Summer palace of empress elizabeth petrovna. Summer palace of elizabeth petrovna

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 with 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 Nikolsky Naval Cathedral, the Winter Palace were built, the ensemble of the Smolny Monastery 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 erected the best buildings in St. Petersburg. These are the Winter Palace, twice rebuilt by him, Anichkov, Vorontsov, Stroganov palaces; Big Peterhof Palace, Tsarskoye Selo (Catherine) Palace, Smolny Monastery and other buildings. Looking at the cathedral of the Smolny Monastery, Quarenghi, who did not like the Elizabethan Baroque architecture, 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. Wooden palace, although it was built as a temporary one, was finished with great luxury.
By that time, Nevsky Prospect had become the best street in the city. Elizabeth monitored its improvement. Decrees were issued prohibiting building on main street city ​​wooden buildings. Only stone houses were erected 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 off with a patterned cast-iron lattice. In 1755, the reconstruction of the Gostiny Dvor began. Rastrelli's plan, distinguished by the great splendor of the decoration of the building, was not implemented due to lack of funding. Now we see the building of the 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 her 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, for appearance whom she very 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 baldly, and to 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 a time when the Baroque style reigned in art, which matched the merry character of the Empress with her whims and love of luxury. Architectural masterpieces Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli, who still amaze us with grace, luxury and splendor, is 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 the throne 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 Years' War began, and construction stopped for 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 St. 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, in which in 1732 the Gentry Cadet Corps for young nobles was opened. The first Russian tragedy "Khorev" was staged here, and the actors of Fyodor Volkov's troupe were housed 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.
Balls and masquerades followed each other, competing among themselves in splendor and splendor. But against the background of this seemingly endless holiday in St. Petersburg there were important events... Petersburg of that 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.
While creating the Academy of Sciences in his time, 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 the 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: “Not a single person is forbidden to study 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 increased 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, Fedor 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. All outstanding Russian navigators and admirals left the pier where the monument to Kruzenstern stands.

St. Petersburg, noisy Elizabethan times, no longer resembled the modest Petrine "Paradise". By this time, a favorable environment for the development of the economy had developed in the city. He no longer demanded exceptional measures to attract the population and finance. Increasing needs new capital transformed this whole region for many kilometers around. Carts with building material, food, various products of local crafts were drawn in thousands from the Novgorod, Pskov, Olonets provinces. Ships from Europe, barges, boats, rafts were looking for hundreds of places to moor at the marinas of the city.
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, to shoot from 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 fighting efficiency of the Russian army, which defeated the hitherto invincible troops of Frederick the Great. And this is with the eternal Russian confusion, theft in the rear, ill-considered strategic plans.

The royal estate founded by Peter I. Here, near the junction of the Moika and 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 Munnich 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's 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. Historian Yuri Ovsyannikov in his book "Great Architects of St. 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 foundation stone of the Summer Palace not July, but June. The same opinion is shared by K.V. Malinovsky in his book "St. Petersburg of the 18th century".

The new house became known as the Summer Palace of Elizabeth 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 private house of Elizabeth 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 was a gate decorated with gilded two-headed eagles. Behind them is the front yard. The main facade of the palace faced 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 plaster 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 a church, a 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, Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich, the future Emperor Paul I. The summer palace of Elizabeth Petrovna in 1762 became the place of 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 him in the place of a dilapidated Summer home ". The emperor did not want to live in Winter palace... He chose to live in the place where he was born. So the decision was supposedly made to build a new palace, which replaced the Summer Palace of Elizabeth Petrovna.

In the 18th century, the imperial favorites were very significant people in the state, they often influenced politics and participated in palace intrigues. The favorites were given expensive gifts, including palaces that were built by the best architects of St. Petersburg. "Kultura.RF" remembered the most interesting mansions of the imperial favorites.

Anichkov Palace

Photo: A.Savin

Mikhail Zemtsov began building the Anichkov Palace immediately after the coronation of Empress Elizabeth, and Bartolomeo Rastrelli was finishing the construction. The empress presented a luxurious baroque mansion to her favorite, Alexei Razumovsky. There were rumors among his contemporaries (however, not confirmed by historians) that Razumovsky was Elizabeth's secret husband and the father of her illegitimate son. The Anichkov Palace got its name years later, when the Anichkov Bridge was built nearby.

Later, the mansion was redecorated more than once. And Catherine II bought the building from Razumovsky's relatives and presented it to her favorite, Grigory Potemkin. She also gave Potemkin 100 thousand rubles for the reconstruction of the palace, which was entrusted to Ivan Starov. The architect made the palace more austere and monotonous, as dictated by the classicism fashionable in those years. Later, the building was rebuilt many more times: Giacomo Quarenghi by decree of Alexander I, Carl Rossi - for Nicholas I. Alexander II and Alexander III lived here. Today, the Anichkov Palace houses the Palace of Youth Creativity.

Shuvalov's mansion

Photo: Florstein

The mansion of another favorite of Elizabeth Petrovna, Ivan Shuvalov, is located not far from the Anichkov Palace. From both buildings it was possible to quickly reach the Empress's Summer Palace. Shuvalov's mansion was designed in 1749 by Savva Chevakinsky. He built a three-story baroque building, about which Catherine II wrote: "From the outside, this house, although very huge, resembled in its decorations cuffs of Alencon lace, there were so many different decorations on it."... Subsequently, the building was owned by Prince Ivan Baryatinsky and Prosecutor General Alexander Vyazemsky, who ordered to rebuild it in the classical style. Later, the mansion belonged to various government departments, and today it houses the Museum of Hygiene.

Marble palace

Photo: A.Savin

Grigory Orlov was one of the favorites of Catherine II, he became the father of her illegitimate son, Count Alexei Bobrinsky. The empress gave Orlov many gifts, one of which was the palace. In 1768, Catherine II ordered the architect Antonio Rinaldi to build it near the imperial residence.

Later, the palace was named Marble: during its design, the builders used 32 varieties of this stone - on the external facades and in the interiors. The walls of one of the most beautiful halls were faced with Italian, Greek, Karelian and Ural marble, as well as lapis lazuli. The Main Staircase and its decor - sculptures by Fedot Shubin were made of silvery marble.

Grigory Orlov died before the end of construction, and Catherine presented the palace to her grandson Konstantin Pavlovich. However, one of Catherine's favorites still lived in this palace, after the death of the empress. In 1797-1798, the former Polish king Stanislaw August Poniatowski settled here.

Today, the Marble Palace houses a branch of the Russian Museum.

Gatchina palace

Photo: Litvyak Igor / photobank "Lori"

The reign of Elizabeth I was marked by a new stage in the development of architecture in the state, the emergence of the Elizabethan (Russian) baroque. Built under the leadership of the chief architect of the Empress R.F. Bartolomeo's architectural monuments had a clear European influence, however, they were characterized by a Russian scale and monumentality. One of these masterpieces was the Summer Palace of Elizabeth Petrovna in St. Petersburg, which in style, lightness of architectural forms and richness of decoration was compared with the French royal palace at Versailles.

Geographical location and architectural features of the Summer Palace of Elizabeth

We can get an idea of ​​how Elizabeth's Summer Palace looked from paintings and engravings, as well as from the memoirs of contemporaries. The imperial residence was located on the site between the street. Italian, Catherine canal, Moika and Fontanka rivers. The palace was built in the 3rd Summer Garden, where the Mikhailovsky (also known as the Engineering) castle is located today.

According to the project, the palace provided for the presence of two facades overlooking the Moika (main) and in the direction of Nevsky Prospekt. In front of the main entrance to the building, a regularly operating park with trees and figured flower beds, benches and fountains was laid out. Visitors entered the courtyard through a wrought-iron gate.

Summer Palace of Elizabeth Petrovna Bartolomeo Francesco Rastrelli had a second name - the Wooden Palace. Only the basement and walls of the first floor were made of stone, the second was entirely made of wood. The outer walls, in pink and gray, looked elegant and light. The interior was decorated with rich stucco with gilding, sculptures and a large number of mirrors. The luxurious and elegant palace included more than 160 rooms, including a hall for receptions and galleries.

Favorite residence of Elizabeth Petrovna

The entire courtyard of Elizabeth I moved to the Summer Palace from the Winter Palace as soon as it got warmer: in April - May. The move was arranged solemnly, with a cannon salute and an orchestra, accompanied by a Guards regiment. The return to the winter residence at the end of September was no less pompous.

Elizabeth loved her Summer Palace. It regularly hosted official receptions and balls. The future Emperor Paul I was born here.

Summer Palace of Elizabeth: the history of construction

The idea of ​​erecting a summer imperial residence appeared even under Anna Leopoldovna - regent under the young Ivan VI, to whom the throne passed after Anna Ioannovna. The architect began to develop the drawings at the end of 1740, and in July 1741 construction work began. In the same year, a coup took place and Elizaveta Petrovna, the youngest daughter of Peter the Great, came to power. The new empress approved the continuation of the construction of the palace and the work was carried out from 1741 to 1744. Historically, the construction was not carried out exactly according to the project. So, at the direction of Elizabeth through the river. A covered gallery was built for the sink to go from the palace to the 2nd Summer Garden.

After the death of Elizabeth I, the palace remained an imperial residence, festive events at the end of the seven-year war with Prussia, and Catherine II in it received official congratulations on the coronation from foreign ambassadors, although she spent most of her time in Tsarskoe Selo. By the decree of Paul I, the Summer Palace was destroyed in 1797 (officially - due to dilapidation), and in its place the modern Mikhailovsky Castle, which we know, was built, which became the residence of the emperor.

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 the construction of a small house for Empress Ekaterina Alekseevna, the wife of the monarch, begins. It was located on south coast 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. On its territory, exotic fruits were grown for the empress: pineapples and bananas.

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 the Empress Anna Ioannovna, who several years before her death instructed 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'état was carried out, and Empress Elizaveta 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 the facades, and usually assembled semicircular columns in pairs and beams. 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 for that time strip foundations, 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:

1. Great Peterhof Palace.
2. St. Andrew's Church in Kiev.
3. Smolny Cathedral in St. Petersburg.
4. Vorontsov Palace.
5. Hermitage Museum.
6. Winter Palace.
7. Royal Palace in Kiev, etc.

Lost buildings of the architect

Some of his buildings on this moment lost:

• Kantemirovsky Palace.
• Throne room on the Yauza.
• Anna Ioannovna's Winter Palace.
• Winter Kremlin Palace.
• Summer Palace of Elizabeth Petrovna.
• Travel Srednerogatsky Palace.

The history of the construction of the Summer Palace of Elizabeth 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 was present with her husband, Prince Anton Ulrich, 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 on the occasion of 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 Elizabeth 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. Detailed Description Rastrelli's brainchild is gone, but some memories of the imperial estate were 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, one had to go 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 decorations 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 was facing Nevsky Prospekt, where, by order 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. The Hermitage was built on the level of the first floor, where paintings of religious and biblical content were kept, some of them have survived to this day.

The main building housed the Great ceremonial hall, at the western wall of which the royal throne was located. In order to get into the Throne Room, it was necessary to pass a series of drawing rooms and a huge front 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 rooms 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. Throughout the park, small gazebos and benches were equipped, 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 platbands, 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, a church appears on the territory of the summer palace, 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 his 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 how the Mikhailovsky Castle was built on the site of the Elizabethan summer residence in 1800. 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), the Mikhailovsky, or Engineer Castle, is currently located. In order to get to the castle, it is enough to use the metro, you need to get off at the station "Nevsky Prospekt" or "Gostiny Dvor".