The Vorontsov Palace (russian: Воронцо́вский дворе́ц) is a

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 ...

palace compound which occupies a large parcel of land located between

Sadovaya Street Sadovaya Street or Garden Street is a major thoroughfare in Saint Petersburg, Russia, passing through the historic city center. From east to west, it begins near the Field of Mars, crosses the Moika River at the First Sadovy Bridge, then pas ...

and the

Fontanka River The Fontanka (russian: Фонтанка), a left branch of the river Neva, flows through the whole of Central Saint Petersburg, Russia – from the Summer Garden to . It is long, with a width up to , and a depth up to . The Moyka River fo ...

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 ...

. The palace of 50 rooms was built at enormous expense by

Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli (russian: Франче́ско Бартоломе́о (Варфоломе́й Варфоломе́евич) Растре́лли; 1700 in Paris, Kingdom of France – 29 April 1771 in Saint Petersburg, Russian Emp ...

for Count

Mikhail Illarionovich Vorontsov Count Mikhail Illarionovich Vorontsov (russian: Михаи́л Илларио́нович Воронцо́в) (12 July 171415 February 1767) was a Russian statesman and diplomat, who laid foundations for the fortunes of the Vorontsov family. At ...

Empress Elizabeth Elizabeth Petrovna (russian: Елизаве́та (Елисаве́та) Петро́вна) (), also known as Yelisaveta or Elizaveta, reigned as Empress of Russia from 1741 until her death in 1762. She remains one of the most popular Russian ...

's chancellor and maternal relative by marriage. The palace took eight years to build, starting in 1749. After his niece

Elizaveta Vorontsova Elizaveta Romanovna Vorontsova (russian: Елизавета Романовна Воронцова; 13 August 1739 – 2 February 1792) was a Russian noblewoman and lady-in-waiting. She was a mistress of Emperor Peter III of Russia (reigned Febr ...

fell from grace, Vorontsov was effectively exiled from the court and sold his main residence to the crown.

Paul I of Russia Paul I (russian: Па́вел I Петро́вич ; – ) was Emperor of Russia from 1796 until his assassination. Officially, he was the only son of Peter III of Russia, Peter III and Catherine the Great, although Catherine hinted that he w ...

gave the palace to the

Knights Hospitaller The Order of Knights of the Hospital of Saint John of Jerusalem ( la, Ordo Fratrum Hospitalis Sancti Ioannis Hierosolymitani), commonly known as the Knights Hospitaller (), was a medieval and early modern Catholic Church, Catholic Military ord ...

, of which he was Grand Master. Another Italian architect working in Russia,

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 ...

, was then asked to modernise the palace. In 1798–1800, Quarenghi added a Catholic chapel to serve exiled French aristocrats who resided in the Russian capital at the turn of the 19th century (see

Russian tradition of the Knights Hospitaller The Russian tradition of the Knights Hospitaller is a collection of charitable organisations claiming continuity with the Russian Orthodox grand priory of the Order of Saint John. The order emerged when Malta was captured by Napoleon in 1798 dur ...

for details). Since 1810, the Vorontsov Palace has housed a succession of exclusive

military school A military academy or service academy is an educational institution which prepares candidates for service in the officer corps. It normally provides education in a military environment, the exact definition depending on the country concerned. ...

s, including the famous

Page Corps The Page Corps (russian: Пажеский корпус; french: Corps des Pages) was a military academy in Imperial Russia, which prepared sons of the nobility and of senior officers for military service. Similarly, the Imperial School of Jurisprud ...

(1810–1918) and the

Suvorov Military School The Suvorov Military Schools (russian: Суворовское военное училище) are a type of boarding school in the former Soviet Union and in modern Russia and Belarus for boys of 10–17. Education in these schools focuses on mil ...

(1955–present). The palace is screened from Sadovaya Street by an elaborate cast iron grille, and it is separated from the Fontanka Embankment by a large garden. The Chapel of the Order of Malta went through extensive restoration in 2003 and is currently used for organ recitals. In 2013, a Monument to graduates of Suvorov schools and cadet corps by sculptor Karen Sarkisov was erected next to the palace.

External links

*
Official website of the Chapel of the Order of Malta in Saint Petersburg
{{Authority control Palaces in Saint Petersburg Baroque architecture in Saint Petersburg Houses completed in 1757 Cultural heritage monuments of federal significance in Saint Petersburg

See also

External links