State Museum-Reserve Tsarskoye Selo

Main article: History of Russia

Alexander Palace

Main article: Alexander Palace in Tsarskoye Selo

Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum

Main article: Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum

Catherine Park and Palace

Restoration of loss and restoration

2020

In the Freilinsky kindergarten underground found a metal object, possibly a statue of Niobei

In the Freilinsky garden of Catherine's Park, St. Petersburg scientists found a large metal object that could be a statue of Niobei. His employees initiated geophysical research in the museum-reserve precisely for the sake of searching for this statue: it was lost during the Great Patriotic War. See below 1945.

Excavations in the museum-reserve will begin as soon as the necessary documents are received.

A child threw a bronze "bust of a dying giant" from a pedestal in a gallery

On July 22, 2020, in the Catherine Park on the Cameron Gallery, a young visitor threw a bronze "bust of a dying giant" of the 18th century from a pedestal. The head of the young man with a rumble of the back of the head fell on the marble floor, the bust was seriously damaged.

Employees of the museum-reserve drew up an act in which chips and cracks were recorded, as well as a particularly dangerous horizontal crack around the circumference of the head.

During the fall, not only the bust was damaged, but also the column of the gallery itself. The boy's parents will have to reimburse the costs of restoration.

In the fall of 2019, at the Cameron Gallery, a bust of "Alcibiades Boys" was knocked over from a pedestal by a schoolboy who visited the museum with classmates.

Busts at the Cameron Gallery often attract those who like to "rub" bronze heroes for good luck. Homer, Socrates and Lomonosov suffered especially.

2003: End of Amber Room Restoration

The interiors of the Amber Room in the Catherine Palace were restored by Russian restorers for the 300th anniversary of St. Petersburg. The reconstruction of the Amber Room lasted 23 years. It was opened on May 31, 2003. Specialists had to re-create the decoration from the preserved historical images.

Visiting the old, original Amber Room, the founder, together with Julian Semyonov, of the International Committee for the Search for the Amber Room, Baron Eduard von Falz-Fein expressed the opinion that the restored Amber Room looks much better and more luxurious than the previous one.

• To restore the Amber Room, stone was used from the Kaliningrad deposit, which accounts for 95% of the world's amber reserves.

• The area of ​ ​ the Amber Room in the Catherine Palace is about 100 square meters, height - 7.8 m.

• Facing 3 walls with amber - 86 m2.

• 3 walls took 6 tons of amber, including waste, which accounted for 80%.

• The most massive nugget weighing 1 kilogram was bought from a collector for 1 thousand US dollars.

• Funds spent: 11.35 million dollars, including 7.85 million from the budget of Russia and 3.5 million from the funds of the German company RurgazAG.

The Amber Room in Pushkin is the only museum hall in the world fully decorated with this mineral. No one else wanted to repeat this - the creation turned out to be too expensive, fragile, unbearable and capricious.

2000: Return from Germany of the authentic mosaic "Smell and Touch"

A German officer - a participant in the robbery of the Amber Room in Tsarskoye Selo in 1941 (see below), illegally took away the mosaic "Smell and Touch" as a souvenir.

The German transferred it for temporary storage to a certain notary who tried to sell it, but in 1997 the German authorities confiscated it, and he himself was tried. The right to own the mosaic was recognized by his daughter.

The owner refused claims to the painting and transferred all rights to "Smell and Touch" to the city of Bremen, which, in turn, transferred the mosaic to the Tsarskoye Selo Museum-Reserve.

On April 29, 2000, German Minister of Culture Michael Nauman handed over to Acting President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin fragments of the original Amber Room created in Tsarskoye Selo.

Together with the Florentine mosaic, an amber dresser was returned, made in 1711 by Berlin artisans and occupied one of the central places in the furnishing of the Amber Room before the war.

As a result, the restorers received 2 identical mosaic paintings "Smell and Touch." One of them was restored from the Ural stone, the other - the genuine returned from Germany.

1994: The first amber panels of the lower tier are installed in the Amber Room

By 1990, there were funding difficulties, so reconstruction was suspended, but then work continued.

In 1994, the first amber panels of the lower tier and a corner table, recreated by the restorers of the Tsarskoye Selo amber workshop, were installed. In 1996, the masters completed work on the first Florentine mosaic "Vision."

1981: Works to recreate the Amber Room begin

In July 1979, the Council of Ministers of the RSFSR decided to recreate amber panels, work on which began in 1983 according to the project of architect A. A. Kedrinsky.

The reconstruction of the Amber Room was carried out by Alexander Alexandrovich Zhuravlev, a member of the Amber World Council of the Union of Artists of Russia.

Under his leadership, art historians, criminologists, restorers, chemists, historians worked. For these purposes, the Tsarskoye Selo Amber Workshop was founded.

For several years, experts have recreated the lost recipes and technologies for processing amber.

In 1984, a picturesque ceiling appeared in the Amber Room, the upper tier of the room painted "under amber," and typesetting parquet. The areas occupied by amber panels were temporarily tightened with canvas.

Pillaging by fascists

1945: After liberation from the invaders, the sculpture of Niobei with the youngest daughter was not found

During the evacuation of museum valuables in 1941, Niobey's sculpture with his youngest daughter was buried. The work on the burial of the sculpture was completed in September 1941, two weeks before the occupation of the city by the Nazis.

At the end of May 1945, a platoon of fighters of the 351st sapper company of the Separate City Battalion of Local Air Defense carried out work on the discovery, excavation and installation of the sculpture in its place, continuing to look for unknown statues. The fact is that in the explication of the plan, 40 places of burial of sculpture were noted; when working in May 1945, 37 statues were found and returned to their place. There was no sculpture of Niobei with his youngest daughter among them.

1944

1941

Export of the Amber Room by the Nazis to Königsberg. Mosaic "Touch and smell" disappeared during transportation

In the late 1930s, a group of German art historians visited the Soviet Union under the guidance of leading expert Niels von Holst, who led the external relations of Berlin museums.

By the beginning of World War II, German experts were ready a secret list of cultural property from the museums of the USSR for export to Germany.

Iraida Kurtovna Bott, deputy director for scientific work of the Tsarskoye Selo State Museum-Reserve, says:

The amber room was listed at number one on the list of 60 items that the Germans were going to take out of Pushkin, then this list was expanded by them. And already on September 29, 1941, 12 days after the beginning of the occupation, two "military art historians" appeared in the Catherine Palace, whose task was to control the export. The amber room was dismantled by six people from a construction company led by a non-commissioned officer, packed and taken out, this happened by October 10, 1941.

The abduction of the Amber Room was led by an officer, count, colonel of the German army and doctor of art history Ernst-Otto von Solms-Laubach.

Later, to complete the impression, the Germans demanded that three doors from this interior be sent from the Catherine's Palace. One of the four Florentine mosaics of the Amber Room - "Touch and Smell" disappeared during transportation from Pushkin to Königsberg.

Evacuation of the amber collection to Novosibirsk

Throughout the XVIII-XIX centuries, the Amber Room was replenished with many rare amber products, becoming a kind of museum in the museum - a repository of a precious collection.

Almost all items from the amber collection of the Catherine Palace were evacuated in 1941 to Novosibirsk and returned to the museum after the war.

Museum

1940

1937: Restaurant at the Camerona Gallery

Site for ceremonies and children's projects

1912

1911

1878

1859

1856

1855

4.8 x 5.7 cm]]

1853: The Asian (Eastern, or Turkish) room of Alexander Nikolaevich is completed

The Asian (Eastern, or Turkish) room was created in 1851-1853. on half of the heir to Tsarevich Alexander Nikolaevich in the Zubovsky outbuilding of the Great Tsarskoye Selo Palace. The interior of the room is captured in a work from the collection of the GMZ "Tsarskoye Selo," known to us as the watercolor of F. Steinmüller, and its detailed description is given in the guide to the Tsarskoye Selo, compiled by S. N. Vilchkovsky at the beginning of the 20th century, when the decoration of the room was still preserved in the form in which it was under Alexander II.

"All the walls of her and the embrasures of the two windows are covered with a collection of eastern weapons; low sofas run along the walls; in the middle of the room is a small eastern fountain; floors covered with Persian carpets; the doors are richly ornamented in eastern taste; in the embrasure of the second window, a small desk hidden in the wall is embedded. The collection of weapons belonged to Emperor Alexander II and constituted, as it were, a continuation of that collection, which was stored in the Tsarskoye Selo arsenal. In addition to weapons, there are many other eastern objects, such as glasses, trays, bowls, mirrors, smokers and the like. In total, about 450 things are collected here. "

The pre-war 1935 description of the interior was compiled by A. M. Kuchumov in his pamphlet "Rooms of Alexander II": "The eastern character of the decoration is complemented by Persian carpets, Turkish ottomans with velvet pillows embroidered with gold and silks, Turkish coffee tables inlaid with mother of pearl, and the eastern fountain in the center of the room. The walls, upholstered in raspberry bark, Turkish embroidery and Persian carpets, are filled with a collection of weapons, in large part brought from the Caucasus, from Turkey, Persia, Egypt and Central Asia. Many examples of weapons pay attention to the most valuable artistic decoration made of silver, gold, coral and stones, as well as minting and engraving of exceptional subtlety. Sabres, daggers and clubs (command wands) with such decoration hang on the back wall, in the center of which is placed the costume of the Egyptian commander Ibrahim Pasha with full armament from silver Albanian work.

On the left wall is a Syrian suit and Persian chain mail armor; on the right is a horse harness, a wonderful finish of silver and carnelian with a saddle trimmed with carved bone, and the nonsense of swan fluff. This harness was presented by the Khiva Khan to Nicholas I in 1850. "

1850

1847

1845

1830

1826: Cast iron altars are installed on the Ramp

IN 1826, cast-iron altars with flower bowls cast at the St. Petersburg State Iron Foundry according to drawings by architect V.P. Stasov were placed on the Ramp to the sites of statues taken to Pavlovsk in 1799.

1822

Catherine's Palace in Tsarskoye Selo, 1821-1822, paper lithography 28 x 43.5 cm]]

paper lithography]]

1821

19.5 x 29 cm]]

1820

1818

1811

Opening of the Imperial Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum

Main article: Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum

On October 19, 1811, the grand opening of the Imperial Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum took place - an educational institution for the noble "youth, especially intended for important units of the state service." This day for all graduates of the Lyceum forever became a holiday of lyceum fraternity.

The ramp is moved to combine with the new Ramp Alley

In 1811, the Ramp was moved in connection with the construction in 1810 on the site of the slopes of the Katalnaya Mountain of Rampova Alley, crossing the park from the Catherine's Palace almost to the Oryol Gate. To combine the direction of the Ramp with the alley, it was decided to move it; to do this, the junction of the Ramp with the Hanging Garden was moved from the middle to the second arch from the palace.

1810: Fountain arrangement by engineer Betancourt with sculpture by Pavel Sokolov "The Girl with the Jug"

The engineer Augustine Betankur was tasked with decorating this space in the Catherine's Park of Tsarskoye Selo "near the terrace where the key water was drawn.

Betancourt's biographer Professor Vladimir Pavlov wrote that the Russian sculptor Academician of the Imperial Academy of Arts Pavel Sokolov turned to the Spanish engineer with a proposal to draft the future fountain with his sculpture "Girl with a Jug" ("Milkmaid"). According to Pavlov, Betancourt owns water supply and drainage, the installation of a pedestal and a stone descent to the base, as well as the choice of a place for the installation of the sculpture.

Initially, the sculpture was made of alabaster and only in 1816 or 1817 was replaced by a bronze one.

Lyudmila Doronina in her two-volume history of Russian sculpture wrote that Betancourt was delighted with the sculpture of Pavel Sokolov. Especially for the Spanish engineer (and at his request), the sculptor sculpted a marble copy.

Initially, the architectural composition of the fountain, created by Betancourt, was supplemented by a grotto, which was liquidated in the middle of the 19th century.

1799: By decree of Paul I, bronze statues from the ramp are transported to Pavlovsk

In 1799, by decree of Emperor Paul I, bronze statues of muses - Euterpa, Calliope, Melpomena, Polyhymnia, Talia, Terpsichora, Urania and Erato, as well as Venus Callipiga, Venus of Medicine, Mercury and Flora, standing above the Columns delimiting the ledges on both sides of the ramp, were transported to Pavlovsk, where they installed a platform on a round ploshadka in old Muzia.

1798: Five of Niobides' six sculptures transported from Freilinsky Kindergarten to Pavlovsky Park

After the death of Catherine II, the architect Vincenzo Brenna received permission to take from Tsarskoye Selo everything he deems necessary to decorate Mikhailovsky Castle, Pavlovsk and Gatchina. In 1798, four sculptures of Niobides from the Freilinsky kindergarten were transported to Pavlovsky Park and installed in Old Sylvia.

In the Freilinsky kindergarten, only Niobei and her youngest daughter remained.

Ancient project of Catherine II

1796: Birth of the future Emperor Nicholas I

On June 25, 1796, the future Emperor of Russia Nicholas I was born in the Catherine Palace of Tsarskoye Selo.

1794: Completion of the Ramp

The construction of the Ramp was completed in April 1794. The construction was carried out under the leadership of architect I.V. Neyelov - permanent assistant to C. Cameron. At the same time, according to the drawings of Cameron, iron gates with lattices were installed on the Ramp, made at the Sestroretsk factories and standing until the middle of the 19th century.

1793

Bust of Brutus removed from gallery after execution of King of France

On January 21, 1793, after receiving news of the French king's treasury, Catherine II finally rejected the idea of ​ ​ universal brotherhood, uttering the words "Equality is a monster." The bust of Brutus was expelled from the Cameron Gallery.

View of the park in Tsarskoye Selo (with the Kagul obelisk), 1790s aquatint paper 43.5 x 61.7 cm]]

English artist Joseph Hearn works in the park

Main article: Joseph Hearn

The composition of the drawing by Joseph Hearn includes four structures in the southwestern part of Catherine Park. In the depths behind the overgrown trees, the Tower-ruin of the architect Yu.M. Felten (1771) is visible. In the center, on the shore, is the Turkish kiosk of the architect I.V. Neyolov. This wooden pavilion was erected in 1779-1781 on the occasion of the diplomatic trip of Prince N.V. Repnin to Constantinople, and it has not survived to this day. Away, to his right, when leaving the road to Gatchina, are the Gatchina or Oryol Gates, installed in 1777-1782 (project by A. Rinaldi) by order of Catherine II to commemorate the successful measures to combat the plague epidemic in Moscow, which in 1771 were led by Count G.G. Orlov.

In the foreground to the right is Quarenghi's Concert Hall pavilion. He also designed an elegant bridge leading to an artificial island, made at the Sestroretsk arms factories in 1783-1784.

Description of the sculpture of Academician Koehler

In 1793, St. Petersburg academician Koehler, describing the Tsarskoye Selo collection of sculptures, noted the bust of Achilles and the head of Juno. Both sculptures were bought by I.I. Shuvalov in Rome.

President of the Academy of Arts I. I. Shuvalov, who retired abroad after the accession to the throne of Catherine II, spent 10 years in Italy (1763-1773). His departure from Russia was not entirely voluntary, according to the German traveler I. Bernoulli, "he received advice to go on a trip."

Shuvalov manages to acquire several ancient originals. Perhaps his most valuable acquisition was a fragment of a statue of the Ares Borghese type, which, judging by the documents of the papal chancellery, was expelled from Italy to Russia 25/III-1771. In the record of the export permit stored in the Roman State Archive, the sculpture is designated as "the head of Achilles, ancient."

Bust of Achilles

G. Tishbein writes that Achilles "was found 6 miles from Rome, by the road leading to Civita Vecchia by two peasants, Andreo Mattei bought from them for 5 workshops, and after that passed into the hands of General Shuvalov. It is curious that during the time that the "Shuvalov Achilles" was in Rome (apparently, while it was restored by the sculptor B. Kavacheppi and turned into a spectacular bust of an ancient hero), it became quite widely known. They were delighted with the painter A. R. Mengs, and the carver N. Marchant reproduced the Shuvalov bust on one of his extremely fashionable gemmas.

Marble. Roman work on the Greek original of Alcamenes c. 420s BC]]

It seems that the name "Achilles" established behind him, the Shuvalov bust owes it to Mengs. I. Bernoulli, who visited Russia in 1777, notes in the Shuvalov Palace in St. Petersburg "a beautiful man's head in a helmet, which Mengs highly appreciated and considered Achilles." As one of the most beautiful ancient sculptures, Goethe places in his Weimar house a cast of the "Shuvalov Achilles" opposite the cast of Apollo Belvedere.

Later, from the St. Petersburg palace of Shuvalov (now Rakov St., 25), the sculpture moved to Tsarskoye Selo and was located in Grota near the Tsarskoye Selo pond, and the sculptor Shubin was entrusted with sculpting its marble repetition. Achilles' bronze cast adorned the colonnade of the Cameron Gallery.

In 1850, the bust enters the congregation. Hermitage

Golova Juno

In March 1771, I. I. Shuvalov, together with Achilles, expelled another sculpture of the classical era from Rome to St. Petersburg, which in permission for export is designated as an "ancient bust of Faustina."

As the "colossal head of Juno" it was marked by I. Bernoulli in the Shuvalov Palace in 1777.

Later, the sculpture moved to the Tauride Palace, from where it entered the Hermitage collection in 1850.

1792: Installation of Charles Fox busts in the Grotto and on the collonade for his speech against Britain's invasion of Russia

"I brought this year (1792) April on the 10th from the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts busts of bronze and other white marble called Fox, which I put - a bronze bust on the collonade (Cameronova Gallery), and marble in the Morning Hall (Park Pavilion Grotto). Architect Ilya Neelov, Maya 1 day 1792. "

In the spring of 1791, relations between Russia and England once again deteriorated greatly. The reason for this was the successes of the Russian troops in the second Turkish war. The English wished the Swedish king to attack Russia again, but after recent crushing defeats, he did not violate the Verel peace. Then England armed a large naval force to send to the Baltic Sea. 36 battleships, 12 frigates and the same number of small ships were equipped ^[1]

William Pitt the Younger, the youngest prime minister in British history, was preparing to speak in Parliament explaining the need for such a move. Among the speakers who spoke ardently against another aggression was Charles James Fox (1749-1806), a famous politician, a friend of the Prince of Wales (later King George IV). As a result, it was decided to send envoys to Russia to put forward the terms of the agreement.

After Fox delivered a fiery speech in the English parliament objecting to plans to attack Russia, Empress Catherine II was delighted by the speaker. A sculptural portrait of Charles Fox in ancient toga in 1790 was made in marble by sculptor Joseph Nollekens (Joseph Nollekens, 1737-1823). In 1791, the work was exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts.

The Chancellor of the Russian Empire, Count Bezborodko, acquired a marble bust of Fox from the sculptor by personal order of the Empress, and for the Cameron Gallery in Tsarskoye Selo, the bust was cast in bronze.

This episode had a response in England in the form of a sufficiently evil caricature called "The Rise of the Patriot," in which Empress Catherine II hoists a bust of Fox, and the philosophers Cicero and Demosthenes run away from the pedestals from their niches in horror.

Later, when Fox supported Poland and expressed sympathy for the French revolutionaries, Catherine II became disillusioned with her defender. The Englishman who visited St. Petersburg in 1793 was informed that she "would have thrown a blanket on the once ordered bust of Fox, if it had not looked like an imitation of the French, she would even have sold the bust, but it did not make sense, since it would not have been possible to help out thirty rubles" ^[2].

For 2021, a marble bust of Charles Fox is in the collection of the State Hermitage, a bronze bust at the Cameron Gallery, GMZ "Tsarskoye Selo."

1791: Busts of Hercules, Apollo and Heraclitus

In 1791, busts of the hero of the power of Hercules and the winner of the darkness of Apollo, light carriers - philosophers, speakers, poets and writers appeared on the gallery.

Among them, among the first was Heraclitus, who approved the sole form of government and considered ignorance one of the main vices. Catherine fully experienced in practice and could not but share the opinion of this philosopher that the crowd is made up of people who are too lazy to part with ignorance, gullibility and rush to the path of wisdom.

1790

Installation of a bust of Achilles in the gallery during the Swedish attack on St. Petersburg

In the summer of 1790, when in St. Petersburg and Tsarskoye Selo there was a "terrible cannonade" of Swedes who threatened to seize the Russian capital, and in Russia "sowed the infection of the French" book by A. N. Radishchev "Journey from St. Petersburg to Moscow," a bust of Achilles appeared on the gallery (this was believed at that time; only later he was attributed as Ares) - the beloved hero of Alexander the Great, with whom Catherine II felt an inner relationship.

Alexander - the "conqueror of the world" - was distinguished by reckless courage, temper, stubbornness and immense ambition. Courage, determination, ambition also determined the character of the Russian empress. Determined by the empress this year, as contemporaries write, as direct heirs, the grandson also, in honor of the idol, bore the name Alexander.

For more on sculpture, see 1793 above.

Installation of the Niobide sculptural group in Freilinsky kindergarten

Royal bronze statues of Niobia and Niobides (children of this heroine of ancient Greek mythology) are castings from ancient originals, the forms of which were removed by order of Ivan Shuvalov in Rome and delivered to the Academy of Arts in 1769.

The originals of the Greek varatel Skopas were found in Rome in 1583 and have been in the Uffizi Gallery in Florence since 1775.

In St. Petersburg, sculptures were cast by master Vasily Mozhalov under the guidance of Professor Fyodor Gordeev in 1787.

Initially, the sculptural group was installed in the Cameron Gallery, and in 1790 it was transferred to the Freilinsky Garden. The arrangement was led by architect Yuri Felten. Initially, it was supposed to place statues in accordance with the location of the Death of Niobides group in the Medici villa in Rome. However, due to the fact that the quantitative composition of the composition differed significantly (only five Niobides were cast), the layout was changed.

According to ancient Greek mythology, Niobides lost all her children after boasting them to Zeus' beloved Leto, who gave birth to only two. All the descendants of Niobei were killed, and she herself turned into a stone from grief.

1787: Sculptures from Lyde Brown's collection installed in Grotto, pyramid and park buildings

John Lyde Browne, a merchant in the City of London, made a successful career as a financier, becoming a director of the British Bank in 1768. A member of the London Society of Antiquaries, nicknamed by his contemporaries "virtuoso" (a connoisseur of the elegant). For 30 years, the English banker acquired sculptures from antiquaries and archaeologists in Italy, from the owners of the Italian palazzo.

Sculptures from the Lyde Brown collection were bought in 1784 with the mediation of the St. Petersburg merchant Stander. Catherine II paid £23,000 for most of the Briton's collection. His agent in St. Petersburg went broke and only 10,000 pounds reached Brown from this amount.

The most valuable part of the collection is sculptural portraits, including, along with Roman, one early Greek portrait. With this collection, Michelangelo and the Dead Boy on a Dolphin group, now attributed to Lorenzetto, also came to Russia.

Statues, busts, reliefs brought to Russia were sent to the empress's country residence in Tsarskoye Selo. Antiques decorated the Grotto, as well as other buildings in Tsarskoye Selo Park. Individual reliefs and marble tombstones were placed in the pyramid where the tomb of the house dogs of Catherine II was located. Busts from the Lyde Brown collection were used for bronze castings, which were placed on the colonnade of the Cameron Gallery.

After the death of Catherine II, antique sculptures at the behest of Paul I were taken to the Pavlovsky Palace, perhaps some of the objects also fell into other palaces. In the middle of the 19th century, most of the ancient sculptures from the famous British collection entered the Imperial Hermitage. In 1922, part of the sculptures from the Pavlovsk Palace was transferred to the Hermitage, among them antiques purchased from Lyde Brown.

1786

The construction of the Concert Hall (Friendship Temple) with the Sculpture and Painting Rooms designed by Quarenghi has been completed

Pavilion Concert Hall was built in 1786 according to the project of Giacomo Quarenghi. This is one of the first works performed by the architect upon arrival in Russia and one of the best creations of the architect, who called it "a music hall with two offices and an open temple dedicated to the goddess Ceres."

Confirmation that the pavilion was intended as a temple of Ceres was served by the panel "Sacrifice of Ceres" in its large hall depicting the statue of the goddess in the portico of the temple, in front of which an altar is installed.

Initially, the pavilion was called the "Temple of Friendship," but since 1788, at the request of Catherine II, it became known as the "Musical" or "Concert" hall.

"I can't stand the word" temple "in the garden - there are no such halls in Tsarskoye Selo, but there is a concert one," wrote Catherine II in one of the bills for payment for work.

The pavilion was built for seven years, it has a strict cubic shape, is laconic and exquisite proportions. Its facade, facing the pond, is decorated with a four-column portico; on the opposite side, the facade is solved in the form of a rotunda of ten columns, covered by a low dome. The walls of the rotunda are decorated with five bas-reliefs on mythological subjects, made by the sculptor M.I. Kozlovsky.

The central bas-relief depicts Apollo playing the lyre in front of Ceres, others featuring allegorical female figures with art trappings and musical instruments.

The pavilion housed the Great Music Hall, made according to the rules of acoustics, and two rooms.

Concert hall in Catherine's Park of Tsarskoye Selo. Longitudinal section along the main room, 1780s, pen paper, brush, ink, watercolor 24 x 35.5 cm]]

The walls of the Music Hall are faced with artificial marble, decorated with Corinthian order pilasters, sculpted medallions and picturesque panels.

Of particular value is the mosaic floor of the late II - early III centuries, brought to Tsarskoye Selo from Rome in 1784. The black and white mosaic depicts an episode of the myth of the abduction of Europe by Zeus, who took the form of a bull. The figures of a bull and a half-naked woman with a blanket fluttering overhead stand out against the white background of a mosaic, in the corners of which sea monsters with fish tails are depicted. The composition is framed by a frieze depicting stylized lotus colors. Parts of the mosaic floor on the sides of the ancient composition are made according to the Quarenghi drawing by Russian masters.

In the painting of the ceiling, the motif of rectangular panels was used: one of them depicts Juno on a chariot, the other - titanium Kronos. Paduga is decorated with diamonds with signs of the zodiac, sun, month, written in grisaille.

Also, twenty-eight marble busts, originals and copies from ancient originals were installed in the Concert Hall, unfortunately, almost all of them were lost during the Second World War. At the same time, the pavilion itself was not destroyed and almost all of its interior decoration was preserved. Valuable mosaic floors were covered with ruberoid. Many sculptures were removed, and part of the collection, still not found, was buried next to the pavilion.

Now here are stylistically close to the decoration of the hall stone vases and sculptural works - reproductions of ancient originals and several genuine ancient busts.

Antique motifs are also used in the decoration of the eastern and western offices of the Concert Hall: one of them is decorated with four bas-reliefs of the work of the Italian sculptor K. Albani - allegories of architecture, painting, sculpture and science, the other - picturesque panels with scenes of sacrifice. The floors in both cabinets are made of marble slabs with ornamental mosaic inserts of Roman work of the end of the 1st - beginning of the 2nd century. e.; floors are painted with ornamental multicolor painting. Artists D. Scotti, D. Valesini, F. Danilov, I. Krist, D. Kades, I. Bogdanov worked on the picturesque decoration of the interiors of the pavilion.

In the sculptural (eastern) office there is an ancient statue of the senator, previously located on the facade of the Kitchen-Ruins, and in the Picturesque (western) office there are ancient sculptures of the Roman Matron (II century AD) and Aphrodite in the Gardens (I century AD).

After the war, the Concert Hall pavilion was renovated and opened to visitors. Later, several restorations were carried out, the last of which was made for the 300th anniversary of Tsarskoye Selo - in 2010.

Installation in the Grotto of the sculpture "Diana" by Goodon

The sculpture "Diana the Hunter" has sparked numerous debates about whether it is possible to exhibit the female body so frankly. The statue was a tremendous success with the public, it was praised by poets and praised by art critics, but state officials were in a state of shock and Goodon chose not to exhibit Diana in the Salon: those who wanted to admire it came to the sculptor's workshop.

The sculpture was acquired by Catherine II directly from Goodon. In the spring of 1786, it was installed in the Grotto in Tsarskoye Selo.

The statue was later in the State Hermitage, but was sold to oil magnate Galust Gulbenkian in 1930. The statue cost him £20,000 and is now on display at the Gulbenkian Museum in Lisbon. This work is considered one of the most famous sculptures of the 18th century.

1784: Installation of a statue of Voltaire in the Grotto in a chair by Goodon

On May 19, 1784, a statue of Voltaire by the French sculptor Jean-Antoine Goudon was unpacked and placed in the Grotto (Morning Hall) of Tsarskoye Selo.

On May 19, 1784, Catherine II in a letter to Grimm: "The statue of Voltaire made by Goodon was taken out and placed in the Morning Hall; there she is surrounded by Antinous, Apollo of Belvedere, and many other statues whose forms are brought from Rome and cast here. When you enter this hall, the right is breathtaking and - oh a miracle! - the statue of Voltaire does not lose everything around it at all. Voltaire stands perfectly there; he admires the best antique and modern statues. Mr. long-suffering must remember that this hall has a door facing the lake, the other faces a very dense alley; since Voltaire has been standing there, there have been caravans to watch the Morning Hall. "

1783

Buying David Rentgen and Peter Kinzing Floor Watches

In November 1783, the German David Rentgen visited St. Petersburg for the first time and brought a load of furniture for the courtyards of Catherine II and Pavel Petrovich. For the second time, he returned in April 1784 and brought with him, including a bureau with Apollo and a floor clock on columns.

The watch was made in the workshop of David Röntgen in Neuwied and worked with Francois Remont (bronze), watchmaker Peter Kinzing (clock mechanism) and organ master I. Vail (jukebox).

It is safe to say that this watch was assembled on the spot and configured by Peter Kinzing himself, since all the watches were delivered in disassembled form and transported packed in special boxes.

The floor clock on the columns was made in four copies. As of the early 2000s, some are in the Hermitage, the second in Tsarskoye Selo, the third in the Paris Museum of Arts and Crafts, the fourth in the Nemours Mansion, the former house of Alfred Dupont in Wilmington, Delaware in the USA.

According to the inventory of 1888, the clock was located in the Catherine's Palace of Tsarskoye Selo on half of Alexander ^[3] of ^[4]

The construction of the pyramid - a tombstone for dogs of Catherine II - according to the project of Cameron

On the model of the Roman pyramid of Cestia in the park of Tsarskoye Selo, according to the project of architect Charles Cameron in 1782-1783. built of brick and faced with granite a small pyramid, which served as a tombstone of the beloved dogs (levretok) of Empress Catherine II (Tom Anderson, Zemira and Duches).

1782

Start finishing Cold Bath and Agate Rooms

Scottish architect Charles Cameron built the Cold Bath in 1780-1781 and in 1782 began finishing.

Cameron attached special importance to the decoration of the front rooms of the second floor of the Cold Bath: the interiors of the Agat rooms are decorated with marble, murals, gilded bronze, typesetting parquet, colored Ural and Altai jasper, which Russian masters of the 18th century processed with exceptional skill.

Deposits of solid colored stones were discovered in the Urals already in the 16th century, but at that time they did not yet know how to process them. Great interest in the use of "colored stones" in the decoration of palace interiors was shown by Emperor Peter I, who laid the foundation for the development of stone-cutting in Russia. By his decree, in 1725, in the suburb of St. Petersburg - Peterhof - the first border factory in Russia was opened, where they began to make products from colored stones and train stone-cutting masters.

In the middle of the XVIII century, a passion for mineralogy spread among the Russian aristocracy. In 1765, by decree of Empress Catherine II, an expedition led by J. Dannenberg went to the Urals, discovering new deposits of jasper, agate, carnelian and other minerals. By the beginning of the 1780s, the technology of obtaining products from solid gems was developed in Russian border factories, and the long-standing dream of decorating palace halls with natural colored stone became feasible.

In the spring of 1783, Cameron received an order from Catherine II to change the plan for finishing two offices in the second floor of the Cold Bath and prepare a project for their jasper decoration. In accordance with the new project, the walls of the cabinets were cut down by nine centimeters and covered with limestone slabs lined with jasper in the technique of "Russian mosaics."

The jasper office of the Agate Pavilion in Tsarskoye Village in 1780 feather, ink, watercolor 42.2 x 64.8 cm]]

A particular difficulty was the final work - the grinding and polishing of colored stone, designed to reveal the brightness of the colors and the juiciness of the tones. Polishers needed to bring to glass shine about two hundred square meters of walls, platbands and cornices. This work was manually carried out by Russian craftsmen.

Since the Urazov jasper widely used in the decoration was called the "meat agate," the name "Agate Rooms" eventually became fixed to the entire pavilion, although the lower floor continued to be called the Cold Bath.

During the Great Patriotic War, artificial marble and jasper cladding on the walls and door canvases of the Agat rooms suffered greatly. A significant part of the gilded bronze ornaments that adorned the walls and doors of all rooms, part of the bronze branches-lamps and bronze medallions from pedestals in the Great Hall, bronze Rashett bas-reliefs from the walls of the Yashmovy cabinet were lost.

Many marble sculptures and six jasper vases disappeared without a trace. However, despite the great losses, the decoration of the Agate Rooms has mainly been preserved since the 18th century and is an example of a unique, unparalleled art tradition in the history of world art.

Restoration work in the Agate Rooms was completed in September 2013.

Completion of the construction of the Oryol Gate

When leaving the road to Gatchina in 1777-1782, the Gatchina or Oryol Gates were installed according to the project of A. Rinaldi. The construction was created by order of Catherine II to commemorate the successful measures to combat the plague epidemic in Moscow, which in 1771 were led by Count G.G. Orlov.

1781

Production of the opera "Maid-mistress" Paisiello to the name of Alexander Pavlovich

In September 1781, Empress Catherine II celebrated in Tsarskoye Selo the name of her beloved grandson, Grand Duke Alexander Pavlovich (future Alexander I). For this event, bandmaster Giovanni Paiziyello prepared the opera "Maid-mistress." The heroine of the opera is Serpin's handmaid. With cunning, dexterity and charm, she wins the heart of her clumsy lord Uberto, an aristocrat who can only submit and surrender.

The construction of the Turkish kiosk by architect I.V. Neyolov was completed on the occasion of the trip of Prince N.V. Repnin to Constantinople

The wooden pavilion Turkish kiosk of the architect I.V. Neyolov was erected in 1779-1781 on the occasion of the diplomatic trip of Prince N.V. Repnin to Constantinople, and it has not survived to this day. See Hearn's drawing above in 1793.

1779: Opening of the Chinese Theater by Paisiello Opera Dmitry Artaxerxes

On April 19, 1779, Empress Catherine II in Tsarskoye Selo personally writes a note to I.P. Elagin: "Ivan Perfilievich, the opera Dimitria, which was made by bandmaster Paisiello with everything, order to be given at the local theater after six weeks, and when the decoration of this theater is over; and another opera can be prepared by the mentioned bandmaster gradually by his time. "

"Local Theater" is the Chinese Theater, which in the summer of 1779 opened in Tsarskoye Selo on the territory of the upper garden. The opera series "Demetrio" in three acts on the libretto of Metastasio, was staged by Giovanni Paiziyello in 1770 in Modena. In 1779, in Tsarskoye Selo, the composer revised this opera, and now it is recorded in the list of operas staged by him in Russia as "Demetrio, an opera series reduced to two actions with other music" ("Dmitry Artaxerks").

On June 13, the opera Demetrio, translated into Russian by I.A. Mitrevsky, was presented at the Chinese Theater on the occasion of the birthday of Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich. The empress was present, and Their Imperial Majesty, in the middle front bed, Grand Duke Alexander Pavlovich.

Actors:

• Cleonisa, Queen of Syria - Ms. Bonafina
• Alceste, the lover of Cleonisa, who is then recognized by Dimitri as king of Syria - G. Kopanuchi
• Fenicius, nobleman, guardian of Alceste - G. Babini
• Olint, nobleman, son Fenitsiev and rival Alceste - G. Porry
• Baraeva, Cleonisa's confidante and Olint's mistress - Ms. Senkovskaia
• Mitran, the leader of the royal bodyguards, a friend of Finicia - G. Amati.

The opera "Demetrio" was staged again in Tsarskoye Selo on June 16, the performance was attended by Count Semyon Romanovich Vorontsov, who was in friendly correspondence with the composer.

That same summer, the theater hosted productions of Paisiello's operas Imaginary Philosophers and Chinese Idol.

1777: Transfer to Grotto of sculptures from Summer Garden Grotto after flood

In 1777, after the flood, sculptures from the Grotto of the Summer Garden were transferred to the Tsarskoye Selo Grotto. It was implied that the Grotto, as the habitat of the muses - "Museion," should be filled with sculpture.

1776: Composer Paisiello gets an apartment and starts work in Tsarskoye Selo

In 1776, a new chief bandmaster of the court of Catherine IID, Paisiello, arrived from Naples to St. Petersburg. A clause was included in his contract "that Paisiello has an advantage over his colleagues, bandmasters: this is providing him with an apartment for four months a year in Tsarskoye Selo."

November 24, 1776 Paisiello first arrives in Tsarskoye Selo. In later years, he would write and stage several operas here. Read more here.

1775: Getting a series of Hubert paintings with scenes from the life of Voltaire

A series of paintings by the Swiss artist Jean Hubert about the daily life of Voltaire was acquired by Catherine II in 1775 with the mediation of Friedrich Melchior Grimm, then placed in Tsarskoye Selo, later, under unclear circumstances, disappeared from there and reappeared, already as part of the Vorontsov collection in Odessa, then in Alupka. From there, during the years of the "cultural revolution," they were seized by the All-Union Association "Antiques," which was engaged in the sale of works of art from palaces and collections of old Russia, and transferred to the Hermitage in 1934. The paintings themselves can be viewed here.

1774: Replacing the wall in the Old Garden with a canal

Under Elizabeth Petrovna, the Old Garden, along the current Garden Street, was fenced off from the settlement that existed here first by a palisade, and since 1750 by a high stone wall.

The wall lasted until 1774, when Catherine II ordered the wall to be broken and the park surrounded by a canal with dams and a bridge.

1773: Catherine II gives Falcone a portrait of Peter I to work on his monument

The portrait of Peter I, painted by the French artist Louis Karavak in 1722, belonged to Antioch Dmitrievich ^[5], and later was in the Catherine's Palace in Tsarskoye Selo.

In 1773, Catherine II handed it over to the sculptor E.-M. Falcone, to work on the monument to Peter I. Falcone, leaving for The Hague, took with him a portrait, which, after his death Paris in 1791, passed to his daughter-in-law Marie Anne Collot (Marimont estate near Nancy,), France then to her daughter Baroness Yankovich. In 1866, according to the will of the latter, the portrait was transferred to the Gatchina Palace, from where in 1925 it moved to. For TIMING 2022, it is located in the 5th hall of the Mikhailovsky Palace.

1771: Tower-ruin architect J.M. Felten

The tower-ruin of the architect Yu.M. Felten was erected in the park in 1771.

1770

End of Amber Room

By 1770, the creation of the Amber Room was completed. During the reign of Catherine II, the Amber Cabinet, with the participation and control of Rastrelli, transformed into the famous rich Amber Room of the Catherine Palace in Tsarskoye Selo, significantly increasing in size and luxury.

Under Empress Catherine the Great, the Amber Room received its final appearance, captured later in numerous photographs. The amber decoration, which occupied 3 walls, was located in 3 tiers. The central tier was composed of 8 symmetrical large vertical panels.

In 4 of them, paintings of colored stones were installed, made in the 50s of the XVIII century in Florence using the technique of Florentine mosaics designed by the artist Giuseppe Dzocchi and depicting 5 natural feelings: Vision, Taste, Hearing, Touch and Smell.

Mosaics were donated to Elizabeth Petrovna by the Austrian queen Maria Theresa and were made of semi-precious stones: agate, jasper, lapis lazuli, onyx.

The distance between the large panels was occupied by high mirror pilasters. The lower tier of the room was covered with rectangular amber panels.

In the southwest corner, a small amber table was mounted on a gracefully curved leg. The decoration of the room consisted of typesetting amber dressers of Russian work and Chinese porcelain. In the Amber Office, in glazed windows, one of the most significant collections of amber products of the 17th-18th centuries by German, Polish and St. Petersburg masters was stored in Europe.

The beginning of work on the creation of the English Garden under the leadership of V.I. Neyolov

The creation of the ensemble of the landscape part of the Catherine Park of Tsarskoye Selo (English Garden) is associated with the name of the architect V.I. Neyolov. In 1770, together with his assistants, he began garden work and completed them in a very short time. In those years, the park was decorated with several buildings that organically fit into the landscape.

1766: The first performance of Berezovsky's concert "Do Not Reject Me During Old Age" in the Amber Room

Main article: Music in Russia in the XVIII century

On August 22, 1766, in the Amber Room, the empress amused herself with maps, and at the same time: "For trial by court singers, the sing was a concert composed by musician Berezovsky." It was the famous "Do not reject less during old age" by the Russian composer Maxim Berezovsky, who at that time was studying in Italy.

1765: Casanova looking for a job

Giacomo Casanova arrived in St. Petersburg on December 21, 1764. He had letters of recommendation, which allowed him to meet with the teacher of Pavel Petrovich and the senior member of the College of Foreign Affairs Nikita Ivanovich Panin. The first meetings of Casanova and Catherine II took place in the Summer Garden. However, for all the pleasantness of the conversation with the empress, he did not receive a post at court or "permission to conduct a lottery in Russia." Having learned from Count Panin that the empress would go to Tsarskoye Selo, Giacomo decided to appear to her there, anticipating that there would be no other case.

On August 19, 1765, on Friday morning, Catherine walked in the garden. Let's turn to the text of Casanova's memoirs:

And here I am in Tsarskoye Selo. Noticing me, she made a sign to get closer and said: "By the way, I forgot to ask if you still had any objections to my reform?" The conversation was about calendar reform.

"After this scientific conversation, she talked to me about other Venetian customs, including gambling and the lottery...

• They did not propose to establish a lottery in my state (the lottery was held in Russia during the time of Elizabeth Petrovna, approx. TAdviser). I agreed, but only on condition that the rate was higher than one ruble and thereby did not ruin the poor, who, not understanding the tricks of the game, can in vain seduce themselves with the ease of winning.

This was the last conversation that the Great Catherine "Casanova ^[6] honored me with^[7].

After returning to St. Petersburg, Casanova applies to leave Russia.

Catherine II was particularly suspicious of foreigners who came to Russia without an invitation received through diplomats or through its correspondent F.M. Grim. Only after that could the visitor count on a place and payment for travel costs. In addition, Casanova celebrated his fortieth birthday in St. Petersburg, and for personal comfort Catherine preferred men aged 25 to 30 years.

1764: Page Radishchev is on duty at a dinner with the participation of Lomonosov

On August 24, 1764, M.V. Lomonosov was in Tsarskoye Selo, where through G.G. Orlova he was going to submit to Catherine II a "Brief History of the Behavior of the Academic Chancellery," which was very important to him. During lunch in the Picture Room, he presented Catherine II with a verse prepared for this occasion, "On Tsarskoye Selo on August 24, 1764."

On this day, the palace had the duty of Alexander Radishchev, page of Catherine II. M.V. Lomonosov during lunch could receive food from the hands of the future ^[8] the ^[9].

1763: Decree of Catherine II on the replacement of painted canvases in the Amber Room with amber panels

In 1763, Empress Catherine II issued a decree replacing painted canvases in the room with amber panels and making amber panels of the lower tier of walls. Together with Roggenbuk (see below), his son Johann, as well as K. and G. Friede, I. Velpendorf, and their Russian students, who were previously invited to Russia, began work. 8 flat shields of the lower tier with a typesetting pattern were made. For 4 years, 450 kilograms of amber were used.

Baroque Palace of Elizabeth Petrovna

1761

View of the Catherine's Palace in Tsarskoye Selo from the front courtyard. 1756-1761. Hermitage, St. Petersburg.]]

Panorama of the Old Garden from 1760-1761. F. Barisien]]

1759

1756: Rastrelli completes work to rebuild Tsarskoye Selo Palace

Glass doors from the Great (Throne) Hall lead to three anti-chambers (from Italian anticamera - front), which echo it by architectural decision. The total area of ​ ​ anticamera is about 1000 m2. The authorship of the decor of the halls belongs to F.B. Rasstrelli. Initially, these premises served to wait for the receptions and exit of Elizabeth Petrovna. During the time of this empress, there were five anti-chambers, later, during the reconstruction of the palace, instead of the first two anti-chambers, the Arabesque and Lyon halls appeared. Since in the XVIII century the main staircase was located in the southern part of the building (from the Zubovsky building), guests coming to Tsarskoye Selo first got into anti-chambers. Those waiting varied in rank: in the first anti-chamber, the most noble visitors waited for an audience, in the rest - the rank below...

First Anticamera

The first anti-chamber is distinguished by its significant size and abundance of carved decoration, its decoration is the richest of all the anti-chambers of the palace. The volumetric-color accent is created by stoves decorated with tiles with cobalt painting.

A significant addition to the lush baroque decoration of anti-chambers are ceilings with huge picturesque shades on mythological subjects and a repeated geometric drawing of parquet made of valuable woods.

In the first Chamber, the ceiling depicts the composition "The Triumph of Bacchus and Ariadne" by P. and A. Gradizzi and A. Perezinotti. The plaphone is enclosed in a frame of emblems, cupids and arabesques.

Ariadne helped Odysseus get out of the maze with a tangle of threads, but he left her sleeping. Bacchus came to her aid, taking her crown, decorated with precious stones, he threw it to the stars - so she became a constellation. Bacchus easily consoled her and soon they got married.

1755

Entry of the Amber Cabinet from the Winter Palace. Empty parts of the walls are covered with canvas and painted "under amber"

In 1755, Elizaveta Petrovna decided to transport the Amber Cabinet from the Winter Palace to the Grand Palace of Tsarskoye Selo and ordered Rastrelli to do this. A special team was sent from Tsarskoye Selo, which manually transferred the boxes from the capital to a country residence. From the same year, 1755, under Elizabeth Petrovna, they began to create the Amber Room.

The hall, intended for the Amber Cabinet measuring 96 square meters, was significantly larger than its size. Francesco Rastrelli rearranged all the details of the cabinet. The master placed panels with an area of ​ ​ 40 square meters symmetrically along the middle tier of 3 walls and divided them with pilasters with mirrors, and also decorated the room with wooden gilded carvings.

Martelly was again invited to install the panels on the walls. Where there was not enough amber, fragments of the walls were covered with canvas and painted "under amber" by the artist Ivan Belsky. Given the fragility of the material and the frequent scree of amber, a special caretaker was allocated for the room, who constantly performed small restoration work.

In 1758, Fyodor Roggenbuk was invited to this position from Prussia. He also led the work on the creation of new amber products in the amber workshop of Tsarskoye Selo.

1754: Monbijou Pavilion completed

On February 18, 1747, a decree of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna was sent to Tsarskoye Selo, in which it was reported that the plan of the Monbijou pavilion (from the French. mon bijou - "my pearl"), performed by S. I. Chevakinsky, tested.

Later in 1749, the project was redesigned by Rastrelli. The general compositional solution was retained, but the facades received a new, richer design. Stair configurations, dome completion were changed.

The construction of the building in 1748 was headed by S. I. Chevakinsky, but a year later Francesco Rastrelli took his place, and in 1754 the work was completed.

1754-1755 Paper, mascara, pen, brush. State Russian Museum.]]

The pavilion was located symmetrically to the Hermitage Pavilion in Catherine's Park. Just as the Hermitage became the compositional center of the new territory of the park created on the site of the Wild Grove, Monbijou became the same center in the park created on the site of the Menagerie (now the Arsenal in the park of the Alexander Palace is located on this site). Monbijou towered on a rectangular platform framed by a canal, on the same axis relative to the Catherine's Palace as the Hermitage.

The creation of the "New," or "Upper" regular garden (now a regular part of the Alexander Park) connected the Old Garden, Catherine's Palace and Menagerie into a holistic, huge palace and park complex.

The two-story pavilion had the shape of a regular octagon topped by a dome, to which four elongated extensions adjoined. The walls of Monbijou were painted green, and all protruding architectural details were painted white.

The main decoration of the facade, the windows of which overlooked the large Tsarskoye Selo Palace, was a two-tier porch with two seedlings on each tier. The roofs of the extensions were made in the form of open terraces for walking and admiring the surrounding views. The stairs of the wings were decorated with gilded grilles. Between the porches and along the eaves, the building was decorated with snow-white alabaster statues, alternating with vases and flower baskets. The terraces, as on Rastrelli's other structures, were decorated with gilded statues. The platbands of the windows, doors and dome were decorated with wooden gilded ornamental carvings, and the copper ball on the dome was crowned with a carved wooden statue of Glory.

A light, elegant, bright building enclosed the middle hall with 16 columns. The chambers were hung with paintings that covered the entire surface of the walls with a "trellis spread." These were 46 paintings by the brush of the "beast expert" I.-F. Groots depicting broken and live game and various hunting subjects.

1746: Laying the temple according to the project of Savva Chevakinsky

The reconstruction project of the Great Catherine Palace of the mid-18th century provided for the construction of the church first by a separate building "between the right wing and the circumference," but these plans were not implemented, and the church decided to arrange in a special wing. The author of the project was architect S.I. Chevakinsky.

In the spring of 1746, construction work began, and on August 8 [19], 1746, in the presence of Empress Elizaveta Petrovna, Grand Duke Peter Fedorovich and his wife Ekaterina Alekseevna, a solemn laying of the church took place, which was made by the Archbishop of St. Petersburg and Shlisselburg Theodosius (Yanovsky).

1745: Savva Chevakinsky appointed architect of Tsarskoye Selo

In 1745-1760, the architect of Tsarskoye Selo was Savva Chevakinsky, who supervised the reconstruction of the palace and park ensemble. Here Chevakinsky erected according to his projects two buildings (church and hall) connected by galleries to the central part of the Catherine Palace, the unreserved hunting pavilion "Monbijou," houses for palace officials, participated in the creation of the pavilion "Hermitage."

1743: Additions to the chambers of Elizabeth I

Researcher of Tsarskoye Selo Ilya Yakovkin in the book "Description of the Village of Tsarskoye, or Sputnik Observing It" writes: "These stone chambers (Catherine I), without any increase, only with the necessary amendments, remained in this state until 1743. Then Empress Empress Elizabeth I ordered to make extensions to the stone chambers on both sides, which is why he appeared in the upper and lower floors of 16 rooms, including large halls. On both sides of the stone chambers, two outbuildings were built: the right, to the church, about 6 rooms in the upper and about 8 - in the lower floors, and in the left 8 rooms in each floor. Then the formerly stone chambers were called the Middle House, and the decorated stone buildings - the right and left outbuildings. "

Chambers of Catherine I

1723: End of homestead construction

By the time the construction was completed in 1723, a valuable document was included - "The Book of Descriptions of the Sarsky Village," compiled by the clerk Alexei Lukoperov. The unique document gives an idea of the old wooden choirs of the empress, her new stone chambers and their interior decoration. It describes in detail the outbuildings - stables, cattle and bird yards and other buildings.

In terms of its size and the nature of the structures, the estate of Catherine I in the first period of its existence was significantly different from the residences of Peter I. The entire complex of the Sarsky Manor retained the features of the old Russian way of life. It was not an "amusement castle," not a country cottage, but a manor house. To the southeast of the stone chambers stretched the garden, to the north and northwest - the Menagerie, where animals for royal hunting were kept on a vast area of ​ ​ natural forest cut through by clearings. Construction on the manor was carried out on a limited scale, and nothing foreshadowed its future heyday.

1717

The beginning of the construction of stone chambers according to the project of Johann Braunstein

Architectural historian Anatoly Petrov in the book "Pushkin. Palaces and Parks "calls the date of construction of the first stone chambers - 1717. The researcher writes: "In the literature about Tsarskoye Selo, another date for the start of construction was adopted - 1718. The first to bring her was Ilya Yakovkin.<…> It would seem to be confirmed by the documented text of the order of April 29, 1719, on sending to the Sarsky Manor 'to the structure of the chambers of the empress Tsarina' masons, who 'had that building in the last 1718'. However, we managed to find a record of the delivery of food to masons located in the Sarsky village 'at the tent building and at the masonry of the stone from the last 717'.<…> This document serves as undisputed evidence that the construction of the chambers began no later than 1717. "

The stone chambers were designed by the architect Johann Braunstein. How the stone chambers of Ekaterina Alekseevna looked can be judged by the reconstruction of the eastern facade and on the basis of floor plans made by Nikolai Lancer according to a wooden model, which was in the museum collection until 1941. The plans and facade are published in the book of Alexander Benois "Tsarskoye Selo during the reign of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna."

"In the first floor of the new stone palace there was a lobby lit by two lanterns, the front one to its right, behind it is a corner chamber, next to it is a bedroom with a bed under a canopy, followed by a restroom. To the left of the canopy is a bedroom, a restroom and a bathhouse soon moved from the palace.

On the second floor there are front rooms. In the center is a hall with walls decorated with tapestries against the background of French cloth wallpaper, with red curtains on the windows, paintings and mirrors on the walls.

On the left and right are the front chambers, behind them are the two corner rooms. Bedrooms adjoined the corner chambers - the royal front room with a four-poster on the left, and the princess on the right. Restrooms and corner rooms adjoined the bedchambers, the walls of which were painted on canvas under marble, "- the architect Alexander Kedrinsky gives a description of the interior decoration of the stone chambers in the book" The Great Tsarskoye Selo (Catherine) Palace: from a suburban estate to a ceremonial residence. 1710–1760».

Menshikov examined the panel of the Amber Office in the Summer Palace

On July 2, 1717, A. D. Menshikov examined the delivered and unpacked in accordance with the instructions of the Amber Cabinet panel in the Summer Palace and informed the tsar about their condition: "I revised the amber cabinet for your majesty from the king of Prussia and put it in the boxes of those brought to them, in a large chamber where guests gather, in which there is much little or almost little to spoil. Some small things fell, but they can be sealed, and although there were no others, you can put it again. It is true to say that the most curiosity that this has not seen in the world. "

1716

Construction of the wooden Assumption Church

In 1716, the construction of the wooden Assumption Church took place. From that moment on, the Sarsky Manor began to be called in the documents not the manor, but the Tsar's or Sarsky Village.

Frederick William I gives the Amber Cabinet to Peter I

Initially, the panels for the Amber Cabinet were made for the palace of mother Friedrich-Wilhelm I, but were not mounted either during her lifetime or during the life of her husband.

The heir to the first Prussian king, Frederick-Wilhelm I (1688-1740, reigned from 1713), who went down in history as a "sergeant major on the throne," introduced strict discipline focused on practical benefits, and stopped all expensive work in his father's palaces. However, the admiration of the guests who saw the amber panels prompted him, after accession to the throne, to mount them in one of the offices of the front rooms of the Berlin Royal Castle.

When Peter I met with Frederick William I in November 1716 in connection with the conclusion of an alliance between Russia and Prussia, the Prussian king presented gifts to the Russian emperor, including the Amber Cabinet. Peter I then wrote to Empress Catherine: "K (orol) gave me a fair present to the yacht, which was green in Potsdam, and the Yantarny cabinet, which they had long wanted." Two years later, the Russian emperor sent Frederick William a return gift - 55 gigantic grenadiers and an ivory cup with his own hand. The Prussian king had a direct collector's passion for giant soldiers.

1713: Camp Church in the Choirs

A camp church of the Holy Great Martyr Catherine was installed in the choirs of the estate, where a clergy was determined on March 12 [23], 1713. It was the first Tsarskoye Selo temple. The camp church had a carved blue iconostasis with gilding, the icons of which were painted on canvas, and a throne with an oak lid and symbolic images of four evangelists.

After many movements, the iconostasis of this camp church, transferred in 1930 to the Catherine Palace Museum, was lost during the occupation of the city by the Nazis. The throne was probably lost earlier.

1710: Peter I gave his wife Ekaterina Alekseevna the Sarsky Manor

In 1710, Peter I presented his wife Ekaterina Alekseevna (Martha Samuilovna Skavronskaya) with six manor houses (estates with agricultural buildings) - including Sarskaya. No descriptions of this Swedish manor or images of it have survived. Wooden choirs and services were located on the site of the current palace, on the crest of the hill, descending to the Wangazi River. The river was dammed, thanks to which a vast pond arose above the dam, on the site of which the Big Pond was subsequently created. Water from the pond powered the mill, which lasted until the 1720s.

Immediately after Ekaterina Alekseevna became the owner of the Sarsky Manor, work began on its restoration, and then on expansion and redevelopment.

Notes