The Palace of the Yusupovs on the Moika ( Russian : Дворец Юсуповых на Мойке ), known as the Moika Palace or Yusupov Palace , is a former residence of the Russian noble House of Yusupov in St. Petersburg , Russia, now a museum. The building was the site of Grigori Rasputin 's murder in the early morning of December 17, 1916. Sometimes called the Moika Palace to tell it apart from other palaces of the same family in Saint Petersburg, though it is not the only palace on this river in the city.
15-450: The palace was first built around 1776 by the French architect Jean-Baptiste Vallin de la Mothe . Over the years a number of architects worked on the palace including the famous Italian sculptor Emilio Sala , producing a variety of architectural styles. Andrei Mikhailov reconstructed the building in the 1830s after the princely Yusupov family acquired the property. This was the period in which
30-579: A museum open to public tours. The courtyard where Rasputin attempted to flee from his killers is now occupied by a kindergarten playground adjacent to the main building. Jean-Baptiste Vallin de la Mothe Jean-Baptiste Michel Vallin de la Mothe (1729 – 7 May 1800) was a French architect whose major career was spent in St. Petersburg , where he became court architect to Catherine II . His students were Ivan Starov and Vasily Bazhenov . He
45-633: Is supported with the fact, that he was also recommended by Jacques-Germain Soufflot . In St. Petersburg, Vallin de la Mothe adjusted Blondel's designs for a pet project of Shuvalov , the Imperial Academy of Arts (1765–72), in the form of a large open square with a circular central court. As a professor at the Academy, Vallin de la Mothe taught many Russian architects who would themselves be prominent one day including Ivan Starov and Vasili Bazhenov ; under
60-534: The Neva River from the Academy. This would be Vallin de la Mothe's most famous work. The structure he built, known as the Small Hermitage, became the home to Catherine's art collection. This collection would eventually grow to be one of the world's largest— today Russia's Hermitage Museum holds over 3,000,000 pieces of art, and hundreds of thousands of tourists visit Vallin de la Mothe's Small Hermitage, along with
75-586: The Russian Revolution , the palace was nationalised and its works of art were largely relocated to the Hermitage and other museums. Ernst Friedrich von Liphart , who was the curator of paintings at the Hermitage, had earlier painted the curtain and ceiling of the palace theatre. The palace was the scene of the assassination of Grigori Rasputin by a monarchist group which included Prince Felix Yusupov , heir to
90-486: The Moika Palace. He took Rasputin to a small but lavishly furnished cellar room of the palace. There he served Rasputin red wine. When Rasputin was affected, Yusupov retrieved a revolver and shot Rasputin from the side. Taking him for dead, Yusupov went upstairs to where the other conspirators waited in a ground floor study/drawing room. Rasputin succeeded in fleeing through a side door into a gated courtyard which opened onto
105-651: The court architect. He began, but did not complete, work on the Catholic Church of St. Catherine . Work on the church was completed by Antonio Rinaldi . In 1775 Vallin de la Mothe left Russia and came back to France. He resided in Lyon , where he designed and constructed his own house. In 1782 due to poverty and serious illness he was forced to move back to his childhood city Angoulême. The great architect died there on 7 May 1800. In France he created several urban buildings. The neoclassical hôtel particulier he designed in
120-566: The impetus of Vallin de la Mothe, the promising young Russians were sent to Paris to apprentice with Charles De Wailly , thus setting a distinctively French stamp on Russian neoclassicism . It is known that Vallin also redesigned interiors of the Winter Palace to Catherine II in 1762-1763. Catherine the Great had been so impressed by his work at the Academy that she commissioned him to build an extension to her Winter Palace , which sits across
135-474: The palace acquired its present-day appearance. The Yusupovs were immensely wealthy and known for their philanthropy and art collections. In this time, the palace became known as the Yusupov Palace. The luxurious interiors of the palace were not inferior to those of contemporary royal palaces. More than 40,000 works of art, including works by Rembrandt , jewelry, and sculptures decorated the palace. Following
150-482: The property of the nobles. In 1925, the palace was handed over to the city's Education Commissariat. While most nobles' palaces were converted to mundane use, the Education Commissariat decided to preserve the mansion as a public museum. Today the palace serves as a "Palace of Culture for Educators". Second floor reception areas and that part of the building associated with Rasputin's murder, are maintained as
165-511: The rest of the complex, every year. From 1761 to 1767, he pursued a number of other projects. He designed St. Petersburg's market hall, Gostiny Dvor on Nevsky Prospekt (the main street of St. Petersburg), the palaces of Kirill Razumovsky , Ivan Chernyshyov , the House of Yusupov 's Moika Palace (where Grigori Rasputin was murdered ), and the New Holland Arch . In 1766 he officially became
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#1732858768118180-512: The street outside. Purishkevich then shot Rasputin in the back, on the doorstep. The body was taken inside and a third bullet, fired at close range, entered his forehead. The conspirators wrapped Rasputin in a broadcloth, drove outside the city and threw the body into the Malaya Neva . The Russian Revolution followed shortly after Rasputin's death and once the Soviets came to power, they confiscated
195-529: The vast Yusupov family estates. These included four palaces in St. Petersburg. The palace on the Moika was reportedly the prince's favorite residence in the capital. The exact events surrounding Rasputin's death are still in dispute. What seems clear is that on 30 December [ O.S. 17 December] 1916, Felix Yusupov, along with Vladimir Purishkevich and Grand Duke Dmitri Pavlovich invited Grigori Rasputin to
210-739: Was born in Angoulême . Vallin de la Mothe graduated in 1750 in Paris, soon with the help of his cousin Jacques-François Blondel he entered the French Academy in Rome . According to his letters of that period, Vallin de la Mothe had a great interest to Andrea Palladio and Vincenzo Scamozzi . Beginning in 1750, Vallin de la Mothe spent two years studying at the French Academy in Rome , though not as an official pensionnaire . He graduated with distinction and
225-560: Was elected as a member of Academies of Arts in Florence and Bologna. On his return to Paris he was one of the architects who presented projects for Place Lous XV . In 1759, Vallin de la Mothe accepted an offer extended through the Russian ambassador Aleksei Petrovich Bestuzhev-Ryumin , prompted by Blondel, to create Imperial Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg and teach architecture there. De la Mothe's high reputation in professional circles
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