St. Petersburg’s Historic, UNESCO-Recognized Palace Square

David Dessler has an extensive background in academic research on international relations and was a professor at the College of William and Mary for many years. Among David Dessler’s accomplishments was helping develop an international college exchange program in Russia in the early 2000s. He spent time in historic St. Petersburg.

Like its Red Square counterpart in Moscow, the public centerpiece of St. Petersburg is Palace Square. Now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, this public space spans more than 13 acres and was initially given prominence with the construction of the Winter Palace, residence of the royal family, in the mid-18th century. In subsequent decades, residences were built on the square’s southern side that upset ruler Catherine the Great, who envisioned a grander building to complement architect Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli’s creation.

Ultimately, this led to the construction of the General Staff Building in the early 19th century. Featuring a vast semicircular facade, the Carlo Rossi design has an outsized triumphal arch depicting the Chariot of Glory. Other architectural masterpieces of this era fronting the square include Auguste Montferrand’s Alexander Column and the Alexander Briullov Guard Corps Headquarters.

With the pedestrian-only square having hosted countless festivals and parades, it has also been a site of bloodshed. This includes the attempted assassination of Tsar Alexander II in 1879 and the “Bloody Sunday Massacre” of 1905, when Tsarist Imperial Guards wounded and killed hundreds of unarmed protestors. Perhaps its most famous moment came on October 25th, 1917, when the Winter Palace was sacked by Bolshevik troops, and Socialists took power in Russia. Today, many visitors come to the square to visit the Hermitage Museum, housed in the Winter Palace.