Ammon News - In one of the most important tsarist palaces in Russia, there is a huge, winding staircase that represents an artistic painting, called "Jordan Staircase". What is its story?

The tsarist palace, which became imperial after Russia became an empire, is the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, whose fourth construction began in 1754, with the participation of more than 4,000 people, and its final form was completed in 1762, to include 1,500 rooms, and an area of ​​more than 17,000 square meters, and it was the official residence of the Russian emperors from 1732 until 1917..

The main staircase or "Jordan Staircase" was named so because the Tsar of Russia used to descend on it to bless the baptismal waters on the feast of Epiphany in the event of the celebration of "the blessing of the waters" and because the baptism of Jesus Christ, peace be upon him, was in the Jordan River, it was called the Jordan Staircase.

It is one of the few parts of the palace that retains the Rococo style dating back to the 18th century, and has a "balustrade" made entirely of granite, and the massive gray granite columns were added in the mid-19th century.

The emperors built their palace on a huge area in order to reflect the power of the Russian Empire, and from it the tsars ruled over more than 22,800,000 square kilometers, or about a sixth of the land area.

Many architects participated in the design of the Winter Palace, most notably the Italian Bartolomeo Rastrelli, in what became known as the Elizabethan Baroque style.

The green and white palace is characterized by the general shape of an elongated rectangle, and its main façade is 215 meters long and 30 meters high, and contains 1,886 doors, 1,945 windows, 1,500 rooms and 117 stairs.

After a serious fire, the palace was rebuilt in 1837, leaving the exterior unchanged, but much of the interior was redesigned in a variety of tastes and styles, leading to the palace being described as a "19th-century palace in the Rococo style".

The Bloody Sunday Massacre occurred in 1905 when demonstrators marched on the Winter Palace, but by this time the imperial family had chosen to live in the more secure and secluded Alexander Palace in Tsarsky Selo, returning to the Winter Palace only for official and state occasions.

After the February Revolution of 1917, the palace briefly became the seat of the Russian Provisional Government, led by Alexander Kerensky. Later that year, a detachment of Red Guard soldiers and sailors stormed the palace, a crucial moment in the birth of the Soviet state.

Winter Palace of Peter the Great (1711–1753)

Upon his return from his major diplomatic mission in 1698, Peter I of Russia began a policy of Westernization and expansion that aimed to transform Tsarist Russia into a Russian empire and a major European power. This policy was demonstrated by the brick and mortar construction of the new city of Saint Petersburg in 1703. The culture and design of the new city represented a conscious rejection of traditional Russian Byzantine-influenced architecture, such as the then fashionable Naryshkin Baroque, in favor of the classical-inspired architecture prevalent in major European cities.

The Tsar intended his new city to be designed in the Flemish Renaissance style, later known as Petrine Baroque, and this was the style he chose for his new palace in the city. The first royal residence on the site was a modest log cabin known as the House of Peter I, built in 1704, overlooking the Neva River. In 1711 it was moved to Petrovskaya Naberezhnaya, where it still stands. With the site cleared, the Tsar began construction of a larger residence between 1711 and 1712. This residence, now referred to as the First Winter Palace, was designed by Domenico Trezzini.

The 18th century was a period of great development in European royal architecture, as the need for fortified residences gradually diminished. This process, which had begun in the late 16th century, accelerated, and grand classical palaces soon replaced fortified castles throughout the more powerful states of Europe. One of the earliest and most prominent examples was Louis XIV's Palace of Versailles. Largely completed by 1710, the Palace of Versailles—in its size and splendor—increased the rivalry between the monarchs of Europe. Peter the Great of Russia, keen to promote all Western concepts, wished to have a modern palace like his fellow monarchs. However, unlike some of his successors, Peter I did not aspire to rival Versailles.

The first Winter Palace was a modest two-storey building under a slate roof. Peter soon grew tired of the first palace, and in 1721 a second version of the Winter Palace was built under the direction of the architect George Mattarnovi. Although the Mattarnovi Palace was very modest compared to the royal palaces of other European capitals, it was built on two storeys above a rustic ground floor, with a central projection under a pediment supported by columns. It was here that Peter the Great died in 1725.

The Winter Palace was not the only palace in the unfinished city, or even the most magnificent. Peter ordered his nobles to build stone dwellings and spend half the year there, which was unusual. St. Petersburg was founded on a swamp, with so little sunlight that it was said that only cabbages and turnips could grow there. It was forbidden to cut down trees for fuel, so hot water was allowed only once a week.

As a result of the pressure of slave labour from all over the empire, work on the city progressed rapidly. It is estimated that 200,000 people died during the twenty years of construction of the city. One diplomat at the time described the city as “a heap of villages connected together, like some plantation in the West Indies”, and just a few years later he described it as “a wonder of the world, considering its magnificent palaces”. Some of these new palaces in the Flemish Baroque style beloved by Peter still stand, such as Kikin Hall and the Menshikov Palace.

The Palace 1725-1855

By the time of Peter the Great's death in 1725, St. Petersburg was still far from being the center of Western culture and civilization he had envisioned. Many of the aristocrats whom the Tsar had forced to live in St. Petersburg had left. Wolves roamed the squares at night while groups of slaves, brought to build the new Tsar's city and the Baltic Fleet, worked.

Peter I was succeeded by his widow, Catherine I, who ruled until her death in 1727. She was in turn succeeded by Peter I's grandson Peter II, who had the Mattarnovy Palace enlarged by the architect Domenico Trezzini in 1727. Trezzini, who designed the Summer Palace in 1711, was one of the greatest exponents of the Petrine Baroque style, and he completely redesigned and expanded the existing Mattarnovy Palace to the point that the entire Mattarnovy Palace was just one of two wings of the new Winter Palace, the Third. The Third Palace, like the Second, was in the Petrine Baroque style.

In 1728, shortly after the completion of the Third Palace, the imperial court in St. Petersburg moved to Moscow, and the Winter Palace lost its status as the main imperial residence. Moscow again became the capital, a status that had been granted to St. Petersburg in 1713. After the death of Peter II in 1730, the throne passed to Peter I's niece, Anna Ivanovna, Duchess of Courland.