An ice palace or ice castle is a castle-like structure made of blocks of ice. These blocks are usually harvested from nearby rivers or lakes when they become frozen in winter. The first known ice palace (or, rather, ice house, ледяной дом in Russian) appeared in St. Petersburg, Russia and was the handiwork of Empress Anna.

Anna Ivanovna's palace

In the cold winter of 1739–1740, Anna Ivanovna gave an order to build a palace made of ice in St. Petersburg. The palace and the surrounding festivities were part of the celebration of Russia's victory over the Ottoman Empire. She ordered the architect Pyotr Yeropkin to design the building. It was built under the supervision of Georg Kraft, who left a detailed description of the palace.

The palace was 20 meters tall and 50 meters wide. Huge ice blocks were "glued" together with water. The garden was filled with ice trees with ice birds and an ice statue of an elephant. The outer walls were lined with ice sculptures. Before the palace there were artillery pieces also made of ice. The palace was also furnished with furniture made of ice, including an ice bed with ice mattress and pillows. The whole structure was surrounded with a tall wooden fence.

An ice palace is a castle-like structure made of ice. The earliest known may be Anna Ivanovna's palace (1739–1740) in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Ice Palace may also refer to:

In Russia:

In other countries:

In other uses:

Ice Palace (Russian: Ледовый Дворец, Ledovy Dvorets) is an arena in Saint Petersburg, Russia. It was built for the 2000 IIHF World Championship and opened in 2000. It holds 12,300 people.

Ice Palace is primarily used for ice hockey and is the home arena for SKA St. Petersburg. It hosted the IIHF European Champions Cup in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008. It is also used for concerts, exhibitions and as a skating rink.

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