The Palace has a dramatically eventful history. During the First World War Nicolas II turned it into a hospital. On the eve of the Revolution it was occupied by the Provisional Government. On October 25,1917 Bolsheviks occupied the Palace and called the occasion the Social Revolution. In the course of the World War II the Palace was damaged by Nazis' air strikes.
Several rooms of the Palace that had been used for the location of unique objects d'art later received the designation of the Hermitage. Then the growing collections found the new accommodations: the buildings of the Small Hermitage, Old Hermitage, the Hermitage Theater and New Hermitage. Nowadays all these buildings belong to the State Hermitage - the largest artistic, historical and cultural museum. It exhibits the paintings of Rubens, Rembrandt, Leonardo da Vinci, Titian and works of many other masters, relics of the past culture of many countries of the world.
The semi-circular facade of the General Stuff of Russian Army and Ministries
Building is its southern border. The General Stuff Building is a genius
creation of the architect K.Rossi. The portal of the Winter Palace faces
the two long buildings of the General Headquarters joint by the Triumphal
Arch and thus forming the semicircular boarder of the Palace Square.
The colossal Alexander Column (Alexandrinskaya Colonna) with the bronze
figure of
an angel at the top was erected in the center of the Square in 1834 to
commemorate the triumphant victory of the Russians over Napoleon in the
Patriotic War 1812.
It was built by architect Monferran and was named after Emperor Alexander The First. The bronze angel on its top resembles the Emperor Alexander while the snake he is trampling by his cross looks much like Napoleon. This means the victory the good over the evil. The block of red granite was got near Viborg and was delivered by 2 ships to St.Petersburg. The 47,5 meter high column (height of the granite block is 25.5 metres, the lower diametre of the column is 3.66 metres, the upper diametre is 3.16 meters) made of the biggest in the world one-piece marble monolith rests on the porch only by means of its own enormous weight (600 tons) without any supporting clamps. The foundation of the monument consists of 1250 piles each of them is 6 metres length. The block put up by 3000 soldiers and sailors.
Today the Palace Square is the place for all the city's festivals and official performances. Traditionally, the citizens and tourists spend almost all the Russian public holidays here.