Anichkov Palace

Anichkov Palace

Anichkov Palace is a former imperial palace in Saint Petersburg, with its main façade facing the river. It is located at the intersection of Nevsky Prospekt and the Fontanka River, and is named after the nearby Anichkov Bridge over the Fontanka. The palace was built by Empress Elizabeth Petrovna in a dazzling Baroque style, and is known as the most magnificent private residence of the Elizabethan era.

The construction of Anichkov Palace took 13 years and was completed in 1754. It was gifted by the Empress to her lover, Count Aleksey Razumovsky. After the Count’s death, the palace reverted to the royal family. In 1776, Catherine the Great gave it to her own lover, Prince Grigory Potemkin. Architect Ivan Starov was responsible for remodeling the palace into a fashionable Neoclassical building. Following Potemkin’s death, the palace once again became property of the crown. The last Russian Tsar, Nicholas II, spent his childhood here. His family preferred the comfortable Anichkov Palace over the vast and formal Winter Palace.

After the October Revolution, the palace was nationalized and converted into the Saint Petersburg City Museum. In 1934, it was turned into the Pioneers Palace, housing over a hundred after-school clubs serving tens of thousands of children. Today, a small museum within Anichkov Palace is open to the public at specific times.

Anichkov Palace

Must-visit reason: The most magnificent private residence of the Elizabethan era

Continent where the attraction is located: Europe【Europe】

Country/Region where the attraction is located: Russia[Russia]

Province/State where the attraction is located: Saint Petersburg Autonomous Municipality [Saint Petersburg]

City where the attraction is located: Saint Petersburg [Saint Petersburg]