Winter Palace

Located on the bank of the Neva River, the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, Russia was built between 1754 and 1762 as the winter residence of the Russian tsars. The photo shows the Alexander Column, designed by Auguste de Montferrand and erected in front of the Palace in 1832.

First occupied by Catherine the Great, the Baroque-style, green-and-white palace has 1786 doors and 1945 windows.

The Palace is now part of a group of magnificent buildings that is called the State Hermitage Museum which holds one of the world's greatest collections of art. As part of the Museum, many of the Winter Palace's 1057 halls and rooms are open to the public.