Jordan Staircase of the Winter Palace

The principal or Jordan Staircase of the Winter Palace, St Petersburg is so called because on the Feast of the Epiphany the Tsar descended this imperial staircase in state for the ceremony of the "Blessing of the Waters" of the Neva River, a celebration of Christ's baptism in the Jordan River. The staircase is one the few parts of the palace retaining the original 18th century style. The massive grey granite columns, however, were added in the mid 19th century. [Budberg, p.198.]

The staircase was badly damaged by a fire that swept the palace in 1837. But Nicholas I ordered the architect in charge of reconstruction, Vasily Stasov, to restore the staircase using Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli's original plans. Stasov made two small changes, he replaced the original gilt bronze handrails with white marble and the original pink columns with grey granite. [Norman, pp. 72–73]

After attending a ball at the Winter Palace in 1902, The Duchess of Sutherland wrote: "The stairs of the palace were guarded by cossacks, with hundreds of footmen in scarlet liveries, I have never in my life seem so brilliant a sight - the light, the uniforms, the enormous rooms, the crowd, the music, making a spectacle that was almost Barbaric." [Stuart, p97.]

Notes

References

*cite book
last = Budberg
first = Moura
year = 1969
title = Great Palaces (The Winter Palace. Pages 194–201)
publisher = Hamlyn Publishing Group Ltd
location = London
id = ISBN 0600 01682 X

*cite book
last = Norman
first = Geraldine
year = 1998
title = The Hermitage: The Biography of a Great Museum
publisher = Fromm International Publishing
location = New York
id = ISBN 0-88064-190-8

*cite book
last = Stuart
first = D
year = 1982
title = Dear Duchess: Millicent, Duchess of Sutherland (1867 - 1955).
publisher = Victor Gollancz Ltd.
location = London
id = ISBN

* [http://www.hermitagemuseum.org/html_En/08/hm88_0_1_21.html State Hermitage Museum Web site: The Main Staircase of the Winter Palace]