Page Corps

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Since 1810, the Page Corps had been located in the Vorontsov Palace, designed by Rastrelli half a century earlier.

Page Corps (Russian: Пажеский корпус) was a privileged military establishment in Imperial Russia, which prepared aristocratic children for military and civil service.

The Page Corps was founded in 1759 in St.Petersburg as a school for teaching and training pages (sing. паж) and chamber pages (камер-паж). In light of the need for properly trained officers for the Guard units, the Page Corps was reorganized in 1802 into an educational establishment similar to cadet schools, which would accept pages from the royal court only. By the mid-19th century, the Page Corps had become notorious for the hazing abuses and homosexuality that apparently thrived there. Memorable descriptions of the pages' lax morals could be found in Prince Kropotkin's reminiscences and in the scurrilous poem "Adventures of One Page".

During the period of reforms of military schools in the 1860s, the Page Corps was turned into a seven-grade establishment, first five grades being similar to military gymnasiums, and the other two being modelled after military colleges. Beginning in 1885, the Page Corps had seven general classes, where students were learning the same sciences offered by cadet schools, and two special classes, where they taught them military science and jurisprudence. The graduates of the Page Corps mostly enjoyed the right to serve in the Guards and special forces. They received the rank of podporuchik (cornet in cavalry). Those who weren’t fit for military service would receive civil ranks of the 10th, 12th, and 14th classes. After the Russian Revolution the Page Corps was replaced with the Suvorov Military School.