Why go
General Staff Building rewards attention to scale, orientation, and setting. The General Staff Building (Здание Главного штаба is an edifice with a 580 m long bow-shaped facade, situated on Palace Square in Saint Petersburg, Russia, in front of the Winter Palace. Before leaving, compare one close detail of General Staff Building with its broadest public view.
What to look for
- General Staff Building: Begin with the broad massing rather than a single decorative feature.
- General Staff Building: Move along the frontage to watch its rhythm change.
- General Staff Building: Find a distant angle that shows the surrounding urban geometry.
The full story
The General Staff Building (Здание Главного штаба is an edifice with a 580 m long bow-shaped facade, situated on Palace Square in Saint Petersburg, Russia, in front of the Winter Palace. The building was designed by Carlo Rossi in the Empire style and built in 1819-1829. It consists of two wings, which are separated by a tripartite triumphal arch adorned by sculptors Stepan Pimenov and Vasily Demuth-Malinovsky and commemorating the Russian victory over Napoleonic France in the Patriotic War of 1812. The arch links Palace Square through Bolshaya Morskaya St. Until the capital was transferred to Moscow in 1918, the building served as the headquarters of the General Staff (western wing), Foreign Ministry and Finance Ministry (eastern wing). The western wing now hosts the headquarters of the Leningrad Military District. The eastern wing was transferred to the Hermitage Museum in 1993.
Useful to know
- Check the current admission calendar for General Staff Building before building an interior visit around it.
Your next visit
Estimated · Declared scenario and planning estimates; no live opening, weather, queue or booking service.
Outdoor visit · 30–45 min
World planning estimate; admission, opening, visit duration and access need checking.