The palace of the first governor of Petersburg, Alexander Danilovich Menshikov, on Vasilievsky Island is the oldest surviving palace in the city. Under Peter I, all solemn feasts and formal dinners were held here, including the weddings of Tsarevich Alexei with Sophia Charlotte and the future Empress Anna Ioannovna with the Duke of Courland, Friedrich Wilhelm.

Before being exiled for embezzlement, the Serene Prince Alexander Danilovich Menshikov built one of the best palaces in 18th-century Russia.

Construction of the palace began in May 1710 based on a design by Giovanni Maria Fontana, who was replaced in 1713 by the “master of palace and plaster work” Gottfried Johann Schadel. In 1711, when the first phase of construction was completed, Menshikov celebrated the housewarming on October 1, according to Peter I’s “Journal.” By 1714, most of the construction work was finished, but the interior decoration continued until 1727, when the Serene Prince was sent into exile.

The estate of the Serene Prince, with flower beds and a garden, stretched across the entire Vasilievsky Island from the Bolshaya to the Malaya Neva. The grounds included baths, a meadery, a bakery, and a smithy. The French traveler O. de la Motte, after inspecting the palace, called it the main decoration of Vasilievsky Island. Tsar Peter the Great called this palace the Ambassador’s House (foreign ambassadors were received here) and held almost all festive feasts and ceremonial dinners there. The future Russian Empress Anna Ioannovna married the Duke of Courland in the Menshikov Palace.

In 1726, the engagement of Menshikov’s daughter Maria to Peter Sapega was celebrated here in the presence of Empress Catherine Alekseevna. However, the marriage did not take place, as Menshikov soon decided to marry his daughter to the future Emperor Peter II.

By 1727, the palace formed a closed quadrangle with two inner courtyards and exits to the north, east, and west. The central building facing the Neva River was four stories high with a tall mansard roof covered with iron. On the west side adjoined a two-story wing-gallery and “corner chambers,” while only the foundation was laid for the mirrored eastern wing. The western and eastern wings, also four stories high, were closed off by two-story courtyard buildings. The main entrance was via a high porch with a portico supported by wooden columns, highlighted by a balustrade with statues atop the wall. The side risalites were topped with Baroque pediments decorated with vases and princely crowns.

The construction involved Trezzini, B.-K. Rastrelli, Mattarnovi, and Leblon. Among the Russian craftsmen were stonemasons from Suzdal, plasterers from Kostroma, carpenters from Kozlov and Tambov, joiners Dementiy Ivanov and Fedot Maksimov, carvers Fyodor Ulyanov and Yerofey Savelyev, painters Andrey Petrov and Savely Rodionov, tile maker Vasily Yakovlev, and others.

All the stoves and doors, tiles and curtains, chairs and beds of the Menshikov Palace are an engaging restoration fiction. And the only thing that distinguishes it from other Petersburg palaces is that it did not become empty in 1917. On September 11, 1727, the owner was torn from his lavish comfort and sent into exile to the fortress of Rannenburg near Voronezh. Since then, the palace has never been just a private residence. Various government institutions occupied it until the mid-20th century. Each new occupant replastered and repainted it anew — by the 19th century, almost no original decoration remained.

Embezzler, bribe-taker, intriguer — Menshikov was accused of everything. But any subsequent owner of the palace would have been the same. And in the career of the first owner, it looked like a splendid launching pad before exile. No one else wanted to enter that karmic wheel. Menshikov himself was cast out to Siberian Berezov, where he died on November 12, 1729.

Surikov’s painting accurately conveys the realities. Two of the three children depicted survived, were amnestied, and were able to come to the capital. But they were only returned their arrested parental wardrobe, cynically noted in the report as damaged by dampness and rats. The palace quickly lost its shine as well. Where its contents went is unknown. Only the walls remain. Menshikov’s very Russian exile (in the spirit of the Soviet 1930s, he was even accused of espionage for Sweden) had a Roman meaning: replenishing the state treasury with the property of a disgraced senator. At the time of his downfall, Alexander Menshikov was the richest man in Russia.

He also lived noticeably better than the tsar, although that was not hard compared to Peter, and Peter was indifferent — everyday life did not whet his appetite. In the early 1700s, he entrusted personal purchases to Menshikov: they had a shared budget. These are amusing accounts. 1702: for Peter — two wigs for ten rubles, for Menshikov — eight for sixty-two. 1705: total wardrobe estimate — one thousand two hundred twenty-five rubles; for Peter, only forty arshins of Ivanovo cloth were bought for breeches. And compare Peter’s Summer House with Menshikov’s palace. Although its “luxury” is relative. The Dutch model was chosen as the basis: utility, durability, moderation. It is amusing to watch Menshikov trying to express the expansive Russian soul with it. Dutch white and blue tiles were taken — but at least all the walls are covered with them.

The Menshikov Palace was built in six years — from 1716 to 1722. Imagine this “Petersburg 1722.” Peter described it with fatherly adoration as a “paradise.” But this is the description of a man who had only two wigs. The Neva embankments were still being reinforced. The drainage of the marshy soil did not allow stone houses to be built — all of them (except the Menshikov Palace) were wooden. Wooden sidewalks were laid along the rivers of mud — “avenues.” Meanwhile, the accounting of bribes to Menshikov looked like this: from the head of the Uniform Office — two hundred fresh apples, a barrel of plums and apples in syrup. From the archimandrite — herrings. From the military ataman — “young Kalmyks — a boy and a girl” and tobacco. From the Arkhangelsk governor — one hundred lemons, a barrel of anchovies, a barrel of butter, and Dutch cheese.

And yet Peter, although he tried to rein in Menshikov and forced him to return stolen goods to the treasury, never took harsh measures against him personally. He understood: among the swampy “perspectives” under the Chukhon rain, such a Menshikov was needed, with eight changes of wigs, a bribe in a barrel of herring, and a stone palace brazenly trampling the Neva.

Menshikov was a walking advertisement for happiness. Success. Victory. In a city where life was unbearable, Menshikov trumpeted the art of living and enjoying. It is no wonder that Peter used his palace for receptions and celebrations. While a “paradise” was being built around, Menshikov was already living in it — and there was no better proof that paradise was indeed possible.

All the stoves and doors, tiles and curtains, chairs and beds of the Menshikov Palace are an engaging restoration fiction. And the only thing that distinguishes it from other Petersburg palaces is that it did not become empty in 1917. On September 11, 1727, Prince Menshikov was accused of treason and embezzlement and exiled to Berezov. His palace and all property came under the jurisdiction of the Office of Buildings.

Since then, the palace has never been just a private residence. Various government institutions occupied it until the mid-20th century. Each new occupant replastered and repainted it anew — by the 19th century, almost no original decoration remained.

In 1731, architect Domenico Trezzini rebuilt the building for the Land Noble Corps (from 1800 the Cadet Corps), and already in 1731 the building and the entire large land plot were transferred for use by the Cadet Corps. Soon a complex of new buildings was erected on the territory (houses 1, 3, 5 on Cadet Line).

Later, the main Neva-facing facade of the palace was altered and received a more simplified appearance. Instead of a mansard roof, a gable roof appeared; instead of a central attic with sculptures — a curved pediment. In the rebuilding works of the palace for the needs of the Cadet Corps in the second half of the 18th century, Ivan Starov, Vasily Bazhenov, and Yuri Felten participated. The interiors were also rearranged, but the unique chambers with decoration from Peter I’s time — four rooms decorated with Dutch tiles and the “Walnut Room” — were preserved.

In Soviet times (from 1927), the palace housed the Engels Military-Political School. Before the Great Patriotic War, the building housed the Military Transport Academy of the Red Army and the 1st Law Institute. In 1966, a decision was made to restore the building’s original appearance. Restoration was completed in 1981. The Menshikov Palace became a branch of the Hermitage. Since then, it has housed an exhibition on the history and culture of Russia in the Petrine era.

To this day, only the palace remains of the Menshikov estate.

Sources:

https://www.admagazine.ru/interior/lom-legenda-menshikovskij-dvorec

https://deletant.livejournal.com/115279.html

https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Меншиковский_дворец_(Санкт-Петербург)

https://www.citywalls.ru/house435.html