Palace Square is the historic heart of St. Petersburg, framed by the baroque Winter Palace, the curved General Staff Building with its triumphal arch, and the towering Alexander Column at its center, raised to commemorate Russia’s victory over Napoleon.
The Winter Palace, completed in 1762, now forms the core of the State Hermitage Museum, one of the largest and oldest art museums in the world, housing more than three million works across five interconnected buildings.
The square itself is a free, open-air pedestrian space accessible at any hour, and mornings before 10 a.m. offer the emptiest views and best light for photos, before tour groups and street performers arrive.