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ST PETERSBURG - GATCHINA

 
 

We have not yet been to Gatchina. Pending the opportunity to visit and photograph the palace, we have here several paintings from our collection. These invoke the feeling of the late 18th century. They are recent but are copied after thee work of Semyon Fyodorovich Shedrin, circa 1800.
Gatchina village was quite old already when Catherine II decided to have a palace built there for her lover, Count Grigori Orlov, who had been intrumental in staging the palace coup that brought her to the throne. Work began in 1766 and Catherine took a personal interest in its design and execution. The interior was completed in 1777. Catherine chose Antonio Rinaldi as architect for this project. His orders were to build a country house rather than a sumptuous palace on the Peterhof - Tsarskoye Selo model. However the central section didn't remain alone for long, as Rinaldi added two semicircular wings with balconies. Inside also the design was relatively simple, without guilding, yet elegant. After Orlov died Catherine purchased the estate from his heirs and gave it to her son, Paul Petrovich. Naturally Paul hated the idea that Gatchina had been built for his father's "murderer". Nevertheless he eventually grew fond of the palace and turned it into his own miniature military regime. He added the stone bastions and dug moats. He employed Vincenzo Brenna to redecorate the interior, especially the Marble Dining Room, Crimson Drawing Room, State Bedroom and Throne Room. But Paul already had a fine palace at Pavlovsk. But once he was Emperor Paul decided to construct four throne rooms at Gatchina, two for himself, one for his wife, Maria Fyedorovna, and one for his son, Alexander I. Paul employed Vincenzo Brenna for this task.
The palace was abandoned by Paul's son, Alexander I. The estate was again occupied by Nicholas I for use by his military staff. He put his army through its paces each summer with maneuvers at Gatchina. At that time Nicholas supervised the addition of two more sections added to each side of the main palace. Tsars Alexander II, Alexander III and Nicholas II used the place infrequently and did little to change it.
During World War II the German army nearly destroyed the palace and what artifacts the museum staff had been unable to remove.

 
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Two guards regiment officers in palace grounds with palace in background.

 
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Two officers and a drummer boy in the palace grounds.

 
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An officer walking in palace grounds.

 
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Two guards regiment officers and their ladies by the lake on palace grounds.

 
 

For color prints please mail to Xenophon Group.

 

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