Wandering Camera

Album 180
(Translated by
Larissa Rogacheva)

 

Today we are looking at Catherine The Great’s Palace in Pushkin (Tzarskoe Selo). This is the last spring album. However, the next few albums will contain altogether, my photos taken during the spring and the summer as well. So, do not be alarmed by appearing and disappearing grass in the pictures…

 

In 1752 the Empress Elizabeth (the daughter of Peter I) signed the order to build a new Palace to replace the old wooden one, constructed in 1717 for her mother and Peter’s second wife Ecaterina I (Catherine I).

Through the years, architects I. Braunstein, I. Ferster, M.Zemtsov, A. Kvasov, S. Chevakinskiy and eventually B. Rasstrelli supervised the construction.

The Palace was officially open in 1756; Francesco Bartholomew Rasstrelli put 8 years of his life in to it and created an unmatched masterpiece of Russian Baroque architecture.

The full length of the Catherine The Great’s Palace is 325 m.

The Palace looks very similar to the Winter Palace, which is understandable: same architect- B. Rasstrelli, same style- Russian Baroque.

The Central Part Of The Palace.
The decorative reliefs – cartouches are made from the models by the sculptor I. Dunker.
By the time of Catherine II (The Great) the gold leaf on the cartouches was worn out. At that time Catherine did try to control the court’s spending, so paint replaced gold leaf…

In order to “economize” some courtiers were required to simplify their wardrobes, staff was laid off…and so on…and so forth… This trend did not stay for long, as the Empress soon discovered that progressive views are bit lame…

But by the look of things the paint stayed on …

 
Rasstrelly partly preserved the structure of the old Palace.

The “Middle House”(on the picture), has two sides each with a gallery leading to the “Church” and “Zubov” Wings.

In 1918 after the revolution Catherine The Great’s Palace was opened as a museum.
Now, let’s have a look at another side of the Palace.

On the left we see the part of “The Lyceum”. On the right is The Church Wing of the Palace. Built in 1782-1783 (architect I.V. Neelov)

On the other side of the Palace (about 300m to the right, outside the picture) is The Zubov Wing (architect Y.Felten, 1779-1785)
 

The beautiful Onion canopies signify the palace church.

But they are a completely decorative structure and cannot be seen from the church’s interior.

Just more to the right: “The Iron Gate”.

Made in 1749 by metal master Cordoni by Rasstrelli’s project.

Through the Gate we can get into the Main Ceremonial Courtyard (and look back)
The monogram “E” and “I” is for Ecaterina (Catherine) I and that is why Catherine The Great’s Palace has this name.
The view from “The Iron Gate”.

Apparently in Rasstrelli’s eyes it was the most important view of his creation.

The Main Ceremonial Courtyard façade. Behind us is “The Golden Gate”. At the time of horses and carriages it used to be The Main Entrance of the Empress’s residence.
The Golden Gate
The metal work is by the master Volkov.
Inside the Courtyard.

The architect A. Kvasov built the long pincers of servicing rooms and workshops in 1744-1745.

The general view at The Palace.

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