With the death of Empress Anna Ioannovna, which followed in 1740, Biron became regent under the minor emperor Ioann Antonovich, who was 2 months old at that time. However, his regency was short-lived. Biron was arrested for abuse and exiled. The reign of the mother of the young emperor Anna Leopoldovna, who was appointed regent under him, was also short-lived. On November 25, 1741, as a result of a palace coup, the daughter of Emperor Peter I, Elizaveta Petrovna, ascended the throne. The time of her reign was the time of the powerful rise of St. Petersburg architecture. She herself loved pomp and splendor, Elizaveta Petrovna wanted to see the brainchild of her father decorated beautiful buildings and therefore was very concerned about the ceremonial construction in St. Petersburg and its suburbs. Having ascended the throne, Elizaveta Petrovna mainly lived in the Summer Palace on the site of the current Mikhailovsky Castle, which soon became small for the sprawling imperial court. During her reign, the Naval Cathedral of St. Nicholas and the Winter Palace were built, the Smolny Monastery ensemble was built, Tuchkov and Sampsonievsky bridges were erected, and, finally, Moscow University, the Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg and the Page Corps were opened. She invited the best architects of Europe to Petersburg, and among them the brightest was Bartolomeo Rastrelli. He built the best buildings in St. Petersburg. These are the Winter Palace, twice rebuilt by him, Anichkov, Vorontsov, Stroganov palaces; The Great Peterhof Palace, Tsarskoselsky (Catherine) Palace, Smolny Monastery and other buildings. Looking at the cathedral of the Smolny Monastery, Quarenghi, who did not like the architecture of the Elizabethan Baroque, with the words: "Well, the church!" - took off his hat.
Upon arrival in St. Petersburg, Elizaveta Petrovna ordered to build two palaces for herself at once, one temporary, wooden near the Police Bridge, the other stone on the embankment of the Neva. Both palaces were built according to the project of B. Rastrelli. The wooden palace, although it was built as a temporary one, was decorated with great luxury.
By that time, Nevsky Prospect had become the best street in the city. Elizabeth monitored its improvement. Decrees were issued prohibiting the construction of wooden buildings on the main street of the city. Only stone houses were built on the avenue. But they were not like the current ones. As a rule, these were two-story buildings with an obligatory front garden in front of the facade, fenced with a patterned cast-iron lattice. In 1755, the reconstruction of the Gostiny Dvor began. Rastrelli's plan, which was distinguished by the great splendor of the decoration of the building, was not implemented due to lack of funding. Now we see a building Gostiny Dvor, designed by the architect Valen-Delamot, who retained Rastrelli's layout, but carried out the construction of the building in the style of early classicism.
Elizaveta Petrovna, according to contemporaries, was very beautiful, lively and flirtatious. Her palaces were lined with mirrors in which she constantly saw her repeated reflection. For her, the most expensive outfits were bought in Europe in large quantities. After her death, the empress's wardrobe contained 15,000 dresses, some of which were never worn. She herself never wore the same dress twice. And she demanded the same from the courtiers, whose appearance she closely followed, issuing one by one decrees regulating the appearance of her entourage. For example, a decree was issued prohibiting court ladies from wearing dark dresses, a decree that 
to go to the masquerade only in a good dress, and not "in a vile one" And in the winter of 1747, a "hair regulation" was issued, which ordered all the ladies of the court to have their hair cut bald, and cover their heads with "black tousled wigs", which she herself gave out. The reason for such a strict establishment was that the powder did not want to leave the empress's hair, the empress decided to dye her hair black, but for some reason this did not work out, and then she had to be the first to cut her hair and put on a black wig. And she did not like anyone to surpass her in beauty and perfection. Well, how could you not publish the "hairline"?
The time of Elizabeth was the time when the Baroque style reigned in art, which matched the cheerful character of the Empress with her whims and love of luxury. The architectural masterpieces of Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli, which still amaze us with grace, luxury and splendor, are a monument to that time. And one of them is the Smolny Monastery, which was built by the empress for herself. At one time she had a desire to abdicate and go to a monastery. Thousands of soldiers and artisans were rounded up to build the monastery. It was built on a grand scale. And after a few years he was outwardly ready. But then the seven-year war began, and construction stopped due to a lack of money. Soon, Elizabeth also lost her desire to go to a monastery. 
GR Derzhavin called the reign of Elizabeth "the century of songs." Elizaveta Petrovna really loved music and she herself had extraordinary musical abilities: she played many instruments and composed songs. Thanks to her, Russia got acquainted with the guitar, mandolin, harp and other instruments. Opera, ballet and drama theater, which she loved very much, flourished with her. Shakespeare, Moliere and, of course, plays by the first Russian tragedian Alexander Sumarokov were played on the stage of Russian theaters. In 1750, in Yaroslavl, the theater was created by Fyodor Grigorievich Volkov, the performances of which were performed with great success. Having learned about the "Yaroslavl comedies", the Empress, by a special decree, summoned Volkov and the troupe to Petersburg. On the initiative of Sumarokov and Volkov in 1756, the Russian theater for the presentation of tragedies and comedies was officially established, which marked the beginning of the creation of the Imperial theaters of Russia. At first, the theater was located in the Menshikov Palace, where in 1732 the Gentry Cadet Corps for young noblemen opened. The first Russian tragedy "Khorev" was staged here, and the actors of Fyodor Volkov's troupe were placed here in 1752.
With the active social life that Elizabeth led, sometimes she simply did not get her hands on governing the state. The ministers ran after her for months so that she could sign a document between dressing up for a ball or masquerade. Fortunately, the bureaucratic machine, once launched by Peter, continued its work, and things went on as usual. In addition, she had wonderful assistants. She could well rely on P. I. Shuvalov in domestic policy, A. P. Bestuzhev-Ryumin in foreign policy, and I. I. Shuvalov in the field of education. .jpg)
Balls and masquerades followed each other, competing among themselves in splendor and splendor. But against the background of this seemingly endless holiday, important events took place in St. Petersburg. Petersburg of this time is the Petersburg of Lomonosov, the founder of Russian science and poetry, it is the Petersburg of important geographical research and discoveries. In 1743, the eleven-year Second Kamchatka Expedition ended, and two years later the Academic Atlas was published with maps of the vast territory from Lake Baikal to Anadyr and northwestern America.
In his time creating the Academy of Sciences, Peter I thought of it as the center of higher education in Russia. This can be seen from the draft "Provisions of the Academy of Sciences and Arts", in which it was said that the members of the Academy, working "on the perfection of arts and sciences", had to "teach those arts and sciences publicly," that is, teach. That is, Peter thought of the Academy as a university. In 1745 MV Lomonosov became a professor at this Academic (or Petrovsky) University, who insisted that not only nobles could study at the university: “No one is prohibited from studying at universities, whoever he is, and at the university that student is more honorable who has learned more. " Such an attitude of the professor of the first higher educational institution in Russia, the founder of Russian science, opened the way to education for many talented young people. Among the first "natural Russians" who graduated from Petrovsky University were Antioch Kantemir, Ivan Magnitsky, Peter Remizov. Poetic "Satires" by Antiochus Cantemir were very popular at that time and went from hand to hand on the lists.
The growing interest in culture and education was also facilitated by the cultural needs and interests of the empress and the court, proximity to Europe, the very spirit of the city, which from the very birth was intended to be a “window to Europe”. Gymnasiums, both public and private, appeared in the city. In 1757, the "Academy of the Three Noble Arts" - painting, architecture and sculpture - was formed in St. Petersburg. The construction of the building for the Academy of Arts on Universitetskaya embankment will begin only in 1764, and from the moment of its foundation until that time it was located in the house of the initiator of its creation, I.I. Shuvalov, in the Shuvalov Palace on Sadovaya Street, between Nevsky Prospect and Italyanskaya Street. Her first students were Ivan Starov, Fyodor Rokotov, Vasily Bazhenov. As a mosaic artist M.V. Lomonosov became an honorary member of the Academy. The mosaic panel by MV Lomonosov "The Battle of Poltava" is now in the building of the Academy of Sciences.
In 1751, on the Nikolaevskaya embankment of the Neva, the present embankment of Lieutenant Schmidt, the Marine gentry cadet corps was opened, which later became the Naval Academy. From the pier where the monument to Kruzenstern stands, all the outstanding Russian navigators and admirals left for the sea. 
St. Petersburg of the noisy Elizabethan times already had little resemblance to the modest Petrine "Paradise". By this time, the city had a favorable environment for economic development. He no longer demanded exceptional measures to attract the population and finance. The ever-increasing needs of the new capital have transformed this whole region for many kilometers around. Carts with building materials, food, various products of local crafts were pulled in thousands from the Novgorod, Pskov, Olonets provinces. Ships from Europe, barges, boats, rafts were looking for hundreds of places to moor at the city's marinas.
During her twenty-year reign, Elizaveta Petrovna did not sign a single death sentence. And maybe that is why the internal life of the country as a whole during this period was stable - there were no riots or bitterness in the country. Some cruel amusements were forbidden: in Moscow and St. Petersburg it was forbidden to have bears, shoot guns. In the field of foreign policy, this time was also a time of rest: out of 20 years of Elizabeth's reign, 15 years were peaceful. And the four years of Russia's participation in the Seven Years War (1756-1760) revealed the combat capability of the Russian army, which defeated the invincible troops of Frederick the Great. And this is with the eternal Russian confusion, theft in the rear, ill-conceived strategic plans.
It is difficult to name another building that would have existed on the territory of the Imperial Summer Garden for such a short period - only fifteen years - and left such a bright mark in history. For eight years, Anna Ioannovna's Summer Palace remained the imperial residence, where the political pulse of the entire Russian Empire beat.
The Summer Wooden Palace of Anna Ioannovna is part of the group of buildings that have not survived in the Summer Garden. Within the walls of this palace in 1740 the Empress finished her life, and here her will was announced. Here Biron's regency was proclaimed, and high dignitaries and guards swore allegiance to the young emperor John Antonovich. One of the most dramatic pages of our history is connected with the beloved palace of Anna Ioannovna - the arrest of the Duke of Courland Biron, the former favorite of the Empress. Not surprisingly, the imperial residence, which received such gloomy fame, was dismantled eight years later.
The summer palace of Anna Ioannovna was erected in 1732 on the embankment of the Neva on the site of the "Halls for Glorious Celebrations", dismantled for this occasion. The architect was Francesco Rastrelli with the participation of his father, Bartolomeo Rastrelli.
It was a one-story palace, significantly elongated in length. The summer wooden palace differed sharply from the palace of Peter I, which stood on the banks of the Fontanka. Rastrelli singled out central part buildings, and from the side wings arranged descents to the water. An elegant balustrade ran along the edge of the roof, the monotonous rhythm of which was interrupted by carved ornaments and decorative sculptures. Columns and often placed windows decorated with platbands have significantly enriched the facades of the palace, giving it the character of a Baroque structure. After the completion of the construction of the palace, the new residence of the empress acquired the function of a kind of "Nevsky facade" through which one could pass to Summer garden.
According to Rastrelli, the palace had twenty-eight apartments. From other sources it is known that in 1741 - after the death of the empress - the following chambers were in the palace: "Anticamora", where ambassadors were received; "Comedy"; the chief-marshal's premises, the empress's bedroom, the large imperial hall, ten chambers of the Duke of Biron, four chambers occupied by his son Peter. In addition, the palace housed the maids of honor, a writing office; treasury chambers, where ward dresses were kept, and armory chambers. It is also mentioned that Biron's bedroom was covered with carpets. This is the most detailed description of the interior apartments of the Summer Palace that we have to date.
On the plan of the wooden palace of Anna Ioannovna, made from a copy of the drawing of 1732, it is clearly seen that the building consisted of two enfilade halls. The premises of the northern suite overlooked the Neva, and the southern suite overlooked the garden. The Nevsky suite was made up of large halls - this was the front part of the palace. Apparently, the throne room was located along the axis of the building; the throne place is shown in it on the plan of the palace. Further to the west, through three rooms, was the ceremonial bedchamber. In the eastern building of the palace, highlighted by a projection, there was the largest hall of the palace. Judging by the description, the palace housed "Comedy", that is, a hall for theatrical performances. Obviously, this very large hall in the eastern part of the building served as "Comedy". The garden suite consisted of smaller rooms. Perhaps there were living quarters here; they are grouped by apartments, separated by hallways and access to the garden. Since there was a ceremonial bedchamber in the Nevsky suite, it can be assumed that the Garden suite was an everyday bedchamber in which the empress died. Biron's apartments also overlooked the garden and adjoined the imperial ones: this is confirmed by the report of Lieutenant Colonel Manstein, who arrested the duke.
Anna Ioannovna first moved to her Summer Residence immediately after the wedding of her favorite brother, Gustav Biron, to Princess Menshikova, which was celebrated in the Winter Palace on the first day of summer 1732.
Anna Ioannovna lived in the Summer Palace according to the exact order - from early May to late September (excluding several weeks in June and July, spent in Peterhof). The imperial court always moved with special splendor to the Summer Palace. Anna Ioannovna sailed along the Neva to the thunder of cannon shots on a sixteen-oared yacht decorated with gold, with a magnificent cabin in the form of a room, decorated with green velvet.
2 Pokrovsky Palace of Elizabeth Petrovna
Empress Elizaveta Petrovna was one of those rare post-Peter Romanovs who loved Moscow. Her sympathy extended to the village of Pokrovskoye-Rubtsovo, which belonged to her, on the banks of the now defunct Rybinka River, which flows into the Yauza. The village itself with a wooden "amusement" palace, the Church of the Intercession, a pond and a garden has been known since the 16th century. Its first owner was Protasiy Vasilyevich Yuriev, from whom the Romanovs got it in difficult ways. The property was large.
Under Anna Ioannovna, far from the courtyard, Elizaveta Petrovna lived in Pokrovsky-Rubtsovo. According to legend, it is fun, arranging holidays, dances and festivities. In 1737 the wooden palace burned down. In 1739, Elizabeth built a new one on the bank of the pond: one-story, on a high basement, with a central two-story hall. The interiors of the palace have not survived, but it is known that they were decorated in Japanese and Chinese styles. Luxurious park with a roller coaster and carousels was built in 1752 by the architect B.-F. Rastrelli. He also made a project for a new palace, which was not implemented.
On the other side of the pond, the Church of the Resurrection of Christ was built, connected with the palace by a passage and a bridge. It was abolished in 1790.
After the death of Elizabeth, the palace was practically not used. In 1872, the territory was given to the Intercession Community of Sisters of Mercy. The community made alterations according to the project of P.P.Skomoroshenko: they built on the second floor, built side wings, revived the Resurrection Church, but in the central hall, changed the decor of the facades to the existing decor.
The community was closed in the 1920s, creating huge communal apartments in the former palace, which existed here until the 1980s. The pond was filled up, and the current street Gastello was laid in front of the palace. Currently, the palace houses the State Research Institute of Restoration.
3 Great Catherine Palace
The Great Catherine Palace in Tsarskoe Selo is the favorite residence of Elizabeth Petrovna and Catherine II. The Catherine Palace is the compositional center of the Catherine Park and one of its main decorations. The majestic building occupies the central part of Tsarskoe Selo.
The history of the palace begins in 1717 with the construction of the "Stone Chambers" for the wife of Peter the Great, Catherine the First. According to Braunstein's design, it was a modest two-story building, the architecture of which was typical of similar buildings in Russia in the early 18th century. In 1724 the construction of the palace was completed. In honor of this, a grandiose celebration was held in the new palace.
The first reconstruction of the "Stone Chambers" began after her accession to the throne in 1741 by Elizabeth the First. Several architects changed before, at the end of 1748, the construction was headed by the chief architect of the imperial court, Francesco Bartolomeo Rastreli. And by the end of July 1756, instead of a modest building, the empress and her guests were presented with a chic baroque palace, striking in its beauty and size. The azure façade was adorned with white columns, moldings, and Atlantean figures. The gilded ornament made the palace look even more solemn. Outbuildings connected by covered galleries departed from the central part of the palace. The gilded domes of the five-domed palace church rose above the northern wing. A gilded dome with a multi-pointed star on a spire shone above the southern wing. The facades of the palace are 300 meters long, and almost 100 kilograms of pure gold were spent on the gilding of the external and internal decorations.
The interior layout and decoration have also been modified. The ceremonial rooms were located along the entire length of the building, forming the ceremonial golden enfilade. The Picture Hall and the famous Amber Room appeared. More than a hundred paintings by Western European painting masters of the 17th - early 18th centuries from various national schools are presented in the Picture Hall. The best craftsmen from different countries have been working on the creation of the Amber Room for more than five years.
The next stage in the design of the ceremonial and residential halls of the palace dates back to the 1770s. The new mistress of the residence, Empress Catherine II, fascinated by antique art, wished to decorate her apartments in accordance with fashionable tastes and entrusted their finishing to the Scottish architect, connoisseur of antique architecture, Charles Cameron.
The interiors he created - the Arabesque and Lyons drawing rooms, the Chinese hall, the Dome dining room, the Silver cabinet, the Blue cabinet (Snuffbox) and the Bedchamber - were distinguished by their refined beauty, austerity of decorative design and special elegance of decoration. Unfortunately, these halls were destroyed during the Great Patriotic War and have not yet been restored.
4 Chinese palace in Oranienbaum
The Chinese Palace is part of the grandiose palace and park complex "Own Dacha" of Empress Catherine II. The palace was built by the architect Antonio Rinaldi. According to his project, a large rectangular pond was dug in front of the southern facade of the Chinese Palace, on the left bank of which the Freilinsky house was built, and on the right bank a place was reserved for a coffee house (the project of this building was never implemented). A Kitchen building was built at the eastern facade of the palace, already outside the own dacha.
The Chinese Palace, a brilliant example of the Rococo style in Russia, is rightfully considered the pearl of the Oranienbaum palace and park ensemble. Absolute authenticity makes this multifaceted suburb unique, making it stand out from all the imperial residences that frame the Northern Capital with a splendid necklace.
Catherine II, while still a Grand Duchess, chose a “cherished” corner for herself in Oranienbaum. In her "Notes" she recalls 1757: "I had a fantasy to plant a garden for myself ... but I knew that the Grand Duke would not give me a single piece of land for this, and therefore I asked the Golitsyn princes to sell or give me 100 dessiatines that had long been abandoned ... the land they owned near Oranienbaum itself ... They willingly gave it to me. I began to draw plans and lay out the garden, and since the first time I was engaged in plans and buildings, everything came out huge and awkward for me. "
Ekaterina Alekseevna was able to start implementing her plan only five years later, with her accession to the Russian throne. In 1762, the construction of the Own dacha began, and, above all, the “stone house and the mountain”. All the work was carried out "under the supervision" of A. Rinaldi and according to his drawings. Catherine II sometimes came to Oranienbaum, overseeing the construction of the Dutch House, or the Chinese Palace. The empress celebrated her housewarming in the Chinese Palace on July 27, 1768. This Sunday was celebrated with a divine liturgy in the church of St. Panteleimon, and then a ceremonial meal was held in honor of the completion of the construction of the palace: the bishops, archimandrites, together with the nobles, dined and “drank to Her Imperial Majesty's health.
In the 1770s, the Empress often visits Oranienbaum and receives distinguished guests here: not only "foreign" ministers arrive on visits, but also royal persons - King Gustav III of Sweden, Austrian Emperor Joseph II. On July 17, 1780, Catherine II first showed the palace to her grandchildren, Grand Dukes Alexander and Constantine. Since 1796, Oranienbaum belonged to the Grand Duke Alexander Pavlovich (future Emperor Alexander I), and in 1831 the residence passed into the sole possession of his brother Mikhail Pavlovich. Later, the wife of Mikhail Pavlovich, Elena Pavlovna, became the mistress of the estate, and then their daughter Ekaterina Mikhailovna, who married Duke Georg Mecklenburg-Strelitzky; their children - Georgy, Mikhail and Elena - owned Oranienbaum until 1917.
The summer pleasure palace was named Chinese due to the luxurious decoration of four rooms, in the spirit of the ideas of the time about the art of the East. There are also other names: "House in the Upper Garden", "Small House, Her Imperial Majesty's own." Indeed, it is least of all suited to the loud definition of "palace" - it rather resembles a park pavilion, standing on a low stylobate that forms a terrace.
Outwardly modest, the palace amazes with its interior decoration. Gilding and mirrors, ornaments from shells, flower garlands, curls, fancifully curved frames, stucco patterns whimsically running along the walls, fences and ceilings, exquisite paintings, shaded with pearl haze - all this creates an atmosphere of delicacy and comfort. Such is the Rococo style, which existed for a short time in the 18th century, but left a bright mark in Russia - the exquisite and chamber Chinese Palace in Oranienbaum. Stylized oriental motives of decorative decoration and many original works of art from China and Japan give special sophistication to the Rococo interiors.
The interiors of the Chinese Palace preserve the original decoration of the 18th century: a rare collection of paintings by Italian artists, fine examples of Eastern and Western European porcelain, furniture by Russian and European masters. One of the main attractions of the palace are the unique parquet floors, made according to Rinaldi's drawings; they are unmatched in Russian arts and crafts. The original floors in the palace were made of reconstituted marble. In the 1770s, they were replaced by inlaid parquets made of various types of wood (there are up to 36 of them) - oak, maple, birch, rosewood, boxwood, mahogany and ebony, Persian walnut, sahardan (brown wood), amaranth and others. Parquets, which do not repeat in any room, amaze with their complex patterns and exquisite colors.
Glass bead study, Damask Bedchamber, Hall of the Muses, Blue and Pink drawing rooms ... These names themselves speak of the uniqueness of the palace premises, their enduring artistic and historical value. In the design of the interiors, Rinaldi used the richest arsenal of decorative forms inherent in the Rococo style, achieving a harmonious relationship between the decoration of the palace and its architecture.
The center of the symmetrical composition of the Chinese Palace is the Great Hall, from which the rooms extend along the northern facade in both directions ceremonial suite... Two wings adjoin the main volume of the building from the south at right angles, including small enfilades; the western suite housed the private chambers of Empress Catherine II, the eastern suite - the rooms of her son, Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich.
The Chinese Palace is located in the southwestern part of the Upper Park. In front of the palace there is a meadow with flower beds, and century-old oaks serve as side curtains and a background for it. In the 18th century, the park was designed in a regular French style, and a pool of regular geometric shape was "inscribed" into its composition. By the middle of the 19th century, the nature of the parkland had changed: the layout became free, and the Upper Park acquired a romantic look. The reservoir turned into a pond, and its banks took on a softer shape.
As a museum, the Chinese Palace opened in 1922. During the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945, Soviet troops defended the "Oranienbaum Piglet", which did not allow german army occupy Oranienbaum. The damage caused by the war did not distort the appearance of his monuments, and the skillful skill of the restorers only emphasized their highest artistic merit.
At the time of the first Romanov Mikhail Fedorovich Rubtsovo belonged to his mother, the nun Martha. Having become tsar, Mikhail liked to spend summer time in Pokrovskoye. In 1615, a wooden church in the name of St. Nicholas the WonderworkerMikhail raised him in gratitude for the salvation of Moscow from the Poles and in honor of the release of his father, Patriarch Filaret, from Polish captivity. Eight years later, the wooden temple was replaced by a stone one, a palace was built in which family celebrations were held.
IN 1619 g. in memory of the deliverance of Moscow from the troops of the Polish prince Vladislav the stone temple of the Intercession was laid Blessed Virgin Mary. According to the temple, the village became known as "Pokrovskoe, Rubtsovo identity", and then simply Pokrovskoe.
Church of the Intercession in Rubtsovo.
Mikhail Fedorovich himself was engaged in the arrangement of the royal estate. Nearby were stables, kitchens, bee hives, a brewery, a mill and other structures.
The constructed wooden palace was facing the road and the river Gnilushka. IN 1632 it was dammed up, due to which Rybinsk pond, (the remains of which were filled up in the 1920s). An orchard was laid out on the shore of the pond, where several years later unique trees, shrubs, medicinal herbs and flowers were planted and a stone gazebo was built.
In Pokrovskoye in 1627, the eldest daughter of Mikhail Fedorovich was born, Grand Duchess Irina Mikhailovna, in honor of whose heavenly patroness in the village was built church of the Martyr Irina... It was Irina Mikhailovna who got the Pokrovskoye property. Her brother, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, did not particularly favor the ancestral domain, although he regularly visited the estate, especially in spring, summer and during the hunting season.
The young Tsar Peter II also loved to hunt here. IN 1728 year he came to Moscow with his young aunt Elizaveta Petrovna, and she very soon introduced him to dog and falconry hunting in the vicinity of the First See. With their retinue, they often went hunting in Sokolniki and stayed in the old Pokrovsky Palace. The royal hunt became the theme of the famous painting by Valentin Serov.
However, at the beginning 1730 g... Peter II died. The niece of Peter I, Anna Ioannovna, ascended the throne. Elizaveta Petrovna found herself in disgrace, was expelled from St. Petersburg to Moscow and settled in her beloved Pokrovsky Palace with her relatives the Skavronsky and Gendrikovs. The palace became the residence of the crown princess for more than ten years.
There is a legend that Elizabeth, naturally having a cheerful disposition, participated in festive round dances composed of Pokrovsky maidens. She loved to dress up in a satin sundress and kokoshnik, weave a bright ribbon into a braid and sing ditties. This is very similar to Elizabeth, who, having already become an empress, loved to arrange metamorphosis carnivals, dressing up in a man's costume to show off her slender legs.
Ascending the throne in 1741 g.After the death of Anna Ioannovna, Elizabeth ruled for 20 years and all this time she did not forget her beloved Pokrovsky. Already at the end of February 1741, having arrived in Moscow for the coronation scheduled for April 25, and having barely visited the Kremlin cathedrals, Elizabeth left for Pokrovskoye, "to her winter home on the Yauza." In the autumn of the same year, by order of Elizabeth, her nephew, Duke Peter of Holstein, was brought there, whom she announced as her heir to the Russian throne as the closest blood relative.
At the same time, the heir adopted the Orthodox faith and began to be called Peter Fedorovich (Peter III). In February 1744, Princess Anhalt-Zerbst came to the Pokrovsky Palace with her 14-year-old daughter Sophia-Augusta-Frederica, who was destined for the bride to Peter Fedorovich. On June 28, Sophia-Augusta was chrismated, who received the name Ekaterina Alekseevna in Orthodoxy, and the next day she was betrothed to the heir to the throne.
Elizabeth visited Pokrovskoe from time to time and lived there for a long time, almost a year. At the site of the burned down in a fire 1737 years, she built herself palace made of stone... It was a risalit block with a double-height ceremonial hall and a system of suites intersecting at right angles. Typical, in general, for its time layout. But at the same time, the rooms were decorated in the "Chinese style"; there were a lot of dishes in the palace in the same style.
In 1752 Pokrovskoe became part of the city. The state of the estate at that time no longer satisfied the imperial court. Here is how the architect Ivan Yakovlev described the palace: “In this palace, the ceilings and roofs, covered with boards, fell into great decay; and the soap-house with chambers behind a lot of dilapidation must be rebuilt: and the palace will not be ordered to be re-covered with iron for strength: and beyond all rebuilding, will it not be commanded what to rebuild?
To draw up a new project for the expansion of the palace, F.-B. Rastrelli... A the architect wanted to add another floor, enhance the central part of the building and enrich the facades with Baroque decor and semicircular ramps adjacent to the protruding central projection. However, the building restructuring project was not implemented, and it remained in its original form until until the second half of the 19th century.
But the garden in Pokrovskoye was of great interest - one of the best in Moscow (planned by the same Rastrelli). Located in the form of a rectangle with a church in the center, it is penetrated by longitudinal and transverse fan-shaped alleys radiating from an oval platform around the church. The basis of the garden was made up of fruit trees and shrubs. The parterres were planted with pears, apple trees, plums, cherries and hazel trees. Walking along them, one could feast on his heart's content.
Already in 1760, Elizabeth undertook a search for Rastrelli's project and inquired if they had been stored in connection with it construction Materials? However, the matter stopped there.
Reconstruction project of the Pokrovsky Palace. Main facade. F.-B. Rastrelli, 1752 B., pen, ink, aqu. RGADA.
With the coming to power in Russia of Emperor Peter I, a grandiose era of transformations began in the state, which became the impetus for changes in urban planning and architecture.
Ekaterina's Golden Mansions
In 1703 the emperor founds new town - St. Petersburg, and already after 9 years construction of a small house for Empress Ekaterina Alekseevna, the wife of the monarch, begins. It was located on south bank Sinks and represented a small house with a turret, which ended with a gilded spire. The building was named "Golden Mansions". Subsequently, this area was named Tsaritsyn Lug and became part of the Summer Garden - a large royal estate. Exotic fruits such as pineapples and bananas were grown on its territory for the empress.
A few years after the construction, it was decided to build a grandiose palace, which would have been crowned with a tetrahedral dome, but the plan was not implemented.
Failed construction
In 1730-1740 in power was Empress Anna Ioannovna, who a few years before her death commissioned the architect Bartolomeo Rastrelli to build a palace on Tsaritsyn Luga, and this should have been done as soon as possible. However, the death of the Empress did not allow the architect to proceed with the execution of her order. Her successor, Anna Leopoldovna, also wanted to build her own palace on this site, the construction was entrusted to the same Rastrelli. In February 1741, the architect prepared the necessary drawings, but it did not work to present them to the empress: in March, a coup d'etat was carried out, and Empress Elizabeth Petrovna came to power.
Bartolomeo Francesco Rastrelli
The Summer Palace of Elizabeth Petrovna was created by Bartolomeo Francesco Rastrelli, the greatest architect of the 18th century. He came from an Italian aristocratic family and bore the title of count. His father was the sculptor Carlo Rastrelli, who worked for a long time at the court of the French Sun King Louis, and after the death of the latter he was invited by the Russian emperor to Russia.
Bartolomeo with early years he was attracted by his father to work on various projects, went to study in Europe. The first documented work of Rastrelli in Russia was the three-story palace of Dmitry Cantemir, built in the style of Peter the Great's Baroque.
In the 1730s Rastrelli was engaged in the construction of the Rundale Palace and the palace in Mitava, which he was building by order of the Duke of Courland. It was on the recommendation of Biron of Courland that Rastrelli became a court architect.
Rastrelli's architectural style
Bartolomeo created a unique style in architecture. So, he began to use semicircular endings of windows on facades, and he usually assembled half-columns in pairs and bundles. External columns usually did not play a constructive role, but were intended only for decoration. His palaces were characterized by huge ceremonial halls, covering the entire depth of the floor, and when decorating the interiors, he tried to avoid crooked lines. All of its buildings are characterized by screaming power, grandeur and solemnity, even pomp. Rastrelli abandoned the traditional strip foundations for that time, preferring platforms made of brick and stone based on piles, which, in turn, made it possible to partially redistribute the loads, and this was very important for the weak soils of St. Petersburg.
Creations of the great architect
The great architect, in addition to the Rundale and Mitava palaces, built such structures that have become landmarks:
- The Great Peterhof Palace.
- St. Andrew's Church in Kiev.
- Smolny Cathedral in St. Petersburg.
- Vorontsov Palace.
- Hermitage Museum.
- Winter Palace.
- Tsar's Palace in Kiev, etc.
Lost buildings of the architect
Some of its buildings are currently lost:
- Kantemirovsky Palace.
- Throne room on the Yauza.
- Anna Ioannovna's Winter Palace.
- Winter Kremlin Palace.
- Summer Palace of Elizaveta Petrovna.
- Travel Srednerogatsky Palace.
The history of the construction of the Summer Palace of Elizaveta Petrovna
The exact date of laying the foundation of the palace has not been preserved. According to one version, during the laying of the foundation in July 1941, Anna Leopoldovna and her husband, Prince Anton Ulrich, were present, according to another, the laying took place a month earlier. However, the spouses were not condemned to live in the new palace.
Rastrelli received the order to finish the started palace from the crown princess Elizabeth Petrovna, who became the empress. The construction was completed in 1743 - it was the first palace of the empress, built personally for her, and the empress liked it so much that she doubled the architect's salary - up to 2,500 rubles a year.
The empress used the summer residence from May to September annually, this time she devoted to her vacation, almost not doing important state affairs. In 1754, it was here that the Grand Duke Pavel, the son of Ekaterina Alekseevna, was born, and here Elizaveta Petrovna arranged celebrations for the end of the seven-year war and the conclusion of peace with Prussia. Then the empress began to visit the palace less and less, spending more time in Tsarskoe Selo, and the palace gradually began to decay.
Summer Palace of Elizaveta Petrovna: description
The architecture of the Summer Palace is such that it is simply impossible not to notice that the author of the project was impressed by the French Versailles. The building is inherent in the traditional Baroque seclusion of the ensemble of the ceremonial courtyard in front of the palace. There is no detailed description of Rastrelli's brainchild, but some memories of the imperial estate have been found.
So, the summer residence of Elizabeth Petrovna consisted of 160 apartments, there were both the personal chambers of the tsarina and numerous halls, galleries and even a church. In order to get to the territory of the palace, it was necessary to pass through wide openwork gates made of lattices, crowned with gilded eagles. According to the architect, "everything was decorated with mirrors and rich sculpture, as well as the new garden, decorated with beautiful fountains, with the Hermitage, built on the ground floor level, surrounded by rich trellises, all of which were gilded."
The room had two facades. The main one was facing the Moika, in front of it were placed flower beds and neat trees, which turned this territory into a park. The second façade turned towards Nevsky Prospekt, where, on the orders of Bartolomeo, a wide road was laid, along which there were numerous greenhouses with flowers and trees.
The first floor of the Summer Palace of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna was made of stone, but the second was completely wooden. The building is designed in pink, while the basement rooms are in gray. The basement was tiled with green granite. Inside the palace, all rooms were decorated with Bohemian mirrors, marble sculptures and paintings by famous artists. On the ground floor, the Hermitage was built, where paintings of religious and biblical content were kept, some of them have survived to this day.
The main building housed the Great Hall, with the royal throne on the western wall. In order to get to the Throne Room, it was necessary to pass a series of drawing rooms and a huge grand staircase decorated with gilded carvings. The throne room impressed with its grandeur, which was further emphasized by the cunning arrangement of candelabra and chandeliers, which gave the impression of a two-height volume. Several figured staircases also led to the Throne Room from the side of the garden, each of which was complemented by ramps. The imperial chambers were located in the eastern wing of the palace, and the courtiers lived in the western wing. Each of the premises of the palace was lavishly decorated with various statues and vases. The facade of the building was crowned with numerous balustrades.
Palace park
The entire territory of the palace complex was surrounded by a decorative park. There were also magnificent fountains on the territory of the garden, and the park itself was a complex labyrinth of green spaces. On the territory of the complex, Rastrelli created three unusual fountain pools of complex shapes. Small gazebos and benches were equipped throughout the park, and in the center were carousels, swings and slides. Also, according to the architect's idea, two artificial trapezoidal semicircular ponds were created, which, by the way, have survived to this day.
Subsequent changes
Francesco Rastrelli continued to work on the empress's summer residence over the years. So, he was engaged in decorating the walls with figured trims, atlantes and lion masks, 9 years after the completion of construction, he added a new gallery hall on the north-eastern side of the palace. The Empress was only pleased with such constant changes, while the owner the architectural integrity of the building was of little interest.The main thing is that the new buildings are as luxurious as possible.
In 1745, by order of the Empress, a covered gallery was built to move from the palace to the Summer Garden, its walls were lavishly decorated with art canvases. In 1747, the architect created a terrace with a fountain in the center, located on the same level with the Hermitage pavilion. It was fenced with a gilded lattice along the entire perimeter.
A little later on the territory summer palace a church appears, which expands the palace complex from the Fontanka side, and bay windows appear on the western side of the facade.
On the territory of the palace, Rastrelli also built water towers with aqueducts, which were also lavishly decorated with paintings.
Catherine period
The Summer Palace of Elizabeth Petrovna in St. Petersburg became the site of the triumph of Catherine II. It was here that she organized an official reception for foreign diplomats after her accession to the throne, and here she learned about the death of Peter III. Not living in the residence, Catherine granted her first to Grigory Orlov, then to Grigory Potemkin.
In 1777, there was a flood that severely damaged the already dilapidated palace. Nobody began to restore the damaged water cannon, and the aqueduct was dismantled.
The summer palace of Elizabeth Petrovna was demolished in 1797 by order of Emperor Paul I. A few weeks after accession to the throne, he ordered the construction of a new impregnable castle-fortress on the site of an already dilapidated building, since the emperor did not want to live in the Winter Palace. There is a legend according to which the archangel Michael appeared to one of the guard soldiers, who ordered that the tsar be told about the need to build a church on the site of the palace, which was included in the complex of the Mikhailovsky castle. This is exactly how in the place of the Elizabethan summer residence in 1800 the Mikhailovsky Castle was built. The decoration of Elizabeth's summer residence was neatly folded and taken out to other royal estates.
How to get to the Summer Palace of Elizabeth Petrovna? Unfortunately, it has not survived. On the site of the Summer Palace of Elizabeth Petrovna (address: St. Petersburg, Sadovaya Street, 2), there is currently Mikhailovsky, or the Engineering Castle. In order to get to the castle, it is enough to use the metro, you need to get off at the station "Nevsky Prospect" or "Gostiny Dvor".
The royal estate founded by Peter I. Here, near the junction of the Moika and the Fontanka, Empress Anna Ioannovna, shortly before her death, ordered the architect FB Rastrelli to build the palace "with extreme haste." During her lifetime, the architect did not have time to start this work.
In late 1740 - early 1741, Anna Leopoldovna, who took power into her own hands, also decided to build her house on this place. On her behalf, Governor-General Minich ordered Rastrelli to draw up a corresponding project. The drawings were ready by the end of February 1741. But the architect was in no hurry to provide them to Munnich, but took the documents to the Gough-quartermaster office, which postponed the approval of the project for several weeks. Probably, Rastrelli guessed about the imminent change in power and was in no hurry to carry out the order. The architect was right. On March 3, St. Petersburg was informed of Minich's resignation. On November 24, a palace coup took place, as a result of which the daughter of Peter I, Elizabeth, came to power. By this time, the Summer Palace had already been laid.
There are different versions in the local history literature regarding the date of the foundation of the palace. The historian Yuri Ovsyannikov in his book "The Great Architects of Petersburg" writes that it took place on July 24, 1741 in the presence of the ruler Anna Leopoldovna, her husband Generalissimo Anton Ulrich, courtiers and guards. Georgy Zuev in his book "The Moyka River Flows" calls the month of the laying of the Summer Palace not July, but June. KV Malinovsky adheres to the same opinion in the book "St. Petersburg of the 18th century".
The new house became known as the Summer Palace of Elizaveta Petrovna. Immediately after accession to the throne, she entrusted Rastrelli with the completion of its interior decoration. The building was roughly finished by 1743. The palace became the first own house of Elizaveta Petrovna, in which no one had lived before her. As a reward for this work, the Empress raised the architect's salary from 1,200 to 2,500 rubles a year.
The summer palace of Elizaveta Petrovna was connected to Nevsky Prospekt by a road running along the Fontanka. The entrance to the building was flanked by a one-story kitchen and a guardhouse. Between them there was a gate decorated with gilded two-headed eagles. Behind them is the front yard. The main facade of the palace was facing the Summer Garden, to which a covered gallery bridge led from 1745 across the Moika. The first floor of the building was stone, on which rested light pink stucco walls. White window frames and pilasters stood out against their background. The ground floor of the palace was faced with greenish granite.
In the central building there was a double-height Great Hall with a royal throne at the western wall. The Empress lived in the eastern wing of the palace, on the side of the Fontanka. The courtiers lived in the west wing. Rastrelli wrote about the Summer Palace of Elizabeth Petrovna as follows:
"The building had more than one hundred and sixty apartments, including the church, hall and galleries. Everything was decorated with mirrors and rich sculptures, as well as a new garden decorated with beautiful fountains, with the Hermitage built on the ground floor level, surrounded by rich trellises, all decorations which were gilded "[Cit. by 1, p. 264].
In the aforementioned Hermitage, built in 1746, according to the testimony of Jacob Stehlin, paintings of exclusively religious and biblical content were kept. Some of them are now in the State Hermitage and Pavlovsk Palace. The halls of the Summer Palace of Elizabeth Petrovna were decorated with Bohemian mirrors, marble sculptures and paintings by famous artists.
Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli was not completely satisfied with this work of his. Ten years after the completion of construction, he was still finishing and reworking something. The walls of the building were decorated with figured window frames, atlantes, lion masks and mascarons. In 1752 Rastrelli added a "new large gallery hall" to the northeastern corner of the palace. The owner of the palace had little interest in the architectural integrity of the building. The main thing for her was only the luxury of the surrounding space.
The Empress moved to the Summer Palace from the Winter Palace with her entire court on April 30. Return - September 30. Here Elizabeth took a break from her public service. In the Summer Palace, she preferred only to rest.
Here in 1754 was born and spent the first years of his life, the Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich, the future Emperor Paul I. The summer palace of Elizabeth Petrovna in 1762 became a place for celebrations on the occasion of the conclusion of peace with Prussia after the end of the Seven Years War.
For Catherine II, the Summer Palace of Elizabeth Petrovna became the place where she received official congratulations from the diplomatic corps in connection with her accession to the throne. Within its walls, she heard the news of the death of Peter III.
In the first month of the reign of Paul I, on November 28, 1796, a decree was issued: " to build with haste a new impregnable palace-castle for the permanent residence of the sovereign. To stand in the place of the dilapidated Summer House". The Emperor did not want to live in the Winter Palace. He preferred to live in the place where he was born. So, allegedly, it was decided to build a new palace, which replaced the Summer Palace of Elizabeth Petrovna.
