The Chinese village is a complex of buildings in the chinoiserie style, located on the border of the Alexander and Catherine parks at the entrance from St. Petersburg to Tsarskoye Selo.
Chinoiserie style
The emergence of this style was accompanied by the export of Chinese porcelain to Europe at the beginning of the 18th century. Extraordinarily light, elegant and much more hygienic products immediately attracted the attention of the upper class.
Soon after, popularity spread to all branches of Chinese art. In the royal and imperial residences, the construction of arbors, palaces and bridges began, partially copying the traditional architecture of the Celestial Empire. Unfortunately, at that time there was too little research devoted to this country, because building designers were guided, rather, by their own fantasies and ideas about how the results of their creations should look.
So there was a chinoiserie style, which became part of Orientalism and Rococo, in which the Chinese village was originally built.
The spread of style in Russia
In Russia, this style just as quickly became popular among the nobility, due to which cabinets decorated in the best traditions of chinoiserie appeared in several palaces of the country. The largest number of such buildings was created by the architect Antonio Rinaldi - and it was he who, by decree of Catherine the Great, was the designer of the Chinese village.
Chinese village in Tsarskoye Selo
This complex of buildings was the idea of the Russian Empress Catherine II, succumbing to the influence of European fashion on the style of chinoiserie. Perhaps she was inspired by a similar project in Drottningholm, deciding to create something superior to him.
It is not known for certain, but there is an opinion that the design of the village was entrusted to two architects at once: Rinaldi and Charles Cameron. Engravings, once delivered from Beijing and were the personal property of the empress, served as samples.
According to the plan, the Chinese village was to consist of 18 houses and an octagonal observatory, and outside the complex it was required to build a pagoda. Initially, Catherine sought to attract a real architect from the Middle Kingdom to her work, but failed. For this reason, she was commissioned to procure a copy of the pagoda created by Ulyam Chambers in the style of chinoiserie.
However, after the death of the empress in 1796, work on the project was frozen. Of the 18 planned houses, only 10 were built, the observatory was not finished, and the pagoda remained on paper.
Chinese village under Alexander I
Work on the complex did not resume until the intervention of Alexander I. In 1818, he brought in Vasily Stasov to convert the village into a suitable form for living. As a result, most of the eastern decoration was destroyed, but now the complex provided housing for various eminent guests.
The buildings were united by Stasov among themselves, and the unfinished observatory was completed with a spherical dome.
Each house in the Chinese village was surrounded by its own garden and furnished inside. Nikolai Karamzin lived in one of these buildings for three years while writing The History of the Russian State.
Also on the territory of the complex was the Chinese Theater, in which Giovanni Paisiello presented his new creations. However, in 1941 the building was burned, and restoration work has not been carried out so far.
Modernity
During the German occupation, the village suffered very much, and its restoration was progressing as if reluctantly. In the 60s, the complex was converted into communal apartments, and later transformed into a tourist base. Only in 1996, large-scale restoration work began, thanks to a certain Danish company, which received in return the right to rent houses for 50 years.
Today the village is completely restored. It has both guest and residential apartments, however, tourists can only access the facade of the complex from the road. Living in a Chinese village is no longer possible for a simple layman, because its territory is currently secretly listed as private property of another state, and houses are rented by foreign citizens.
It is difficult to believe that part of the historical heritage of Russia is closed to its population, however, until the agreed period expires (and possibly after), this fact will remain unchanged.