During the 18th century, a marked change occurred in European royal architecture. The need for austere fortified residences subsided and a period of building great classical palaces began.
From the Winter Palace, the Tsar ruled 1/6th of the earth’s landmass and over 125 million people.
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The present palace is the fourth iteration, the first being the brainchild of Peter the Great. Like many European sovereigns, he was inspired by Louis XIV’s Versailles, and wanted to build a modern city with palaces that followed western fashions.
Peter the Great’s aspirations for the Winter Palace were not to rival Versailles in size or splendor—that honor would fall to the Peterhof Palace—but to build a modest palace that reflected enlightened thinking.
The same, however, could not be said for his successors, who went about enlarging the palace and, when Anna Ivanovna came to power in 1730, she moved into the neighboring Apraksin Palace, which forms the core of the present Winter Palace.
From 1762, Catherine the Great put her mark on the palace by building the three large adjoining palaces, known collectively as the Hermitage. As an avid collector of art, Catherine needed the extra space, and amassed such an extensive art collection that to this day, it is the largest in the world.
But it was Tsar Nicholas I who, following a great fire that raged for three days in 1837, was largely responsible for the present day appearance and layout of the Winter Palace—just one part of the huge Hermitage Museum complex.
![Aerial view of Winter Palace with Palace Square and surrounding buildings for comparison](https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8645/30184189881_394a63beca_o.jpg)
Comprising 1500 rooms, 117 staircases, 1,945 windows and 1,786 doors, the principal façade of this green-and-white baroque palace is twice as long as Buckingham Palace’s public façade (shown superimposed).
![Buckingham Palace superimposed onto the Winter Palace](https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5711/30279173555_7125607355_o.jpg)
Join us as we take a tour of the Winter Palace of the 19th century, complete with it exquisite baroque Rococo-inspired rooms.
![Jordan staircase, 1865](https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8418/29638048444_f0c54a3786_o.jpg)
![The Malachite Room, 1864](https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8409/30268770385_02a85740cd_o.jpg)
![The Guardroom, 1863](https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5644/30233928406_6e54fea237_o.jpg)
![The Grand Church, 1860](https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7531/30233928466_8c932bd64e_o.jpg)
![The Field Marshal's Hall, 1851](https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5487/30233928556_93f763f094_o.jpg)
![The Drawing-Room, 1871](https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8277/29638047704_49ee553635_o.jpg)
Click to continue with more stunning images of inside the Winter Palace
![The Cathedral inside the palace, 1865](https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8128/30233928646_7827661836_o.jpg)
![The Boudoir of Grand Princess Maria Alexandrovna, 1850](https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8560/29638047754_6a36b19e15_o.jpg)
![The Boudoir of Empress Maria Alexandrovna, 1861](https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8407/30233928666_7a1af5f11b_o.jpg)
![The Boudoir of Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna, 1870](https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5543/29638047824_1fb4229b34_o.jpg)
![The Billiard Room of Emperor Alexander II, 1850](https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5546/30233928746_d5bcf408bc_o.jpg)
![The Bedchamber of Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna, 1858](https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8408/29638047884_4af5392f3b_o.jpg)
![The Bedchamber of Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna, 1869](https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7504/30233928786_1b03dcaff2_o.jpg)
![The Bathroom of Grand Princess Maria Alexandrovna, 1850](https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5777/30233928836_4cb68dabfe_o.jpg)
![The Bathroom of Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna, 1869](https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8415/29638047964_cb726857b4_o.jpg)
![The Armorial Hall, 1862](https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5540/30233928916_7b8d496e22_o.jpg)
![The Apollo Hall, 1861](https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5752/29638048084_cd43ccc27a_o.jpg)
![The Antechamber of Tsesarevich Alexander Nikolayevich, 1860](https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5472/29972027540_6a7ca430e9_o.jpg)
![The Alexander Hall, 1860](https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8268/29638048124_28e6a07e3d_o.jpg)
![Study, 1837](https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8552/29972027590_fefdee3373_o.jpg)
![RThe Crimson Cabinet, the study of Maria Alexandrovna, 1860](https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8407/29638048164_24ba7ea566_o.jpg)
![Pompei Dinner Hall, 1873](https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5455/29638048344_af3dccbb40_h.jpg)
![Peter the Great (Small Throne) Room, 1862](https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5570/29638048384_d13a69dceb_o.jpg)
![Mil-gallery by Hau, 1861](https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5835/29972027670_9e3a78ebeb_o.jpg)
![Interiors of the Winter Palace. Nichlas Hall, 1866](https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5804/29972027690_f07106fc41_o.jpg)
![His Majesty Own staircase (October Staircase), 1860](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53415488295_1f37e75636_h.jpg)
![Hermitage Library by Alexey Tyranov, 1827](https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7520/29972027740_6390b8fa09_o.jpg)
![Golden Drawing Room, 1860](https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5682/29638048574_a8def89b3c_o.jpg)
![Galereja, 1812](https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5654/30153212652_402600f7d2_o.jpg)
![Concerthall, 1860](https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/53415210033_0f616c6488_b.jpg)
![Classroom, 1836](https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8411/30153212782_3c999fe5bd_o.jpg)
![Avantsalle, 1860](https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8135/30183209161_cf691db99b_o.jpg)
![Armorial Hall of the Winter Palace by A.Ladurner, 1834](https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5542/29638048724_2037bff345_o.jpg)
![The Fieldmarshals' Hall in the Winter Palace](https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5780/29638048764_6107702199_o.jpg)
![The Winter Garden, 1870](https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5634/30153212872_77263b8dc0_o.jpg)
![The White Hall, 1864](https://farm9.staticflickr.com/8129/30183209201_26966c41c3_o.jpg)
![The white drawing room in the North-Western Risolite (Alexandra Fedorovna suite), 1860](https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5634/30153212942_363629bb25_o.jpg)
![The Throne Room of Empress Maria Fiodorovna, 1831](https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5478/30183209241_f6103a233c_o.jpg)
![The Small Church inside the palace, 1861](https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5741/30183209271_ea95c91698_o.jpg)
![The Rotunda, 1833](https://farm6.staticflickr.com/5606/30183209341_233ff95329_o.jpg)