Essex County herald. [volume] (Guildhall, Vt.) 1873-1964, 1888-03-09
A GRAND PALACE.
a LOOK AT THE LARGEST BUILD
ING IN THE WORLD.
The Cars Winter Palace at ST
Petersburg-Its Immense Size
and Gorgeous Interior
- Decorations.


twice the size of the capitol at Washing
ton, a square structure fronting on the
Neva, contains 1,700 rooms, and, it is
said, that in olden times as many as 6, 900
people, including guard of soldiers,
have been sheltered and fed under its
roof. The roof itself used to be the
dwelling place of large colony when it
was necessary to keep watchmen against
fire there, and men whose business it was
TO prevent the reservoirs from freezing
by casting red-hot cannon balls into the
tanks. These built huts between the
chimneys of the great palace, had their
families there, and even raised chickens
and pigs and goats ninety feet above
ground. But such guards are unnecessary
now in the age of waterworks and fire
engines.
The palaces of the Louis at Versailles,
and of the German Emperor at Potsdam,
are much more chaste and noble speci-
mems of architecture. The Queens
castle at Windsor is by far more pic.
turesque, the new building for the State,
War and Navy departments at Washing
ton surpasses the Winter Palace in beauty
and simple elegance, while the new
Palals Of Justice at Brussels, the finest
architectural work of this century, is
grander, more graceful and pleasing in
every respect; yet in none of these has
so great an attempt at display been made
or so much money expended.
The present building was erected upon
the site of one occupied by the high
admiral in the time OF Peter the Great,
and bequeathed by him to Peters son.
In 1854 that was pulled down by the
Empress Anne, who commenced the
erection of the present ediice, but left it
to be completed by the Empress Catherine
in 1862. Much of the interior was de-
stroyed by fire in 1887 but was rebuilt,
and the whole was renewed in its pre-
sent form in 1889, at cost of about
$4,000, OO0 roubles. The palace has been
occupied during the winter by all the
CzarS till the present one, who will not
live there, but keeps it for ceremonials
only, while he resides in the much smaller
and less imposing house which he occu-
pied while crown prince on the Nevski
Prospect, the Fifth avenue Of Petersburg.
The main entrance, which, however,
is used only on occasions of ceremony,
opens from the banks of the river into
NCSllUulc VI WIN
wide stairways reaching to the several
halls and imperial reception rooms
above. The stairway is adorned by
groups of statuary, and the long vesti-
bule, 600 feet by CO. presents an array
of ideal figures in marble, as well as
statues OF the heroes of Russian history.
The throne room is magnificent apart
ment of marble, so large that the entire
White House at Washington might be
erected within its walls, and here, upon
New Years day, the Gar receives the
congratulations of the diplomatic corps,
the high officers of the government and
the army, and the MOBILES The white
hall is also fine and large, but the most
imposing room is the hall of St. George,
140 by "a feet in size and 60 feet high,
of marble, with ceiling carved and
gilded with pure gold leaf. There is no
finer room anywhere, and it is used only
for the assemblage and decoration of
heroes with the Order of st. George,
the highest the Gar can bestow and,
like the Order of the Garter in Great
Britain, distinction enjoyed only by
those who win it in the field or by some
service to the State.
Another fine room is the hall of the
ambassadors, where the diplomatic corps
assemble on occasions of ceremony, willie
another is the hall of field marshaIs, so
called because the walls are covered with
the portraits Of those who have COM
manded the armies of Russia. In these
great rooms a multitude can assemble,
and the balls and receptions that have
taken place there surpass description. No
court in Europe is so lavish in display as
entertains but seldom, he makes up in
splendor what he denies in frequency. :.
These great halls have sometimes leen
used for banquets, and in them have
dined, seated at tables at once, 5000
persons, served on solid silver plate
throughout menu of twelve courses, by
1900 liveried attendants, and the i'm
perial family have sat upon platform at
the end of the room and taken their din
ners off solid gold.
The rest of the great palace is divided
into long lines of dining-rooms, drawing
rooms, art galleries. reception rooms,
etc., the most of which are of great
beauty and gorgeousness, the amount of
gliding to be seen passing all compari-
son. Not only furniture, but walls,
ceiling, doors and holdings around the
windows are covered with sheets of gold.
There seems to be no end to the bedizen-
ing display. Wherever an opportunity
offered to slap on lot of gold leaf there
was no failure to do it, and the amount
of bullion hammered into sheets and
spread over that building must have been
enormous.
There are several drawing rooms whose
walls are of single sheets OF glass of vari-
Gus colors, set in gilded frames, and the
effect is gorgeous, We had seen no end
of mirrors elsewhere, miles and miles of
them in the most unexpected and mex
plicable places, mirrors in closets and
attics, and cellars, bathrooms and bou-
doirs lined, ceiled and floored with them
but these glass rooms are something new.
Imagine, if you can, large apartment,
40x30 feet in size, with walls and cell
ings of purple glass, set in a heavily
carved cornice of gold, the panels broken
now and then by gilded tracery and fill
gree work, and from the centre of the
ceiling an immense crystal chandelier
of the same color hanging. And there
was not only a purple glass room, but
yellow, blue, pink, scarlet and all the
other colors in the rainbow are repre-
Bented. There are japanese rooms, Chi
uese rooms, fitted and finished most
sumptuously. Pompeiian rooms, Roman
rooms, and rooms setting forth an ex-
ample of the luxury the taste and the
fabrics of all ages and races. Dozens of
rooms are hung with Gobelin tapestry,
and hundreds with ordinary silk and satin
brocadeS. There is the gold room and