Yusupov palace on the Moika river is a place of piligrimage for both art and history lovers: the firsts will find one of the most beautiful and harmonious palace interiors in St Petersburg, the seconds are curious to see the place where Grigory Rasputin was murdered. Yusupov palace is definitely worth a visit, but be prepared to wait in lines – it is a very popular museum and its passability is quite limited. At the moment tours of the palace are held only in Russian, but foreigners can rent an audioguide ( but be prepared to pay an additional 1000 rubles as a pledge for it). Unfortunately there are no tours in foreign languages of Rasputin exhibition, but if you want to simply see the place you can join a tour in Russian that runs at 13:45. You need to pay extra to visit Rasputin exhibition, but if you missed the tour go to see the gala rooms of Yusupov palace anyway, they are truly unique.
It won’t be an exaggeration to say that Yusupov family was almost as rich as Russian tsars. There were 200 servants in Yusupov palace on Moika only and their art collection was so rich and important that after the Revolution when the palace was nationalized it was decided that « it was not reasonable to have the second Hermitage in St Petersburg” and the paintings and other surviving valuables were transferred to the Hermitage. Nevertheless, the restored interiors are truly magnificent.
Besides gala rooms of the palace , you can visit the only surviving home theater of the XIX century in Russia that was preserved unchanged since that time. The theater of Yusopov palace is functioning and in the evening you can go to a concert here.
The descendants of Yusupov family are now living abroad. There is no restitution in Russia and this palace now belongs to the state.
Address of Yusupov palace : Moika river embankment, 94
You can also order a private tour of Yusupov palace with visits to the reception rooms and Rasputin exhibition