Description of the attraction
The Yusupov Palace on the Moika is another pearl of St. Petersburg, an "encyclopedia" of the aristocratic Petersburg interior. The biography of the palace and its estate began in the Petrine era, during the formation of the young capital. The ensemble of the Yusupov Palace, a noble city estate, one of the few remaining in St. Petersburg, took shape for almost two centuries. Like the rest of the manor complexes in the city center, it is completely connected with the life of famous Petersburgers.
In the history of the biography palace there was a "pre-Yusup period" that stretched over more than a century. At the very beginning of the 19th century, a small wooden palace of Tsarevna Praskovya, the niece of Peter I, was built on the banks of the Moika River. In 1726, she donated this estate to the Semyonovsky Life Guards Regiment, where it was housed until 1742. In the mid-1740s, the estate passed into the possession of the favorite of Queen Elizabeth, the brilliant courtier, Count Shuvalov.
The construction of the modern palace began in 1770 under the direction of the architect Jean-Baptiste Vallin-Delamotte. The estate became the property of the Yusupov family of princes, one of the richest families in Russia, in 1830. Immediately after that, the palace was significantly rebuilt: it became three-story, a new building with the White Column (Banquet) hall was erected on the east side, the wings were connected to the main building and a home theater for 180 seats and art galleries were formed in them, a grand staircase was built from the side of the Moika, the famous Green, Imperial and Blue drawing rooms, the Ballroom appeared, a new garden was also laid out, in which a garden pavilion and new greenhouses appeared. Later, a Moorish living room and a Turkish cabinet were created in the palace.
The last owner of the palace was Prince Felix Yusupov, one of the organizers of the murder of G. E. Rasputin. And it was in this palace that the mysterious, still unsolved murder of the famous tsar's favorite took place.
After the revolution, the palace was nationalized, and a history and everyday life museum with an art gallery was opened in it. In 1925 it was transferred to the management of educators. The museum was closed, as a result of which many values were lost; nevertheless, most of the precious items and paintings entered the funds of the Hermitage and the Russian Museum. After the Great Patriotic War, the House of the Teacher was located in the palace.
Currently, the palace is open to the public, guided tours of its luxurious halls, at the site of the murder of Rasputin, in the basement, the exhibition "Grigory Rasputin: Pages of Life and Death" is open. The theater hosts concerts of classical music, vocal evenings, and performances. Various receptions and cultural programs are held in the palace.
