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On the North side of the Palace Square there is the Winter Palace, a pearl of Russian baroque architecture. Opposite the Winter Palace there is the big yellow semicircular building, built for the General Staff. It was designed by Carlo Rossi in the classical style. In the center of the square stands the Triumphal (or Alexander) Column. The height of the Column is 47.5 meters. It was erected in 1834 in honor of the victory over Napoleon. The column was designed by Auguste de Montferrand, who also designed St. Issac's Cathedral. The Column was made of the rock face of a cliff in Karelia. It is surmounted by an angel of peace. The Alexander column is positioned so as to align perfectly with the entrance to the Winter palace and the triumphal arch that serves as the entry to the General Staff building .The column has no foundation under the ground and stands only thanks to gravity alone.
Palace Square was the site of "Bloody Sunday demonstration which marked the beginning of the first Russian revolution. The second and third revolutions also took place here. The Palace Square is the place for all kinds of political demonstrations and military parades.
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The General Staff Building was commissioned by Alexander I in 1819. It is situated opposite the Winter Palace. Its grand triumphal arch was the first Russian monument to the war against Napoleon. On the top of the arch stands a bronze sculpture of Victory in her six-horsed chariot. Two Roman soldiers restrain the outermost horses, as if to prevent them from leaping out onto the square.
The Winter Palace
was designed by Bartolomeo Rastrelli and completed in 1762. It
was commissioned by the Empress Elizabeth. Its baroque facade, stretching two
hundred meters, is a veritable cornucopia of pilasters, bays, and statuary. The
palace served as a winter residence for every ruler of Russia since Peter III.
Now it is the museum where visitors can see rooms where Tsars families
lived.
The Winter Palace is the most famous building of St. Petersburg
not only because it was the residence of the Tsars and the place where the
Russian Revolutions took place, but also because it is home for the Hermitage,
the largest museum of art. the origins of the Hermitage is the private art
collection of Peter the Great, who purchased numerous works during his travels
abroad and later hung them in his residence. Catherine the Great expanded the
collection considerably. She and her successors purchased works of the
private collection of the Western European aristocracy and monarchy. By the time
Nicholas II ascended the throne in 1894 the Hermitage had the greatest
collection of art in Europe.
After the Revolution in 1917 the museum was opened to the public.
The museum is especially strong in Italian Renaissance and France Impressionist
paintings, as well as possessing outstanding collections of works by Rembrand,
Picasso, Matisse. some modern works taken from private collections was added to
the Hermitage collection.