Beloselsky Palace in St Petersburg Russia - Анна Гапличная

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Most likely every tourist who was walking along Nevsky prospekt saw this palace, located right in the city centre. Even Beloselsky palace was not initially in a sightseeing route, it’s hard not to pass it by thanks to its location next to Anichkov palace and Anichkov bridge.

This bright building was designed by Andrey Stakensteider. Interestingly, it was the last private palace, built in the 19th century. Its story goes back to 1797 when senator Naryshkin sold his land to earls Beloselsky-Belozersky. The family built a huge house, but years later a great reconstruction took place.

The earls wanted to live in a true palace that would meet all the elite standards of those times. Thereby, the neo baroque-style Beloselsky palace was built in 1848. The new building charmed city residence. Judging by the design, Stroganov palace is thought as a prototype of the mansion.

The Beloselsky-Belozersky were collectors who brought lots of items, like porcelain, paintings, silver and rare books from abroad. Those pieces adorned the palace.

Unfortunately, the owner of the palace did not manage to see it, as he died two years before the mansion was finished. The widow Elena Pavlovna soon married the earl Vasily Kochubey. Although they lived in a different house, the Beloselsky palace often served as a place for balls and festivities. By the way, they were among the best of the time in Saint Petersburg. The Emperor Alexander III and his wife were often guests there.

As time went by and Kochubey’s business did not go well, he had to sell the Beloselsky palace to Sergey Alexandrovich, the brother of Alexander III. That was in 1884. Already in 1905 there was an assassination attack on the earl. The mansion was given to his nephew Dmitry, who took part in murdering Grigory Rasputin in the Yusupov Palace in 1917 and then sent to Persia. Thus, the mansion became the asset of a serious industrialist Ivan Stakheev.

After the Revolution, the Beloselsky palace was nationalized. During the Great Patriotic War, it was seriously damaged, but later — restored. In 1991 the palace got a status of the Cultural Centre of Petersburg. A part of its premises is rented, while its other areas are used as exhibition halls of the Museum of the Formation of Democracy named after A. A. Sobchak, the first and only mayor of the city since the collapse of the Soviet Union.