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|Isaakiyevskaya Square|Custom1|O:104|, 6
1839-44. Architect A. Stakenschneider
Now the City's Administration building         
The palace was built for Nicholas I's daughter Grand Duchess Maria Nikolayevna. It was the 
first big work by the architect. The facade is designed on classical principles; its center is 
accentuated by a portico with a bulky attic and open arcade of the main entrance, supporting a 
balcony with six big vases.
Artistically the palace interiors are of interest. Having taken the layout of the |Tavrichesky|Custom1|O:63| 
|(Taurida) Palace|Custom1|O:63| for a model (architect I.Starov, 
1783-90) and developed it Stakenschneider 
created a suite of halls that was not parallel to 
the main facade, but went back, along the 
central axis of the building. It is the only suite of 
such kind know in Russian 19th - century 
architecture. The suite is  opened by a vestibule 
leading to the central Rotunda. It is decorated 
with 32 columns, spanned with a cupola and 
illuminated from above. In 1906-7 a spacious Hall 
for the State Council Sittings was set up in place 
of former winter garden, to a design by L.Benois. 
In 1884 the palace was acquired into the Treasury 
and came to accommodate the State Council; after 
the February revolution of 1917 it used to be the 
residence of the Provisional Government.