Palace of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna on the fountain. Wooden summer palace of Elizabeth Petrovna

With the death of Empress Anna Ioannovna, which followed in 1740, Biron became regent for the young emperor John Antonovich, who was 2 months old at that time. However, his reign was short-lived. Biron was arrested for abuse and exiled. The reign of the mother of the young emperor Anna Leopoldovna, who was appointed regent under him, was also short-lived. On November 25, 1741, as a result of a palace coup, the daughter of Emperor Peter I, Elizabeth Petrovna, ascended the throne. The time of her reign is the time of a powerful take-off of St. Petersburg architecture. She herself loved pomp and splendor, Elizaveta Petrovna wanted to see her father's brainchild decorated with beautiful buildings and therefore she was very worried about the front building in St. Petersburg and its suburbs. Having ascended the throne, Elizaveta Petrovna mainly lived in the Summer Palace on the site of the current Mikhailovsky Castle, which soon became cramped for the expanded imperial court. During her reign, the St. Nicholas Naval Cathedral, the Winter Palace were built, the ensemble of the Smolny Monastery was built, Tuchkov and Sampsonevsky bridges were erected, and, finally, Moscow University, the Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg and the Page Corps were opened. She invited the best architects of Europe to St. Petersburg, and among them the brightest was Bartolomeo Rastrelli. He erected the best buildings in St. Petersburg. This is the Winter Palace, twice rebuilt by him, Anichkov, Vorontsovsky, Stroganov palaces; Great Peterhof Palace, Tsarskoye Selo (Catherine) Palace, Smolny Monastery and other buildings. Looking at the cathedral of the Smolny Monastery, Quarenghi, who did not like the architecture of the Elizabethan Baroque, with the words: “Well, the church!”, He took off his hat.
Upon arrival in St. Petersburg, Elizaveta Petrovna ordered the construction of two palaces for herself at once, one temporary, wooden near the Police Bridge, the other stone on the Neva embankment. Both palaces were built according to the project of B. Rastrelli. The wooden palace, although built as a temporary one, was decorated with great luxury.
Nevsky Prospekt by that time had become the best street in the city. Elizabeth oversaw its improvement. Decrees were issued prohibiting the construction of wooden buildings on the main street of the city. Only stone houses were erected on the avenue. But they were not like the current ones. As a rule, these were two-storey buildings with an obligatory front garden in front of the facade, fenced with a patterned cast-iron lattice. In 1755, Gostiny Dvor began to be rebuilt. Rastrelli's plan, which was notable for the great splendor of the building's decoration, was not implemented due to lack of funding. Now we see the Gostiny Dvor building, designed by the architect Valen-Delamote, who retained the layout of Rastrelli, but built the building in the style of early classicism.
Elizaveta Petrovna, according to her contemporaries, was very beautiful, lively and flirtatious. Her palaces were lined with mirrors in which she constantly saw her reflection repeated over and over again. For her, the most expensive outfits were bought up in large quantities in Europe. After her death, the Empress had 15,000 dresses in her wardrobe, some of which had never been worn. She herself has never worn the same dress twice. And she demanded the same from the courtiers, whose appearance she monitored very much, issuing decrees one after another regulating the appearance of her entourage. For example, a decree was issued forbidding court ladies to wear dark dresses, a decree that to go to the masquerade only in a good dress, and not "in a vile one." And in the winter of 1747, a “hair regulation” came out, which ordered all court ladies to cut their hair bald and cover their heads with “black tousled wigs”, which she herself issued. The reason for such a tough establishment was that the powder from the empress's hair did not want to go off, the empress decided to dye her hair black, but for some reason this did not work out, and then she had to be the first to cut her hair and put on a black wig. And she did not like anyone to surpass her in beauty and perfection. Well, how was it not to publish a "hairy decree"?
The time of Elizabeth is the time when the baroque style reigned in art, which was a match for the cheerful character of the empress with her whims and love of luxury. The architectural masterpieces of Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli, which still amaze us with grace, luxury and splendor, are a monument to that time. And one of them is the Smolny Monastery, which was built by the Empress for herself. At one time she had a desire to abdicate and go to a monastery. Thousands of soldiers and artisans were rounded up for the construction of the monastery. It was built on a grand scale. And a few years later it was outwardly ready. But then the seven-year war began, and construction stopped due to lack of money. Soon, Elizabeth's desire to enter a monastery also disappeared.

G. R. Derzhavin called the reign of Elizabeth "the age of songs." Elizaveta Petrovna really loved music and herself had extraordinary musical abilities: she played many instruments and composed songs. Thanks to her, Russia got acquainted with the guitar, mandolin, harp and other instruments. Opera, ballet, and also the drama theater, which she loved very much, flourished under her. Shakespeare, Moliere and, of course, the plays of the first Russian tragedian Alexander Sumarokov were played on the stage of Russian theaters. In 1750, Fedor Grigoryevich Volkov created a theater in Yaroslavl, the performances of which were a great success. Having learned about the "Yaroslavl comedies", the Empress summoned Volkov and the troupe to St. Petersburg by a special decree. The initiative of Sumarokov and Volkov in 1756 officially established the Russian Theater for the Presentation of Tragedies and Comedies, which marked the beginning of the creation of the Imperial Theaters of Russia. The theater was initially located in the Menshikov Palace, where in 1732 the Gentry Cadet Corps for minor nobles was opened. The first Russian tragedy "Khorev" was staged here, and in 1752 the actors of the troupe of Fyodor Volkov were placed here.
With the active secular life that Elizabeth led, sometimes she simply did not get around to governing the state. Ministers ran after her for months so that she could sign some document between dressing for a ball or a masquerade. Fortunately, the bureaucratic machine, launched once by Peter, continued its work, and things went on as usual. In addition, she had wonderful assistants. She could well rely on P. I. Shuvalov in domestic policy, in external policy on A. P. Bestuzhev-Ryumin, in the field of education on I. I. Shuvalov.
Balls and masquerades succeeded each other, competing with each other in splendor and splendor. But against the backdrop of this seemingly endless holiday in St. Petersburg, there were important events. Petersburg of this time is the Petersburg of Lomonosov, the founder of Russian science and poetry, this is the Petersburg of important geographical research and discoveries. In 1743, the eleven-year Second Kamchatka Expedition ended, and two years later the Academic Atlas was published with maps of the vast territory from Baikal to Anadyr and northwestern America.
Creating at one time the Academy of Sciences, Peter I thought of it as a center of higher education in Russia. This is evident from the draft “Regulations of the Academy of Sciences and Arts”, which stated that the members of the Academy, working “on the perfection of the arts and sciences”, had to “publicly teach those arts and sciences”, that is, teach. That is, Peter thought of the Academy as a university. In 1745, M. V. Lomonosov became a professor at this Academic (or Petrovsky) University, who insisted that not only nobles could study at the university: “Not a single person is forbidden to study at universities, no matter who he is, and at the university, that student is more honorable, who has learned more. Such an attitude of the professor of the first higher education institution in Russia educational institution, the founder of domestic science, opened the way to education for many talented young people. Among the first "natural Russians" who graduated from Petrovsky University were Antioch Kantemir, Ivan Magnitsky, Pyotr Remizov. The poetic "Satires" of Antioch Cantemir were very popular at that time and went from hand to hand in the lists.
The cultural demands and interests of the empress and the court, proximity to Europe, the very spirit of the city, which from birth was intended to be a “window to Europe”, also contributed to the increase in interest in culture and education. Gymnasiums, both public and private, appear in the city. In 1757, the "Academy of the Three Most Noble Arts" was formed in St. Petersburg - painting, architecture and sculpture. The construction of the building for the Academy of Arts on University Embankment will begin only in 1764, and from the moment of its foundation until that time, it was located in the house of the initiator of its creation, I. I. Shuvalov, in the Shuvalov Palace on Sadovaya street, between Nevsky prospect and Italian street. Her first students were Ivan Starov, Fedor Rokotov, Vasily Bazhenov. As a mosaic artist, M. V. Lomonosov became an honorary member of the Academy. Mosaic panel by M. V. Lomonosov "Poltava battle" is now in the building of the Academy of Sciences.
In 1751, on the Nikolaevskaya embankment of the Neva, the current embankment of Lieutenant Schmidt, the Naval gentry cadet corps was opened, which later became the Naval Academy. From the pier, where the monument to Kruzenshtern stands, all the outstanding Russian navigators and admirals went to sea.

St. Petersburg of the noisy Elizabethan era already bore little resemblance to Peter's modest "Paradise". By that time, a favorable environment for the development of the economy had developed in the city. He no longer required exceptional measures to attract the population and finances. The ever-increasing needs of the new capital transformed the whole region for many kilometers around. Thousands of wagons with building material, food, various products of local crafts were drawn from the Novgorod, Pskov, Olonets provinces. Hundreds of ships from Europe, barges, boats, rafts were looking for mooring places near the city's piers.
During her twenty-year reign, Elizaveta Petrovna did not sign a single death warrant. And perhaps that is why the internal life of the country as a whole during this period was stable - there were neither riots nor bitterness in the country. Some cruel amusements were forbidden: in Moscow and St. Petersburg it was forbidden to have bears, to shoot guns. In the field of foreign policy, this time was also a time of rest: out of 20 years of Elizabeth's reign, 15 years were peaceful. And four years of Russia's participation in the Seven Years' War (1756-1760) revealed the combat effectiveness of the Russian army, which defeated the hitherto invincible troops of Frederick the Great. And this is despite the eternal Russian confusion, theft in the rear, ill-conceived strategic plans.

In Pokrovsky, in her youth, the daughter of Peter 1 Elizabeth lived. Removed from the court by Anna Ioannovna, she built a newfangled palace in the estate, indulged in carefree amusements here, arranging holidays with friends, forcing the Pokrov peasants to dance on them. The Moscow historian and writer I. K. Kondratiev writes that “being by nature a cheerful character, the princess participated here in festive round dances composed of Intercession girls and young women, dressing in their beautiful costume: in a colored satin sundress and kokoshnik, or in brocade a kiku with pearl fragments and a braid, or just like a girl, weaving their Yaroslavl ribbon into a tubular braid ... Since then, one must think, they sang the song:

In the village, the village of Pokrovsky,
In the middle of the big street
Played out, danced
Red girl soul."

Although after her accession to the throne, Elizaveta Petrovna did not forget Pokrovskoye, dear to her heart, she ordered the architect Bartolomeo Rastrelli to make the palace even more magnificent - but still she doesn’t go there so often anymore.

The village calms down, but sometimes holidays were still held here: visitors had fun on the carousels and swings, and sleighs or carriages rolled down from a huge, almost 400 meters long rolling mountain. This mountain was purposely made for the arrival of Catherine II in 1763, but even in her absence, she allowed "rolling in summer and winter to the nobility and merchants, and to every rank of people, except for the vile ones." Visitors were also waiting for "a tavern with food, tea, check-lady, coffee, Gdansk and French vodka, grape drink, half a beer and mead." From about the second half of XVIII in. the village becomes an ordinary suburb of the city, and then a part of it, in which the intensive construction of factories and factories begins.
Well, now in order.

st. Gastello 44. The former Pokrovsky Palace of the "beautiful Elizabeth" has a long and largely unexplained history. It is known that here on the shore big pond there were wooden mansions intended for the stay of the royal family. So, in 1713, Princess Maria Alekseevna, later the future Empress Elizaveta Petrovna, lived in them together with her relatives Skavronsky and Gendrikov. It is possible that in the mid-1730s stone chambers were built instead of wooden mansions, architect. M.G. Zemtsov.

In the great Moscow fire in May 1737, the palace burned down completely.
In 1742 - 1743. it was rebuilt into an elegant baroque palace designed by the architect F.B. Rastrelli.

Catherine did not like the palace and almost never visited it even in the beginning. It fell into disrepair in the 19th century.
The palace survived until the 70s. 19th century
At that time, it was given to the Pokrovskaya community of sisters of mercy, and the architect A.P. Popov rebuilt it into a sister building in the spirit of elegant architectural decoration of the 17th century.
In Soviet times, the palace was one large communal apartment, where 4 nuns lived out their lives in semi-basement cells by the grace of God.
In the 1970s, the palace was restored and given to the State Research Institute for Restoration (GOSNIR), which still occupies it.
The palace in plan is similar to the letter "Sh"

Its central part is richly decorated

On both sides there are porches in the old Russian style.

richly decorated windows

In the mezzanine of the central part there was a house church, today we take its head, which is still without a cross, for a belvedere.

The palace stands on a hillock, in front of it was a small kurdener, which descended to a pond, which was formed from the dammed Rybinka River, which flowed into the Yauza not far from the palace. A beautiful wooden bridge was laid from the palace to the middle of the pond, where there was an island and a wooden Resurrection Church.
Now, on the site of the pond and all this beauty, a residential building in the Stalinist Empire style has been built, Rybinka was enclosed in a pipe ... and the palace is shaking from the trains that pass right in front of it along the Kurskaya line railway, which was built by the industrialist P. von Derviz.

But about him, or rather about his traces in Pokrovskaya-Rubtsovo, there will be the next post.

During the time of the first Romanov, Mikhail Fedorovich, Rubtsovo belonged to his mother, nun Martha. Having become king, Mikhail liked to spend summer time in Pokrovsky. In 1615, a wooden Temple in the name of Nicholas the Wonderworker, Mikhail erected it in gratitude for the salvation of Moscow from the Poles and in honor of the release of his father, Patriarch Filaret, from Polish captivity. Eight years later, the wooden temple was replaced by a stone one, and a palace was built where family celebrations were held.

AT 1619 in memory of the deliverance of Moscow from the troops of the Polish prince Vladislav the stone temple of the Intercession was laid Holy Mother of God. According to the temple, the village began to be called "Pokrovskoye, Rubtsovo, too", and then simply Pokrovskoye.

Church of the Intercession in Rubtsovo.

Mikhail Fedorovich himself was engaged in the arrangement of the royal estate. Nearby were stables, kitchens, beehives, a brewery, a mill and other facilities.

The built wooden palace was facing the road and the river Gnilushki. AT 1632 d. it was dammed, which formed Rybinsk pond, (the remains of which were buried in the 1920s). An orchard was laid out on the shore of the pond, where a few years later unique trees, shrubs, medicinal herbs and flowers were planted and a stone gazebo was built.

In Pokrovsky in 1627, the eldest daughter of Mikhail Fedorovich, Grand Duchess Irina Mikhailovna, was born, in honor of whose heavenly patroness a Church of the Martyr Irina. It was Irina Mikhailovna who got into the ownership of Pokrovskoye. Her brother, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, did not particularly favor the family estate, although he regularly visited the estate, especially in spring, summer and during the hunting season.

The young Tsar Peter II also liked to hunt here. AT 1728 he came to Moscow with his young aunt Elizaveta Petrovna, and she very soon introduced him to dog and falconry in the vicinity of the Mother See. With their retinue, they often went hunting in Sokolniki and stayed at the old Pokrovsky Palace. The royal hunt became the theme of the famous painting by Valentin Serov.

Departure of Emperor Peter II and Tsesarevna Elizaveta Petrovna to hunt, art. V. Serov, 1900.

However, at the beginning 1730. Peter II died. The niece of Peter I Anna Ioannovna ascended the throne. Elizaveta Petrovna fell into disgrace, was expelled from St. Petersburg to Moscow and settled in the Pokrovsky Palace, which she loved, with her relatives Skavronsky and Gendrikov. The palace became the residence of the princess for more than ten years.

There is a legend that Elizabeth, having a cheerful disposition by nature, participated in festive round dances made up of intercession girls. She loved to dress up in a satin sundress and kokoshnik, weave a bright ribbon into her braid and sing ditties. This is very similar to Elizabeth, who, already becoming an empress, loved to organize metamorphosis carnivals, dressing in a man's costume to demonstrate her slender legs.

Ascended to the throne 1741, after the death of Anna Ioannovna, Elizabeth ruled for 20 years and all this time did not forget her beloved Pokrovsky. Already at the end of February 1741, having arrived in Moscow for the coronation, scheduled for April 25, and having barely visited the Kremlin cathedrals, Elizabeth left for Pokrovskoye, "to her winter home on the Yauza." In the autumn of the same year, on the orders of Elizabeth, her nephew Duke Peter of Holstein was brought there, whom she declared her heir to the Russian throne as the closest blood relative.

At the same time, the heir accepted the Orthodox faith and became known as Peter Fedorovich (Peter III). In February 1744, the Princess of Anhalt-Zerbst arrived at the Intercession Palace with her 14-year-old daughter Sophia-August-Frederica, who was destined to be the bride of Pyotr Fedorovich. On June 28, the chrismation of Sophia-Augusta, who received the name Ekaterina Alekseevna in Orthodoxy, was performed, and the next day she was betrothed to the heir to the throne.

Elizabeth visited Pokrovskoye from time to time and lived there for a long time, almost a year. In place of burned in a fire 1737 years, she built herself palace of stone. It was a risalite block with a front two-height hall and a system of enfilades intersecting at right angles. Typical, in general, for its time layout. But at the same time, the rooms were decorated in the “Chinese taste”, in the same style there were a lot of dishes in the palace.

In 1752, Pokrovskoye became part of the city. The state of the estate at that time no longer satisfied the imperial court. Here is how the architect Ivan Yakovlev described the palace: “In this palace, the ceilings and roof, covered with boards, came into great disrepair; and the soap house with the chambers, due to considerable dilapidation, must be rebuilt: and the palace will not be re-covered, will it be for strength with iron: and in addition to all the reconstruction, will it not be ordered what to attach again?

To draw up a new project for the expansion of the palace, he was invited F.-B. Rastrelli. BUT the architect wanted to add another floor, elevate the central part of the building and enrich the facades with baroque decor and semicircular ramps adjoining the protruding central risalit. However, the project for the reconstruction of the building was not implemented, and it remained in its original form until until the second half of the nineteenth century.

But of great interest was the garden in Pokrovsky - one of the best in Moscow (planned by the same Rastrelli). Located in the form of a rectangle with a church in the center, it is pierced by longitudinal and transverse fan-shaped alleys diverging from the oval area around the church. The basis of the garden was fruit trees and shrubs. The parterres were planted with pears, apples, plums, cherries and hazels. Walking along them, you could relish to feast on.

Already in 1760, Elizabeth undertook a search for the Rastrelli project and asked if building materials had been stockpiled in connection with it? However, the matter stopped there.

Project for the reconstruction of the Pokrovsky Palace. Main facade. F.-B. Rastrelli, 1752 B., pen, ink, aq. RGADA.

A large number of palace buildings, the richness and luxury of their decoration have been transforming the architectural appearance of St. Petersburg for many years. After all, this city is famous for its unique palaces of major officials, aristocrats and other noble people. Worthy of attention is the Summer Palace of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna.

With the accession to the throne of the new empress, the next stage in the formation of cultural spheres began in the state. This heyday had an impact on the capital. The city has changed significantly. In the era of cultural development of St. Petersburg, preference was given to the construction architectural monuments. The Summer Palace deserves special attention.

During the reign of Elizabeth Petrovna (1741 - 1761), the construction of palaces was of particular importance. Then Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli, one of the best architects in the history of the state, was engaged in the erection of real masterpieces. Among his works is the Summer Palace of Elizabeth Petrovna. It should be noted as the best work of the architect.

The Summer Palace of Elizabeth Petrovna in St. Petersburg was erected by B. F. Rastrelli in the period from 1741 to 1744. According to the architect, the building included about 160 apartments, including a church and galleries. The palace was decorated with numerous sculptures, fountains and a garden. Over time, the residence experienced a number of changes associated with the dissatisfaction of the architect with his work. Construction activities continued here for several years.

The territory on which the Mikhailovsky Castle is located belonged to the Summer Garden in the first half of the 18th century - royal estate Peter I. On this site, Empress Anna Ioannovna was ordered to begin the construction of the palace. The construction was entrusted to the architect Rastrelli Jr. But the architect did not have time to start work during the life of the Empress. In 1740, power passed to Anna Leopoldovna, who decided to implement the project founded by her predecessor. But after a while, a palace coup takes place, as a result of which the imperial power passes to the youngest daughter of Peter I, Elizabeth. Tsesarevna gives F. B. Rastrelli the order to erect Summer Palace. The Empress liked the result of the architect's work so much that she doubled his salary. The exact date of laying the structure is still controversial. According to some historians, this event falls on July 24, 1741. Moreover, the beginning of the bookmark took place in the presence of Empress Anna, her husband, as well as some courtiers and members of the guard.

The Summer Palace of Elizabeth Petrovna belongs to the Russian Baroque style. The so-called set of architectural trends formed on the territory Russian Empire and the Russian state in the XII-XIII centuries. The structures of this period were characterized by:
splendor and intricacy of architectural forms;
luxury finishes;
using modeling;
painting and gilding.

Among the styles of this era, Peter's baroque is distinguished, which arose thanks to the buildings not only of compatriots, but also of architects from Western Europe. They were invited by Peter I to ennoble the new capital, St. Petersburg. The most characteristic features of the Petrovsky baroque were:
rejection of the Byzantine manner;
simplicity and practicality;
facades in red and white shades;
the presence of symmetry of forms;
mansard roofs;
arched window openings.

Many of the engravings and drawings that have survived from that era depict almost exactly appearance palace. Stone was chosen as the basis for the first floor, and wood for the second. The building was painted in light pink shades, which is remarkable for the Baroque style. The basement was made of granite in gray-green color. The Summer Palace of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna had two facades: the main facade overlooked the Moika, towards the Summer Garden, and the other - to the Neva prospect. Outbuildings were located along the entire perimeter, which imitated a kind of isolation. A wide road was laid along the Fontanka, which was accompanied by greenhouses and fruit trees. Part of this territory was occupied by the Elephant Yard, the inhabitants of which, if desired, bathed in the Fontanka. The entrance to the palace was fenced with wide gates, on which gilded double-headed eagles shimmered. The gate was decorated with an openwork lattice. Behind the fence was a large front yard. The view of the main facade was blocked by large flower beds and trees, which turned into a kind of park. The main building was occupied by the Grand Hall. It was decorated with Bohemian mirrors, marble sculptures and paintings by famous artists. At the western side of the hall stood the royal throne. Living rooms, decorated with gilded carvings, led directly to the front hall. Outside, curly staircases approached the room.

During the year, a covered gallery was completed, through which it was possible to take a walk to the Summer Garden. Paintings by famous painters were hung on the walls of such a gallery. Here, a terrace was designed with hanging garden, lying at the mezzanine level, where the Hermitage and the fountain were located. The contour of the terrace was fenced with a gilded lattice. Later, a palace church was added to this site. Some time later, a decorative park was planted near the palace. A huge labyrinth, bosquets and pavilions passed through it. Swings and carousels were placed in the center of the park. On the territory adjacent to the palace, a complex of water towers was built, since the previous water supply of the fountains did not have the necessary pressure. Similar water towers were ennobled with the help of palace painting.

The architect Rastrelli was not satisfied with his work. For this reason, a decade later, he brought the wooden Summer Palace of Elizabeth Petrovna to a real masterpiece. Rastrelli regularly altered some parts of the building. So, later the walls were transformed with the help of figured platbands of windows and atlases. Lion masks and mascarons also served as their decoration.

The summer residence is Elizabeth's first own home. Before the Empress, no one lived in this building. The Tsesarevna occupied the eastern wing of the residence. The western wing was reserved for the courtiers. Queen Elizabeth admired the luxury of the Summer Palace. Every year in April the Empress left Winter Palace to temporarily settle in the summer. The whole yard moved with her. This event turned into a real ceremony, which was accompanied by an orchestra and artillery fire. In September, Elizabeth moved back.

In 1754, the Summer Palace of Elizabeth Petrovna in St. Petersburg became the birthplace of Paul I, who soon came to power. In 1762, feasts were held here on the occasion of the peace agreement with Prussia. As soon as the new Emperor Paul I came to power, he immediately ordered the demolition of the building. In its place, a castle was erected, known today as Mikhailovsky. It was in this residence that the life of Paul I ended. According to one of the legends, the Mikhailovsky Castle was not built by chance on the site of the Summer Palace. The emperor wished to spend the rest of his life in the place where he was born. Another legend says that the archangel Michael appeared to the guard and ordered the construction of a temple on the territory where the Summer Palace of Elizabeth Petrovna was located. After this incident, the emperor ordered the construction of a new palace and church in the name of Archangel Michael to begin. Thus, the Mikhailovsky Castle got its name by analogy with the temple of Michael the Archangel.

In the 18th century, imperial favorites were very significant people in the state, they often influenced politics and participated in palace intrigues. Favorites were given expensive gifts, including palaces built by the best architects of St. Petersburg. Kultura.RF recalled the most interesting mansions of imperial favorites.

Anichkov Palace

Photo: A.Savin

Mikhail Zemtsov began building the Anichkov Palace immediately after the coronation of Empress Elizabeth, and completed the construction of Bartolomeo Rastrelli. The empress presented a luxurious baroque mansion to her favorite - Alexei Razumovsky. There were rumors among contemporaries (however, not confirmed by historians) that Razumovsky was the secret husband of Elizabeth and the father of her illegitimate son. The Anichkov Palace got its name years later, when the Anichkov Bridge was built nearby.

Later, the mansion was donated more than once. And Catherine II bought the building from Razumovsky's relatives and presented it to her favorite - Grigory Potemkin. She also gave Potemkin 100 thousand rubles for the reconstruction of the palace, which was entrusted to Ivan Starov. The architect made the palace more strict and monotonous, as dictated by classicism, which was fashionable in those years. Later, the building was rebuilt many more times: Giacomo Quarenghi by order of Alexander I, Carl Rossi - for Nicholas I. Alexander II and Alexander III lived here. Today the Anichkov Palace houses the Youth Creativity Palace.

Shuvalov's mansion

Photo: Florstein

The mansion of another favorite of Elizabeth Petrovna, Ivan Shuvalov, is located near the Anichkov Palace. From both buildings it was possible to quickly get to the Summer Palace of the Empress. Shuvalov's mansion was designed in 1749 by Savva Chevakinsky. He built a three-story baroque building, about which Catherine II wrote: “Outside, this house, although very huge, resembled Alencon lace cuffs with its decorations, there were so many different decorations on it”. Subsequently, the building was owned by Prince Ivan Baryatinsky and Prosecutor General Alexander Vyazemsky, who ordered to rebuild it in the classical style. The mansion was later owned by various government departments and today houses the Museum of Hygiene.

marble palace

Photo: A.Savin

Grigory Orlov was one of the favorites of Catherine II, he became the father of her illegitimate son, Count Alexei Bobrinsky. The Empress gave Orlov many gifts, one of which was the palace. In 1768, Catherine II ordered the architect Antonio Rinaldi to build it not far from the imperial residence.

Later, the palace was called Marble: in its design, the builders used 32 varieties of this stone - on the external facades and in the interiors. The walls of one of the most beautiful halls were lined with Italian, Greek, Karelian and Ural marble, as well as lapis lazuli. The Main Staircase and its decoration were made of silvery marble - sculptures by Fedot Shubin.

Grigory Orlov died before the construction was completed, and Catherine presented the palace to her grandson Konstantin Pavlovich. However, one of Catherine's favorites still lived in this palace, after the death of the Empress. In 1797-1798 the former Polish king Stanisław August Poniatowski settled here.

Today the Marble Palace houses a branch of the Russian Museum.

Gatchina Palace

Photo: Igor Litvyak / Lori photo bank