General Staff buillding

General Staff building designed by Carlo Rossi was erected between 1819 and 1829 to house the General Staff and two government ministries – finance and foreign affairs. The imposing edifice designed in the form of semicircle fronts a large square before the Winter Palace (Palace Square). In the center of the almost six-hundred-meters long façade is a triumphal arch, a monument to the victory of Russian arms in the War 1812 – 14. The sides of the archway are ornamented with trophies, and there are figures of warriors between its columns. Crowning the arch is the the winged figure of Victory in a six-horse chariot. The authors of these sculptures are Stepan Pimenov and Vasily Demuth-Malinovsky.