The palace once belonging to princes Yusupovs' noble family is one of the most beautiful palaces in Saint Petersburg. In the 18the century on this place stood the mansion of count Shuvalov. It was designed by Giacomo Quarenghi, outstanding Italian architect who built about forty buildings in Saint Petersburg and its suburbs. In the 60s architect J-B Vallen-Delamonte rebuilt and enlarged the mansion, thus one of the most austere building of early Russian Classicism appeared in Saint Petersburg. In 1830 the palace passed into the ownership of princes Yusupovs, influential and rich noblemen, who rebuilt the palace according to their tastes. The palace was accomplished with a new wing and the inside fittings of the room became more luxurious and elegant.
Princes Yusupovs had always been in the center of high life. Wonderful balls and masquerades, regularly held at the palace, amazed the contemporaries with the luxury and refinement.
The palace retains its genuine interiors of the 19th - beginning of the 20th century. Motives of various styles have been used in the decoration of the halls and chambers. The influence of the art of different countries and epochs can be traced in the Turkish study, Oaken dining-room, Musical chambers and the chamber of Henry II. The real germ of the palace is the exotic Moresque chamber. The luxurious decorations of the interiors just dazzle: murals, carvings, marble, mirrors, gilded chandelier, expensive silk clothes and refined furniture.
The Yusupovs, famous connoisseurs of art, owned an extensive collection of paintings, sculptures and objects of the applied art. After the Revolution of 1917 the collection was expropriated and handed over to the State Hermitage.
In the 19th century the richest noblemen organized small private theaters. The Yusupov palace was no exception. The splendid auditorium with intricate flowing lines, lavish ornamentations and painting of Lipgart was decorated in neo-rococo style. It was so beautiful that it was often called "the small Mariinsky theatre". The gallery leading to the theatre was also grand. Spectators had to go through the beautiful enfilade, where they could admire French paintings and rare collection of bronze clocks. In 1863 architect A.Stepanov placed a marble staircase leading to the stalls. As legend goes, once, travelling around Italy, eccentric prince Nikolay Yusupov admired a beautiful white marble staircase, purchased it and transported to Saint Petersburg.
Many outstanding artists shone on the stage of the Yusupov's private theater: Aleksander Dargomyzhsky, Anna Pavlova, Fyedor Shalyapin and others. Nowadays at the Yusupov theater concerts of classical music, Russian romances and jazz are regularly held.
The palace is worth visiting not only as one of the best architectural monument of the palace architecture of the 19th - beginning of the 20th century but also from the historical point of view. The palace, to be precise - its cellar, became the setting of the murder of one of the most scandalous figures in Russian history - Grigory Rasputin. The legendary favourite, Rasputin, convinced the royal family that he possessed supernatural powers and that only he could cure the heir to the throne Alexis, who suffered from hemophaelia. The tsar and his wife had implicit faith in him and did everything he told them. The group of aristocrats decided that Rasputin's influence had grown too great and that he had to be killed in order to save Russia. On December 16, 1916 prince Felix Yusupov invited Grigory Rasputin to his house. Rasputin was treated with poisoned cakes and wine, but these did not affect him. Then the plotters tried to shoot the monk, but he managed to run away. Only in the yard the pursuers overtook Rasputin and shoot several bullets more. But the bullets didn't do him any harm - the monk seemed to be protected by non-natural powers. Then he was bound, put in the sack and thrown down into an ice-hole. Rasputin continued struggling desperately for his life until he submerged in the frozen waters of the Neva River.
Nowadays the cellar where the dramatic events took place houses the exhibition "Grigory Rasputin: pages of life and death". The visitors can see the wax figures of Rasputin and plotters and other interesting exhibits.
Refined luxury, splendour of high life, human relationships and the history of rich aristocratic family - about all these the expositions of the Yusupov Palace, one of the most mysterious places in Saint Petersburg, tell.