Winter Palace

Winter Palace

The Winter Palace is a palace in Saint Petersburg that served as the official residence of the House of Romanov, the emperors of Russia, from 1732 to 1917. The palace and its precincts now house the Hermitage Museum. The floor area is 233,345 square metres. The total area of the Winter Palace is 14.2 hectares. Situated between Palace Embankment and Palace Square, adjacent to the site of Peter the Great's original Winter Palace, the present and fourth Winter Palace was built and altered almost continuously between the late 1730s and 1837, when it was severely damaged by fire and immediately rebuilt. The storming of the palace in 1917, as depicted in Soviet art and in Sergei Eisenstein's 1928 film October, became a symbol of the October Revolution.

Winter

Winter is the coldest and darkest season of the year in temperate and polar climates. It occurs after autumn and before spring, when the hemisphere is oriented away from the Sun as a result of the tilt of Earth's axis. Different cultures define different dates as the start of winter, and some use a definition based on weather.

Palace

A palace is a large residence, often serving as a royal residence or the home for a head of state or another high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin word palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome, which housed the Imperial residences.

winter

Noun

1. Traditionally the fourth of the four seasons, typically regarded as spanning either the period between the winter solstice to the spring equinox, or the months of December, January, and February in temperate and polar regions of the Northern Hemisphere and the months of June, July, and August in the Southern Hemisphere. It is the time when the sun is lowest in the sky, resulting in short days, and the time of year with the lowest atmospheric temperatures for the region.
2. The period of decay, old age, death, or the like.

Verb

1. To spend the winter (in a particular place).
2. To store something (for instance animals) somewhere over winter to protect it from cold.

palace

Noun

1. Official residence of a head of state or other dignitary, especially in a monarchical or imperial governmental system.
2. A large and lavishly ornate residence.

Verb

1. To decorate or ornate.