The famous palace and park of Gatchina, which make up a single ensemble, was formed in the XVII - XIX centuries. It is located between Black, White and Silver Lakes.
Sights of Gatchina
Undoubtedly, the main attraction of the city is a luxurious ensemble of palaces and parks. He is known far beyond our homeland. Tourists from all over the world come here to see this miracle with their own eyes. The Gatchina Palace and the park amazes with its splendor, a photo of which can be seen not only in Russian but also in foreign publications. This ensemble was created over the course of a century by different architects who used different styles. But all this is surprisingly combined, forming a harmonious composition.
Gatchina parks never bother. You can walk around them for hours, and surprisingly, you will constantly find something new for yourself. Those who wish can rent a boat and swim along the White Lake, see its picturesque shores, the Great Terrace marina, the pavilion of Venus, the Chesmensky Obelisk.
Gatchina Palace and Park
The construction of the Grand Palace in Gatchina was begun in 1766. In those days, the owner of the estate was Count Grigory Orlov. The author of the project was the famous architect Antonio Rinaldi. He decided to build a palace that would resemble a hunting castle with an underground passage and towers.
The construction of the palace lasted 15 years and was completed in 1781. Later, it was rebuilt several times, but never radically changed its original appearance. The main building of the palace is connected by semicircular galleries with two utility squares - a stable and a kitchen.
In the central part of the palace there were ceremonial halls, and the square performed, as it was intended, an auxiliary function. Rinaldi laid a secret underground passage in the palace project so that he could quietly and quickly leave the palace. I must say that in the palace there are many secret doors, rooms, corridors and stairs. Some of them lead to the underground passage, others allow you to quickly get from one end of the estate to the other, while others were just service rooms. Today, visitors can enter the secret part of the palace only accompanied by a guide.
Gatchina under Paul I
After Grigory Orlov died (1783), Gatchina was redeemed from his heirs by Catherine II. The empress gave the estate with a palace to her son Pavel Petrovich. He loved this place very much, and soon he moved here, having arranged a personal residence here. I must say that before this Paul traveled extensively in Europe and was impressed by what he saw. Some buildings inspired him especially, and he decided to build something similar in Gatchina.
For example, the pavilion of Venus became a copy of the original preserved from the castle of Chantilly in France. The future emperor decided to slightly modify the palace and Gatchina park. There were bastions with guns, drawbridges and ditches.
The restructuring of the palace and park complex was led by Vincenzo Brenna, a well-known architect in those days. He worked closely with no less famous master of his craft - V. I. Bazhenov. The Grand Palace had gardens with a regular layout - Upper and Lower Dutch Gardens, Own, and a little further - Sylvia. They began to be created in 1790. A wide canal was dug, ending in an octagonal pool. Carps were once bred in it, which is why it was called Karpin.
Pavel Petrovich in 1796 ascends the throne, and Gatchina becomes the residence of the emperor. After his death, construction work in the park and the palace was completed. In 1851, a monument to Paul I was erected on the parade ground in front of the Grand Palace. Its author is sculptor I.P. Vitali. In 1880, Alexander III lived with his family in the Gatchina Palace.
A park
Gatchina Palace Park began to be created along with the palace. He became the first landscape park in Russia. To create it, the famous master from Italy, Johann Bush, was invited.
Gatchina Park is made in the English style. There is no strict ordering, the creators only emphasized the natural beauty of nature. Gardeners achieved a striking effect by planting plants with foliage and needles of different colors.
Gatchina Park, the photo of which you see in our article, has a compositional center, which is White Lake. Numerous architectural structures appear here - bridges, arbors, pavilions, etc. The Chesme obelisk, designed by Rinaldi, was one of the first. It is dedicated to the victory of the Russian fleet over the Turks in Chesma Bay (1770).
Gatchina Park is of great interest to specialists. Some of its buildings (the Mask portal and the Birch house) are priceless architectural monuments. The Mask portal is made of stone, and the Log Cabin is decorated with birch logs. It looks pretty simple, but at the same time very picturesque. It looks like a log of wood. But behind the apparent simplicity lies an expensive interior decoration. Similar buildings were common at the end of the XVIII century. They were made in the form of a hut or hut, but inside they were finished with palace luxury. They were intended for leisure companies walking in the garden. Other park buildings are no less interesting. For example, Echo Grotto, amphitheater, Admiralty Gate, Orel Pavilion and others.
Dutch Garden in Gatchina Park
In fact, there are two such gardens - Upper and Lower. They are laid out on mound terraces. Together with their own garden, which is located nearby on a retaining high terrace, they formed an amazing ensemble of the Palace Gardens.
Lower garden
This is a ground garden planned in a regular style, having a rectangular shape and somewhat elongated relative to the central axis of the Palace Gardens. It covers an area of about 0.6 hectares. There are flower beds, original lawns and straight lines, strewn with gravel and crushed brick paths. In places of their intersection, round platforms are created.
The lower garden has seven stone stairs. Three of them are located on the northeast slope. Two stairs - in the southwestern slope. Another staircase is on the northwestern and southeastern slopes. All these stairs are viewing platforms. Each of them offers an amazing view.
Upper Dutch Garden
It occupies a large territory - about 2.5 hectares. Like the Lower Garden, it is clearly planned. Eight paths diverge from the oval platform, which is the compositional center of the garden. The alley that goes through the center of the garden ends with a steeply going down wide granite staircase of two spans. Such complex star compositions that are created in the Dutch gardens are quite typical of regular gardens. They undoubtedly adorn Gatchina Park. Upper and Lower Dutch Gardens resemble the gardens of Italian villas, and are rare in Russian park building.
Priory Palace
During the reign of Paul I, the park was significantly expanded. The Priory Park, an area of 154 hectares, was attached to it. Its main attraction is the magnificent Priory Palace, which was built by the famous architect N.A. Lvov in the form of a small knight's castle.
The palace is located on the shores of Black Lake. The construction technique of this structure is quite interesting. The walls of the palace are built of cultivated land, which was wetted with a special solution. Nikolai Lvov actively used this technique. From French, the Priory is translated as a "small monastery." Now in this building is the local history museum of the city.
Gatchina after WWII
Before the advance of the fascist troops, an urgent evacuation of the artistic values of the Gatchina Palace began. 12 thousand items were exported. This amounted to only 20% of the entire collection. In 1941, the city was occupied by the Nazis. They cut down a lot of trees in the park. During their retreat, the Germans set fire to the Grand Palace. Gatchina was liberated in early 1944.
Almost immediately after the victory in the city, work began on the restoration of the historical complex. It was only in 1985 that the Gatchina Palace and Park received its first visitors.