St. Petersburg is significantly different from other pre-revolutionary Russian cities. Appearing much later than the same large settlements, he constantly grew and improved under the tight control of the monarchy and personally emperors, had generous funding and any lack of freedom. Such a contradiction led to an amazing result. The former capital of the Russian Empire is known for its beautiful mansions and castles, some of which were erected in the XVIII century - in the first hundred years of the city’s history.
One of them by right will always be the Tauride Palace in St. Petersburg (architect I.E. Starov). Its construction began in the famous 1783th (the year of the annexation of the Crimea), and went on for about six years. Its author was one of the first specialists in the architecture school of Russian classicism.
Biography of an outstanding architectural object
Nowadays, many simple architecture lovers who are not very versed in the intricacies of the subject do not remember looking at the Tauride Palace, who was the architect of this famous monument. And it was Ivan Yegorovich Starov, the beloved architect of Prince Potemkin-Tauride. By origin, he was an ordinary commoner - his father served in the Orthodox Church as a deacon.
This, however, did not completely prevent the extremely talented young man from going to study at the gymnasium at Moscow University in the very first year of his existence, and even after a year he could be transferred to the gymnasium at the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences in accordance with the future profession of an architect.
The outstanding talent of the nugget and the help of some contemporary philanthropists allowed the self-taught person to complete a full course of study, completing her internship abroad, and become a full-fledged specialist, both in terms of internal self-contemplation and external formal requirements. In recent years, he was an academician.
Contribution of I. E. Starov to the development of Russian architecture
Upon returning after a foreign internship to the capital of the Russian Empire, I.E. Starov quickly distinguished himself in the field of professional studies. In St. Petersburg, he began to own architectural projects, including the building of the cadet gentry corps and other structures. And of course, the Tauride Palace and the architect I. Starov are forever connected in the history of our country. This is one of his main creations.
In addition, at the suggestion of Count Potemkin, Starov made a lot of efforts to develop and ennoble the annexed southern lands. In 1790, he designed a plan for the development of the territory of the city of Nikolaev near the shipyard and pier, between the mouths of the Ingul and Southern Bug rivers. The city plan stands out with straight lines and the right beautiful neighborhoods. The architect died in 1808.
I.E. Starov is rightfully considered one of the outstanding architects of Russia of the eighteenth century, who left a big mark in the history of the country.
History of the Tauride Palace
The Tauride Palace in St. Petersburg (architect I.E. Starov) received this name for a reason. During the first Russo-Turkish war, Crimea (ancient Tauris) was included in Russia for the first time. In honor of this event, a magnificent building was created.
The territory for the construction of the palace was allocated on the left bank of the capital river Neva on Shpalernaya street of the capital. Next to the building under construction was the Smolny Monastery. The building was not originally called a palace. In the seventeenth century, structures of this kind were simply called houses. The building on Shpalernaya Street was named the Horse Guards House, and it was built for the private residence of the brilliant commander of the shining prince Count Potemkin, a favorite of Empress Catherine II. However, the owner of all these treasures, due to regular trips, almost did not visit the Tauride Palace. And he had only a short time to live after the construction of the palace.
Horse Guards House as a reflection of the era
The building of the Tauride Palace (Russia, St. Petersburg) today seems to be an excellent example of the style of classicism - the architectural direction that prevailed in our country in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
Since the sixties of the eighteenth century, domestic architects, studying European examples, worked within the noble, but not elaborate simplicity of the principles of classicism. This was facilitated by the personal preferences of Empress Catherine II. Classicism in Russia was charged with original expressiveness, which is caused by both the prevalence of the architectural heritage of Russia, and the realities of the life of society and the state (economic, social, political), and, of course, the creative capabilities and bright personality of a number of generations of talented architects.
The main building of the Tauride Palace
The architectural ensemble of the Tauride Palace (architect Starov) consists of a main, covered with a dome, two-story building and two side wings lying on the sides with interior decorative courtyards. From the front facade, it seriously differs from the design of elaborate buildings of luxurious eras of the Rococo and Baroque. The Tauride Palace was built in the form of a U-shaped and combines a number of structures, the total area of which is approximately 66 thousand square meters. The facade of the building is stretched to 260 meters in length, has a six-columned white portico in the classical style. Above the main building, which rises twelve meters above the ground, lies a drum with a dome floating over the entire structure.
Side buildings of the Horse Guards House
From the sides to the building of the Tauride Palace (architect Starov) one-story more modest galleries that combine the House with outbuildings are suitable.
In the side rooms, in addition to everyday living and office rooms, there was also a part of the rooms with ceremonial functions: small living rooms, various kinds of dance rooms, a beautiful concert hall and the like.
Toward the front courtyard, the side buildings are distinguished by modest separate exits with four-columned porticoes. In the opposite direction from Shpalernaya Street, on which the palace stood, the side buildings form symmetrical retractable elements of a smaller size, near which there are one-story branches of the palace. The ends of these elements are decorated with six-columned ionic Greek porticoes and are lateral risalits of the main building of the palace towards the park. The main portico of the palace highlights the entrance to the front lobby.
Modern view of the monument of architecture
The modern Tauride Palace of the architect Starov is seriously different from the original. His later rebuildings have a more severe and majestic type, characteristic of the buildings of Roman antiquity. However, it should be noted that in its appearance there is no direct imitation of the West European architectural monuments of the classics, and the level of the overall composition of the buildings shows the character of classical Russian traditions.
The original view of the Tauride Palace
And yet, despite the fact that for almost three hundred and fifty years past the interior of the interior of the buildings has undergone a large number of changes, even in the current palace you can easily see the beautiful decoration of the halls and rooms. The previous version of the Tauride Palace (1783-1789) was even more magnificent.
The initial state of the inner palace rooms can be imagined after studying the stories of famous contemporaries. In particular, the bright and famous poet Derzhavin, having visited this palace, was extremely surprised by his rich beauty and left his feelings about him in his poetic works.
Remained mention of the palace in memoirs and other contemporaries.
Surroundings of the creation of the architect Starov
The nearby surroundings of the Tauride Palace by architect Starov were beautiful and solemn. Right in front of the front facade in the first decades lay a quiet small harbor of spherical shape on the river. Neva with a reliable marina (liquidated in the 1860s for technical reasons). Quite elaborate pleasure craft of the owners and the next arriving guests of the estate were located and moored around it. The architectural complex of the constructed Tauride Palace includes the so-called garden master’s house.
At the same time, behind the buildings, the garden master V. Gould planted and cultivated the Tauride Garden. On its territory there were a large number of colorful hills, small artificial ponds, flowing canals, wooden bridges, large flower beds, greenhouses, greenhouses for exotic plants, etc. Two modest outbuildings are covered with domed towers.
Catherine’s Hall and other interior spaces
The main and backbone building in the last quarter of the 18th century. The Tauride Palace, a highlight of the whole complex was the magnificent Catherine Hall. The visitor can enter it only through a relatively small dome room with a Greek colonnade. The entrance from the outside of the room was specially decorated with the Triumphal Gate with large pillars of semiprecious jasper and durable granite to give solemnity to the moment.
The Catherine’s Hall was originally called Belokolonny. The architect I.E. Starov decided to supply architectural details of the Hellenic era to its base. During the days of luxury holidays, it was designed to receive up to five thousand visitors.
Interior of the Catherine Hall of the palace
In general, it must be said that the outwardly austere palace, which was left without decor and marble sculpture, impressed with its internal rooms - its rooms were excellent in shape and height, and had excellent decoration. At the opposite end of the hall was the rotunda of a small conservatory with several columns. In the center of it was a statue of Empress Catherine II (a sculpture by F. Shubin). Beautiful exotic plants grew in the garden.
In the Tauride Palace, in addition to the Catherine’s Hall and the winter garden, you can also see the beautiful Chinese and artsy Sofa Hall, art gallery and Tapestry living room. Skilful craftsmen of that time were partially attracted to decorate the premises. Initially, during the life of the empress, there was a wonderful collection of paintings and statues.
The Russian architect who built the Tauride Palace, in its majestic and solemn appearance, showed the growing level of the victorious Russian state, expanding its borders. But this is far from the only outstanding building of that time.
The fate of the palace
The eighteenth century alone does not end the life of the Tauride Palace in St. Petersburg. Its history fully reflects the centuries-old development of the country. After the death of Catherine the Great in 1796, her son Paul the First ascended the throne. Extravagant and quick-tempered, he also hated his mother and her entourage. Favorite of the Empress Count Potemkin was one of the first in the list of enemies of the new ruler. Since Potemkin himself had already died by this time, Paul began a struggle with his legacy. The magnificent Tauride Palace was given to the soldiers - barracks were built here.
However, with the advent of the next great Russian emperor in the first year of the nineteenth century, the palace was recreated again and turned into one of the main residences of the ruling imperial house. At the beginning of the turbulent twentieth century, the Tauride Palace was declared the building of the convened State Duma.
Post-revolutionary era and modernity
1917 did not stop the development of the Tauride Palace. The history after the February revolution and the overthrow of the Romanovs led to the fact that the Provisional Government of Alexander Kerensky worked in the premises of the palace. He was replaced by the Bolsheviks. Until the end of the summer of 1917, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of Soviets worked in the Tauride Palace. Finally, in January 1918, the All-Russian Constituent Assembly was assembled here for a short time.
In Soviet times, various Soviet and party bodies worked in the palace.
At the beginning of the 21st century, regular international economic forums and other meetings gather in the rebuilt but still in good condition Tauride Palace. Today, the general office of the inter-parliamentary assembly of the Commonwealth (CIS) states also operates on the premises of the palace.