Dvortsovaya Embankment

Categories / City Topography/Urban Network/Embankments
DVORTSOVAYA EMBANKMENT (Palace Embankment), called Verkhnaya Naberezhnaya Street or First Verkhnaya Embankment beginning in 1738; in the 1740s-90s, it was known as Millionnaya Embankment; from 1923 to 1944 it was called Devyatogo Yanvarya Embankment (Embankment of January Ninth, in commemoration of the events of "Bloody Sunday" in 1905). The embankment is situated on the left bank of the Neva River. Extending from the Fontanka River to the Dvortsovy Passage, the embankment crosses Suvorovskaya Square. The Dvortsovy Bridge connects the embankment with Vasilievsky Island, while the Troitsky Bridge links it with the Petrogradskaya Side. The embankment began to be built in 1715. In 1754-62, the Winter Palace was erected (hence the name), and over the next five years the granite embankment grew and descents to the water were added (architect I. Rossi, foreman G.I. Nasonov; the dates of the building were stamped on the balusters of the embankment). The section of Dvortsovaya Embankment in front of the Winter Palace was rebuilt in 1772-73. In 1763-66 stone Ermitazhny Bridge was built across Winter Canal, in 1767-68 Verkhne-Lebyazhy Bridge crossed over Lebyazhy Canal (see Lebyazhy Bridges). In 1764-75 the building of the Small Hermitage (Maly Hermitage) was completed, followed by the building of the Old Hermitage constructed in 1771-87 (see Hermitage buildings). In 1783-87, the complex was expanded with the building of the Hermitage Theatre. Overlooking the Dvortsovaya Embankment is the iron-cast fence of the garden adjacent to the Marble Palace (Mramorny Palace, 1768-85). From 1818 to 1915, the current entrance to the Dvortsovy Bridge accommodated a quay adorned with bronze lion sculptures (sculptor I.P. Prokofiev) and porphyry vases, which were transferred to Admiralteyskaya Embankment in 1873. The I.I. Betskoy residence was built in 1784-87 (house No. 2, rebuilt in the 1830s), and the J.F. Groten residence, which later belonged to N.I. Saltykov, in 1784-88 (house No. 4). Presently, the Institute for Arts and Culture is located in houses Nos. 2-4. The Novo-Mikhaylovsky Palace was built in 1857-61 (house No. 18, architect A.I. Stakenschneider; the building, which used to belong to Grand Prince Mikhail Nikolaevich, now accommodates the Institute of Material Culture); the Vladimirsky Palace was built in 1867-72 (house No. 26, architect A.I. Rezanov; presently the House of Scholars). Residents of the Dvortsovaya Embankment included electrical engineer M.P. Kostenko (house No. 18, 1960-76), orientalist I.A. Orbeli (house No. 32, 1942-61), historian E.V. Tarle (house No. 30, 1923-55), and architect G. Quarenghi (house No. 32, 1809-17).

References: Кочедамов В. И. Набережные Невы. Л.; М., 1954; Вяземский С. М. Дворцовая набережная // БА. 1972. № 18-19; Соловьева Т. А. Парадные резиденции Дворцовой набережной. СПб., 1995; Иванов А. А. Дома и люди: Из истории петерб. особняков. СПб., 1997.

G. Y. Nikitenko. Betskoy (Betsky) Ivan Ivanovich
Groten Johann Friedrich
Kostenko Mikhail Polievktovich
Mikhail Nikolaevich, Grand Prince
Nasonov Timofey Ivanovich
Orbeli Iosif Abgarovich
Prokofiev Ivan Prokofievich
Quarenghi Giacomo
Rezanov Alexander Ivanovich
Rossi Ignacio Ludovico
Saltykov Nikolay Ivanovich
Stakensсhneider Andrey Ivanovich
Tarle Evgeny Viktorovich
Admiralteyskaya Embankment/Saint Petersburg, city
Dvortsovaya Embankment/Saint Petersburg, city, house 18
Dvortsovaya Embankment/Saint Petersburg, city, house 26
Dvortsovaya Embankment/Saint Petersburg, city, house 32
Dvortsovaya Embankment/Saint Petersburg, city, house 30
Dvortsovaya Embankment/Saint Petersburg, city, house 4
Dvortsovaya Embankment/Saint Petersburg, city
Dvortsovaya Embankment/Saint Petersburg, city, house 2
Dvortsovy Passage/Saint Petersburg, city
Suvorovskaya Square/Saint Petersburg, city
Вяземский С. М. Дворцовая набережная // Блокнот агитатора, 1972
Иванов А. А. Дома и люди: Из истории петерб. особняков. СПб., 1997
Соловьева Т. А. Парадные резиденции Дворцовой набережной. СПб., 1995
Кочедамов В. И. Набережные Невы. Л.; М., 1954 Winter Palace
Lebyazhy Bridges
Hermitage Buildings (entry)
Hermitage Theatre
Marble Palace
Institute for the History of Material Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Vladimirsky Palace
1767
1862