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Entries / Catherine Palace (Town of Pushkin)

Catherine Palace (Town of Pushkin)


Categories / Architecture/Architectural Monuments/Palaces
Categories / Tsarskoe Selo and town of Pushkin. The digital chronological reference book/Monuments of history and culture

CATHERINE PALACE (Town of Pushkin), an architectural monument of the Baroque period, compositional centre and dominating architecture of the park and palace ensemble of Tsarskoe Selo. In 1717-1723, on this site a small stone palace of Empress Catherine I (architect I.F. Braunstein) was constructed concurrently with the establishment of the Catherine Park. From 1743, work on the palace extension was started (architect M.G. Zemtsov), after his death work continued under the guidance of architects A.V. Kvasov and S.I. Chevakinsky. From late 1748 - architect F. Rastrelli. In May of 1752, Empress Elizaveta Petrovna ordered everything that had been erected earlier to be reconstructed and in 1756 the Catherine Palace was completed. At this stage it consisted only of the western parade court, framed by single-story semicircular buildings - surrounded with splendid wrought railings with gilded details and gates along the central axis of the palace. The facades are decorated with moulded figures of caryatids, cartouche, masks (sculptor I. F. Dunker), marked with ochre colour against the turquoise background (up to the 1770s, the stucco work was gilded). Originally the front staircase was in the south section of the Catherine Palace, on the second floor were also located the "Golden Enfilade", comprising of five "antechambers", double tiered Grand Hall and a number of sitting rooms, their fretwork above the doors created an impression of a gold stream. Among the interiors is the Amber Room. The length of the Catherine palace's facades is over 325 metres. The central part of the building (The Middle House) has retained the parameters of the palace of Catherine I. The side wings that replaced the original open terrace unite the central part with the wings: to the north there is a church (1779-84, architect I.V. Neelov) and to the south - Zubovsky (1778-1784, architect Y.M. Felten). Under Catherine II, in the 1780s, new interiors were added according to the designs of C. Cameron: the Arabesque and the Lyon sitting rooms, the Silver Study and others in the south part of the Catherine Palace, the rooms of the Grand Prince Pavel Petrovich (the Green dining-room, the Bedchamber and others) in the northern part. To the south-eastern side of the Catherine Palace the complex of the so-called Cameron Gallery, the Cold Bath (Agate Pavilion), the hanging garden and the ramp (1780-87; 1792-94) are united. In 1817-20, and in the 1840s architect V.P. Stasov made some changes in the palace's interiors, in 1860-63 architect I. A. Monighetti (Chinese front staircase in the central part). Since 1918, the Catherine Palace has been a palace-museum, in 1941-44, it was practically levelled, restoration following the project of architect A.A. Kedrinsky was launched in 1957. Restoration works continue up to the present. See also "Tsarskoe Selo" article.

A. A. Alexeev.

Persons
Braunstein Johann Friedrich
Cameron Charles
Catherine I, Empress
Catherine II, Empress
Chevakinsky Savva Ivanovich
Dunker Johann Franz
Elizaveta Petrovna, Empress
Felten Yury (Georg Friedrich) Matveevich
Kedrinsky Alexander Alexandrovich
Kvasov Andrey Vasilievich
Monighetti Ippolito Antonovich
Neelov Ilya Vasilievich
Paul (Pavel) I, Emperor
Rastrelli Francesco de
Stasov Vasily Petrovich
Zemtsov Mikhail Grigorievich

Bibliographies
см. при ст. Царское Село

The subject Index
Amber Room

Chronograph
1717
1752
1755
1959


1756

30 July. The Voskresensky Church of the Great Tsarskoye Selo Palace was ceremonially consecrated in the presence of the Empress. July-August. M.V. Lomonosov had visited Tsarskoye Selo and he reflected the ceremonial opening of the Great Palace
Source: Tsarskoe Selo

1770

28 October. The dinner and masked ball in the honour of Prince Heinrich of Prussia was held by Catherine II in the Great Tsarskoye Selo Palace. The Palace Quarter had a population of 1,178
Source: Tsarskoe Selo

1791

"Office of Buildings of Tsarskoye Selo" and "Inherited Estate Administration" were united into the Tsarskoye Selo Office. It was subordinated to the Hof-Intendant Office from 1797. May. G.R
Source: Tsarskoe Selo

1811

19 October. The Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum , one of the progressive educational establishments of Russia in the early 19th cent., was opened for the preparation "young people, particularly for the important state work"
Source: Tsarskoe Selo

1820

12 May. In the Catherine Palace was a fire having damaged the part of the Main halls and the Church of the Resurrection of Christ, in the presence of Emperor Alexander I
Source: Tsarskoe Selo

1902

January. The off-department commission was organized for the improvement of the sanitary condition of Tsarskoye Selo, the aim of this commission was to work out the plan for the constructing of the new sewerage system using the preliminary
Source: Tsarskoe Selo

1915

2 January. The train collision took place at the railway line linked Peterburg and Tsarskoye Selo. Anna Vyrubova, a maid of honour and close friend of the Empress, was seriosly injured at this disaster. A
Source: Tsarskoe Selo

1918

January. In Tsarskoye Selo, the Town Duma, Zemstvo and Menshevik Soviet were dissolved. N.I. Tatarintsev became the head of the new Bolshevik Soviet, this Soviet was declared as the only power in Tsarskoye Selo. 15 January
Source: Tsarskoe Selo

1931-1941

Valeryan Mikhaylovich Bogdanov-Berezovsky, a composer and musicologist, the author of memoirs about the cultural life of Detskoye Selo of his time, lived in a flat placed in the semi-circular part sided with the Church wing of the Catherine Palace
Source: Tsarskoe Selo

1937

10 February. The Central Executive Committee of the USSR published the resolution "In commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the death of great Russian poet A.S
Source: Tsarskoe Selo

1957

The restoration of the Catherine Palace was began. 4 June. The first article of the local hostorian Evgeny Markovich Golovchiner was published in the district newspaper "Forward"
Source: Tsarskoe Selo

1959

Houses having living space of 48,700 square metres were put into housing in the Pushkin district (houses were built in Kommunarov Street, Karl Marx Street, Kikvidze Street, Leningradskaya Street). November
Source: Tsarskoe Selo

1960

13 February. The well-known environmentalist, phenolog Ivan Nikolayevich Balbyshev published in the newspaper "Forward" his first article. 22 April. Monument to the leader of the Revolution V.I. Lenin (designed by the sculptor Z.M
Source: Tsarskoe Selo

1980

The Great Throne Hall and Golden Enfilade of Rastrelli were opened after the restoration in the Catherine
Source: Tsarskoe Selo

1988

January. The fire took place in the Throne Hall of the Catherine Palace as the result of violating the safety measures during welding works. The countermeasures for fire suppression, employed timely, prevented enourmous material losses
Source: Tsarskoe Selo

1995

February. The First Tsarskoye Selo Museum Workers Conference was held in the Stasov Hall of the Catherine Palace, since this year the conference was held annually. February. The wooden Holy Cross in the memory of the destroyed temple and the St
Source: Tsarskoe Selo

1999

The year of the 200th birthday of A.S. Pushkin was announced by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) as the International Year of Pushkin. 6 June was approved as a State Holiday, A.S
Source: Tsarskoe Selo

Alexander II , Emperor (1818-1881)

ALEXANDER II (1818-1881, St. Petersburg), Emperor (since 1855). He was a son of Emperor Nicholas I and Empress Alexandra Fedorovna. Tsarevitch (from 1831), General of Infantry (1847), Honorary Member of the Petersburg Academy of Sciences (1826)

Alexandra Fedorovna, Empress (1872-1918)

ALEXANDRA FEDOROVNA (1872-1918), Empress (from 1894). Nee Victoria Alix Helena Brigitte Louise Beatrice, Princess of Hessen-Darmstadt. Wife of Emperor Nicholas II (from 1894)

All-Russian Pushkin Museum

ALL-RUSSIAN PUSHKIN MUSEUM of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation (12 Moika RiverEmbankment) was established in 1953 on the basis of the All-Russian Pushkin Exhibition of 1937 opened in Moscow in the halls of the History Museum in

Amber Room

AMBER ROOM, a unique interior of the Great Catherine Palace, and 18th century arts and crafts monument. The walls of the Amber Room are decorated with the amber panels (the only example of amber used in Russian architecture)

Babolovsky Park (Pushkin town)

BABOLOVSKY PARK (Pushkin town), a monument of landscape architecture situated in the southwestern part of Pushkin town is a part of Tsarskoe Selo palace park ensemble. Its area consists of 268,8 hectares

Cavaliers’ houses

Four Cavaliers’ houses were built in 1752-1753 to the design of S.I. Chevakinsky according to Empress Elizabeth’s order given in 1748 about building dwelling houses in Sadovaya Street for arriving “cavaliers”
Source: Tsarskoe Selo

Elizaveta (Elizabeth) Petrovna (1709-1761), Empress

ELIZAVETA (Elizabeth) PETROVNA (1709-1761, St. Petersburg), Empress (since 1741), daughter of Peter the Great and Elizaveta I. Before taking the throne, she lived in a palace at the Tsaritsyn Medow in St

Gatchina, town

GATCHINA (in 1923-1927 Trotsk, in 1927-1944 Krasnogvardeisk), a town in Leningrad Region, 45 km to the south from St. Petersburg. Known since 1499 as Khotchino village, since the early 18th century - the Gatchinskaya farm-stead

Grilles (entry)

GRILLES. St. Petersburg boasts a number of unique metal grilles, created in the course of three centuries. Wrought grilles of bars with (sometimes gilded) decorative figures made from flat iron bars (the grille of the Ekaterininsky (Catherine)

Imperial Residences

IMPERIAL RESIDENCES, palaces, the official abodes of the Emperors, the Imperial Court, recognized by law as such; property of the Treasury and maintained at the expense of the State Treasury House. The place of court ceremonies

Kvasov A.V., architect

KVASOV Andrey Vasilyevich (circa 1718, St. Petersburg - after 1777), architect, master of Baroque. Brother of Alexey V. Kvasov. He studied at the Construction Office under the guidance of architect M.G. Zemtsov

Lyceum

LYCEUM, Tsarskoe Selo Lyceum renamed Alexandrovsky Lyceum in 1843, a privileged higher education institution providing training for state officials. It was founded in 1810 and opened on 19 October 1811

Martynov Andrey Efimovich (1768-1826), artist

MARTYNOV Andrey Efimovich (1768-1826), graphic artist, painter. He studied in the Academy of Arts (1773-88) under Semen Shchedrin, then became a pensioner in Rome (1789-94), an academic (1795), and a counsellor in the Academy of Arts (1802)

Monighetti I.A. (1819-1878), architect

MONIGHETTI Ippolit Antonovich (1819-1878, St. Petersburg), architect, aquarellist, teacher, associate academy member (1847), professor (1858), court architect (1860)

Rastrelli F.B., (1700-1771), architect

RASTRELLI, Francesco de (Varfolomey Varfolomeevich) (1700-1771), architect, designer (decorative artist) and graphic artist, one of the most prominent architects of the Baroque epoch. The son of B.Rastrelli. In 1716-25, he worked in St

Sophia – the Town of Military Men

On January 01, 1780, Catherine II issued an Order to establish St. Petersburg Governorate composed of seven uyezds. Sophia Uyezd was one of the seven uyezds of St. Petersburg Governorate. The plan and the emblem of Sophia were approved in 1780

The Big Hothouse with Garden.

The building was constructed in the 1750s to the design of F.-B. Rastrelli in the Baroque style. Constructing was directed by the architect S.I. Chevakinsky. In 1820-1828 V.P. Stasov rebuilt the building in the Classicism style
Source: Tsarskoe Selo

The Great Caprice

The Great and Little Caprice were built in 1772–1774 by the architect V.I. Neyelov and the engineer I. Gerard over the road led to the Great Tsarskoye Selo Palace. The road was named “Under Caprice road”. There are many legends concerning caprices
Source: Tsarskoe Selo

The Kagul Obelisk

It is one of the first monuments of military glory erected in Tsarskoye Selo to commemorate the victory of the Russian army in the Russo-Turkish War of 1768 – 1774. The Russian army under the command of General P.A

The Small Farm of Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna (an ensemble of the Catherine Park)

Emperor Alexander II ordered to build different entertaining constructions for his children near his apartments in the Catherine Palace. The most famous construction was the Small Farm of Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna
Source: Tsarskoe Selo

Trepov D.F. temporary governor-general in 1905

TREPOV Dmitry Fedorovich (1855-1906, St. Petersburg), statesman and combat leader, major-general (1900), major-general of His Imperial Majesty retinue (1903). The son of F.F. Trepov. He graduated from Page Corps school in St

Tsarskoe Selo, palace and park ensemble

TSARSKOE SELO (Pushkin town), a monument of town-planning and a palace and park ensemble dating from the 18th to the beginning of the 20th century. The core of the ensemble is the estate of Empress Catherine I Sarskaya Myza (founded in 1710)

V.I. Neelov, I.V. Neelov, P.V. Neelov, architects

NEELOV family, a family of architects, representatives of early Neoclassicism and Romanticism. Vasily Ivanovich (1722-82), apprentice of S.I. Chevakinsky and M.G. Zemtsov; from 1744, worked with them and F.B


CHURCH OF THE HOLY SIGN in Tsarskoe Selo (2a Sadovaya Street, Pushkin), an architectural monument in the Baroque style of the reign of Anna Ioannovna. It was built according to the plans of architect M. G. Zemtsov with the assistance of I. Y