In the 19th and early 20th centuries, the palace underwent a series of dramatic changes. In 1837, the building’s interior was destroyed by a fire and though it was rebuilt according to Rastrelli’s plans, by the end of the 19th century, Tsar Nicholas II and his wife Alexandra had abandoned it in favour of Alexander Palace at Tsarskoye Selo, just south of St Petersburg.

During the First World War, the palace was transformed into a hospital ward for injured soldiers. In 1917, after briefly serving as the seat of Provisional Government following Nicholas II's abdication and the February Revolution – the first of the two conflicts that made up the Russian Revolution – it was ransacked by Bolshevik revolutionaries. Ultimately however, the palace was restored to its former glory in the latter part of the 19th century and today operates as the world-famous Hermitage Museum.

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