Palace square or the heart of Russian Empire

Palace Square ( tr. Dvortsovaya Ploshchad) is an architectural ensemble which arose in the second half of XVIII. (Between 1918 and 1944, it was known as Uritsky Square)

1561

The construction was finished

10

Churches

1990

The Cathedral became a part
of UNESCO World Heritage

Palace Square connects Nevsky Prospekt with Palace Bridge leading to Vasilievsky Island, and is the central city square of St Petersburg and of the former Russian Empire. Many significant events took place there, including the Bloody Sunday massacre and parts of the October Revolution of 1917.

The centerpiece aka The Winter palace is the earliest and most celebrated building on the square, the baroque white-and-azure Winter Palace of the Russian tsars, gives the square its name. The opposite, southern side of the square was designed in the shape of an arc by George von Velten in the late 18th century. These plans came to life half a century later, when Alexander I of Russia decided to turn the square into a vast monument to the 1812-1814 Russian victories over Napoleon and commissioned Carlo Rossi to design the bow-shaped Empire-style Building of the General Staff, which centers on a double triumphal arch crowned with a Roman quadriga.

In the center of the square stands the Alexander Column (1830–34), designed by Auguste de Montferrand.(same architect who constructed St. Isaac cathedral) This red granite column (the tallest of its kind in the world) is 47.5 meters high and weighs some 500 tons. It is set so well that it requires no attachment to the base.