Menshikov Palace, St. Petersburg: excursions, opening hours

2024 Author: Harold Hamphrey | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:06

Traveling across our vast country, it is impossible not to visit the Northern capital of Russia - the city of huge palaces and secluded gates, unpredictable weather and amazing ideas, the city of inspiration, the city of art - St. Petersburg. Someone comes here for the first time, someone has been traveling for many years, but very often the routes of both intersect at specific points on the map. Everyone goes to the Admir alty, to the Winter Palace, to Nevsky Prospekt, visit the most famous bridges, stand in long queues to some museums, while others (no less interesting) remain a little in the shade.

Gift of the king

One of these historical places is the Menshikov Palace - a fairly simple building compared to the buildings of Palace Square, Tsarskoe Selo and Peterhof, but no less interesting from the inside. Once, at the time of the foundation of St. Petersburg, this building seemed an unaffordable luxury and often caught sidelong glances. On theat the time of its construction, there was not a single building of this kind in the city - there was simply nothing and nothing to build them on. However, Peter I generously endowed his favorite, Alexander Danilovich Menshikov.

In our article you will learn (or maybe discover from a new side) about the Menshikov Palace, located on Vasilyevsky Island: a bit of history, interesting facts, opening hours, as well as excursions that are held here.

A bit of history about the wooden building of the palace

A few years before the construction of the Menshikov Palace, a wooden palace was located near this place, the design of which was erected from 1704 and was often subject to changes - the territory had to be reliably protected from the ongoing small raids of the Swedes, who still claimed the land. The final decoration was completed only in 1710. The building had a U-shaped plan, two floors, a high porch leading directly to the second level, and a main entrance in the form of a specially dug Neva canal, there was also a swimming pool in front of the entrance. The building was the first in a series of buildings for high-ranking dignitaries, the best masters worked on it, including famous architects: the elder Rastrelli and Trezzini (indirectly).

New palace building

In the 1710s-1720s, on Vasilyevsky Island, at 15 Universitetskaya Embankment, a new palace was being built, which Peter I presented as a gift to his favorite, Alexander Danilovich Menshikov, who at that time became the first governorSt. Petersburg. This building was already three-story, has survived to this day and has become a repository for many paintings, statues, silks and other works of art. On the first floor, service rooms and workshops were equipped, and on the second floor the family of Prince Menshikov was located.

Alas, the royal favorite did not manage to live long in his luxurious house at that time. After a series of intrigues and conspiracies, Prince Menshikov was exiled to the Tobolsk province. After the incident, the palace in a short time turned into a warehouse, and in 1731 the building was transferred to the land gentry cadet corps. During this period, the palace was rebuilt for the needs of the cadets: they changed the facade, gave it a less luxurious, but more harmonious look.

Major restoration

For the first time, the Menshikov Palace underwent a major restoration at the end of the 19th century, then, until 1966, the building was only slightly repaired, but nothing major was undertaken. In 1966, yet another large-scale work began on the historical monument of architecture. After the restoration, the mansion was returned to its original appearance, and the complex itself was transferred under the care of the State Hermitage Museum. In 1981, the Menshikov Palace Museum was opened in the building, where beautiful interiors of that time, household items, armor, clothing, works of art and many beautiful pieces of masterful work are carefully preserved.

Menshikov Palace. Working hours

Monday is a day off at the Menshikov Palace.

Tuesday, Thursday andweekends the museum is open from 10:30 to 18:00 (tickets can be purchased at the box office until 17:00).

Wednesdays and Fridays - from 10:30 to 21:10 (ticket office is open until 21:00).

The museum's schedule allows you to enjoy the beautiful at a convenient time for you, most importantly - do not forget that the ticket office closes an hour earlier.

Ticket prices

The Menshikov Palace in St. Petersburg has a system of benefits. Pensioners of the Russian Federation, as well as children, students and schoolchildren (regardless of citizenship) can visit the museum for free.

An adult ticket to the palace will cost you 300 rubles.

And every month on the first Thursday and the seventh of December the museum opens its doors to everyone - any visitor can enter for free.

Interesting facts

- In St. Petersburg, the Menshikov Palace was built for so long because of the capricious nature of its owner - Prince Menshikov. During the construction of the building, something constantly had to be changed in order to please all the whims of the customer, who was eventually exiled to Siberia.

- The building of the palace is one of the few administrative and residential buildings of the city that have survived to this day since the founding of St. Petersburg.

- The Menshikov Palace is a real treasure in terms of the introduction of new technologies in construction and the use of various expensive materials or their imitation in the interior. Here, many rooms are dedicated to the marine theme, there are halls decorated with tiles on the water theme, and an office sheathed with expensive woods,reminiscent of a cabin on a historic ship, and much more.

- All interiors have been carefully restored, protected and maintained to this day.

Menshikov Palace. Tours

If you are interested in history, want to learn more about the era of Peter the Great and the palace interiors, it might be worth taking a tour of the Menshikov Palace.

It so happened that excursions around the Menshikov Palace are possible only on pre-left applications, but this is not a big problem - you can always meet with your guide at the entrance, arrange a time with him or leave a request on the site yourself and find out about the possibility of holding an event on a particular day. The duration of a lecture about the history of the palace, its inhabitants and interiors is on average about an hour. During this time, you will go around most of the rooms, hear a lot of useful and entertaining information and facts that pictures and walls cannot tell about. The cost of the tour varies depending on the number of people in the group, but one thing is for sure: the larger the group, the lower the cost for each member. So, if you are going to save money, we advise you to team up with others who wish - this way you will simplify life for yourself and others and cheer you up a little.

Palace in Lomonosov

In Lomonosov there is another palace named after Menshikov. It is called the Great Menshikov Palace. It was built in 1711 and is considered one of the most popular in the city.