|
During the war of 1812, the original palace, designed by Rastrelli,
was severely damaged. Nicholas I supervised the building of a new
structure by Konstantin Thon between 1838 and 1849. The Grand
Kremlin Palace was the residence of the tsars when they visited
Moscow. The style of this huge quadrangular edifice, about 370 by
200 feet and with some 700 rooms, is a mixture of Classic and
pseudo-Russian forms. Thus the shape of arches that decorate the
first floor were borrowed by Thon from the Cathedral of the
Archangel; the window architraves resemble those of the old Terem
Palace; and the "Tent" roof over the central part of the palace is
another imitation of traditional Russian forms. Despite all this,
the palace is not so dull as it is often pictured by Soviet critics.
That criticism is often repeated by foreign critics, probably
chiefly because the palace was commissioned by Nicholas I, for whom
a special dose on animosity is customarily reserved. Its location is
beautiful and dominant as it should be, and its interior sumptuous.
A palace, wooden or stone, has stood from the early times on the
same site. Napoleon was the last occupant of the one that Rastrelli
built before it burned in 1812. To the left of a large entrance
hall, the vault of which is supported by four monoliths of grey
granite, was the private apartment of the Emperor; to the right, a
staircase that led to the Cathedral of the Annunciation; and in the
middle, a magnificent granite parade staircase, leading to the
antechamber and from there to several halls, all located on the
second floor. There were five festival halls, named after the 5
highest Russian orders: The Hall of Saint George (Gheorgievskii
zal), Alexander Hall (Alexandrovskii zal) and Saint Andrew the First
Called Hall (Andreyevskii zal), now made into one hall for meetings,
the Hall of Saint Catherine (Yekaterinskii Zal); two smaller halls
and a long gallery of paintings. All the halls were decorated
differently, with materials including marble, alabaster, rare wood,
malachite, crystal, silver and of course, gold. Some halls were
overloaded with stucco decorations. The largest was the Hall of
Saint George, about 200 feet long, 70 feet wide and 60 feet high.
Next was the so-called Hall of the Supreme Soviet, serving for their
meetings, made in 1932-1934 by combining the halls of Saint Andrew,
the former imperial throne room, and Alexander Hall. Stripped of
most of its decorations, the room can seat 2,500 delegates. The
remaining halls have preserved their sumptuousness and the sharp
contrast is obvious when these glittering halls are compared with
the simplicity of the large chamber that seated the Supreme Soviet
until the Palace of Congresses was built. However, one thing was
never lacking in Soviet establishments - the statue of Lenin, and
behind the tribune reserved for the presidium, in the specially made
niche stood Lenin in full size, sculpted by Merkurov, an honor that
tsars were seldom accorded. The Hall of Saint Vladimir is behind the
Hall of Saint George and connects on the opposite end to the Holy
Vestibule (Sviatiya Seni) and through it to the Old Terem Palace.
Also joining the Hall of Saint Vladimir is the little Golden Chamber
( Malaya Zolotaya Palata), one of the oldest and best preserved
corners of the Kremlin, which served as an audience-chamber for the
Russian Metropolitans until Ivan III gave it to his wife; it has
since been used for receptions.
The Hall of St. George, named after the Order of St. George, is
all white and gold, with 18 magnificent spiral columns adorned with
allegorical statues and marble tablets inscribed with the names of
the order's members. Through the main door is the Hall of St
Vladimir, also named for a military order. The Hall of St. Catherine
was the Tsarina's throne room and has fabulous green malachite
columns worth millions of gold rubles. The palace connects directly
to the Terem Palace built in 1635 as the tsar's private quarters and
seclusion place for the royal women. |
Contact Us
Visas
Hotels
Cars
Adventure
Sights
Cruises
Flights
