General Staff Building

The complex consists of two wings located on Palace Square and on the embankment of the Moika River, connected by a triumphal arch. The length of the facades is 580 meters ^[2] .

The creation of the complex began in 1819 with the construction of the western wing, the volume of which included the already existing Felten houses with their proportions and arched position in plan. Partially preserved is the facade of Felten's houses, characterized by gray granite cladding, in contrast to red granite cladding of the east wing. In addition to the General Staff Building, the buildings housed the War Ministry , the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Finance (in the eastern corps).

One of the architectural dominants of the building is the dome over the western wing of the building. Made of metal and glass according to the project of engineer G.G. Krivoshein in 1902 - 1905, he provided daylight to the library located under it. Earlier, a low stone dome, erected by K.I. Rossi during the construction of the building. The premises of the Military Historical Library of the General Staff of Russia and the old dome were thoroughly restored in 1890 - 1892, however, the fire of 1900, which destroyed 12 thousand books and the interiors of the library, required a new repair ^[3] .

From the Nevsky Prospekt side the building was adjoined by the houses built earlier: “ Depot of cards of the General Staff Building” (1805-1806, architect L. Ruska ), Free Economic Society (1768-1775, architect J. B. Wallen-Delamot ) In 1845 - 1846, the architect I. D. Chernik rebuilt these buildings given to the General Headquarters, solving facades in general forms with Russian facades ^[4] .

After the October Revolution, the building was the People’s Commissariat of Foreign Affairs, and subsequently the police station.

Currently, part of the building belongs to the Western Military District . In 1993, the eastern wing of the General Staff building was transferred to the Hermitage .

In 2008, a tender was held for the reconstruction of the eastern wing of the General Staff building. It was won by a consortium of Intarsia and Renaissance companies. The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development approved the decision of the tender commission and the cost of work 4 418 414 868 rubles ^[5]

General Staff Arch

The arch of the General Staff Building is an independent architectural object. It was built as the main monument dedicated to the Patriotic War of 1812 and completing the ensemble of buildings opposite the Winter Palace. In 1918, in a number of streets and squares of Petrograd, it was renamed and officially called the Arch of the Red Army ^[6] . The historical name was returned in 1944.

Designing the main square of the capital of the Russian Empire, Karl Rossi decided to tie the two wings of the General Staff building with a triumphal arch , without installing a chariot. ^[7] .

This architectural technique shortly before these events was already applied in the creation of the ensemble of the triumphal arch of the Admiralty . And Rossi invited precisely those sculptors ( S. S. Pimenov , V. I. Demut-Malinovsky ) who carried out that project. With the help of these masters, the architect wanted to achieve expressiveness, complementing the clarity of architecture with the elegance of sculptural composition.

It consists of three interconnected arches, decorated with bas-reliefs and framing the entrance to the square from Nevsky Prospekt (this section was called Lugovoi or Malaya Millionnaya street before the intersection with Morskaya Street).

The composition reaches its maximum expression when viewed from the square. From a height of 36 m, at the top of the building, widely visible from afar, a triumphal chariot soars, drawn by six horses. They are held back by two warriors dressed in Roman armor and armed with spears. In the wagon is a winged Nika, extending the standard over the square with her left hand. In the right hand of the goddess is a laurel wreath. The sculptural composition reveals the essence of the monument, a symbol of military glory. This motif is continued in all elements of the arch: the ornaments on the walls of the arch are made of military trophies and wreaths, military trophies are stacked at the entrance to the arch from the Palace. The winners are welcomed by the figures of the goddess of glory, flying swiftly at the core and holding out laurel wreaths and palm branches. Finishing the composition, in the square, at the level of the second tier of the windows of the Headquarters, the sentry figures in antique armor froze in greeting, holding out laurel wreaths towards those entering the square.

The arch appeared as a result of the active creative interaction of sculptors and architects, and its discovery coincided with the return of the guard, which fought on the southern approaches of Russia with the Ottoman Empire .

The Triumphal Arch of the General Staff Building was opened on October 24, 1828.

After the embodiment of the monumental idea of ​​constructing the building of the main headquarters, the buildings of which were connected by a triumphal arch, K. Rossi put forward the idea of ​​completing the architectural composition - to continue the theme of victory in the Patriotic War of 1812 with the construction of a monument in the middle of Palace Square . He managed to convince Emperor Nicholas I to abandon the idea of ​​installing a monument to Peter I.

Further development of the project was carried out by the French architect Auguste Montferrand .

• March 16, 1819 - Alexander I issues a decree on the reconstruction of the square in front of the Winter Palace. The development of plans and drawings is entrusted to the architect K.I. Rossi.
• March 15, 1820 - A committee was created "On the construction of the right square against the Winter Palace and stone, brick, pottery and lime plants."
• June 12, 1820 - Official laying of the General Staff building.
• 1823 - Completion of the construction of the western wing.
• 1825 - Completion of major construction work on the east wing.
• 1826 - Completion of the arch.
• 1827 - 1828 - Performing sculptural decoration.
• October 28, 1828 - Grand opening of the arch.
• 1830 - Completion of all construction and finishing works.
• 1890 - 1892 - Reconstruction of the round library hall
• 1902 - 1905 - Installation of a glass dome
• 1917 - 1918 - The church at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the St. George Church at the General Staff are closed
• 1943 - the inscription " Citizens! During shelling this side of the street is the most dangerous ”during the blockade of Leningrad .
• July 8, 1945 - The victors of the Great Patriotic War — soldiers and officers of the Leningrad Guards Corps — solemnly passed through the arch of the General Staff Building.

• 1993 - The eastern wing of the General Staff building was transferred to the Hermitage .
• 2001 - Fire on the Chariot of Triumph due to firecrackers during the celebration of the New Year .

In 2013, the complete reconstruction of the East wing of the General Staff Building (which housed the collections of the State Hermitage Museum) was completed . The author of the project is Studio-44 by N. Yavein . Since 1993, there have been exhibits: French Art of the 20th Century , Under the Sign Eagle. The Art of Empire ”,“ Art Nouveau ”and the Museum of the Guard . Since 2007, exhibitions of the Hermitage 20/21 Project - America Today and others have been held. On December 17, 2011, the exhibition“ Antiquities of Herculaneum ”opened - the first major exhibition in restored p The premises of the General Staff Building ^[8] . From May 16 to 19, 2012, the second St. Petersburg International Legal Forum ^[9] was held in the East wing of the General Staff building.

On June 28, 2014, the General Headquarters was fully open to the public by showing the large-scale exhibition “ Manifesto 10 ”. By the opening of the exhibition, the permanent exhibition of Matisse was transferred here, including “ Dance ” and “ Music ”, “Composition # 6” by Kandinsky and “ Black Square ” by Malevich, permanent rooms of Kabakov and Prigov were opened.

On the ground floor there are office premises, an entrance area for visitors, shops, wardrobes, a lecture hall.

On the second floor there is an exposition dedicated to the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Empire , as well as art halls of African peoples; a sculpture of the 20th century is exhibited in the courtyard.

On the third floor, 19th-century European art is exhibited, the Museum of the Guard was created, the collections of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Empire and the Faberge collection are exhibited, as well as the front halls of the ministries.

On the fourth floor there are permanent exhibitions dedicated to impressionists and post-impressionists , artists of the Nabis group , artists of the Barbizon school and the Paris Salon as well as world painting of the 20th century (including the personal rooms of Monet , Renoir , Van Gogh , Gauguin , Rodin , Matisse , Picasso , Kandinsky , Rockwell Kent and many others).

• Reconstructed in 2019 on the 4th floor in the hall No. 414, the Musical lounge of the mansion of I. A. Morozov in Moscow with the picturesque ensemble “The History of Psyche” by Maurice Denis
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• Gusarov A.Yu. Monuments of military glory of St. Petersburg. - SPb, 2010. - ISBN 978-5-93437-363-5 .
• Chernega A. V. The General Staff Building - electronic journal Petersburg Walks
• Zhilinsky J. The General Staff Building. Historical background . - SPb. , 1892.
• Pilyavsky V.I., Architect of Russia. - M. — L .: GIAiG, 1951.
• Raskin A.G. Triumphal arches of Leningrad. - L .: Lenizdat, 1985 .-- S. 69–91.
• Nastya Elizarieva, Oleg Yavein, Nikita Yavein, Daniil Shiryaev. Tatlin Plan Magazine # 24 The General Staff Building of the State Hermitage. 2016.104 p. ISSN 4607161800010 00147.