Menshikov Palace

The Menshikov Palace on Vasilyevsky Island is the first stone building in Saint Petersburg, built for Alexander Danilovich Menshikov, the closest associate of Peter I and the city's first governor-general. Construction began in May 1710 to a design by Giovanni Maria Fontana, who was succeeded in 1713 by Gottfried Johann Schädel; the main work was completed by 1714, but the interior decoration continued until 1727. Besides the stone palace that survives to this day, the estate included a wooden Embassy Palace, the wattle-and-daub Church of the Resurrection, and the steward's house — an entire small town on the island amid gardens, complete with bathhouses, a brewery and a forge.

Peter I called the palace the Embassy House: here he received foreign ambassadors and held festive dinners. Within these walls the future Empress Anna Ioannovna was married to the Duke of Courland, and in 1726, in the presence of Catherine I, the betrothal of Menshikov's daughter Maria to Pyotr Sapieha was celebrated — though the marriage never took place, as the prince decided instead to marry his daughter to the future Peter II. By 1727 the building formed a quadrangle with two inner courtyards; the four-storey central block with a tall mansard roof faced the Neva, while the side avant-corps were topped with Baroque pediments bearing vases and princely crowns. Domenico Trezzini, Bartolomeo Rastrelli, Mattarnovi and Le Blond all took part in its construction and decoration.

In 1727 Menshikov was accused of treason and embezzlement and sent into exile in Berezov, and the palace passed to the state treasury. In 1731 the architect Trezzini rebuilt the building for the Corps of Noble Land Cadets, later known as the Cadet Corps; the main facade was simplified, and the mansard roof was replaced with a gable one. Later, the reconstruction also involved Ivan Starov, Vasily Bazhenov and Yuri Felten. Despite the reworking of the interiors, chambers from Peter's time have survived — four rooms lined with Dutch tiles and the Walnut Room.

The first scholarly restoration of the building took place in 1888–1896 under the direction of Mikhail Ivanov, architect of the Cadet Corps, and Professor Alfred Parland. The true revival of the palace is associated with the architect Alexei Gessen, who directed the restoration from 1956 to 1974. In Soviet times the building housed the Engels Military-Political School, and later a military transport academy and a law institute. The decision to restore the palace's original appearance was made in 1966, the restoration was completed in 1981, after which the building became a branch of the Hermitage Museum, with an exhibition on Russian culture of the first third of the 18th century.