Stroganov Palace

Stroganov Palace

STROGANOV PALACE (17 Nevsky Prospect), an architectural monument of the late Baroque period. Originally a two-storey house at the corner of Nevsky Prospect and Moika River Embankment (1738, architect M.G. Zemtsov),
it was rebuilt in 1752-1754 (architect F. Rastrelli) for Baron S.G. Stroganov

The first house for the Stroganovs was built on the site probably in 1720s. It was one storey building . In 1740s Аrchitect Mikhail Zemtsov erected the second two-storey house.
In 1752 baron Sergey Stroganov commissioned the palace design to Italian architect Francesco Rastrelli, who was famous for the Catherine Palace, the Smolny Convent for Empress Elisabeth. Since the Stroganovs were the richest family in Russia and were related to the Empress by marriage, Rastrelli could not turn down the commission and hastily prepared a design for the townhouse

Architecture
The facade of the building looks onto the Nevsky Prospekt. It has an entrance arch supported by two Corinthian columns. The arch is crowned with a pediment bearing the Stroganov's coat of arms.

In 1988 the palace was handed over to Russian Museum and became its branch in order to house some of the exhibitions. The dilapidated building has been through a thorough and painstaking restoration process since 1991. In keeping with Rastrelli's original design, its walls are now painted light pink (rather than dark green, as they were in the mid-20th century). It is one of the few Baroque structures on Nevsky Prospekt that has preserved its original view.