberlain, then to guards lieutenant (a rank corresponding to a general). In 1744 he was given the title of count. His field of activity was foreign policy. Having entered into a confrontation with Chancellor A.P. Bestuzhev-Ryumin, Vorontsov chose to take a vacation in the mid-forties and travel around Europe. In 1758, Bestuzhev-Ryumin was sent into exile, and Vorontsov, who returned from a trip abroad, became chancellor and later a senator. In the same 1758, all the finishing work in the palace was completed and, as we learn from the St. Petersburg Gazette of that time: “On November 23, 1758, the church in the newly built house of Count M. I. Vorontsov was consecrated. Her Imperial Majesty deigned eat with His Excellency and granted him her chancellor, and for housewarming she gave him a decree for 40,000 rubles.”
The church was dedicated to Saint Michael Malein, the count's patron saint. In our time, since 1994, services have resumed in the church. The construction of a luxurious estate, magnificent balls and receptions led to the fact that Count Vorontsov’s financial situation began to make itself felt: in 1763 he was forced to transfer the palace to the treasury for debts.
The building was empty until 1770. After this time, it was provided to high-ranking guests. The brother of King Frederick II, Henry of Prussia, Prince-Admiral of Nassau-Siegen, and Count Ivan Andreevich Osterman visited the palace. From the St. Petersburg Gazette for 1770, we learn that during the absence of guests, life in the palace did not stop. An announcement was published in the January issue of Vedomosti: “Through this it is announced that in the house of the late Count M. L. Vorontsov opposite the Gostiny Dvor, masquerades will continue on Sundays and Thursdays until Lent, and each person has to pay a ruble for entry.” Under Paul I, who became the Grand Master of the Order of Malta, the palace became the residence of the masters and knights of the Maltese Chapel of the Vorontsov Palace in St. Petersburg of the Order.
In 1798-1800, the Maltese Chapel was built at the palace according to the design of D. Quarenghi, which has been perfectly preserved to this day. The palace became known as the Castle of the Knights of Malta. The gate from Sadovaya Street was crowned with the coat of arms of the order - a white Maltese cross on a red background. In another wing of the palace, Quarenghi designed an Orthodox church in the name of St. John of Jerusalem. The Chapter of Russian Orders was also located here in the palace. With the coming to power of Emperor Alexander I, the activities of the Order of Malta in Russia were prohibited, and the estate again went to the treasury.
Trade shops were located in the outbuildings. Since 1810, the palace was given to the Corps of Pages, formed in 1759. The Corps of Pages was the most privileged military educational institution. It trained guard officers. Only children and grandchildren of the most senior officials could study there. Future guard officers studied here mathematics, military science, philosophy, law, history, heraldry, Russian and foreign languages, state ceremonial, as well as horse riding, fencing and dancing. Over the years, E.A. studied in the Corps of Pages. Baratynsky, Pushkin’s sons - Alexander and Grigory, future Decembrists. In 1827, the building was thoroughly remodeled by architect A.E. Staubert for the needs of this educational institution. On the second floor of the building there were bedrooms for the pupils. During this alteration, the richest interiors of the palace were lost. The Corps of Pages occupied the palace until the revolution. In 1817, Karl Ivanovich Rossi was commissioned to draw up a plan for the reconstruction of the palace for the younger brother of Emperor Alexander I, Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich.
Rossi drew up a project for the reconstruction of the palace and the surrounding area, but the project was never implemented. In 1825, Rossi built a palace for the Grand Duke in a completely different place - this is the Mikhailovsky Palace, the current Russian Museum. The Vorontsov Palace is located in the middle of the site and faces Sadovaya Street with its main façade.
A building was attached to it on the back side, creating an internal closed courtyard from which one could exit into a park open to the Fontanka. Initially, the entrance to the palace was from the inside, from the courtyard, which could be entered through the arch of the main facade on the site of the current porch and main vestibule. The arch was subsequently laid. The front courtyard of the palace is separated from the street by an openwork fence with tetrahedral pillars. Previously, they served as the basis for flowerpots and sculptures, which have not survived to this day. The cast fence and forged gates are made according to Rastrelli's drawing. The yellow walls of the building are set off by spectacular white architectural decor.
The building is decorated with columns, arched windows with complex patterns of platbands, and lion masks on the keystones. A miniature third floor, topped with a pediment with the owner’s coat of arms, was erected above the central part of the two-story palace. The luxury and wealth of the palace were noted by the count's contemporaries.
Carvings, modeling, and lampshades by Tiepolo were used in the design of its interiors. The main floor was the second floor, through which an enfilade of fifty luxurious halls with painted lampshades ran along the entire main facade of the building. Small enfilades were in the side buildings. A magnificent staircase with sculptures and mirrors led to the main second floor into the central double-height hall. This rich decoration of the palace was lost during its reconstruction in 1827 for the needs of the Corps of Pages. Count Vorontsov had the richest library in St. Petersburg, for which a huge hall was allocated. After the revolution, until 1955, the Vorontsov Palace housed various military educational institutions. In 1955, the palace building was transferred to the Suvorov School, which is still located there today. In 2002, the Maltese Chapel of the palace was restored, and the Museum of the History of Russian Cadet Corps was opened there.