Most of the nobles’ palaces turned to museums after the October 1917 Revolution. The Winter Palace complex which was the largest one that turned to grand Hermitage Museum to the smaller ones within the city. One of the smaller palaces in St. Petersburg is the Shuvalov Palace which turned to a museum in recent years.
The Shuvalov Palace locates at the center of St. Petersburg, at the Fontanka river embankment, only a few blocks away from Nevsky Prospekt. This palace was home to two major noble families in Russia, the Shuvalov and the Naryshkin family.
The time of construction for this palace is unknown; however, it seems that the Italian architect, Giacomo Quarenghi built this palace in the late 18th century. The grand Shuvalov Palace, just like most of the Quarenghi's works designed in the neoclassical architecture style. The Shuvalov Palace was renowned for hosting the parties that most of the noble families including the imperial family attended.
The palace went under restoration in the mid-19th century by the hands of Nikolai Yefimov and Bernard de Simone. The main reason behind the restoration was for Pyotr Shuvalov and Sofia Naryshkina’s wedding ceremony in which most of the halls inside the palace decorated with marble columns and Trojan War scenes’ sculptures.
Like many other noble families’ palaces, the Shuvalov palace nationalized following the October Revolution, and its valuable collections moved to other museums in Russia. The palace soon after began to work as a museum and housed several literary organizations that merged and formed the Union of Writers of the Soviet in 1934, eventually.
The palace severely damaged during the Siege of Petrograd but went under restoration soon after the siege ended. The palace opened once again this time as the house of Peace and Friendship in 1965. Many people tried to turn this palace into a museum for years until 2013 when the Faberge Museum started to work.
Faberge is a jewelry company founded by Gustav Faberge. During its active years in Russia, the company made several pieces of jewelry for nobles and imperial family, including the famous Faberge Easter eggs that made uniquely for the imperial members. The Faberge Company nationalized following the October Revolution and started to work again in France.
The Faberge Museum which established in 2013 owes its existence to the Russian businessman, Viktor Vekselberg. He who wanted to return the Russian treasures to their made-land began to purchase, and collect the Faberge pieces of jewelry including the Easter Eggs that designed, and made especially for Alexander III and Nicholas II.
The next step to open up the museum was to restore the Shuvalov Palace to be proper for hosting the Faberge Museum. The restoration which was the first major ones in 200 years began in 2006 and continued for about seven years. More than 300 specialists participated in the restoration to make sure that the palace is proper to host the Faberge Museum.
The Faberge Museum contains more than 4000 exhibits maintained in 12 special designed rooms to display the artistic way of making jewelry in Russia. The collections easily transfer the art and majestic atmosphere of Royal Russia, and the last members of the Romanov house’s taste in luxury and art.
The superior of the museum would be the Blue Room which contains the nine Easter Eggs of Faberge that made for the imperial family. Each one of these eggs has its own story, for example, the first egg was made for Alexander III’s wife as a gift from the Tsar. This egg inspired by Matryoshka, the famous Russian doll for its designing, the egg is inside a white enamel shell which opens to reveal a gold egg only to maintain a small diamond replica of the imperial crown inside it. Sadly, the gold yolk and the diamond lost, but the egg is still in the museum.
The Red Room is dedicated to the silver artworks by the masters from the 18th to the beginning of the 20th centuries. There are also some works from Faberge and Sazikov in this room. The Anteroom contains the collection of house items such as noble clocks beside several works of Faberge. The Knight Room is dedicated to the military artifacts and medals, and the Gothic Room includes icons of the Orthodox Church. The Gold Room, Exhibition Room, and the white room are the rest of the halls inside the museum which each of them covers a specific part of history.
For people who are curious about the art of making jewelry or the taste of the imperial family, this museum would be an ideal place in their St. Petersburg tour program. This recently established museum locates at the center of the city which can easily accessible from the Nevsky Prospekt. We recommend you to visit this museum in your travel to St. Petersburg and tour around the Nevsky Prospekt.
