First of all the visitors of Petersburg are attracted by the imperial palaces in Peterhof, Tsarskoye Selo and Pavlovsk, however, you shouldn’t forget about the palaces of rich noblemen. The most interesting of them is the Yusupov`s Palace on the river Moika.
The Yusupov, which were one of the wealthiest noble families, have 57 palaces and estates all over Russia, but the greatest fame was gained by their palace on the Moika. It was the most luxurious palace of all their estates, and besides, it was just there that the great historic event took place, the murder of Grigory Rasputin, which the prince Felix Yusupov took a direct part in.
The Yusupov owned the palace from 1830 to 1917 and five generations of this family lived in it. Eventually, it became one of the most luxurious palaces in St. Petersburg. It had magnificent rooms for balls and theatrical performances.
Surely, you should visit the Yusupov`s Palace on the Moika if only to see the home theater of the Yusupov. The interior of this theatre, which remained intact until nowadays, can`t but arouse admiration from the visitors. It is richly decorated by gilding, and on the ceiling there remained beautiful plafonds.
Balls took place in the White Column Hall of the Yusupov`s Palace. Architects of the palace were able to create perfect acoustics, which is so important for orchestras and singers. It was just there that a rehearsal of the first Russian opera ‘A Life for the Tsar’ by Glinka took place.
For those who are fond of history every day on 13.45 there held the excursion «The Last Owners of the Yusupov`s Palace» including a visit to the exposition «The Murder of Grigory Rasputin».
Apart from this, there remained magnificent interiors of several drawing-rooms of the Yusupov`s Palace: green, Moorish, tapestry, blue and imperial ones. Excursions to the ceremonial chambers are held there every hour. You can also join not the least interesting excursion to residential quarters of the Yusupov Palace.
