Ambassadorial Staircase

The Main Staircase was restored after the fire of 1837 by Vasily Stasov who largely preserved the design of Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli. The ten solid columns of Serdobolye granite support the vaults of the staircase. Full of light and gleaming with gilding and mirrors, the staircase extends for the whole height of the Winter Palace. The painted ceiling by 18th-century artist Diziano Gasparo representing the gods of Olympus Olympus gives an impression of an additional height to the staircase. The décor of the staircase includes monumental sculptures brought by Peter the Great from Italy: Wealth, Loyalty, Wisdom, Justice and Might. In the 18th century the staircase was known as the Ambassadorial Staircase because the ambassadors of foreign countries ascended it when going to the palace for official receptions. Later the staircase received the name of the Jordan Staircase - on the Epiphany day religious processions from the Grand Church of the Winter Palace went down the Jordan Staircase to the Neva River.

The Field Marshals' Hall

The Field Marshals' Hall opens the large suite of state rooms in the Winter Palace. The interior was restored after the fire of 1837 by Vasily Stasov close to the original design of Auguste de Montferrand (1833-34). The classically strict doors are accentuated with portals. The two longer walls are adorned with double pilasters bearing the entablement of the gallery. Motifs of military glory are used in the decoration of the gilded bronze chandeliers and the grisaille paintings of the ceiling. Before the revolution formal portraits of the Russian field marshals were placed in the niches, hence the name of the hall. Three bronze chandeliers, the largest one is 2,66 meters in diameter.

The Memorial Hall of Peter the Great (The Small Throne Room)

The hall was designed in 1833 by the architect Auguste de Montferrand and restored after the fire of 1837 by Vasily Stasov with minor alterations. It is dedicated to Peter the Great and therefore Peter's monogram (two Latin letters, PP, for "Petrus Primus") as well as double-headed eagles and crowns are used as the main decorative motifs for the stucco capitals, pilasters, relief frieze on the walls and ceiling painting.

Two battle scenes, The Battle of Lesnaya and The Battle of Poltava, representing Peter the Great during two fights of the Northern War (artists Pietro Scotti and Barnabo Medici), are arranged in the upper part of the walls. In the niche there is the painting Peter the Great with Minerva produced by the Italian artist Jacopo Amiconi in the 1730s. On the dais in the centre stands the throne made for Empress Anna Ioannovna in London by Nicholaus Klausen in 1731-32. The silver articles and wall panels made of crimson lyonnaise velvet with a silver embroidered border and double-headed eagles in the centre complete the décor of the hall.

The Pavilion Hall

The Pavilion Hall of the Small Hermitage was designed in the mid-19th century by Andrei Stakenschneider, the most significant Russian architect of the Eclecticism style. In the design of this interior he intermingled architectural elements of Classical Antiquity, Renaissance and the Orient. The combination of light marble with gilt stucco ornaments and the brightly shining twenty-eight crystal chandeliers make it particularly impressive. The hall is adorned with an arcade of columns supporting a graceful gallery. On display in the southern part of the hall is a copy of the floor mosaics, unearthed in 1780 in the ancient Roman bath at Ocriculum. The niche, adorned with coloured marble columns, is surrounded with four marble fountains imitating with variations the Fountain of Tears in the Bakhchisarai Palace. Among the museum's exhibits which never fail to attract visitors' attention, is the Peacock Clock (James Cox, 18th century) from the collection of Catherine the Great. The Pavilion Room also contains the collection of mosaic tables made by Italian and Russian craftsmen in the mid-19th century.