Winter Palace
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The Winter Palace is a palace in Saint Petersburg that served as the official residence of the House of Romanov, the emperors of Russia, from 1732 to 1917. The palace and its precincts now house the H
The Winter Palace, from Palace Square
The Winter Palace, from Palace Embankment
The Winter Palace, from above
The first Winter Palace, designed in 1711 for Peter the Great, by Domenico Trezzini who, 16 years later, was to design the third Winter Palace
Catherine the Great
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Catherine II, commonly known as Catherine the Great, was the Empress of Russia from 1762 to 1796. She came to power after a coup d'état against her husband, Peter III. Her long reign helped Russia thr
Winter Palace
…princess, Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst, as a bride for her nephew and successor, Peter III. The marriage was not a success, but it was this princess who, as Catherine the Great, came to be chiefly associated with the Winter Palace. In 1762, following a coup d'état, in which her husband was murdered, Catherine paraded her…
Portrait, 1780s
Catherine in her childhood, by Anna Rosina de Gasc, 1742
Catherine as Grand Duchess around the time of her marriage (portrait by Georg Christoph Grooth, 1745)
An equestrian portrait of Grand Duchess Ekaterina Alekseyevna from before 1749