The Hermitage district

Our expert Russia

The Hermitage district

The Hermitage district Until 1917, the Winter Palace was the residence of the imperial families. © Ludovic Maisant

As you go over Dvortsovy bridge from Vassilievski island, you have to go through Spassky island. You first arrive on Dvortsovaia square, where stand the magnificent baroque buildings of the Hermitage and Winter palace, built in 1754 by the Italian architect Rastrelli. The Winter palace was, until 1917, the residence of the imperial families. In front of the palace stands the monumental column of Alexander and the triumphal arch of the building of the General Staff. To the West, open up the remarkable buildings of the Admiralty, topped with a gilded spire, itself surmounted by a weather vane in the shape of a caravel. In Peter the Great's time, the fortress of the Admiralty was surrounded by ramparts and a canal. It was all modified at the beginning of the XIXc in order to create Alexandrovski gardens. It stretches as far as Senatskaia square, where Peter the Great's equestrian statue stands imposingly, and Isaakievskaia square, overlooked by Saint Isaac's cathedral. The latter, a monumental baroque church inaugurated in 1858, shelters an incomparably rich decoration. Facing the cathedral, you will see at last the Art nouveau building of the Astoria hotel and, beyond the Moika and Sini bridge (Blue bridge), Mariinski palace.