New national era. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1870-1874, 1871-11-30
The Palaces Of NJ. Petersburg.

| No capital in the world can boast Of so mag
nifcent an assemhlage of royal residences a
ST. Petersburg. All that taste, architecture
skill, and decoration could contribute to rende
them imposing objects have been layished upor
the homes OF the Cars.
Foremost among them stands the Winter
Palace. This was originally built in 1854, from
designs of Count Rasbretti, by the Empires;
Elizabeth, and it is said that $4,000 men were
employed in the construction. 1t occupies AT
area OF 100000 square feet, and has front or
| the granite embarked river Neva of 72l feet The
imperial apartments are on the second story
commanding the most magnificent view of the
city and its splendid river. The grand stair.
case is one of the principal features of this su
perb edifce, and several Of the state apart
ments are marvelously splendid.
The banqneting hall is the finest apartment
in the world 1t is a parallelogram lao feet by
60, surrounded by forty futei marble pillars,
supporting gallery along which runs balus
trade of gilt bronze of exquisite design. AT
the extremity of the hall stands the imperial
throne, which is approached by eight steps GOV
cred with rich velvet, embroidered with gold
Another beautiful reception room is the white
saloon, remarkable for the chasteness of its dee
oratlons and the absence of rich ornament. The
diamond room contains the regalia. This pal
ace is the ordinary residence of the court dur
ing the winter months, when it is estimated
that more than 1000 persons reside within It's
walls.
Such is the description of the famous Win.
ter Palace as it Was, but one night changed it
as efectually as one night changed Chicago.
Toward midnight on the goth OF December
1887, fire suddenly broke out in the imperial
edihce. The Emperor and Empress were at
the theatre, and Immediately FASTENED to the
| spot. The Thermometer stood at fifty four de-
grees below the freezing point of Fahrenheit,
and the jets would have frozen had not engines
with apparatus for heating been used. This
precautlon was soon rendered useless by the
rapid extension of the flames. the heat of which
was so intense that the frozen surface of the
Neva near the palace was thawcd.
| In one year this palace rose again from its
ruin. In order TO complete the work at the
time appointed by the Emperor, unheard OF
efforts were used, and ii was commonly reported
that great sacrifice of life among the workmer
was the result. That the walls might dry more
quickly, afrghtfuly high temperature was main
tanned in rooms where men were employed, who
on emerging from them, were compelled to en-
counter cold many degrees below zero. The
| present palace Is nearly third larger than that
at Vienna, and is as large as the Tuleries and
Louvre combined. The white saloon was re-
| produced, as were most of the other famous
| rooms, In the new structure.
Kohl in his account Of the original palace
says that the suites of apartments were perfect
| iabyrlnths, and that even the chief of the i'm.
| perlal household, who had filed that post for
twelve years, was not fully acquainted with all
It's hooks and corners. The parties given on
great occasions in this palace far exceed in
splendor any entertainments in the " ord.
The Great and Little Iermitages form con-
tinuation of the Winter Palace, and are con
nected with it, thereby forming a line of palaces
unequaled in length. These two palaces con
tain splendid suites of apartments, filled with
| paintings, ornamests, and other valuable OBJ
| Jects. In one of the N is celebrated musical
clock, by Strosser, containing combination oil
instruments 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 purchased from his heirs by
Catharine. Near the Hermitage, and also pre-
| sentlng front to the Neva, stands the Marble
Palace, lined throughout with black and gray
marble. 1t was originally erected for an i'm
perial favorite of GATHERINGS, Count Orloff.
and is somewhat gloomy structure, composed
lar more OF granite and iron than of marble.
The window frames are of gilded copper.
The Taurida Palace was also built by Cath
airline for favorte, the celebrated Potemkin.
and it was here that he entertained her with
fetes of extraordinary splendor. This palace
contains ballroom three hundred aud twenty
| feet long by seventy wide, opening on one side
to the entrance hail, and on the other to an
extensive conscrvatOry-from which it is sep
| arated only by row Of lofty marble columns
running the whole length of the palace. The
columns are encircled by rows of lights cooled
around them like serpents, while three enor-
| nous chandeliers are suspended from the cell
ing. Twenty thousand wax lights are needed
to illuminate this room, and the splendor of a
ball there may be easily conceived The beau
ttul Queen Louisa, of Prussia. at one time re-
sided there.
What is known as the old Michailoif Palace,
a vast, gloomy pile with gloomy. associations
was built by the Emperor Paul, who succeeded
Catharine, and regned from 1876 to 1901
1t was here that Paul, an Imperial nuisance
| who had by his caprices exasperated power
| full party of his mobiles, was at their hands
| assassinated
The new Michailof 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 a model of taste
and excellent design. The Duke died in 1919
leaving a widow and an only daughter, mar
| ried TO the Grand Duke George of Mecklen
burg-Strelitz.
| Besides all these palaces within ST. Peters
burg, there are about dozen imperial abodes
| scattered about within circuit of fifteen
miles of it. The principal of these are Tar
sko Selo and PeterhOf. The former is full oil
splendid apartments on which Cathariue, whose
expenditure must have been greater than any
one before or since. we should imagine, lavish
ed millions. The wonder of the palace is the
famous amber room, the walks of which are
panneed with this material in various archi
| tectural designs An interesting feature In the
| residence is the rooms of the late Emperor AL
exander, whose apartments have, in conformity
| with custom common among royalties anC
| grandees in Russia, been kept exactly as he
left them when he departed for Taganrog
| where he died.
| Peterhof was originally built by Peter the
| Great 1t is about fifteen miles from the capi
| tai which he created. The situation of the pal
ace is beautiful. 1t commands the whole ex
| tent Of the Neva from Cronstadt to ST. Peters
| burg, with the islands and shore of Finland
beyond. The water-works on the gardens
rival those at Versailles, and the summer fetes
| given here are lovely. Half these palaces are
never used, and the expense of maintaining
them must be simply enormous and such as
| could be borne by no other regning family.
But In Russia not only can the Gar take pre-.
cisely what he pleases from the public treasury
but he possesses estates yielding an enormous
revenue.
The best farm in England is kept by a
woman, and took the first prize, recently offered