Its collection includes over 400,000 artworks covering the complete history of Russian art, from 11th century icons to works by contemporary artists.

The Mikhailovsky Palace can be considered as one of the most precious pearls in the architectural necklace of the city. Now, the Russian Museum, the world’s largest collection of Russian art, is situated there. From a historical point of view the Museum is rather young: it is slightly more than one hundred years old.

The palace is considerably older, for its construction was completed in the mid-1820s. The first owner of the Palace was the youngest, the fourth, son of Emperor Paul I, Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich, hence its name – the Mikhailovsky Palace. Just after the birth of the Grand Duke, in 1798, Paul I ordered to deposit every year a sertain sum of money in benefit of his son. When the sum became as large as 9 000 000 roubles, the construction of a residence for Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich began. The project was entrusted to Carlo Rossi.

In 1819-1825 he created an impressing ensemble consisting of a palace and a square in front of it. Quite a few architectural monuments created at the peak of the style of Empire have come up to us not only in Russia but in Europe as well. The Mikhailovsky Palace is one of them. Exterior appearance of the main building and the western block has come to our days practically unchanged. Some of their interiors can also give a representation of the architect’s conception and his talent.

Everybody is impressed with the magnificent main entrance hall with a wide staircase leading to the gallery on the first floor with its grandiose 18 columns of the Corinthian Order as well as with the state enfilade running along the whole perimeter of the first floor. The centre of the enfilade is the White Hall with its astonishingly balanced composition and décor. It is a unique palace interior in St.Petersburg dating from the first quarter of the 19th century where not only painting and sculptural décor but the authentic furniture made after Rossi design are intact.

The “pre-museum” period in the history of the Mikhailovsky Palace began in 1825, when its owner and his family – Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich and his wife, Grand Duchess Yelena Pavlovna moved there. The first decades of the existence of the newly-built palace were marked with resplendent balls given there by this couple. After the death of Grand Duke in 1849 the period of salons of Yelena Pavlovna with their atmosphere of comfort and refined aristocratism. 

Many capital and foreign celebrities, public figures, politicians, scientists and popular writers met there.