It is hard to believe that behind the strict classical facade of the palace on the banks of the Moika River in St. Petersburg lie halls and drawing rooms of incredible luxury and beauty. Even harder to realize that it was here that one of the most mysterious murders of its time took place, the assassination of the elder Grigory Rasputin, favorite of the imperial family. The palace belonged to the Yusupov princes, who were said to be significantly wealthier than the imperial family.

In their ancestral nest, all styles and eras merged: baroque, rococo, classicism, empire, neo-baroque, neo-rococo, neoclassicism, and modern. Here you can see the grand staircase made of Carrara marble, the Red, Blue, and Green drawing rooms, ballrooms, velvet-upholstered sofas, antique furniture, ancient sculptures, chandeliers adorned with flowers, a theater reminiscent of a precious casket, Eastern luxury, European restraint, and home comfort. It seems that the owners embodied their boldest fantasies in the palace. And this is not surprising, as the palace was owned by five generations of one of the wealthiest aristocratic families in Russia, while previous owners held important positions in the Empire.

The history of the Yusupov Palace on the Moika is rich in events. At this site, during the reign of Peter I, there stood a wooden house belonging to his niece, Princess Praskovya Ioannovna. It changed owners several times until, in the 18th century, it became the property of General-Field Marshal Count P.I. Shuvalov. By order of his son and the project of the Frenchman Vallin-Delamotte, a stone palace in the baroque style was built in the 1770s with a facade facing the Moika, adorned with sculptures and columns.

In the late 18th century, Catherine II purchased the palace for her friend Alexandra Vasilievna Branitskaya. In 1830, her heirs sold it to Prince Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov.

Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov was incredibly wealthy and educated. He held numerous positions: senator, director of theaters, factories, and the Hermitage, member of the State Council, and chief marshal at the coronation of three emperors. A personal award, a pearl epaulet, was even created for him. He had excellent artistic taste and enriched the collections of the Hermitage and other royal residences.

The Yusupovs traced their lineage back to the 6th century, considering their ancestor Abu Bakr, the first caliph in the Arab caliphate. His descendant, Khan Yusuf-Murza, entered the service of the Russian Tsar Ivan the Terrible. The sons of the murza, the brothers Suyumbeki, served Tsar Fyodor Ioannovich so well that one of them was gifted an entire city.

The great-grandson of Yusuf Abdul-Murza changed his faith for career advancement and became the Russian prince Dmitry Seyushevich Yusupovo-Knyazhye. Grigory Yusupov assisted Peter I in his endeavors. By the 18th century, the Yusupovs owned about 50 estates, and four of their mansions remained in St. Petersburg. The Yusupov Palace on the Moika, with its luxurious halls and drawing rooms, was the most magnificent of them and is considered the most beautiful palace in St. Petersburg.

Under Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov, the palace on the Moika changed beyond recognition, retaining only the courtyard with a colonnade and a pavilion deep in the park. The palace acquired a classical appearance, a third floor was added, and a new wing with the White Column Hall was built facing the embankment. A ballroom, the Green, Imperial, and Blue drawing rooms were constructed, and a garden with new greenhouses was laid out.

After Nikolai Borisovich's death, the palace was expanded to accommodate a collection from the suburban Arkhangelsk. Five halls were built for storing precious exhibits: the Nikolai Hall, Preciosa, the Canova Rotunda, the Antique Hall, the Roman Hall, and the Belotserkov Gallery. Here were placed paintings by Rubens, Van Dyck, Rembrandt, and sculptures by Giovanni Bologna and Antonio Canova.

Architect Bernard Simon built the Winter Garden and the Tapestry Hall, where tapestries gifted to the prince by Napoleon were kept. The Nikolai Hall housed marble portraits of the owners by I. Vitali, while in the Canova Rotunda, there were sculptures "Cupid and Psyche" and "Cupid with Bow and Quiver" by Canova.

The Yusupov Palace became the center of artistic and theatrical life in St. Petersburg thanks to the taste and hospitality of its owners. Pushkin, Karamzin, Krylov, Vyazemsky, Zhukovsky, and Beaumarchais visited. The first Russian classical opera "Ivan Susanin, or Life for the Tsar" by Glinka was premiered in the palace theater.

In addition to the grand halls, the palace included a complex of buildings for celebrations, balls, salon evenings, and performances. There were three kitchens: for the servants, a small one in the main building, and a large kitchen for formal dinners. There were also a confectionery, a laundry, a storeroom, ice houses for food storage, stables for carriages, horse stables, haylofts, laundries, ironing rooms, apartments for servants, and an ancient garden.

In the 1860s, architect Hippolyte Antonovich Monighetti, at the request of Nikolai Borisovich Yusupov Jr., changed the appearance of the palace. The new owner, a composer and collector, sent a renovation plan from Paris. A grand staircase made of Carrara marble with Italian sculptures appeared, along with fireplaces made of rare minerals, luxurious furniture, and exquisite chandeliers.

In the 1890s, the Home Theater was remodeled in the rococo style. Outstanding musicians and poets performed here: Glinka, Dargomyzhsky, Liszt, Chopin, Shalyapin, Polina Viardot, Sobinov, Blok, Yesenin, Mayakovsky.

The last owners of the palace were Prince Felix Felixovich Yusupov and his wife Irina Alexandrovna, born Romanova. They were considered the most beautiful, wealthy, and famous couple in the Russian Empire. Felix became the sole heir to the Yusupov fortune after the death of his older brother Nikolai in a duel.

There is a legend about the curse of the Yusupov family: from the brothers of one generation, only one survived, while the others did not live to see 26 years. Young Felix, known for his flamboyant behavior, loved to dress in women's costumes, which sparked rumors about his non-traditional orientation. He had acting abilities and attracted the attention of English King Edward VII. There were rumors of his romance with Grand Duke Dmitry Romanov.

Felix was passionate about theater and cars, owning three cars in Crimea. He was educated at Oxford University, where he made a splash with his extravagant behavior and exquisite taste. His rooms at Oxford became an exhibition of contemporary art, after which a fashion for black carpets began in England.

Felix fell in love with Irina Alexandrovna Romanova and arranged a "Fountain of Tears" in the Yusupov Palace made of Ural gemstones to impress her. The Romanovs were preparing for the wedding, but Grigory Rasputin opposed it, suspecting the groom of homosexuality. Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna, under his influence, even stopped talking to her husband when he agreed to the marriage.

After their wedding in 1915, Felix continued to give his wife expensive gifts. In a special room of the palace, there were three thousand pairs of her shoes. With an income of over a million rubles a year, he could afford this. The Yusupovs owned 17 estates, a mine in the Donbass, 8 income-generating houses, and hundreds of enterprises. Felix called himself not only Prince Yusupov but also Count Sumarokov-Elston.

The Yusupov Palace with its grand halls and drawing rooms resembled a museum. In the early 20th century, architects Vaytens and Beloborodov decorated the private quarters of the young couple in the modern style, involving artists from the "World of Art" association, Sergei Chekhonin and Nikolai Tyrsa. Yusupov called these apartments "garsonierka." They were equipped with all the comforts of civilization: electricity, heating, plumbing, and sewage. In 1915, the Yusupovs had a daughter, Irina. However, the nature of the young aristocrat knew no peace.

After the outbreak of World War I, the prince decided to obtain a military education. The assassination of Rasputin took place on the night of December 17, 1916, in the basement room of the palace. Yusupov saw Rasputin as the cause of Russia's military failures. However, there is a version that he was protecting his wife from the elder's advances. Rasputin was lured to the palace under the pretext of curing Irina's headaches.

The conspiracy involved Grand Duke Dmitry Pavlovich Romanov, Yusupov's friend, Duma member Purishkevich, Captain Ivan Sukhotin, cadet Vasily Maklakov, and doctor Stanislav Lazorvet, who was supposed to poison Rasputin. When the poison did not work, Yusupov shot him, and Dmitry Romanov finished him off with a blow to the head. However, Rasputin proved to be resilient. His body was thrown into the Neva, where it surfaced a few hours later. When drowned, the elder was still alive and managed to escape from the bag.

The next morning, the conspirators became national heroes. The empress wanted to execute them, but other members of the Romanov family intervened on their behalf. As a result, the murderers were exiled from Petersburg, which saved their lives. From their estate in Kursk, the Yusupovs moved to Crimea, from where they quickly left for Europe after the Bolsheviks came to power.

Yusupov later profited from the murder of Rasputin. In 1927, he published a memoir titled "The End of Rasputin." In 1932, defending his wife's honor, he won a lawsuit against MGM for the film "Rasputin and the Empress," where Irina appeared as Rasputin's mistress.

After the October Revolution, the palace was nationalized. The halls were rented out to various organizations, and the art gallery was liquidated. During the inventory of property, secret caches containing works by Fragonard, Corot, Guido Reni, Velázquez, Van Dyck, Rubens, Rembrandt, and violins by Amati and Stradivari were discovered.

The money from the sale of two paintings by Rembrandt, taken out of Russia by Yusupov, improved their financial situation in 1921, and they lived comfortably in Paris, helping Russian emigrants.

The palace's caches held letters and autographs of Derzhavin, Vyazemsky, Pushkin, Gogol, Schiller, Hugo, Mérimée, Beaumarchais, and 26 letters from Pushkin.

The Bolsheviks opened a museum of noble life in the palace, which lasted until 1925. After its closure, the collections were dispersed to museums in Moscow and Leningrad, and the palace itself became the Central House of Workers of Education. Its halls remained almost completely intact until the beginning of the war.

During the blockade, the palace became evacuation hospital No. 67. Hospital beds and stoves were set up in the halls, the soot from which settled on the interiors. The building was damaged by bombs and fire. In the post-war period, its restoration began under the guidance of Irina Nikolaevna Benois.

Today, the "Yusupov Palace on the Moika," a unique monument of noble culture from the 18th to the 20th centuries, lives a rich cultural life. Tours are conducted through its halls, performances are staged in the theater, gatherings are held in the kitchens, and the organ plays in the Music Drawing Room. The Moorish Drawing Room, decorated by Monighetti in the 1860s, was recently opened.

Visitors can admire the halls and drawing rooms of the palace, where one can easily get lost, as well as visit the living quarters of the last owners. The exhibition "The Murder of G. Rasputin" evokes numerous responses, conveying the atmosphere in which a group of aristocrats decided to commit a crime. However, the elder's murder did not save Russia from the chaos of the following years, but only confirmed his prophecy about the end of the royal family and the empire.