Pavlovsk Pavlovsk is a suberb palace and park ensemble, dating from the late 18th to the 19th century, Pavlovsk was a summer residence of the Russian emperor Paul I and his family. Its architects were amongst the greatest of the period: Cameron, Brenna, Quarenghi, Voronikhin and Rossi. The landscape park, one of the largest in Europe, covers an area of 600 hectares.
The formation of the Pavlovsk Palace collections was closely connected with the journey by its owners through Europe in 1781-82. They visited workshops of well-known artists, ordering and acquiring paintings, furniture, bronze articles, silk fabrics, china sets, etc. They also brought back to Russia a large number of antique sculptures from Italy, and gifts from European royal courts. Many of these treasures are on view, together with an excellent collection of portraits by Russian artists, and a number of Pavlovsk landscape paintings and drawings.
The centerpiece of the Pavlovsk ensemble is the Great Palace, a marvellous specimen of Russian Classicism of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. It was built by Charles Cameron between 1782 and 1786. Being an admirer of the antique art, Cameron lent to all his creations an air of classical austerity and elegance. Comparatively small, the Great Palace didn't startle by its dimensions or by sumptuousness of its decor, it grips imagination with its perfect harmony, proportionality and elegance. The interior decoration was in keeping with the austere architecture of the building.
When Paul I ascended the throne, this simplicity could no longer satisfy him and he commissioned Vincenzo Brenna to enlarge the complex. The new architect substantially altered the exterior and interior of the palace, imparting to it a stately and solemn appearance. He added a gallery, extended the sevice blocks and attached a chapel, as a result of which the main courtyard became almost enclosed. Brenna adorned the facades with decorative stuccowork in the form of knights' armour and created a suite of new state apartments - the Throne Hall, the Hall of Gentlemen in Waiting, the Picture Gallery, the Hall of War, the Hall of Peace and others.
After the death of Paul I the mistress of the imperial residence was Maria Feodorovna, the late emperor's widow. The building works were carried on up to the 1820s. Such eminent architects as Carlo Rossi, Giacomo Quarenghi, Andrey Voronikhin, Thomas de Thomon, the sculptors Ivan Martos, Fiodor Gordeyev and others contributed to the decoration of Pavlovsk.
Especially great was the role of Andrey Voronikhin who was in charge of reconstruction works in the palace after the fire of 1803. He not only revived the gutted interiors but built his famous Little Lantern as well.
Working on the interiors of the palace was also the brilliant decorator and landscape designer Pietro Gonzaga. After the 1830s no additions of any importance were made to the decoration of the Pavlovsk Great Palace.
Soon after the October Revolution Pavlovsk was converted into an art and history museum, the doors of the Pavlovsk Great Palace were thrown open to the people, and it became one of the most visited museum complexes.
During the War of 1941-1945 Pavlovsk suffered tremendous damage. The town was occupied by the Nazis, who plundered the palace, destroyed many pavilions and felled nearly 70,000 trees.
Restoration and reconstruction work was begun immediately after the war. Many decades seemed to be needed to restore the complex. Nowadays thousands of Russian and foreign visitors come to see Pavlovsk reborn and beautiful as ever.
 Among the palace-and-park ensembles encircling Saint-Petersburg in a green belt, the Pavlovsk complex of landscape combined with architecture was the latest to come into being. This is an outstanding landmark of the Russian culture of the late 18th - early 19th century. Work commenced on the grounds in 1777 to implement the project of a country house for Grand Duke Paul, the son of Catherine II, who was later crowned as Emperor Paul I. Outstanding architects, sculptors and artists were commissioned to lay out a huge park covering about 600 hectares and build the Palace and park structures. Their concepts were brought to life by landscape architects, gardeners and hundreds of workmen and peasants from local villages. The initial period when the park was taking shape was rather important though it lasted less than a decade. That time is associated with architect Charles Cameron who conceived the layout of the Pavlovsk Park.
Cameron supervised construction of the pavilions known as the Temple to Friendship, Aviary, Dairy and Apollo Colonnade, laying of the Triple Lime Avenue and narrow walks lending special charm to the Palace Area scenery and building of bridges spanning the Slavianka River. The Pavlovsk Great Palace, a true jewel of Cameron's work, stands on a high hill visible from the most remote nooks of the park.
The second stage of the park formation is tied with the Italian architect Vincenzo Brenna who designed exquisitely beautiful and original areas of the Old and New Sylvia. Vincenzo Brenna integrated bronze statuary into the landscapes of the Old Sylvia, laid the Great Circles in the Palace or Central Area decorated with marble statuary and flower parterres, built a large stone stairway called Italian, and finished both banks of the Slavianka River from the Visconti Bridge to the Pill-Tower Bridge harmonizing them with the Green and Stone Amphitheaters. The Pill-Tower Pavilion, Ruin Cascade and steps leading to it, the trellis and bridge by the northern wing of the Palace, the Centaur Bridge and the Stone Stairway descending to the Marienthal Pond, Theatre Gate and other structures built by V. Brenna made the scenery more versatile and poetic.
In 1983 the Pavlovsk palace-and-park ensemble was granted the status of a State museum preserve. The Pavlovsk Park today is a major center of aesthetic education and a place of pilgrimage for numerous visitors.
The Palace is open daily, except Fridays, and the first Monday of every month, from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. |
