The Saltykov Mansion (особняк Салтыкова, ''Palais Soltikoff'') is a Neoclassical palace situated between

Palace Embankment The Palace Embankment or Palace Quay (Russian: Дворцовая набережная, Dvortsovaya naberezhnaya) is a street along the Neva River in Central Saint Petersburg which contains the complex of the Hermitage Museum buildings (including ...

and

Millionnaya Street Millionnaya Street (russian: Миллионная улица), a street on the left bank of the Neva in the Central District of St. Petersburg in Russia, runs - parallel to the Palace Quay - from the Swan Canal to the Palace Square. Significan ...

Saint 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 ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

. It was built to the design of

Giacomo Quarenghi Giacomo Quarenghi (; rus, Джа́комо Кваре́нги, Džákomo Kvaréngi, ˈdʐakəmə kvɐˈrʲenʲɡʲɪ; 20 or 21 September 1744) was an Italian architect who was the foremost and most prolific practitioner of neoclassical architectu ...

in the 1780s. A few months before her death,

Catherine the Great , en, Catherine Alexeievna Romanova, link=yes , house = , father = Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst , mother = Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp , birth_date = , birth_name = Princess Sophie of Anhal ...

presented the edifice to Prince

Nikolai Saltykov Count, then Prince Nikolay Ivanovich Saltykov (russian: Николай Иванович Салтыков, 31 October 1736 – 28 May 1816), a member of the Saltykov noble family, was a Russian Imperial Field Marshal and courtier best known a ...

, the tutor of her eldest grandsons.

History

Catherine the Great initially granted the land to her personal secretary Pyotr Soimonov who soon sold it to the merchant Philipp Grootten (1748-1815). The latter asked Giacomo Quarenghi to build him the mansion whose neo-classical façade can still be seen from across the Neva.Simon Dixon, ''Personality and Place in Russian Culture'', MHRA, 2010, pages 331 à 335.
In 1793 Grootten sold the mansion to another merchant, Thomas Sievers, who sold it on to Princess Ekaterina Petrovna Bariatynskaia. In 1796, the mansion became the property of Count (later Prince)

(Nicholas Soltikoff), the interim head of the

Sovereign Military Order of Malta The Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM), officially the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta ( it, Sovrano Militare Ordine Ospedaliero di San Giovanni di Gerusalemme, di Rodi e di Malta; ...

. For more than a century (from 1796 to 1918) the mansion remained the property of the Saltykov family. In 1828 the Saltykovs rented the mansion out fully furnished. It was leased by the Austrian government as its embassy in the Russian capital. From September 1831, for a period of eleven years the Saltykov Mansion was the residence of the Austrian ambassador Charles-Louis de Ficquelmont (1777-1857). The Saltykov Mansion became the venue for two of the most famous salons of the period: in the evenings the one hosted by Filquemont's wife Dolly (1804-1863) and in the mornings another hosted by her mother Elisabeth Khitrovo (

Kutuzov Prince Mikhail Illarionovich Golenishchev-Kutuzov ( rus, Князь Михаи́л Илларио́нович Голени́щев-Куту́зов, Knyaz' Mikhaíl Illariónovich Goleníshchev-Kutúzov; german: Mikhail Illarion Golenishchev-Kut ...

's daughter). The Count was recalled to Vienna in 1840, but the Austrian government continued to rent the Saltykov Mansion until 1855. Later, the second and the third floors were rented by the Danish diplomat Otten Plessen. In 1863, the British government leased the Saltykov Mansion and it became the British Embassy until 1918.

Architecture

The Saltykov Mansion is situated in central Saint Petersburg. It stands on Suvorov Square by Trinity Bridge between the south bank of the

Neva The Neva (russian: Нева́, ) is a river in northwestern Russia flowing from Lake Ladoga through the western part of Leningrad Oblast (historical region of Ingria) to the Neva Bay of the Gulf of Finland. Despite its modest length of , it ...

and the Field of Mars. Its official address is 4, Palace Embankment. The building fronts

and has its back on Millionnaya Street. Water frontage on the

was highly prized by the Russian aristocracy, while Millionnaya Street was considered one of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

's grandest addresses. The façade is a remarkable example of

Palladian architecture Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetry, perspective and ...

in Russia. This style, imported by foreign architects, especially during the reign of

Empress Catherine II , en, Catherine Alexeievna Romanova, link=yes , house = , father = Christian August, Prince of Anhalt-Zerbst , mother = Joanna Elisabeth of Holstein-Gottorp , birth_date = , birth_name = Princess Sophie of Anhal ...

, had become very fashionable with Russian nobility by the 1780s when the mansion was built. The façade is shaped with great simplicity, combining harmonic proportions and moderate ornamentation that highlight few decorative elements, such as the piano nobile balcony facing the Neva and the palace's pediments.

Sources

Simon Dixon, ''Personality and Place in Russian Culture'', MHRA, 2010, pages 331 à 335.

References

{{reflist Palaces in Saint Petersburg Government buildings in Russia Culture in Saint Petersburg Neoclassical architecture in Russia Neoclassical palaces Cultural heritage monuments of federal significance in Saint Petersburg