In 1999 the Florentine mosaic Senses of Touch and Smell that formerly had hung on the south wall of the Amber Room was returned to the its former place (evidently it was the piece stolen before the dismantling of the panels by the Germans). On 10 April 1979 the official decision to recreate the Amber Room was taken. The project was approved in July 1986 – it was estimated that the restoration would demand 6 tonnes of raw amber, for the experiments showed that only 15 – 20% of the material could be used (the material was supplied by Kaliningrad Amber Factory). In June 1999 the German company RuhrGas provided 3.5 mln. U.S. dollars for the completion of the work. On 31 May 2003 the ceremony of the inauguration of the Amber Room took place.
The Catherine Palace and Park Ensemble is also famous for the Lyceum located in the four-storeyed building (to the design by I. Neyolov, later rebuilt by V. Stasov) and joined with the Catherine Palace with a gallery. The greatest Russian poet Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin was among its graduates.
Pavlovsk Павловск
In 1777 when future Emperor Alexander I was born in the family of Paul I and his wife Mariya Fyodorovna, Catherine II presented to her son and daughter-in-law the land to the south of Tsarskoye Selo, on the hilly banks of the Slavyanka, deep in the woods. In 1778 small palaces Paullust (Consolation of Pavel) and Marienthal (Valley of Mariya) were erected there. Marienthal was a two-storeyed edifice that was to remind ancient castles surrounded by walls, turned out to be a very romantic mansion of the Middle Ages. Two-storeyed Paullust was surrounded by the veranda, decorated with the pilasters and a wide cupola of an unusual form.
Before long however the modest size of the summer residence began to incommode the owners, and in 1779 architect Ch. Cameron first appeared at Pavlovsk. Ch. Cameron was commissioned to build a new palace and layout a park in what was then a tangled forest. The basic work was completed four years later in 1786, and Paullust was completely demolished. On the sloping bank of the Slavyanka there now rose a palace in golden yellow and white, reminiscent of the famous villas of Andrea Palladio. The architect also designed the pavilions the Temple to Friendship (with the statue of Catherine II as Ceres, the goddess of fertility, and the inscription With Love, Respect and Gratitude Devoted) the Apollo Colonnade (there are several statues of Apollo in the Park what make it the symbolic kingdom of beauty, poetry and art), the Memorial to the Parents (originally designed as the monument to Mariya Fyodorovna’s sister Fredericka died in early age, later on, after the death of her parents it became the united memorial, on the granite pyramid of which the portraits of Mariya Fyodorovna’s parents are engraved), the Aviary, the Cold Bath, the Centaur Bridge. There were a lot of pastoral constructions, the most intricate of which was the Dairy. Inside there was a cowshed, a warehouse and a premise for rest where courtiers could drink a cup of milk with a piece of brown bred thus experiencing so called natural life. The Dairy was lavishly decorated with white tiles, gilded furniture, silk draperies, marble tables, shelves and richly painted plafond. The architect also planned the picturesque Triple Alley of Limes that even nowadays opens a wonderful view of the Palace, and the Private Little Garden with rare kinds of trees (some of them soon died because of severe northern climate, others were burnt in fire of 1803), intricate flowerbeds and the Pavilion of the Three Graces (sculptures by P. Triscorni).
The architectural décor of the buildings was selected by Ch. Cameron to accord with their functions. The simple architecture of the service blocks set off the beauty and classical elegance of the dominating central building housing the state rooms and private suites. The compositional pattern typical of the early Classical Style: the central block and two low wings linked with it by columned galleries, greatly influenced the architecture of Russian country estates during 18th – 19th cent. It inspired the designs of scores of country mansions which were built to look like palaces in style and decoration, if not in size.
Having begun with the ground-floor private suites, Ch. Cameron had managed to finish only the Egyptian Vestibule (1786) and five adjoining rooms, including the Dancing Room, the Billiard Room and the Dining Room – the largest premise in the enfilade of the first floor often served as the sitting-room visited by N. Karamzin, V. Zhukovskiy, I. Krylov, N. Gnedich, etc.
Since 1796 the decoration of the palace interiors was entrusted to V. Brenna, Cameron’s assistant, while Cameron’s own role in the Pavlovsk project was now limited to occasional consultations on special problems. On Paul’s accession to the throne Ch. Cameron was dismissed as no longer useful, was deprived of his house presented by Catherine II and also lost his pupils and assistants. V. Brenna completed the decoration of the Palace, drawing upon his knowledge of the architecture and interior decoration of imperial Rome and late Italian Renaissance. On 13 November Pavlovsk settlement was renamed town by order of Paul I. The new Emperor preferred to spend summer in Pavlovsk (rare in Peterhof), automn in Gatchina, winter in Saint-Petersburg, ignoring only Tsarskoye Selo, the former residence of his late mother Catherine II.
V. Brenna designed a suite of new state apartments the State Vestibule, the Italian Hall, the Grecian Hall, the Hall of the War, the Hall of the Peace, the Hall of Gentlemen in Waiting, the State Bedroom, the Throne Hall (the Grand Hall), the Picture Gallery, etc. V. Brenna also created some new regular areas in the Park: the Great Circles, the Old Sylvia– a round ground in the centre of which stands Apollo, and 12 straight alleys each having at the end 9 muses, Mercury – the god of trade, Venus – the goddess of beauty, and Flora – the goddess of spring and flowers; the marble stairway connecting the Palace with the Slavyanka River, some cascades, the open Amphitheatre, etc.
When the work of decoration and furnishing was at last completed in 1794, the Pavlovsk Palace could hold its own in the beauty, richness and elegance of its architecture and interior décor against many of the celebrated palaces of Europe. Brenna’s interiors, though highly individual, completely harmonized with the architecture of the Palace.
The remarkable collection of clocks, scattered throughout the Palace, is of particular interest. Clocks, or time-keepers, were objects of luxury in 18th cent., rather than articles of necessity. Clock cases were given a great deal of attention: some were made in ormolu, others decorated with mother-of-pearl, tortoise-shell, porcelain, coloured marble or rare kinds of wood. They were embellished with sculptured groups, allegories, etc. Some show the phases of the moon in addition to the time of day; others, calendar clocks, show the month, the date and the day of the week. Many are equipped with musical mechanisms that play songs, dance music, or melodies from popular operas of the day.
In 1800 – 1801 G. Quarenghi redecorated some apartments of the Palace and introduced the new ones: the Dressing Room and the Pilaster Study. The death of Paul I coming in 1801 ended for V. Brenna his years of endeavor at Pavlovsk. He was pensioned off and left Russia in 1802. This was the time when A. Voronikhin first came to work at Pavlovsk. One of the most intricate rooms designed by the architect is by no means the Little Lantern located on the first floor with large windows-walls that open the view on the Private Little Garden thus demolishing any barrier between the room and the garden. A. Voronikhin created the marvelous Rose Pavilion in the Park – a square edifice crowned with a small cupola and decorated with columned porticos. The nearby territory was planted with roses of all forms and colours! In four semicircular windows there were Aeolian harps – wooden frames with the strings that gave different sounds when the air was blowing. In 1810 – 1830s the Rose Pavilion became a new centre of the Palace and Park Ensemble where guests used to gather preferring its simplicity to the official coldness of the Palace. Since 1790s to 1820s Pietro Gonzago was working in Pavlovsk – the brilliant decorator and landscape designer who gave the Park its final shape.
In January 1803 the chimney-flue trouble caused a fire in one of the Palace’s rooms, which, spreading, destroyed the décor of the state apartments and living rooms of the central building. For three days the soldiers of the Pavlovsk garrison, the townspeople and peasants from neighbouring villages fought the fire. Thanks to their efforts it was possible to save all of the priceless furnishings of the Palace apartments and even some fragments of the architectural décor. Reconstruction was begun practically on the morrow of the fire with A. Voronikhin in charge.
In early 19th cent. Th. de Thomon worked in Pavlovsk having designed one of the best monuments of the Park – the Mausoleum To my Consort and Protector together with sculptor I. Martos. The last great architect of Pavlovsk, who was destined to put the finishing touches to the complex, was C.I. Rossi, in 1815 – 1816 succeeding the late A. Voronikhin The architect redecorated some of the Palace interiors and designed the Corner Drawing-Room (1816), the Library (1822) and the Nicholas Gate (1826).
The history of Pavlovsk as an imperial residence ended with the death of Paul I. Since that time the Palace was owned by the Grand Dukes of the Romanov’s dynasty, but no important additions or changes were made.
The Winter Palace Зимний дворец
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On 16 June 1754 Empress Elizabeth Petrovna signed an order according to which the existing Winter Palace of Anna Ioannovna had to be rebuilt. The Empress ordered to give 900 000 roubles from the Treasury – so called tavern money, i.e. the tax collected from public houses. The Winter Palace rebuilt and enlarged by former Empress Anna Ioannovna was demolished. The work was going on the whole year round, with more than 4000 craftsmen involved in the building of the residence. In spring 1761 the erection of the building was finished, and the interior decoration work began. Empress Elizabeth I was hurrying the architect to finish the work but didn’t manage to see the Palace in its splendour. While the edifice was under construction the Empress moved to a wooden palace built by F.-B. Rastrelli on the corner of Nevskiy prospekt and the Moyka river embankment, where she died on December 1761.
The new Emperor ordered to finish the décor by April 1762 that was successfully fulfilled: more than 100 rooms, the theatre, the church and the gallery had been decorated by the deadline. A year after Elisabeth’s death Emperor Peter III celebrated a house-warming. In summer 1762 Peter III was assassinated, and the Winter Palace construction was completed in the reign of Catherine II. Since 1762 the Winter Palace was an official residence of the Russian Emperors.
A new stone building was characterized by a clear layout: main elements of the capital residence such as the Main Staircase, the Throne Hall, the Big Church and the Theatre were joined by state halls from the north and the east, and the apartments at the south and the west. That was a there-storey rectangular building with a huge state courtyard inside and the main façades overlooking the Neva and the square laid out later on. The roof with a balustrade was decorated with vases and statues. A three-cornered attic above the central entrance was decorated with bronze statues of Neptune – the god of seas, and his wife Amphitrite. The attic was also adorned with a round striking clock.
The Palace was 210 m long, 175 m wide, 22 m high, with a total area about 60 000 square kilometers, housing more than 1000 halls and 117 different staircases, with more than 4000 servants. Besides the apartments (more than 460) the Palace also comprised larders, kitchen, pharmacy, servants’ rooms and guard’s rooms located on the first floor, two churches, the museum, the library, the garden and the chancellery. On the first floor there were spacious vestibules and galleries connecting all the staircases and the entrances. On the third floor there were rooms for nobility. The Palace could boast sizes unbelievable for those times, as well as luxurious exterior decoration and gorgeous interior décor. The halls were adorned with gilded carving, magnificent mirrors, chandeliers and beautiful glued-laminated parquet. After the fire of 1837 the Palace interior was restored by V. Stasov and A. Bryullov in 1838 – 1839.
The Palace’s façade colour was changing through the history. Originally it was of an ochre colour with the order details and plastic décor painted white. Later on the façade was painted red, pink and yellow.
Before the World War I it was painted red brick. In the reign of Catherine II the Winter Garden with the northern and southern plants was laid out. In 1869 gas heating was installed in the Palace and replaced candles. In 1882 first telephones appeared in the Imperial Residence. In 1880s the Palace was equipped with running water. By Christmas 1884 – 1885 electric lighting was tested, and since 1888 it had been replacing the gas one: an electric power station was installed on one of the Palace’s halls and for 15 years it was the largest in Europe. In 1892 – 1894 some weakened stone sculptures from the balustrade were replaced with the brass ones to the design by M. Popov.
The square in front of the western façade of the Palace where Her Majesty’s Drive was located and parades were organized was well-furnished. In 1896 a fountain with a garden was laid out over there surrounded by the decorative railings made by architect R. Meltser in 1898. The fence completed the palace ensemble and soon became one of the most attractive places of interest in the city. At the World Exhibition held in Paris the railings took the Grand Award. At the Soviet period of Russian history the fence was disfigured and in 1920 deconstructed. Separate elements were saved and became the parts of the fence surrounding the park laid out in Narvskiy District.
After Alexander II was assassinated by terrorists, the new Emperor removed the residence to Gatchina, and the Winter Palace was used only for the solemn ceremonies. In the reign of Nicholas II the Royal Family moved back to the Palace in 1894, and the apartments were redecorated in the Modern Style. Nevertheless in 1904 the Imperial Residence was again removed – that time to Tsarskoye Selo.
The Alexandrinskiy Theatre Александринский Театр
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The history of the Alexandrinskiy Theatre is a long one. The oldest national theatre in Russia it was founded by Elizabeth I on 30 August 1756 on the day of St Alexander Nevskiy. This date is nowadays celebrated as the birthday of Russian professional theatre.
Its first director was A. Sumarokov, the troupe was being formed under the supervision of an outstanding actor, art director and pedagogue I. Dmitriyevskiy. The repertoire of late 18th cent. consisted mainly of the plays by A. Sumarokov himself, I. Krylov, D. Fonvizin, P. Corneille, Voltaire, J.-B. Moliere and Bomarchet.
In 1799 on the site of the modern Alexandrinskiy Theatre V. Brenna built the theatre. Its first name was Kazassi Theatre (the name of the Italian entrepreneur that was giving performances in Saint-Petersburg of that time); later it was renamed and became the Small Theatre. In original the theatre was a garden pavilion of the Anichkov Palace rebuilt by V. Brenna in a theatre building. Soon it became too small and was in sharp contrast with the splendour of Nevskiy prospekt, and did not correspond to the important role that it had to play in the city life.
In 1811 architect Th. de Thomon was deputed to project a new theatre building. The project worked out by Th. Thomon was not put into practice for the Patriotic War began in 1812. After the War the task to work out a project of the theatre was given to C. Rossi and Modui. Modui’s variant was approved and the architect started the work. The construction of the ensemble (the theatre and the square in front of it) turned out to be too difficult for the architect, and the work was handed over to C. Rossi.