Decor / 17.11.2023

Catherine Palace during the war. Grand Catherine Palace, Pushkin city

Grand Catherine Palace April 1st, 2013

The main attraction of Tsarskoye Selo (now known as Pushkin) is, without a doubt, the Great Catherine Palace - one of the largest in the vicinity of St. Petersburg. Millions of tourists visit it every year, so it was simply impossible not to visit the former imperial residence. We will not just look at the palace from the outside, but also look inside, where the simply luxurious royal living rooms and halls have been restored.

The palace was founded in 1717 under the leadership of the German architect I.F. Braunstein as the summer residence of Empress Catherine I.

In 1743, Empress Elizaveta Petrovna commissioned Russian architects M. Zemtsov and A. V. Kvasov to expand and improve the palace. It was under Elizabeth Petrovna that the palace acquired its current appearance and style.

In 1752, she commissioned the architect B.F. Rastrelli to rebuild the palace again, because she considered it too old-fashioned and small.

After dismantling, a grandiose reconstruction and construction work that lasted 4 years, a modern palace appeared, made in the Russian Baroque style.

On July 30, 1756, a presentation of the palace to Russian nobles and foreign guests took place.

During the German occupation, the palace and surrounding buildings were badly damaged, many were looted. Now millions of tourists from all over the world come to see the restored palace and park ensemble. On a summer day there are unusually many of them here. To get inside, I had to stand in line for a couple of hours.

The cost of the entrance ticket is 320 rubles - in addition to the excursion, which is offered for this money, this also includes photography.

A group of Asian tourists are photographed in front of the palace:

The first place we come to after passing through the turnstiles is the Grand Staircase. It occupies the entire height and width of the palace and is illuminated from the east and west by windows located in three tiers.

The main staircase divides the recreated halls into two parts. First we will go to the Great Hall. In front of it is the Cavalier Dining Room:

Multi-tiered tiled stove in the Cavalier Dining Room. Similar stoves, created according to sketches by F.B. Rastrelli, were an integral part of all the halls of the palace’s front suite.

The Great Hall, or the Light Gallery, as it was called in the 18th century, is the largest front room of the palace. It was intended for holding official receptions and celebrations, ceremonial dinners, balls and masquerades. One way view:

And the view in the opposite direction:

The windows of the Great Hall, which occupies the entire width of the palace, overlook both sides. From this window you can see the courtyard:

Let's go again through the Grand Staircase to the other half of the palace.

The White State Dining Room was once intended for ceremonial dinners and “evening meals” of the Empress in a narrow circle of those close to her.

A string of doorways typical of palaces of those times:

Raspberry and Green Pillar:

In the Portrait Hall:

Next is the famous Amber Room. Since filming was strictly prohibited there, we only managed to take a shot from the next room. Yes, everything glitters there, everything is great, but there was nothing supernatural there:

The painting hall serves its intended purpose - there are a large number of paintings from the 18th century.

Adjacent to the Picture Hall is the Small White Dining Room, from which the personal chambers of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, and later Catherine II, began, who in turn passed them on to her beloved grandson, Grand Duke Alexander Pavlovich, the future Emperor Alexander I.

The Chinese living room of Alexander I belonged to the personal imperial chambers.

Portrait of Alexander I himself by the artist D. Dow:

The pantry belonged to the personal chambers of the Empress and until 1761 formed part of the Dressing Room on the half of Elizabeth Petrovna. In the middle of the 19th century, the room was divided by a white damask partition, behind which a service buffet was set up for serving tables during receptions.

A table similar in shape to the bean in the Pantry:

The Green Dining Room begins the private chambers in the northern part of the palace, created in the 1770s by decree of Catherine II for Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich (future Emperor Paul I) and his first wife Natalya Alekseevna:

The tour of the palace ends in the Waiter's Room - one of the service rooms of the building:

From the Waiter's Room I got to the Church (Stasovskaya) staircase, which was built in 1843-1846 by the architect V.P. Stasov. It received the name Tserkovnaya due to its proximity to the hall leading to the Palace Church. But they didn’t take me there - I just went down to the first floor, where the exit was.

But before we left, we were taken through a gallery with photographs of the palace in different eras of its history:

This is what the Great Catherine Palace looked like after the defeat by the German occupiers:

And the palace looks so magnificent after more than half a century, which cannot but rejoice:

The palace itself is located in a fairly large park, which we will look at in the next part of my story.

To be continued...

Photo - Mary, 10.2015.

Catherine Park .

Grand Palace

Catherine Park, 1 - Sadovaya St., 9

Pam. arch. (feral)

The first two-story stone palace

1718-1724 arch. Johann Braunstein

New Palace

1743 - architect. Zemtsov M. G. - project

1743 - architect. Kvasov Andrey - reworked project

1745 - architect. Chevakinsky S.I. -

Grand Palace

1752-1756 - Rastrelli F.-B. baroque

Palace Church

State Museum-Reserve "Tsarskoe Selo".

Catherine Palace

In the center of the architectural and park ensemble of the city of Pushkin there is a huge building of the Catherine Palace. In front of its eastern and western facades are the oldest parts of the Catherine and Alexander parks with a symmetrical layout. These rugular parks develop into extensive landscape parks created later. The palace and park complex was created over two centuries.

Grand Palace in Tsarskoe Selo.
Middle house superstructure project. 1st option.
Facade from the front yard.

2nd option. S.T. Chevakinsky according to the project
F.-B. Rastrelli. 1749-1750

Copy of the first page XIX century (.P.76-80.)

F.-B. Rastrelli.
Plan of the 1st and 2nd floors.

1st floor plan.

View. Great Palace.
kart. F. G. Barisien. 1760-1761.

Palace in Tsarskoe Selo.

Facade of the Catherine Palace
(from the side of the square).
Hood. V. Sadovnikov. ([*].C.)

Old postcard.

1912

Church interior

E.P. Gau, "The Church in
Bolshoi
Tsarskoye Selo
palace", 1860s,
watercolor.

1911 Church choirs

Pre-church hall

At the beginning of the 18th century. on a high hill 25 versts from St. Petersburg in the territory of what is now Catherine Park there was a small estate surrounded by forests. In Finnish it was called Saari mojs, Swedish. Sarishoff - “manor on an elevated place”, in Russian - Sarskaya manor. The estate stood on the former Novgorod land, captured in the 17th century. by the Swedes and returned at the beginning of the Northern War (1700-1712).

To develop the area around the construction of St. Petersburg, Peter I initially gave the Sarskaya manor to the governor-general of the liberated region A.D. Menshikov. Later, in 1710, by decree of the emperor, the Sarskaya manor (together with 43 assigned villages and lands) was donated to Martha Skavronskaya, who became his wife in 1712 under the name of Ekaterina Alekseevna.

In 1718-1724. according to the project of the architect. Johann Braunstein built the first two-story stone palace here with rusticated corners and modest architraves - “stone chambers with sixteen rooms.” The palace was painted with red lead and covered with shingles. In front of the palace, a garden was laid out on raised earthen ledges. Behind the garden there were greenhouses and greenhouses. On the western side there was the Menagerie - a fenced area of forest in which moose, cabbage and hares were kept for the royal hunt. A village, brick and tile factories, lime kiln sheds and other outbuildings appeared around the manor.
In 1724, a celebration was held in the new “chambers”, this emphasized the importance of the new palace estate, which soon began to be called Saarsky Selo, then Tsarskoye Selo.

During the reign of Elizabeth Petrovna, large construction began in Tsarskoe Selo. In 1743, by order of Elizabeth, Arch. M. G. Zemtsov developed a project for a new, large palace, but it remained unfulfilled due to the death of the author. In the same year, the project was approved, revised by Andrei Kvasov, who had “a slight excess compared to the previous one.” The reconstruction of the Tsarskoye Selo palace according to this project began in 1744 and continued until 1748.

Since 1745, architect. S.I. Chevakinsky took part in the design and supervised the construction and finishing work. The task of the architect. complicating the order of the Empress to preserve the old house by making extensions to it. The old house was included in the central building of the palace, its facades received a new finish. The palace, created according to the design of Kavos and Chevakinsky, consisted of three buildings, a church and a greenhouse hall, connected by galleries. It was decorated with stucco on the outside and "plaster and carved work" on the inside.

The huge front courtyard on the western façade of the palace was surrounded by service wings arranged in a semicircle.

Further reconstruction of the palace was carried out by the architect. V.V. Rastrelli (1700-1771). In 1752, by decree of Elizabeth, relatively small palace buildings with discreet decorations were replaced by buildings of enormous size, with magnificent, ceremonial decoration of facades in the Baroque style. In 1752-1756, Rastrelli rebuilt the Grand Palace and, preserving the basic principles of the original layout of the entire ensemble as a whole, created a brilliant country residence.

The palace was built on. Its main facade, more than 300 m long, received a rich architectural treatment - a huge number of columns, pilasters and sculptures. The walls of the palace were painted azure, and the stucco decorations were covered with gilding. Between the palace church and the northern wing, Rastrelli left an open gallery, arranging a hanging garden there. The front yard was decorated with openwork gates, forged from iron by masters of the Sestroretsk factory and trimmed with gold. In 1751-1752 wooden lattice fences were replaced by a high stone fence with a gate according to Rasterelli's design. In 1754-1757. near the palace, on the site of the current Granite terrace, the building of the Rolling Hill was built according to the designs of A.K. Nartov and Rastrelli.

In 1746, the foundation of the palace church was founded, which was initially planned as a separate building. By the autumn of 1746, the circumferential wings were completed - one-story auxiliary premises located in an arc on the north-western side of the palace. The old stone chambers, topped with a new cornice and roof, increased in façade and height. From that time on, the chambers of Catherine I began to be called the Middle House.

Since 1748, construction work was headed by B.-F. Rastrelli, appointed chief architect of the palace. He developed his plan for the Great Tsarskoye Selo Palace and Park and began a new reconstruction. All parts of the palace, previously connected by passage galleries, were united into an integral array. The middle house and side wings were built on a third floor, the facades of the palace received a new architectural treatment.

On July 30, 1756, a gala reception was held in Tsarskoe Selo to mark the completion of the construction of the Grand Palace.
The regular part of the Catherine Park went down the hill in terraces. In the 18th century this area of the park was called the Old Garden.

Inside the palace, a suite of vast state halls with various artistic decorations appeared. To decorate the palace, 6 poods 17 pounds 2 spools of red gold (about 100 kg) were used.
The palace became the center of a huge royal estate. In addition to the Old Garden (later Catherine Park), between the front yard and the Menagerie, the New Garden was laid out at that time (on the territory of Alexander Park). The author of the garden project is unknown. Both parks had a regular layout. The arrangement of alleys, ponds, and bosquets was strictly symmetrical. Skillfully trimmed bushes and trees formed walls and niches in which statues were installed. There were many “garden ideas” in the park - figured ponds, sculptures, architectural structures, pavilions created according to the design of the architect. Rastrelli. Work on the creation of the palace and parks lasted 4 years. Rastrelli was helped by architect. assistants V.I. Neelov and A.I. Mylnikov, who made the drawings. Leaf gold was supplied by Moscow “leaf” craftsmen. The large sums of money needed for the construction of the royal residence were provided by the “salt commissariat” - the sale of salt taken into the treasury.

The new palace and park ensemble, built by the end of 1756, aroused universal admiration. In 1755, the Amber Cabinet was moved here from the Third Winter Palace. Tsarskoe Selo became the site of official ceremonial receptions for the Russian nobility and representatives of foreign states. Important state issues were also resolved here. During the Seven Years' War (1756-1763) meetings were held here.

Under Catherine II, Tsarskoe Selo retained its significance as a ceremonial residence. During this period, the appearance of the palace changed somewhat: due to the transfer of the main staircase to the center of the building, the dome that towered in the southern part of the palace was destroyed, the dilapidated gilded wooden statues were removed, and the gilded stucco decorations were painted over with ocher.

Church of the Resurrection of Christ.

The author of the palace church project was the architect S.I. Chevakinsky. The ceremonial foundation stone of the church, located in the northern part of the palace, took place on August 8, 1746 in the presence of Elizaveta Petrovna, the heir of Peter Fedorovich and his wife Ekaterina Alekseevna.

The six-tiered carpentry iconostasis, decorated with gilded columns and pilasters, was created according to the design of F.-B. Rastrelli, and the carving work was entrusted to the best court master Johann Duncker. The picturesque ceiling depicting the Ascension of the Lord was executed by the artist Giuseppe Valeriani, who painted it for several years from 1749. In the same year, the Empress also established the color (dark blue Prussian blue) in which the church was to be painted in its final form.

The palace church, crowned with five gilded domes, was consecrated on July 30, 1756 in the name of the Resurrection of Christ by Archbishop of St. Petersburg and Shlisselburg Sylvester (Kulyabka) in the presence of the Empress. The unusually luxurious decoration of the temple was one of the best examples of the Elizabethan era. All the icons in the church, including those on the walls of the temple, in the altar and in the choir (there were 114 in total), were cut into the walls and covered with gilded frames. In the altar, above the altar, towered a huge carved gilded canopy on eight columns. The choirs and the rooms below them were separated from the church by a wall. The Empress and her Court were in the choir during services.

On May 12, 1820, the church burned down as a result of a fire, and most of the icons in it were destroyed. The domes restored after the fire by V.P. Stasov were somewhat different from the original ones and, as contemporaries noted, were less consistent with the appearance of the palace. The huge picturesque ceiling, repeating the work of Valeriyani, was painted anew by the artist V.K. Shebuev. The new lampshade in the altar, “The Glory of the Holy Spirit,” was painted in 1822 by the artist Dmitry Antonelli using plaster. In the choir room there is a new lampshade depicting St. Faith, Hope, Love and their mother Sophia, was started in 1823 by the court painter Otto Ignatius, and completed due to the death of the latter by Gustavus Gippius. The restoration of most of the icons was undertaken by D. Antonelli. The remaining icons were painted anew by A. E. Egorov, professor Andrei Ivanov and painter I. F. Tupylev. During the fire, the frames were removed and saved. The church, restored after the fire, was re-consecrated on April 2, 1822 by Archbishop Jonah (Pavlinsky) of Tver and Kashin in the presence of Alexander I.

On the night of June 16, 1863, a fire occurred in the palace church again, completely destroying all the domes, but this time most of the images and church utensils were saved. Miraculously, the lampshade of the artist V.K. Shebuev also survived. Plafond in the altar of Dm. Antonelli died, but was re-painted on canvas by Academician Belloni. Restored within a year, the church was re-consecrated on October 27, 1864 by the confessor of the Imperial Family, Protopresbyter Vasily Bazhanov, in the presence of Alexander II. The domes of the palace church, restored by the architect Alexander Fomich Vidov, this time were more consistent with the style of “Elizabethan Baroque”.

Despite all the damage sustained during the fires, by the twentieth century the palace church had largely retained its original appearance, which it had during the reign of Elizabeth Petrovna.

The church was officially closed on May 22, 1922, although services there ceased back in 1917. On June 9, 1918, a museum was opened in the Catherine Palace. During the Great Patriotic War, German troops set up a garage in the church premises, and its interior was looted or severely damaged; 98 icons remaining in the church were stolen. By 1944, only remnants of the famous lampshade remained. As a result of the counter-offensive of the Soviet troops, the palace building was partially destroyed by direct hits from shells.

After the October social Revolution in 1918, Tsarskoye Selo palaces and parks were taken under state protection. They became historical and art museums and places of recreation. At the beginning of the Second World War, the most valuable exhibits were evacuated, and park sculptures were buried in the park. During the occupation, palaces and parks were badly damaged. After the liberation of the city in January 1944, work began almost immediately on clearing the park and conserving the Catherine Palace and pavilions. In June 1945, Catherine Park was opened, and in the spring of 1946, Alexandrovsky Park. After the war, thousands of trees were planted in the park, the Big Pond was cleaned, the facades of the pavilions of Catherine Park and a significant part of the park sculpture were restored.

Restoration work of the Catherine Palace began in 1957. The work was carried out by the Special Research and Restoration Production Workshops of the Main Architectural and Planning Department and the Fasadremstroy Trust. The author of the restoration project is architect. A. A. Kedrinsky. The facades of the palace were restored as close as possible to their appearance in the 18th century, later layers were removed. The destroyed porch of the front entrance from the side of the palace square, built in the mid-19th century, has been removed. In its place, a porch was recreated according to Rastrelli's drawings. The cartouches of the original design are reproduced in the pediments of the middle house. Already in 1958, part of the premises on the second floor was used for exhibitions. In 1959, the first restored palace halls opened. The regular part of the park in front of the palace has been recreated in its original form.

In the 1950s in the central part of the palace there was a museum; in the side wings there were: the All-Union Museum of A.S. Pushkin, a children's music school and a one-day recreation center. At this time, the park facade of the palace was partially hidden behind tall trees.

In January 1983, the palace and park ensemble of the city of Pushkin was given the status of a nature reserve, which in 1990 received its current name: the Tsarskoe Selo State Museum-Reserve.
In 1989, the palaces and parks of the ensembles of the city of Pushkin were included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Restoration work continues in the halls of the Catherine Palace. From 2010 to 2013, restoration work was carried out at the Agate Companies, using conservation and restoration techniques with minimal replacement of losses (in accordance with the Venice Charter for the Conservation and Restoration of Monuments and Sites).

The Catherine Palace occupies a central place in the palace and park ensemble of Tsarskoe Selo. Thousands of tourists visit its magnificent halls every day, and the most popular in the Catherine Palace is the famous Amber Room, restored for the 300th anniversary of St. Petersburg.

The Catherine Palace can be called a monument to the patience of the Russian people, who managed to restore a historical building destroyed during the years of occupation of the city of Pushkin by German troops. More than 70 years have passed since the end of the war, but restoration of some halls is still being carried out.

Opening hours of the Catherine Palace in 2019

The world famous Amber Room is located in the Catherine Palace. A tour of the Amber Room is included in the standard tour of the Catherine Palace. Visitors are gathered in the palace hall in small groups of 15-20 people. The group follows the halls of the palace with a guide. In my opinion, the inspection is too quick - the tour takes about 20 minutes. Therefore, you are unlikely to have time to look at the interiors, listen to the guide and take photographs at the same time. The group lingers in the Amber Room for just a couple of minutes. However, usually no one forbids you to break away from your group and calmly stroll through the halls of the Catherine Palace.

In winter from 10:00 to 17:00
During autumn, spring and winter holidays from 12:00 to 17:00
Ticket offices close 15 minutes earlier
Days off: Tuesday and last Monday of the month
From May to September the only day off is Tuesday

It is recommended to start your walk from this palace, because... There may be significant queues and changes in opening hours for visitors without groups. The ticket indicates the time of visit (groups start every 20 minutes).

Photography is allowed in the Catherine Palace and Park, with the exception of the Amber Room.

Cost of tickets to the Catherine Palace in 2019.

For adults - 700 rub.
For children under 16 years old - free
For students (from 16 years old) and students - 350 rubles.
For pensioners in Russia and Belarus - 350 rubles.

Save your park entrance ticket! A ticket to the palace is issued only upon presentation of a ticket to the park.
Tickets to the Catherine Palace are valid for an hour after sale
Excursion in Russian is included in the ticket price
There is an audio guide in English, French, German, and Chinese. The cost of renting an audio guide is 200 rubles. You must leave 1000 rubles or an identity document as a deposit

Description

The construction of the majestic building, whose length is 306 meters, was carried out by the famous architect, master of the Baroque style, Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli. It was he who determined the main dimensions of the building, the decoration of its facades and interiors.

The construction of the building took place from 1748 to 1756; the interiors of the palace mainly reflect two styles - Baroque and Classicism. The Catherine Palace is magnificent, both outside and inside.

Exterior decoration

The blue, white and golden colors of the building give it a solemn and festive look. The facade is decorated with white columns, stucco elements and figures of Atlanteans. Outbuildings extend from the central part of the palace, connected by covered galleries. In the northern part of the building rises a five-domed palace church with gilded domes.

The south wing, where the front porch used to be, is topped with a gilded dome with a star on the spire. In total, almost 100 kilograms of red gold were spent on gilding the external and internal elements of the building.

Interior decoration

Such famous architects as Francesco Rastrelli and Charles Cameron, Vasily Stasov and Ippolit Monighetti took part in the design of the interior of the Catherine Palace.

According to Rastrelli's design, reception halls were created on the second floor of the building; they were decorated with gold carvings and were located along one axis, making up the Golden Front Enfilade. He also designed the chambers intended for the residence of the royal family, the so-called Small Enfilade.

Based on the architect's drawings, the Great Hall or Light Gallery was created - this is the largest hall of the Catherine Palace. Often called the Throne Room and the Grand Gallery, it was intended for official receptions and ceremonial dinners, balls and masquerades. The area of the hall, located across the entire width of the building, is 860 square meters. meters.

It should be noted that under Elizaveta Petrovna, court life in Russia acquired an incredible scope and the maintenance of the royal court, as well as court ceremonies, began to account for almost a large share of the state budget. Rastrelli took into account the scale of the events and invested all his skill, talent and engineering into the construction of the hall.

The hall, measuring 47 by 17 meters, has no ceilings, which creates a feeling of space and light. Through large windows facing both sides of the building, the sun's rays penetrate the entire room during the day, and in the evening the candles framing the mirrors are lit.

During the reign of Catherine II, the palace was designed by the architect Charles Cameron. He created several rooms for the empress in the southern part of the palace. One of the most striking state rooms designed by Charles Cameron for Catherine II is the Arabesque Hall. The walls of the room were decorated with luxurious panels with ornaments (arabesques), which depicted men and women in Roman robes, priestesses at the altars and mythical creatures, dancing graces and cupids. This hall was completely destroyed during the war and was restored in 2010.

Also for Catherine II, who was passionate about ancient art, Cameron created the interiors of the Lyon Living Room and the Chinese Hall, the Domed Dining Room and the Silver Cabinet, the Blue Cabinet (Snuffbox) and the Bedchamber.

For Paul, the son of Catherine II, the architect designed the Green Dining Room, the Main Blue and Chinese Blue Living Room, the Waiter's Room and the Bedchamber.

Under Alexander I, in 1817, the architect Vasily Petrovich Stasov, who also worked in the classicist style, created the State Office and several adjacent rooms.
The final work on the reconstruction of the palace was carried out by the architect Ippolit Antonovich Monighetti, a representative of the eclecticism style, who built the Grand Staircase in 1862-63.

From the history

The Catherine Palace owes its beauty to three Russian empresses - Catherine I, Elizaveta Petrovna and Catherine II, who paid great attention to the country residence in Tsarskoe Selo.

Currently, it is difficult to imagine that three hundred years ago on the site of this majestic structure there was a modest two-story palace, consisting of 16 rooms and called the Stone Chambers.

Its construction began in 1717 under the direction of the architect Johann Braunstein. At the same time, on the slope on the eastern side, the Upper Garden, consisting of three terraces, and the Lower Garden were laid out. To the west, the Menagerie was built, later transformed into the Alexander Garden.

In 1744, according to the plan of the young architect Kvasov, the building was built on and connected by galleries with attached two-story outbuildings. Subsequently, each new Russian ruler also rebuilt the Catherine Palace.

A radical transformation took place under Empress Elizabeth Petrovna in 1752. For four years, Francesco Rastrelli, a famous specialist in the Baroque style, supervised the reconstruction of the building and park.

During the Great Patriotic War, the territory of Tsarskoe Selo was occupied and the palace was almost completely destroyed, 80% of its interiors were lost. The Amber Room was taken by the Nazis from Pushkin and disappeared without a trace in Konigsberg before the entry of Soviet troops.

In addition, many of the museum's exhibits were lost even before the start of the war, in the 1930s, when the sale of many valuable objects of painting, sculpture and applied art began. The complex's employees did their best to protect the exhibits scheduled for sale. The curators tried to save the works of art by reducing the value of the painting, for example, instead of the Italian school, they indicated the Spanish one.

In addition, many valuable works went to the Hermitage: when a “gap” appeared there, works of art were taken from the museum in Tsarskoe Selo.

Valuable exhibits from the children's half of the palace were completely lost, including textbooks, transparencies and herbariums, pencils and notebooks. All this was given to children's colonies, where all the children of Petrograd who had lost their parents were brought.

In 1959, thanks to the painstaking work of restorers, historians and architects, six museum halls were opened. In 2003, visitors were able to see the pearl of the Catherine Palace - the Amber Room, the restoration of which took about 6 tons of amber.

Until 1910, the Catherine Palace was called the Great Tsarskoye Selo. Currently, it is a cultural heritage site of Federal significance, part of the Tsarskoe Selo State Museum-Reserve.

Original taken from bolivar_s to the Great Catherine Palace, the city of Pushkin.

Great Catherine Palace, Pushkin city.The exhibition of the Catherine Palace (until 1910 - the Great Tsarskoye Selo) Palace Museum covers the almost 300-year history of the outstanding monument and introduces the work of the architects who participated in its construction and decoration in the 18th-19th centuries, as well as the achievements of the restorers who revived the palace after the Great Patriotic War. Of the 58 halls of the palace destroyed during the war, 32 have been recreated.

In 1717, when St. Petersburg was created on the banks of the Neva, in Tsarskoe Selo under the leadership of the architect I.-F. Braunstein began the construction of the first stone royal house, which went down in history under the name “stone chambers” of Catherine I. In August 1724, to signify the completion of construction, a festival was held in the palace, during which “13 cannons were fired three times.” The Tsar and major statesmen were present at the celebration. At that time, the palace was a small two-story building typical of Russian architecture of the early 18th century.

Adolsky I-B.G. "Portrait of Catherine I with a Little Arab". 1725 or 1726. The portrait was repeated and copied several times. A similar version, attributed to the master, is kept in the collection of the Catherine Palace.

During the reign of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, at the end of 1742 - beginning of 1743, it was decided to expand the building according to the design of M. G. Zemtsov (1688-1743), but the death of the architect prevented the implementation of the plan. After Zemtsov, work in Tsarskoye Selo was carried out by A. V. Kvasov (1720 - after 1770) and his assistant G. Trezzini (1697-1768), but already in May 1745 Trezzini was replaced by the famous architect S. I. Chevakinsky (1713-1780) , who supervised construction in Tsarskoye Selo until the early 1750s.

From the end of 1748 to 1756, the construction of the Tsarskoye Selo residence was headed by the chief architect of the imperial court, F.-B. Rastrelli (1700-1761). On May 10, 1752, Elizaveta Petrovna signed a decree on a major reconstruction of the old building, and already on July 30, 1756, Rastrelli demonstrated his new creation to the crowned customer and foreign ambassadors.

Portrait of Empress Elizabeth from Tsarskoye Selo in the Historical Museum

Friedrich Hartmann Barisien. Great Tsarskoye Selo Palace of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna 1760-1761

The palace, built in the Baroque style, delighted with its size, powerful spatial dynamics and “picturesque” decor. The wide azure ribbon of the facade with snow-white columns and gilded ornaments looked festive.

Rastrelli decorated the palace facades with figures of Atlanteans, caryatids, lion masks and other stucco decorations made according to models by the sculptor I.-F. Duncker (1718-1795). The five gilded domes of the Palace Church rose above the northern building, and above the southern one, where the front porch was located, a dome with a multi-pointed star on the spire.

About 100 kilograms of red gold were spent on gilding the external and internal decorations. At the same time, the parade ground was finally decorated, fenced with palace wings and single-story service buildings located in a semicircle - circumferences. Rastrelli decorated the palace apartments just as luxuriously. The Front Enfilade he created, decorated with gilded carvings, was called “golden”. The enfilade arrangement of halls, unknown in Russia until the mid-18th century, was introduced by Rastrelli in other palaces, but only in Tsarskoye Selo the length of the front rooms was equal to the length of the entire building - from the Main Staircase to the Palace Church.

Rotary - Portrait of the Architect Bartolomeo Rastrelli

The next stage in the design of the ceremonial and residential halls of the palace dates back to the 1770s. The new owner of the residence, Empress Catherine II, who was passionate about ancient art, wanted to decorate her apartments in accordance with fashionable tastes and entrusted their decoration to the Scottish architect, an expert on ancient architecture, Charles Cameron (1743-1812).

The interiors he created - the Arabesque and Lyon living rooms, the Chinese Hall, the Domed Dining Room, the Silver Cabinet, the Blue Study (Snuffbox) and the Bedchamber - were distinguished by their refined beauty, severity of decorative design and special elegance of decoration. Unfortunately, these halls were destroyed during the Great Patriotic War and have not yet been restored.

The rooms intended for Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich (the future Emperor Paul I) and his wife Maria Feodorovna, decorated by Charles Cameron in the same years, have now been recreated: the Green Dining Room, the Waiter's Room, the State Blue Living Room, the Chinese Blue Living Room and the Bedchamber allow you to get acquainted with the unique interiors , created by a Scottish architect, whose work was so loved by Catherine II.

Edward Gau. Catherine Palace. Blue office (Snuffbox) (Zubovsky wing)

In 1817, by order of Emperor Alexander I, the architect V. P. Stasov (1769-1848) created the State Office and several adjacent rooms, decorated in the same style - all of these rooms were dedicated to the glorification of the brilliant victories won by the Russian army in the Patriotic War 1812. The Asian room became the embodiment of the theme of the art of the Middle East in the transcription of the era of historicism. The Asian, or Turkish, room of the Zubovsky building of the Great Tsarskoye Selo Palace was remodeled in “oriental taste” in 1851 -1853 from the Raspberry Room according to the design of the architect I.A. Monighetti with the participation of Professor of St. Petersburg University Sheikh Muhamsla Ayad Tantawi and artist I.G. Meyer.
In this, one of the most interesting exotic interiors of Monighetti, the decoration of the room was built with the expectation of displaying the collection of royal weapons. But it was here, in the room created for Grand Duke Alexander Nikolaevich, the future Emperor Alexander II, that the architect managed to rise above the narrowly applied task and create one of the brightest and most complete artistic interiors.

Gau, Eduard Petrovich - Turkish room in the Catherine Palace of Tsarskoe Selo

The final chord in the palace enfilade was the Grand Staircase, created in 1860-1863 by I. A. Monighetti (1819-1878) in the “second Rococo” style.

Bust of F.-B. Rastrelli

Golden Gate

Grille of the Front Courtyard.

Main staircase.

The main staircase occupies the entire height and width of the palace and is illuminated from the east and west by windows located in three tiers. White marble steps rise on both sides to the middle platform, from which four flights lead to the second floor, to the state rooms. On the walls of the interior, decorated with stucco ornaments, there are decorative vases and dishes of Chinese and Japanese porcelain of the 18th-19th centuries - in memory of the Chinese Hall located here in the mid-18th century.

Exhibition rooms.

Two rooms of the Catherine Palace, which can be entered by climbing the Grand Staircase, are now used as exhibition rooms.

Big hall.

The Great Hall, or the Bright Gallery, as it was called in the 18th century, is the largest ceremonial room of the palace, designed by the architect F.-B. Rastrelli in 1752-1756. This elegant hall with an area of more than 800 square meters was intended for official receptions and celebrations, formal dinners, balls and masquerades.

Anti-cameras.

Guests who came to Tsarskoe Selo in the 18th century first of all found themselves in the anticameras (Italian anticamera - front, hallway), located near the Grand Staircase in the southern wing of the building. These rooms got their name because they were located in front of the Great Hall and were intended to await receptions and the appearance of the Empress. As a result of reconstruction at the end of the 18th century, when the Arabesque and Lyon halls appeared in place of two anti-chambers, only three remained.

"First Anti-Camera"

“First Anti-Chamber”. Plafond “Triumph of Bacchus and Ariadne”

First Anti-Chamber of the Catherine Palace 1940

"Second Anti-Chamber"

"Third Anti-Chamber"

Arabesque Hall.

The Arabesque Hall is one of the most spectacular state halls created by Charles Cameron in the Great Tsarskoye Selo Palace for Empress Catherine II.

Arabesque Hall in the Catherine Palace. Around 1850. E. Gau.

Cavalier's dining room.

Next to the Great Hall is the Cavalier Dining Room, also designed by F.-B. Rastrelli. Its dimensions are small, so the architect placed mirrors and false mirror windows on the walls, which made the room more spacious and brighter. The interior design is typical of the Baroque style: it is dominated by gilded carved ornaments of stylized flowers and shells; magnificent gilded compositions above the doors - desudeportes.

White State Dining Room.

Having passed the Main Staircase, we find ourselves in the White Main Dining Room, which was once intended for ceremonial dinners and “evening meals” of the Empress in a narrow circle of those close to her.

Raspberry and Green Pillar.

Decorating the halls of the Great Tsarskoye Selo Palace, F.-B. Rastrelli strove for the maximum variety of architectural and decorative solutions for his interiors. In the decoration of the two Raspberry and Green Pillars located one after the other, the architect used materials that were original for that time: he decorated the walls covered with white damask with transparent glass pilasters - “pillars”, with crimson and green foil placed under the glass, which gave the name to the rooms.

Raspberry canteen

Green dining room

Portrait Hall.

In the Portrait Hall of the Catherine Palace, decorated according to Rastrelli's design and preserving its original decoration for two centuries, ceremonial images of royal persons have long been displayed. Completely destroyed during the war, the interior was recreated from photographs and surviving fragments of decoration.

The Amber Room.

From the Portrait Hall you can go to the Amber Room - the pearl of the Catherine Palace, quite rightly called one of the wonders of the world.

Picture hall.

The main part of the Tsarskoye Selo collection of paintings presented in the hall was acquired by order of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna in 1745-1746 in Prague and Hamburg by the artist G.-H. Groot.

Small white dining room.

Adjacent to the Picture Hall is the Small White Dining Room, from which the personal chambers of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, and later Catherine II, began, who in turn passed them on to her beloved grandson, Grand Duke Alexander Pavlovich, the future Emperor Alexander I.

Chinese living room of Alexander I.

Created according to the design of the architect F.-B. Rastrelli in 1752-1756 The Chinese living room of Alexander I belonged to the personal imperial chambers. Its interior stood out among the rooms of the Golden Enfilade of the palace with its silk upholstery walls painted with watercolors in the Chinese style. The rest of the decoration followed the general style of the state rooms: a picturesque ceiling, carved gilded desudéportes based on the models of the sculptor I.-F. Dunkers, mirrors between the windows, stoves made of “Hamburg” tiles and inlaid parquet.

Pantry.

The pantry belonged to the personal chambers of the Empress and until 1761 formed part of the Dressing Room on the half of Elizabeth Petrovna. In the middle of the 19th century, the room was divided by a white damask partition, behind which a service buffet was set up for serving tables during receptions.

The front office of Alexander I.

From the Vaulted Entrance Hall you can go to the Emperor’s Front (Marble) Office, created according to the design of V.P. Stasov in 1817 and intended for important official audiences.

Green dining room.

The Green Dining Room begins the private chambers in the northern part of the palace, created in the 1770s by decree of Catherine II for Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich (the future Emperor Paul I) and his first wife Natalya Alekseevna.

Waitress.

The waiter's room is one of the service rooms of the Great Tsarskoye Selo Palace of the 18th century.

Stately blue living room.

The largest and most elegant room in the apartments created by Charles Cameron in 1779-1783 is the State Blue Living Room. Its ceremonial purpose is emphasized by the rich and varied decor: the walls are covered in silk with blue flowers on a white background and completed with a gilded frieze of alternating vases and oval pictorial medallions; paired fireplaces made of Carrara marble are decorated with bas-reliefs and caryatids; on the western wall between the windows there are large mirrors in carved gilded frames, completed with medallions, and gilded consoles. The door panels are painted with motifs from antique grotesques. In the workshop of G. Stahlmeer, inlaid parquet was made from valuable wood species with a predominance of rosewood and rosewood.

Chinese blue living room.

From the State Blue Living Room you can go to the Chinese Blue Living Room, the name of which is due to the fact that its walls were covered with blue Chinese silk, decorated with landscapes and genre scenes, for a century and a half.

Prehorn.

The Prechoir Room, the last room of the Front Enfilade of the Great Tsarskoye Selo Palace, got its name due to its proximity to the choir of the Palace Church.

Palace Church.

The court Resurrection Church of the Great Tsarskoye Selo Palace was founded on August 8, 1745 in the presence of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna.

Church of the Resurrection of Christ in the Catherine Palace

Kamer-Jungferskaya.

Another passage room leads to the Chamber of Jungfers, in which you can examine porcelain products from the famous English manufactory D. Wedgwood and English painted engravings of the second half of the 18th century from the collection of the Tsarskoye Selo Museum-Reserve.

Against the background of the green-painted walls of the Jungfer Chamber - a room with one window overlooking Catherine Park, which was originally intended for palace maids - a stucco gilded frieze and door leaves with colorful ornamental paintings stand out.

Bedchamber.

Decorated in the early 1770s by V. I. Neelov, the room with two windows, two doorways and an alcove niche served as the bedchamber of Grand Duchess Natalya Alekseevna.