Marble Palace, Museum palace on Palace Embankment, Saint Petersburg, Russia
Marble Palace is a museum on Palace Embankment in Saint Petersburg and a branch of the Russian Museum. The facade shows polished granite columns against walls of gray and pink marble, while inside staircases and halls combine different European stone varieties.
Catherine II commissioned architect Antonio Rinaldi to build this palace as a gift for Grigory Orlov between 1768 and 1785. After Orlov's death the imperial family acquired the building and used it as a residence for various grand dukes until the revolution.
The building takes its name from the 32 types of marble quarried in Italy, Greece, and the Ural Mountains that cover its walls and floors. Today visitors see Russian art from the 18th century to the present displayed in the former private chambers.
The palace stands in the block bounded by Palace Embankment, Suvorov Square, Millionnaya Street and Marble Lane. The north facade faces the Neva, with the Peter and Paul Fortress visible across the river. The building has a trapezoidal plan and four symmetrical facades of different design, one concealing a recessed courtyard.
The equestrian statue of Alexander III in the courtyard is by Paolo Troubetzkoy and was placed here in 1994, after standing before the Moscow Railway Station. From 1940 to 1992 the same spot held an Austin-Putilovets armoured car, displayed in memory of Lenin's April 1917 speech from a similar vehicle.
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