The Marble Palace building is truly unique, as it is the first building in St. Petersburg whose facade completely made natural marble. It is worth noting that 32 types of marble brought from different countries were used for the construction.
Originally, on the site of the Marble Palace was a two-story building of the Post office yard, designed by Domenico Trezzini. After a while, the arena was built here, and the post office moved to another place. But the new building of the Arena burned down in 1737.
In 1769, by decree of Catherine II, a large-scale construction of the Marble Palace began here under the direction of the architect Antonio Rinaldi. Marble for the building’s cladding was imported from Italy, Greece and Russia.
There is a version that Catherine II personally made a draft of the Marble Palace project. This Palace was a gift for the favorite of Queen Catherine II-Grigory Orlov.
Later, the Marble Palace belonged to Catherine II’s grandson Konstantin Romanov and his children. After the revolution, the building was nationalized, and all the rich collections were transferred to the Hermitage. In 1992, the house was given over to the Russian Museum.
Author: Govorunova Elizabeth, Devyatkina Elizabeth, Panova Ksenia
Location : St.Petersburg
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