Stroganov Palace

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

The Stroganov Palace is a Late Baroque building in St. Petersburg, where Nevsky Prospect meets the Moika River. It was designed by Italian architect Bartolomeo Rastrelli in 1753–1754 for Baron Sergei Stroganov.

Before Rastrelli, the site had two older houses: a one-story building from the 1720s and, in the 1740s, a two-story house by Mikhail Zemtsov. Rastrelli’s palace work was slow because he was busy with other big projects.

In the 1790s and 1800s, the interiors were redone in a Neoclassical style by Andrei Voronikhin. His family had connections to the Stroganovs: his mother had been a serf of the Stroganovs, and there were rumors that his father was Alexander Stroganov.

When Alexander Stroganov died in 1811, the palace passed to his son Pavel. Pavel’s only son was killed in the Battle of Craonne, so the estate stayed within the family in a special arrangement called an entail. This non‑divisible estate stayed in the Stroganov line until 1919, when the last Count Sergei Stroganov sold his rights.

In 1820, Carlo Rossi decorated a new apartment for Aglaida Pavlovna Stroganov, but that space later disappeared.

After the 1917 Revolution, the Stroganovs left Russia and the palace was nationalized. It was turned into a museum about noble life, then closed in 1929. Some priceless paintings and objects were moved to the Hermitage. The building was given to a botanical institute, and the Ministry of Shipbuilding used it from 1939 for many years.

In 1988 the palace became part of the Russian Museum and was used to display some exhibitions. A major restoration began in 1991 and continues. The walls are now painted light pink, as Rastrelli originally designed, making it one of the few Baroque buildings on Nevsky Prospect that still keeps its old look.

The main front faces Nevsky Prospect. The entrance arch is supported by two Corinthian columns and is crowned with the Stroganov coat of arms. Under the windows, a man’s profile is carved into the facade. There are two theories about who the figure represents: one says it is the first owner, Baron Stroganov; the other says Rastrelli left his own profile as a kind of signature.