Where is Elizabeth Petrovna's palace located? Lost St. Petersburg "Versailles" - Summer Palace of Elizabeth Petrovna. Old Fashioned "Whipped Cream"


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.
Elizaveta 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. IN further palace has changed its owners more than once, and has been 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 a new mansion from scratch, it was decided to take one of the existing buildings as a basis and thoroughly rebuild 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 Marble Palace transferred to the disposal of 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.


During the time of the first Romanov, Mikhail Fedorovich, Rubtsovo belonged to his mother, nun Marfa. After becoming Tsar, Mikhail liked to spend time in Pokrovskoe summer time. In 1615, a wooden Temple in the name of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, Mikhail erected it in gratitude for saving 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 in which family celebrations were held.

IN 1619 in memory of the liberation of Moscow from the troops of the Polish prince Vladislav The stone Church of the Intercession was laid Holy Mother of God. According to the temple, the village began to be called “Pokrovskoye, Rubtsovo also”, and then simply Pokrovskoye.

Church of the Intercession in Rubtsovo.

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

Built wooden palace The facade was facing the road and the Gnilushka river. IN 1632 g. it was dammed, which is why it formed Rybinsk Pond, (the remains of which were filled in 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 Pokrovskoye in 1627, the eldest daughter of Mikhail Fedorovich, Grand Duchess Irina Mikhailovna, was born, in honor of whose heavenly patroness a building was built in the village Church of the Martyr Irene. It was Irina Mikhailovna who became the owner 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 loved to hunt here. IN 1728 he came to Moscow with his young aunt Elizaveta Petrovna, and she very soon introduced him to hound and falconry hunting in the vicinity of the Mother See. With their retinue, they often went hunting to Sokolniki and stayed in the old Pokrovsky Palace. The royal hunt became the theme of the famous painting by Valentin Serov.

Departure of Emperor Peter II and Tsarevna Elizaveta Petrovna for hunting, art. V. Serov, 1900.

However, at the beginning 1730 g. Peter II died. The niece of Peter I, Anna Ioannovna, ascended the throne. Elizaveta Petrovna found herself in disgrace, was expelled from St. Petersburg to Moscow and settled in her beloved Pokrovsky Palace 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 naturally cheerful disposition, took part in festive round dances made up of Pokrovsk maidens. 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 as empress, loved to organize metamorphosis carnivals, dressing in a man's suit to show off her slender legs.

Having ascended the throne in 1741, after the death of Anna Ioannovna, Elizabeth reigned 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, by order of Elizabeth, her nephew Duke Peter of Holstein was brought there, whom she declared as her heir to the Russian throne as her closest blood relative.

At the same time, the heir accepted the Orthodox faith and began to be called Peter Fedorovich (Peter III). In February 1744, Princess Anhalt-Zerbst arrived at the Pokrovsky Palace with her 14-year-old daughter Sophia-Augusta-Frederica, who was intended to be the bride of Peter Fedorovich. On June 28, Sophia Augusta was anointed, who received the name Ekaterina Alekseevna in Orthodoxy, and the next day she was betrothed to the heir to the throne.


Elizaveta visited Pokrovskoye from time to time and lived there for a long time, almost a year. At the site of a fire 1737 years, she built herself palace made of stone. It was a projection block with a ceremonial two-story hall and a system of enfilades intersecting at right angles. In general, the layout was typical for its time. But the rooms were decorated in “Chinese taste”; there was a lot of dishes in the palace in the same style.

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

To draw up a new project for the expansion of the palace, he was invited F.-B. Rastrelli. A the architect wanted to add another floor, raise the central part of the building and enrich the facades with Baroque decoration and semicircular ramps adjacent to the protruding central projection. However, the project to rebuild the building was not implemented, and it remained in its original form until until the second half of the nineteenth century.

But the garden in Pokrovsky was of great interest - one of the best in Moscow (planned by the same Rastrelli). Situated 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 consisted of fruit trees and shrubs. The parterres were planted with pear, apple, plum, cherry and hazel trees. Walking through them, you could enjoy yourself to your heart's content.



Already in 1760, Elizabeth undertook a search for Rastrelli’s project and inquired whether building materials had been stored in connection with it? However, that's where the matter stopped.


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

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.org

The 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 Tsarskoe 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.



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 the stay of the 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.

Catherine did not like the palace and almost never visited here in the beginning. In the 19th century it fell into disrepair.
The palace survived until the 70s. XIX century
At this time, it was given to the Pokrovskaya community of nurses and the architect A.P. Popov rebuilt it into a sister’s building in the spirit of elegant architectural decoration of the 17th century.
IN Soviet time 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 (GOSNIIR), which still occupies it.
The palace's plan resembles the letter "W"

Its central part is richly decorated

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

richly decorated windows

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.

A large number of palace buildings, the wealth and luxury of their decoration transform architectural appearance 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 be ignored as better job 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.

The territory on which Mikhailovsky Castle is located, in the first half of the 18th century, belonged to 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 erect 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 new capital, Saint 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 the appearance of the 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 wide gates, on which gilded double-headed eagles shimmered. The gate was decorated with an openwork lattice. Behind the fence there 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 gave the order to demolish 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 Church of St. Michael the Archangel.

 

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