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EnglishDuration: 6 hours
The chronicle of this interesting site started at the end of the Northern War against the Swedes in the 18th century, when the newly returned Novgorod’s lands were presented to Martha Skavronska, the future wife of Peter the Great. It was given the name of the Sara’s hillock. The tsar’s order of construction was registered on June, 13th 1710 and it is the date of the site foundation.
The hill where the Catherine’s palace is nowadays, received its wooden cottage and there appeared a manly pond by the hill.
In 1716 they constructed the wooden Assumption Church. Since those days they started to use the name of the Tsars’ Village, and consequently the estate received the look of the royal residence.
By 1723 the palace of 16 halls was constructed, after it was rebuilt several times, and the modern look appeared after the last reconstruction by Rastrelli that was finished by 1756. In 1755 the Amber Study was brought from the Winter Palace. Today one can admire the beauty of 32 halls out of 55 former royal rooms. Since the palace was greatly destroyed during the WWII.
In 1796 Catherine the Great ordered to make another palace that was presented to her grandson, Grand Duke Alexander Pavlovich, the palace received the name accordingly. The construction was headed by G. Quarengy. After the long occupation the palace was partly burned down and the left wing of the palace was publicly opened in 1997 only.
By the palace you can find a beautiful ensemble of the royal park of 300 hectors decorated with architectural and sculptural monuments-over 100 of them. The most notable ensemble is the classical building of the baths (the “thermos”) by Charles Cameron with a fascinating gallery, the hanging garden and the Agate rooms or the graceful Hermitage Pavilion made in the Barocco style by the architects Zemsov and Rastrelli, the ensemble of the Admiralty, and even the whole Chinese Village. A great water system of ponds and manly made waterfalls was created in the park that allowed leisure boats to sail along.
The museum has got the richest historical biography, connected with essential events and people. Right in the palace outbuilding there was the boarding school for the noble gentry, whose graduate was the renowned poet and writer, Alexander Pushkin.