New Michael Palace

Saint Petersburg, Russia

Open to visitors

The interior is normally open, possibly ticketed.

Strollie cannot guarantee access — always check before you travel.

The New Michael Palace stands on Saint Petersburg's Palace Embankment, a Rococo masterwork designed by Andrei Stackenschneider and built between 1857 and 1862 for Grand Duke Michael Nikolaevich. Commissioned to mark the Grand Duke's wedding to Cecilie of Baden, the palace presents an eclectic façade drawing from Renaissance, Baroque, and Louis XVI precedents, while its interiors showcase ornate yet airy Rococo rooms graced by statuary by David Jensen and paintings by Michael Zichy. A distinctive residential wing fronts Millionnaya Street with a curvilinear Italianate façade rooted in a Baroque predecessor attributed to Pyotr Yeropkin. Following the Revolution, the palace housed a Communist Academy branch before becoming home to the Institute of Oriental Studies in 1949. A comprehensive restoration completed in 2009 returned the building to fine condition, while newly reconstructed stables now shelter the institute's vast collection of Oriental manuscripts and books. Today it remains a federal cultural heritage site.