Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1871-12-02
The Palaces of st. Petersburg.

No capital in the world can boast o
so magnificent an assemblage of roya
| residences as st. Petersburg All tha
taste, architectural skill and decoration
could contribute to render them impos
ing objects have been lavished upon the
homes of the Cars.
Foremost among them stands til,
Winter Palace. This was original,
buit in 1854, from designs of Coun
Rasbretti, by the Empress Elizabeth
and it is said that 10000 men were EN-
ployed in the construction. 1t occu
pies an area of 100000 square feet, and
has front on the granite embarked
river Neva of 72l feet The imperial
apartments are on the second story
commanding the most magniticen;
view of the city and its splendid river
The grand staircase is one of the prin-
cipal features of this superb edifice, ard
several of the state apartments are mar.
velously splendid.
The banqueting hall is the finest
apartment in the world 1t is paral-
telegram l4O feet by 60, surrounded by
forty fluted marble pillars, supporting
a gallery along which runs balustrade
OF gilt bronze of exquisite design. At
the extremity of the hall stands the inn
perial throne, which is approached by
eight steps covered with rich velvet
embroidered with gold. Another beau
tiful reception room is the white saloon,
remarkable for the chasteness of its
decorations and the absence of rich Or
nament The diamond room contains
the regalia. This palace is the ordinary
residence of the court during the winter
months, when it is estimated that more
than 1000 persons reside within its
walls.
Such is the description OF the famous
Winter Palace as it was, but one night
changed it as effectually as one night
changed Chicago Toward midnight on
the goth of December, 1887, a fire sud
denly broke out in this imperial edifice.
The Emperor and Empress were at the
theatre, and immediately fastened to
the spot. The thermometer stood at
fifty-tour degrees below the freezing
point OF Fahrenheit, and the jets would
have frozen had not engines with appa-
ratus for heating been used. This pre-
caution was soon rendered useless by
the rapid extension of the flames, the
heat of which was so intense that the
frozen surface of the Neya near the
palace was thawed.
In one year this palace rose again
from its ruins. In order to complete
the work at the time appointed by the
Emperor, unheard of efforts were used
and it is commonly reported that q
great sacrifice of life among the work
tl,, =, l..
might dry more quickly, frightfully
high temperature was maintained in
rooms where men were employed, who,
on emerging from them,w were compelled
to encounter a cold many degrees be-
low zero. The present palace is nearly
a third larger than that at Vienna, and
is as large as the Tuileries and Louvre
combined. The white saloon was re-
produced, as were most of other famous
rooms, in the new structure.
Kohl, in his account of the original
palace, says that the suites of apart
ments were perfect labyrinths, and that
even the chief of the imperial house
hold, who had filed that post for twelve
years, was not yet fully acquainted with
all its nooks and corners. The parties
given on great occasions in this palace
far exceed in splendor any entertain
ments in the world.
The Great and Little Hermitages form
a con tinuation Of the Winter Palace,
and are connected with it, thereby
forming a line of palaces unequaled in
length. These two palaces contain
splendid suites of apartments, filed
with paintings, ornaments and other
valuable objects. In one of them is a
celebrated musical clock, by Strosser,
combination of instru-
ments capable of representing two or
chestras. Among the treasures Of this
palace are the celebrated collection of
pictures formed by Sir Robert Walpole,
the famous English premier, and pur-
chased from his heirs by Catharine.
Near the Hermitage, and also present
ing front to the Neva, stands the
Marble Palace, lined throughout with
black and gray marble. 1t was origin
ally erected for an imperial favorite of
Count Orlott, and is some
what gloomy structure, composed far
more of granite and iron than of mar
bic. The window frames are of gilded
copper
The Taurida Palace was also built by
Catharine for q favorite. the celebrated
Potemkin, and it was here that he en-
tertained her with fetes of extraordi-
nary splendor. This palace contains
ballroom 800 feet long by 10 wide,
opening on one side to the entrance
hall and on the other to an extensive
conservatory-from which il is separated
only by a row of lofty marble columns
-running the whole length of the
palace. The columns are encircled by
rows of lights coiled around them like
serpents, while three enormous chande-
liers are suspended from the ceiling.
Twenty thousand wax lights are needed
to illuminate this room, and the splen-
dor of a ball there may be easily con,
ceived. The beautiful Queen Louisa, of
Prussia, at one time resided there.
What is known as the old Michailoff
Palace, a vast, gloomy pile with gloomy
associations, was built by the Emperor
Paul, who succeeded the great Catha-
rine, and reigned from 1896 to 1901. 1t
was here that Paul, an imperial nuis-
ance, who had by his caprices exasper-
ated powerful party of his mobiles, was,
at their hands, assassinated.
The new Michailotf Palace, presented
by the late Gar Nicolas to his brother
Michael, is among the most agreeable
of its kind in the Russian metropolis.
1t was built in 1920, and both without
and within is model of taste and ex-
cellent design. The duke died in IS49,
leaving a widow and an only daughter,