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ATypI 08 St Petersburg

Venue
Beloselsky-Belozersky Palace

The ATypI 08 St Petersburg conference venue will be the Beloselsky-Belozersky Palace, one of St Petersburg’s many palaces, on the famous Nevsky Prospekt, right at the Anichkov bridge that spans over the small Fontanka river. The venue is centrally located, within walking distance (600–900m) from subway stations from St Petersburg’s all four subway lines. This makes it convenient to reach, no matter where your hotel is.

Beloselsky-Belozersky Palace: photo by George Shuklin. Creative Commons Beloselsky-Belozersky Palace photo by George Shuklin. Creative Commons

Beloselsky-Belozersky Palace
(Дворец Белосельских-Белозерских)

Geolocation: 59.932699° N, 30.344603° E
[ in Google Maps | in Google Earth ]

Address:

Nevsky Prospekt 41
St Petersburg
Russian Federation

Невский проспект 41
Санкт-Петербург
Российская Федерация

Interactive map of the conference area by Google (drag to move around, click on + and – to zoom in and out, or change the viewing mode):

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Public transportation

Nearby subway (Metro) stations:

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About the venue

Home to the city’s Municipal Cultural Centre, the Beloselsky-Belozersky Palace used to serve as the Communist Party’s district headquarters, but now organizes a rich and varied program of concerts throughout the year.

Jean Charlemagne. View of the Beloselsky-Belozersky Palace from the en:Anichkov Bridge, 1850s
View of the Beloselsky-Belozersky Palace from
the Anichkov Bridge, 1850s Jean Charlemagne.
Source: Wikimedia Commons.

One of Nevsky’s most notable buildings, the Beloselsky-Belozersky Palace (also known before the Revolution as the Palace of the Grand Duchess Elizabeth Fyodorovna, the Sergei Palace, and the Dmitry Palace) is a Neo-Baroque palace at the intersection of the Fontanka River and Nevsky Prospekt in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The mauve-colored palace mirrors the Stroganov Palace, designed by Bartolomeo Rastrelli in the 1750s and situated on the opposite site of the Nevsky.

The palace had its origin in an eighteenth-century house of Princess Beloselskaya-Belozerskaya. In 1799 she employed architect Fyodor Demertsov to renovate the structure in a restrained Neoclassical idiom. Upon the death of her son, the palace passed to his wife, who presently remarried Prince Vassili Kochubey, son of Viktor Kochubey.

Tourists are told that Kochubey wished her palace to rival the Rastrelliesque Stroganov Palace across the street and engaged Andreas Stackensneider and David Jensen to produce a replica of it. After their major renovations in 1847-48, the palace — complete with piano nobile, concert hall, Van Loo paintings, and palace church — acquired a dazzling Rococo appearance, which prompted Grand Duke Sergei Alexandrovich of Russia to purchase it as his principal residence in 1883.

Upon Sergei’s assassination in 1905, his widow Elizaveta took the veil and presented the palace to her nephew, Dmitry Pavlovich. During World War One it housed the Anglo-Russian Hospital. Prince Dmitry sold it on the eve of the Russian Revolution; two years later it was nationalized and went on to house a regional Soviet until 1991, when it was designated a municipal cultural centre. Rococo interiors of the palace sustained considerable damage during World War II; they were restored to their original state in 1954 and now host chamber concerts for small audiences.

In addition to the concert hall, it also houses the Wax Museum collection and an art gallery with temporary exhibitions. The Wax Museum conatains 80 wax fugures, including such prominent figures in Russian history as Speransky, Kerensky, Arakcheev, Kutuzov, Dostoyevsky, Tolostoy, tzars: Pavel, Aleksey and some members of the Romanov Dinasty. Exhibition is viewable only on an excursion basis (English Guides available). The concert hall also holds regular performances of the folk group Petersburg Mozaik, presenting dances of various people’s around the world.

Important nearby locations:

More about the Beloselsky-Belozersky Palace...