18 points
7 km
1.5 hours
Historical Background
This striking pink building with a Baroque facade was built to a design by the architect Bartolomeo Francesco Rastrelli in 1753–1754. Today it houses one of the branches of the Russian Museum. Historians argue a lot about this building. According to the official version, it was built in 1753–1754, with up to 5,000 serfs working on the site at once. It would be more accurate to say, though, that the building was not built but rather rebuilt from an existing one. The earlier building belonged to Baron Stroganov. The architect Bartolomeo Rastrelli lived in this building on the corner of the Moika and Nevsky from 1742, while building his famous creation, the Winter Palace. But historians don't know exactly when the reconstruction of the building we now know as the Stroganov Palace began. At first 1752–1754 was given; today 1753–1754 is usually cited. Earlier, a two-story house stood on this site. Rastrelli's palace consists of two wings around a courtyard, and its facades, as the architect himself wrote, were “adorned with the most beautiful architecture in the Italian manner.” The facades were originally painted “sand color with a yellowish tinge.” This color was not chosen by chance: across a vacant lot stood the Winter Palace. At that time there was no Palace Square yet, nor many of the other buildings on Nevsky and the Moika. Later the facades of the Stroganov Palace were repainted pink and white. Of the huge Stroganov art collection, not much would remain here: after the revolution many pieces were scattered around the world and sold to private collections.