In the 18th century, women often found themselves in power in Russia, and naturally there were favorites in their lives. They were immensely endowed with titles and estates, and often had enormous political influence. Some received real palaces as gifts. Who received such an honor, and which of these palaces have survived in St. Petersburg to this day?
Anichkov Palace (Nevsky Prospekt, 39)
Anichkov Palace is the first palace to appear on Nevsky Prospekt. That’s what it was called a few years later, when the famous Anichkov Bridge appeared next to it.
Elizabeth Petrovna, daughter of Peter I, having ascended the throne in 1741 as a result of a palace coup, ordered the construction of a palace in honor of her triumph.
Although it was officially announced that the palace was being built for the new empress, everyone understood that in fact it was intended for Count Alexei Grigorievich Razumovsky, who was her favorite at that time. Razumovsky was famous for his beauty and good nature, and although he had great power at court, he never really used it.
The construction of the palace began immediately after the coronation, the architect Mikhail Zemtsov began to build it, and it was completed by Bartolomeo Rastrelli. The building was located so that its main entrance and main facade faced the Fontanka embankment, and not Nevsky Prospekt. At that time, Nevsky Prospekt was not yet the main street of the city and, in addition, many guests reached this palace along the Fontanka, which was then the border of St. Petersburg.
In 1771, Razumovsky died, and Catherine II, having bought the palace from the Razumovsky family, gave it to her new favorite, Grigory Potemkin. He decided to rebuild the palace in a more classical style, which was done. Subsequently, the palace changed its owners more than once, and was seriously rebuilt more than once.
Shuvalovsky Palace (Italyanskaya St., 25)
The mansion belonged to Elizaveta Petrovna’s young favorite, Ivan Shuvalov, a very versatile man who was interested in politics and art. Largely thanks to his efforts, Moscow University and the Academy of Arts were opened.
Instead of building new mansion“from scratch,” it was decided, taking one of the existing buildings as a basis, and thoroughly rebuilding it to suit one’s taste. The architect Savva Chevakinsky was involved in the construction of the mansion, who chose the Elizabethan Baroque style for it. The mansion was built very quickly - in just two years, and Shuvalov and his wife moved there.
However, later, under Empress Catherine II, Shuvalov was excommunicated from the court and was forced to leave Russia. By order of one of the subsequent owners of the palace, Prosecutor General Alexander Vyazemsky, the palace was rebuilt in the classical style.
Marble Palace (Millionnaya Street, 5/1)
This palace was built for another favorite of Catherine II, Count Grigory Orlov. The Empress made such a generous gift to the count for his courage and courage shown during the palace coup, thanks to which Catherine ascended the Russian throne.To decorate the facades and interiors of this palace, marble was used, and the most varied - 32 varieties. Therefore, this palace began to be called Marble. It was also called the Palace for the Favorite.
However, the construction of the palace dragged on for 17 years and, unfortunately, Count Orlov died before the work was completed. Now the Marble Palace has been transferred to the Russian Museum.
Gatchina Palace
The Gatchina Palace also belonged to Grigory Orlov. It was built in an unusual style for Russia - an English hunting castle. The project was carried out by Italian Antonio Rinaldi. This palace also took a very long time to build - 15 years, and Orlov only had a chance to live in it for a very short time - only two years.
Tavrichesky Palace (Shpalernaya street, building 47)
This palace, one of the largest in Europe, was built by Catherine the Great for Prince Potemkin. It was under his leadership that the Russian army, having won the Russian-Turkish war, annexed Crimean peninsula, then called "Tavrida". After this, Potemkin began to be called Tauride. But Potemkin a year later sold this palace as unnecessary and left for the south on business. Catherine bought this palace and gave it to him again - this time for the capture of the Turkish fortress of Izmail.
The royal estate founded by Peter I. Here, near the junction of the Moika and Fontanka, Empress Anna Ioannovna, shortly before her death, ordered the architect F.B. Rastrelli to build a palace “with extreme haste.” During her lifetime, the architect did not have time to begin this work.
At the end of 1740 - beginning of 1741, Anna Leopoldovna, who took power into her own hands, also decided to build her house on this site. On her behalf, Governor General Minich ordered Rastrelli to draw up a corresponding project. The drawings were ready by the end of February 1741. But the architect was in no hurry to provide them to Minich, but took the documents to the Gough Quartermaster’s office, which delayed approval of the project for several weeks. Rastrelli probably guessed about the imminent change in power and was in no hurry to carry out the order. The architect was right. On March 3, St. Petersburg was notified of Minich’s resignation. On November 24, a palace coup took place, as a result of which the daughter of Peter I, Elizabeth, came to power. By this time Summer Palace has already been laid.
There are different versions in local history literature regarding the date of foundation of the palace. Historian Yuri Ovsyannikov in the book “Great Architects of St. Petersburg” writes that it took place on July 24, 1741 in the presence of ruler Anna Leopoldovna, her husband Generalissimo Anton Ulrich, courtiers and guards. Georgy Zuev in his book “The Moika River Flows” calls the month of laying the foundation of the Summer Palace not July, but June. The same opinion is shared by K.V. Malinovsky in the book “St. Petersburg of the 18th century.”
The new house became known as the Summer Palace of Elizabeth Petrovna. Immediately after her accession to the throne, she entrusted Rastrelli with the completion of its interior decoration. The building was roughly ready by 1743. The palace became the first home of Elizabeth Petrovna, in which no one had lived before her. As a reward for this work, the Empress increased the architect's salary from 1,200 to 2,500 rubles per year.
The Summer Palace of Elizaveta Petrovna was connected to Nevsky Prospekt by a road running along the Fontanka. The approach to the building was flanked by a one-story kitchen and guardhouse. Between them there was a gate decorated with gilded double-headed eagles. Behind them is the front yard. The main façade of the palace faced the Summer Garden, to which a covered bridge-gallery led across the Moika River since 1745. The first floor of the building was made of stone, with wooden walls treated with light pink plaster resting on it. White window frames and pilasters stood out against their background. The ground floor of the palace was lined with greenish granite.
In the central building there was a two-story Great Ceremonial Hall with a royal throne at the western wall. The Empress lived in the eastern wing of the palace, on the Fontanka side. The courtiers lived in the western wing. Rastrelli wrote about the Summer Palace of Elizabeth Petrovna:
“The building had more than one hundred and sixty apartments, including a church, a hall and galleries. Everything was decorated with mirrors and rich sculpture, as well as new garden, decorated with beautiful fountains, with the Hermitage built on the first floor level, surrounded by rich trellises, all the decorations of which were gilded" [Quoted from 1, p. 264].
In the mentioned Hermitage, built in 1746, according to the testimony of Jacob Shtelin, paintings of exclusively religious and biblical content were kept. Some of them are now in the State Hermitage and Pavlovsk Palace. The halls of Elizabeth Petrovna's Summer Palace were decorated with Bohemian mirrors, marble sculptures and paintings by famous artists.
Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli was not completely satisfied with this work. Ten years after the completion of construction, he was still finishing and redoing something. The walls of the building were decorated with figured window frames, atlases, lion masks and mascarons. In 1752, Rastrelli added a “new large gallery hall” to the north-eastern corner of the palace. The owner of the palace was of little interest in the architectural integrity of the building. The main thing for her was only the luxury of the surrounding space.
The Empress moved to the Summer Palace from the Winter Palace with her entire court on April 30. Return - September 30. Here Elizabeth took a break from her public service. She preferred only to relax in the Summer Palace.
Here, in 1754, Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich, the future Emperor Paul I, was born and spent the first years of his life. The Summer Palace of Elizabeth Petrovna in 1762 became the site of celebrations on the occasion of the conclusion of peace with Prussia after the end of the Seven Years' War.
For Catherine II, the Summer Palace of Elizabeth Petrovna became the place where she received official congratulations from the diplomatic corps on her accession to the throne. Within its walls she heard the news of the death of Peter III.
In the very first month of the reign of Paul I, November 28, 1796, a decree was issued: " for the permanent residence of the sovereign, hastily build a new impregnable palace-castle. Stand for him on the site of the dilapidated Summer House". The Emperor did not want to live in the Winter Palace. He preferred to live in the place where he was born. So allegedly the decision was made to build a new palace, which replaced the Summer Palace of Elizabeth Petrovna.
The Catherine Palace, named after Catherine I, was the favorite residence of three empresses - Catherine, Elizabeth Petrovna and Catherine II. Each of them added something different to the architecture of the ensemble: Catherine II, for example, abandoned the luxurious gilding that Elizabeth valued so much, and was generally skeptical about this “whipped cream.”
From hut to palace
Back in the 17th century, on the territory of the future Tsarskoye Selo, the estate of a Swedish magnate was located - Sarskaya Manor. Some time later, they began to locally call it Sarskoe village, and later Tsarskoe. In 1718, the first “stone chambers” were laid here, which formed the basis of the luxurious Catherine Palace. The palace received its known name only in 1910. Before this, the residence of the empresses was called the Great Palace, and later, after the construction of the Alexander Palace, they began to call it the Old Palace.
Source: wikipedia.orgThe work was entrusted to the architect Braunstein, known for his designs of buildings in Peterhof. In the decoration of the “chambers” wood was used, and not the most durable species. In the future, this will play a cruel joke: the wooden coverings will rot so much that the floor will almost begin to collapse. In 1724, the first celebration was held in Tsarskoe Selo on the occasion of the emperor’s arrival - “thirteen cannons were fired three times.”
Half a kingdom for the palace!
The future Empress Elizabeth inherited the manor from her mother. The Tsesarevna loved her dacha, with which she had childhood memories. Having ascended the throne, Elizaveta Petrovna began to spend huge amounts of money on furnishing her residence in order to compete with Versailles itself.
Source: wikipedia.org
First of all, the empress decided to rebuild the outdated mansions. Under the leadership of Zemtsov and Kvasov, a detailed project was developed, about which Benoit later wrote: ““...if Kvasov’s project is inferior in luxury and splendor to the Rastrelli building that we now admire, then in the sense of grace, balance and rhythm of lines it deserves preference.” .
In 1744, the reins of power were handed over to Rastrelli, but the architect began directly working on the reconstruction of the palace a little later. It was thanks to Rastrelli that a building in the Russian Baroque style appeared, decorated with stucco and columns, painted azure. Elizaveta Petrovna did not skimp - more than 100 kilograms of gold were spent on finishing the facade and countless statues.
After the death of Elizabeth, Catherine II already ordered the sculptures in the park to be gilded, as the late empress bequeathed. But when Catherine found out how much such luxury would cost the treasury, she refused the work.
Old Fashioned "Whipped Cream"
Catherine II did not immediately fall in love with Tsarskoye Selo. In 1766, she complained in a letter: “For seven days now I have been living at the dacha, in a house which the late Empress Elizabeth deigned to gild inside and out; there is not a single comfortable chair in it... There is not even a possibility to lean your elbows on the table.” The newly-crowned empress considered this baroque “whipped cream” to be old-fashioned, and ordered the moldings to be removed and the gilding replaced with simple painting.
Source: wikipedia.org
The Scotsman Charles Cameron worked on the interiors of the palace under Catherine. He had to work hard: the Empress, a great lover of ancient art, ordered the old-fashioned baroque halls to be combined with classicist lines. It was under the leadership of Cameron that the state rooms were decorated - Arabesque, Lyons and Chinese; he also created the Mirror, Blue and Silver cabinets, the Raphael room and the famous Blue drawing room. True, the interiors of the northern half of the palace burned down during the Great Patriotic War.
The Mystery of the Amber Room
The world-famous Amber Room was initially decorated with canvases painted to resemble amber. The amber panels themselves were presented to Peter I by the Prussian king Frederick William I.
Peter wrote to his wife Catherine: “The king gave me a handsome gift of a yacht, which was beautifully decorated in Potsdam, and the Amber cabinet, which had long been desired.” For some time, mosaics were located in the People's Chambers in the summer garden. Only in 1770 Catherine's Palace the same Amber Room appeared, which is now known from photographs and in a reconstructed form.
A large number of palace buildings, the wealth 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 persons. The Summer Palace of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna is worthy of attention.
With the accession of the new empress to the throne, the next stage in the formation of cultural spheres began in the state. This period of prosperity also 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 the construction of real masterpieces was carried out by Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli, one of the best architects in the history of the state. His works also include the Summer Palace of Elizabeth Petrovna. It cannot but be noted as the best work of the architect.
The Summer Palace of Elizabeth Petrovna in St. Petersburg was built by B. F. Rastrelli from 1741 to 1744. According to the architect, the building included about 160 apartments, among which there was a church and galleries. The palace was decorated with numerous sculptures, fountains and a garden. Over time, the residence experienced a number of changes related to the architect's dissatisfaction with his work. Construction activities continued here for several years.
In the first half of the 18th century, the territory on which the Mikhailovsky Castle is located belonged to the Summer Garden - the royal estate of Peter I. Empress Anna Ioannovna ordered the construction of a palace to begin on this site. 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 some time, a palace coup occurs, as a result of which imperial power passes to the youngest daughter of Peter I, Elizabeth. The Tsesarevna gives F.B. Rastrelli the order to build the Summer Palace. The Empress liked the result of the architect's work so much that she doubled his salary. The exact date of foundation of the building is still controversial. According to some historians, this event falls on July 24, 1741. Moreover, the beginning of the laying 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. This was the name of a set of architectural trends that formed on the territory of the Russian Empire and the Russian state in the 12th – 13th centuries. The buildings of this period were characterized by:
the splendor and intricacy of architectural forms;
luxurious finishes;
using modeling;
the use of painting and gilding.
Among the styles of this era, the Petrine Baroque is distinguished, which arose thanks to the buildings of not only compatriots, but also architects from Western Europe. They were invited by Peter I to ennoble the new capital, St. Petersburg. The most characteristic features of Petrine Baroque were:
rejection of the Byzantine manner;
simplicity and practicality;
facades in red and white shades;
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, wood for the second. The building was painted in light pink shades, which is remarkable for the Baroque style. The ground floor was made of granite in gray-green color. The Summer Palace of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna had two facades: the main facade overlooked the Moika River, towards the Summer Garden, and the other faced the Nevsky Prospect. Service buildings 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 swam in the Fontanka if they wished. 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 façade was blocked by large flower beds and trees, which formed a kind of park. The central building occupied the Great State 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. The living rooms, decorated with gilded carvings, led directly to the main hall. From the outside, shaped stairs approached the room.
Within a year, a covered gallery was completed, through which one could take a walk to the Summer Garden. Paintings by famous painters were hung on the walls of such a gallery. A terrace with hanging garden, running at the mezzanine level where the Hermitage and fountain were located. The contour of the terrace was fenced with a gilded lattice. Later, a palace church was added to this site. After some time, a decorative park was planted near the palace. A huge labyrinth, bosquets and gazebos 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 to 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 remodeled some parts of the building. So, later the walls were transformed with the help of figured window frames 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 West Wing was reserved for courtiers. Queen Elizabeth admired the luxury of the Summer Palace. Every year in April the Empress left Winter Palace to settle down for a while in the summer. The whole yard moved with her. This event turned into a real ceremony, 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 structure. 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, 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, St. Michael's Castle got its name by analogy with the Temple of the Archangel Michael.
In May 2009, I already wrote about this palace. I then had a series of posts about Pokrovskoye-Rubtsovo.
Yesterday late in the evening Zina and Lesha and I were driving past and I realized that they didn’t remember about him.
So I repeat the post.
The palace is located on the street. Gastello 44 http://maps.yandex.ru/-/CZHEbkC
And in the time of the beautiful Elizabeth and before, this was the royal village of Pokrovskoye-Rubtsovo.
In her youth, the daughter of Peter 1, Elizaveta, lived in Pokrovskoye. Removed from the court by Anna Ioannovna, she built a newfangled palace on the estate, indulged in carefree amusements here, organizing holidays with friends, forcing the Pokrov peasants to dance at them. Moscow historian, writer I.K. Kondratyev writes that “being of a naturally cheerful character, the princess participated here in festive round dances composed of Pokrovsky maidens and young women, dressing in their beautiful costume: a colored satin sundress and kokoshnik, or a brocade kiku with pearl beads and 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 Pokrovskoye,
In the middle of the big street,
Played out, danced
Beautiful maiden soul."
Although after her accession to the throne, Elizaveta Petrovna did not forget Pokrovskoe, dear to her heart, she ordered the architect Bartolomeo Rastrelli to make the palace even more magnificent - but still she does not go there so often.
The village is quiet, but sometimes holidays were still held here: visitors had fun on the carousels and swings, and sleighs or strollers rolled down the huge, almost 400-meter-long sled hill. This mountain was purposely made for the arrival of Catherine II in 1763, but even in her absence she allowed “the nobility and the merchants and all ranks of people, except the vile ones,” to pass in summer and winter. Visitors were also treated to “a tavern and food in it, tea, chek-lad, coffee, Gdansk and French vodka, grape drinks, half-beer and meads.” From about the second half of the 18th century. the village becomes an ordinary suburb of the city, and then a part of it, in which 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 unknown history. It is known that here on the shore of a large pond there were wooden mansions intended for staying royal family. So, in 1713, Tsarevna Maria Alekseevna, later the future Empress Elizaveta Petrovna, lived there along with her relatives Skavronsky and Gendrikov. It is possible that in the mid-1730s, instead of wooden mansions, stone chambers were built, architect. M.G. Zemtsov.
During 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.
This is according to S.K. Romanyuk.
And I. Kondratiev wrote in 1893 in his “Hoary Antiquity of Moscow” that in 1742 a wooden palace was built here, which is listed in all the old Moscow guidebooks. It burned down and in 1753 a stone one was built in its place.
On the mezzanine of the central part there was a house church; today we take its head, which still stands without a cross, for a belvedere.
The palace stands on a hillock, in front of it there was a small courtyard, which went down 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 built from the palace to the middle of the pond, where there was an island and the wooden Church of the Resurrection.
Now, in place of the pond and all this beauty, a residential building in the Stalinist Empire style has been built, Rybinka has been 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 the next post will be about him, or rather about his traces in Pokrovskaya-Rubtsov.
