An ancient palace in Saint Petersburg ⋆ Russian Urban Exploration

It’s raining outside, the floorboards are creaky. The halls and chimneys of the ancient palace are splendid, the interiors are opulent. The building, not yet completely forsaken, but long held under conservation, is slowly falling into despair.

There is water dripping through the ceiling in some spots, in places the walls have not stood the test of time, the paint is cracking and the walls are dingy here and there. But despite all this, the palace is strikingly beautiful.

I invite you to go back in time to the 19th century. So, it is raining outside…

1. Let’s start with the central part. It is a white hall, intended for dancing and decorated in style that was popular during the reign of Louis the 15th.

In this elegant room, white plasterwork with gilt is abundant. On the ceiling, Cupid figurines and various musical instruments can be clearly seen in the ornaments.

2. In the central part of the hall there is a magnificent marble fireplace. Its beauty is on the par with those in the most famous palaces of Saint Petersburg.

The fireplace is decorated with four Cupid figurines, and there are stands on both sides that were used for flower vases.

3. The doors, the walls and the ceiling are covered in images of vases, Cupids, satires, plant ornaments and other elements.

The door on the right side of the photo opens into a very beautiful smoking/hookah lounge, decorated in Morisco style.

However, it opened with such a loud creak that we decided to just take a peep at the interior through an eyelet.

4. Let us take another look at the beautiful Cupid in the right corner of the chimney.

5. Let’s go down a suite of rooms to the living room. The living room strikes you by its pleasant warm-toned furnishings, and there area few series of gilt panels covered in real silk that decorate the walls.

The ceiling is also covered in plasterwork, and he original chandelier is in the center.

6. The next shot will show you what the red office/pool-room looked like. It is a very beautiful room!

Unfortunately, the pool table had not survived to the present day, but the bronze chandelier with a specially designed lifting mechanism, built-in corner sofas with original upholstery, cabinets, doors and a magnificent fireplace with woodwork have been preserved.

7. Also, an old piano made by C.Baumann Moscau that perfectly matches the rest of the furnishings can be found in the room.

8. Let’s go back to the White hall. Take a look at the mirror in an ornately shaped frame above the fireplace. One of the mysterious legends surrounding the palace is about this very mirror.

They say that before the revolution the mirror in the dance hall was of Italian origin and it came from a Venetian palazzo that is famous for housing Dracula’s tomb.

According to the legend, the mirror brought the owners nothing but trouble, and a single look in it caused constant unrest and anxiety.

Then the mirror was taken down/vanished/hidden somewhere in the palace. Of course, the story reminds those similar ominous stories that are often invented and hyped by journalists, but who knows…