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The Italian Antonio Rinaldi, 1709-1790,
arrived in Saint Petersburg in 1752. In Oranienbaum, presently Lomonosov, he
erected a modest Chinese house for Elizabeth, with gardens and a hill for
tobagganing. In 1768 Catherine commissioned him to build a marble palace for
her favorite, count Orlov. Rinaldi decided to follow the new trend in
architecture toward restrained external embellishments, and produced a rather
stern looking edifice which was, though, pleasant and luxurious inside.
Replaced by Potomkin as Catherine's lover, Orlov died before the palace was
completed. Another creation by Rinaldi was the simple but very elegant chateau
which he built for Catherine in 1770, near the town of Gatchina, some twenty
miles southwest of Saint Petersburg. He surrounded it with lovely parks that
stretched all the way down to a large lake.
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