Exterior

Interior
Location
History - Important points
Designed by a team of architects under the management of Konstantin Thon, it was intended to emphasise the greatness of Russian autocracy. Konstantin Thon was also the
architect of the Kremlin Armoury and the Cathedral of Christ the Savior.

The buildings of the Palace form a rectangle with an inner courtyard. The building appears to be three stories, but is actually two. The upper floor has two sets of windows.
The west building of the Palace held state reception halls and the imperial family's private chambers.

Art historians suppose that following the peculiarities of Old Russian architecture the complex was asymmetrical.

Russian architecture follows a tradition whose roots lie in early Russian wooden architecture (inclusive of various indigenous elements) and in the architecture of Kievan
[2]
Rus' with its centers in Veliky Novgorod and Kiev. From the Rus' era, the Byzantine Empire influenced the architecture and culture of Russia.