Petrodvorets, town

Categories / City Topography/Historical Geography/Towns within Greater St. Petersburg
PETRODVORETS (until 1944 Peterhof), a town, centre of the Petrodvoretsky District, 28 kilometres southwest of Saint Petersburg; a harbour on the southern coast of the Gulf of Finland; name of a railway station (Novy Peterhof). As of 2000, the population totaled 85,000 people. Until the early 18th century the Finnish villages of Kusoya and Pokhioki existed along the bay coast; further south, on the Popova Mountain, stood the village of Papingondo (transcribed into Russian as Babi Gon). Peterhof was first mentioned in 1705 as Tsar Peter's I "travel palace", and a harbour for transit to Kotlin Island. In 1709, construction of the Peterhof Grand Country Residence began, and the adjacent territory was developed westwards from so-called Old Peterhof, with Kupecheskaya Pier serving as a terminal for vessels arriving from Kronstadt and Saint Petersburg. In 1721, Peterhof had the main "water saw mill" (today the Petrodvorets Watch Plant). From 1762, Peterhof came under the authority of the Court; in 1848-1917, it became the centre of the Petergofsky District (uezd) of the Saint Petersburg Municipality. In the 19th - early 20th centuries, the Horse Grenadier Life Guards Regiment, the Uhlan and Dragoon Regiments, and the 148th Infantry Regiment were all stationed in Peterhof (their quarters have survived into present day). From 1828, a summer camp training was organised for Petersburg Military School pupils. In 1914-18, during WWI, the First, Second and Third Ensign Schools were relocated to the area (in 1917, its cadets guarded the Provisional Government at the Winter Palace). In 1918, the former imperial palaces were turned into museums. In 1936, Peterhof came under the jurisdiction of the Leningrad Soviet (council). From 23 September 1941 until 19 January 1944, the town was occupied by the Germans (with the front line running along the western edge), and over the course of military operations was almost entirely ruined. In 1944, reconstruction got under way of the Petrodvorets palace and park, along with its unique fountain system (project supervisor, architect А. А. Ol). In the 1960s, the science campus of the Leningrad State University (today the Saint Petersburg State University) was built in Old Peterhof. Petrodvorets also accommodates the Popov Military Electrotechnical Communication Academy. In 1990, the palaces and gardens of Petrodvorets became part of the Peterhof architectural palace and garden reserve-museum. A number of historical objects have survived along Sankt Petersburgsky Avenue, Petrodvorets' main street, including the former Strukov Summer Cottage (1827-28, architect V. F. Fedoseev), the Post Office (1850-54, architects N. L. Benois, А. K. Cavos), the Palace Hospital (1857-60, architect Benois), the men's gymnasium (1879, architect E. L. Gan), the Khrushchov Wooden House (1870-1880s) where bishop Nikolay (Yarushevich) lived, and the St. Peter and Paul Cathedral. One can also enjoy the train station building (1854-57); the palace stables (1848-55); the Maid of Honour dwellings (1853- 58; see the Benois Family Museum) designed by Benois; city historian А. F. Geyrot's mansion (11 Nikolskaya Street; 1853, architect А. I. Stakenschneider); and the Metochion of St. Seraphim Diveevo Monastery (11 Oranienbaumskoe Highway; 1904, architect N. N. Nikonov). An obelisk commemorating the heroic defenders of Leningrad was erected in Petrodvorets in 1961. The town's old name was given to Staro-Petergofsky Avenue in Saint Petersburg.

References: Ардикуца В. Е. Петродворец: Ист.-краевед. очерк. Л., 1965; Гейрот А. Ф. Описание Петергофа. Репр. воспр. изд. 1868 г. Л., 1991. См. также лит. при ст. Петергоф.

Y. M. Piryutko. Benois Nikolay Leontievich
Cavos Albert Katarinovich
Fedoseev Vasily Fedoseevich
Gan Eduard Lvovich
Geyrot Alexander Fedorovich
Nikolay (Boris Yarushevich), Metropolitan
Nikonov Nikolay Nikitich
Ol Andrey Andreevich
Peter I, Emperor
Popov Andrey Alexandrovich
Stakensсhneider Andrey Ivanovich
Strukov
the Khrushchovs
Nikolskaya Street/Peterhoff, town, house 11
Oranienbaumskoe Freeway/Peterhoff, town, house 11
Peterhoff, town
Staro-Petergofsky Ave/Saint Petersburg, city
Гейрот А. Ф. Описание Петергофа. Репр. воспр. изд. 1868 г. Л., 1991
Ардикуца В. Е. Петродворец: Ист.-краевед. очерк. Л., 1965
см. также лит. при ст. Петергоф. Ю. М. Пирютко Petrodvortsovy Watch Factory
Horse Grenadier Life Guards Regiment
Uhlan Life-Guards Regiment
Dragoon Life Guards Regiment
SS. Peter and Paul Cathedral in Peterhof
Museum of the Benois Family