Winter Palace

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For other uses, see Winter Palace (disambiguation).

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View of the palace from the Palace Square

Winter Palace from across the Neva River

Located between the Palace Embankment and the Palace Square, the Winter Palace (Russian: Зимний дворец) in Saint Petersburg, Russia was built between 1754 and 1762 as the winter residence of the Russian tsars.

Designed by Bartolomeo Rastrelli, the Rococo-style, green-and-white palace has 1,786 doors and 1,945 windows. Catherine the Great was its first imperial occupant.

The Palace is now part of a complex of buildings known as the State Hermitage Museum, which holds one of the world's greatest collections of art. As part of the Museum, many of the Winter Palace's 1,057 halls and rooms are open to the public. The Military Gallery, opened in 1826, accommodates 332 portraits of military leaders of the Russian army during Napoleon's invasion of Russia.

After the February Revolution in Russia, the Winter Palace was the headquarters of the Russian Provisional Government.

The assault of the Winter Palace by Bolshevik forces was the official milestone of the October Revolution.

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v • d • e Imperial Palaces and residencies in Russia
Alexander Palace • Anichkov Palace • Catherine Palace • Catherinehof • Gatchina Palace • Moscow Kremlin • Marble Palace • Mariinsky Palace • Mikhailovsky Palace • Nicholas Palace • Oranienbaum • Pavlovsk Palace • Peterhof • St. Michael's Castle • Strelna • Summer Palace • Tauride Palace • Tsarskoye Selo • Vladimir Palace • Winter Palace • Yelagin Palace		Image:Standard of the Russian Tsar.png
Historical	Kolomenskoye Palace • Pella Palace	Image:Standard of the Russian Tsar.png