Palace Square and the Alexander Column

The main square of St Petersburg, an ensemble of three eras: the baroque Winter Palace (Rastrelli, 1762), the classical General Staff Building with its triumphal arch (Rossi, 1829) and the Alexander Column by Auguste de Montferrand (1834), a 47-metre column raised in memory of the victory over Napoleon and held in place by nothing but its own weight.

On the map