Palace Square ( rus, Дворцо́вая пло́щадь, r=Dvortsovaya Ploshchad, p=dvɐrˈtsovəjə ˈploɕːɪtʲ), connecting
Nevsky Prospekt with
Palace Bridge leading to
Vasilievsky Island, is the central
city square of
St Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
and of the former
Russian Empire. Many significant events took place there, including the
Bloody Sunday massacre and parts of the
October Revolution of 1917. Between 1918 and 1944, it was known as Uritsky Square ( rus, площадь Урицкого), in memory of the assassinated leader of the city's
Cheka
The All-Russian Extraordinary Commission ( rus, Всероссийская чрезвычайная комиссия, r=Vserossiyskaya chrezvychaynaya komissiya, p=fsʲɪrɐˈsʲijskəjə tɕrʲɪzvɨˈtɕæjnəjə kɐˈmʲisʲɪjə), abbreviated ...
branch,
Moisei Uritsky.
The earliest and most celebrated building on the square, the
Baroque
The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...
white-and-turquoise
Winter Palace (as re-built between 1754 and 1762) of the Russian
tsar
Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East Slavs, East and South Slavs, South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word ''Caesar (title), caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" i ...
s,
gives the square its name. Although the adjacent buildings are designed in the
Neoclassical style, they perfectly match the palace in their scale, rhythm, and monumentality.
The opposite, southern side of the square was designed in the shape of an arc by
George von Velten
Yury Matveyevich Felten (russian: Ю́рий Матве́евич Фе́льтен, german: Georg Friedrich Veldten) (1730–1801) was a Russian Imperial architect who served at the Empress's Catherine the Great court.
Yury Felten was born Georg ...
in the late 18th century. These plans came to fruition half a century later, when
Alexander I of Russia (reigned 1801–1825) envisaged the square as a vast monument to the 1812–1814
Russian victories over
Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
and commissioned
Carlo Rossi to design the bow-shaped
Empire-style Building of the General Staff (1819–1829), which centers on a double
triumphal arch crowned with a Roman
quadriga.
In the centre of the square stands the
Alexander Column (1830–1834), designed by
Auguste de Montferrand. This red
granite column (the tallest of its kind in the world) is 47.5 metres high and weighs some 500 tons. It is set so well that it requires no attachment to the base.
The eastern side of the square comprises
Alexander Brullov's building of the Guards Corps Headquarters (1837–1843). The western side, however, opens towards Admiralty Square, thus making the Palace Square a vital part of the grand suite of
St Petersburg squares.
See also
*
List of squares in Saint Petersburg
References
Sources
*V. I. Pilyavsky (Пилявский В. И.) ''Дворцовая площадь. — Л.; М.: Искусство, 1958 ("Palace Square in Leningrad". Moscow, 1958.)
{{Authority control
Carlo Rossi buildings and structures
Pedestrian zones of Saint Petersburg
Cultural heritage monuments of regional significance in Saint Petersburg