The history of the Smolny Palace, which is located in St. Petersburg, is known to a small extent by almost every inhabitant of the former Soviet Union, who studied and grew up in those days. After all, it was the main building during the formation of Soviet power. But this palace has a much richer and more interesting history than most people know.
Smolny Palace in St. Petersburg: photo and description
It is considered one of the most interesting architectural monuments of St. Petersburg. Historically, it consists not only of a palace, but of an architectural ensemble, which includes the Smolny Convent and the Smolny Institute. Its history is interesting from different points of view: both in its magnificent architecture and in the history of those who stayed in its halls in certain periods of time.
The name itself - Smolny - is due to the fact that once in its place, even during the construction of St. Petersburg, there were rooms for storing resin from wood, which was collected for the fleet.
The history of the well-known palace in St. Petersburg
The Smolny Palace in St. Petersburg was built at the very beginning of the nineteenth century, but it was conceived long before that.
Back in 1747, Elizaveta Petrovna, daughter of Peter the Great, having decided to take the veil as a nun, decided to build a whole tar complex, consisting of a Cathedral, a monastery and an institute for noble maidens. By her decree, Rastrelli began to design the building of the Resurrection Novodevichy Convent. But due to the fact that the seven-year war began, construction was suspended and resumed only in 1762. This was due to the fact that there were not enough funds for its construction. It became active in the sixty-fifth year of the same century. During the period when the monastery was abandoned, the nuns who lived there were scattered around other temples. This was also done because their number at that moment was too small, and it was not profitable to maintain the cathedral. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, the monastery ceased to exist and reopened only in the middle of the century, already during the reign of Nicholas I. This is the largest long-term construction of tsarist Russia. The building of the Smolny Cathedral was built for eighty-seven years. Such was the strange fate of this monastery in those years.
And only at the end of the eighteenth century the construction of the palace began, and before that it was decided that the noble maidens would study at the Novodevichy Convent. It was the first educational institution where they began to train girls. At the beginning, the institute was called the Imperial Educational Society for Noble Maidens. The establishment was closedtype, only for noble daughters. In the second half of the eighteenth century, a department was opened for petty-bourgeois daughters. The idea of creating such an institute belonged to I. I. Betsky. Catherine II believed that they could make good servants and governesses for nobles. Therefore, they should receive appropriate education.
A special building for the institute was built only at the beginning of the nineteenth century, designed by the architect Giacomo Quaregi. In it, at some time, courses for teachers were opened, and the bourgeois class was transferred to study at the Alexander School. At that moment, Empress Maria Feodorovna took over the leadership of the Institute for Noble Maidens. She considered that the bourgeois class should study separately, receiving education only in housekeeping and sewing. However, after some time, she again introduced foreign language teaching for them, since it turned out that, having entered the houses of the nobles as nannies and governesses, they could not speak French with their children. The Institute for Noble Maidens is located in the building of the Smolny Palace. He successfully existed in it until the October Revolution of 1917.
The Palace in the post-revolutionary years
As a result of the revolution, the Smolny Palace in St. Petersburg was occupied by the Bolsheviks, who set up a temporary headquarters here to prepare for a revolutionary uprising. As long as the capital was Petrograd, as the Bolsheviks called it, the Bolshevik government headed by V. I. Lenin. In November of the seventeenth year, the second Congress of Soviets was held here. After the Capital moved to Moscow, the city administration was located in the Smolny Palace.
During the period when the Great Patriotic War was going on, it was in Smolny that the defense headquarters was located. From this palace, the city government led the besieged Leningrad. Nowadays, the Smolny Palace is the official residence of the Governor of St. Petersburg. Part of the building is occupied by a museum that tells about all the significant events related to the history of the building.
Address
The museum is open to tourists, but not just from the street. It can only be accessed by prior appointment with a group. Where is the Smolny Palace located in St. Petersburg? Museum address: St. Petersburg, Smolny passage, 1, lit. B, Smolny. By preliminary calls, the group is recruited for a certain time.
Exposures
The exposition occupies only a few rooms, telling about the most important moments in the history of women's education in Russia, the political history of the country. It will be interesting for tourists to see the Gallery of Governors of St. Petersburg.
Among other things, concerts of classical music are held in the halls of the Smolny Palace. Their organizer is the international foundation of V. Spivak. It also hosts various game activities for children, conferences, thematic exhibitions, to which city residents are pleased to be invited to the Smolny Palace in St. Petersburg.
Palace opening hours, ticket price and how to get there
Open daily from 10.00 to 16.00.
22, 46, 74, 136 buses, 5, 7, 16 trolleybuses and 16 trams go to the museum.
You must book the tour in advance by phone: (812) 576-74-61, 576-77-46. When visiting the museum, each person must have a passport with them.
Ticket prices range from 550 (for schoolchildren) to 650 rubles. Retirees, disabled people and students have small benefits.
Photo and video shooting
The museum staff is certainly polite, competent in matters of history and are waiting for you with joy to tell you about what the Smolny Palace in St. Petersburg is like. It is forbidden to take photos inside, however, as in most major museums in the world. In general, it is forbidden to take pictures using a flash, as it may adversely affect the preservation of the work, but there are other reasons. In addition, flash photography may interfere with other visitors viewing the exhibits.
When exhibiting temporary exhibitions from private collections, the owners of paintings often prohibit doing so. An important reason is the copyright, which guides the owners.
People's reviews
Tourists visiting the Smolny Palace leave a lot of reviews. As for excursions, they are spoken about very well, tourists also like their content. Just like the palace itself, and its interior. But many tourists say thatit would be much more interesting if the whole palace was open for visits, and not a small part of it.
