The Chinese palace in Oranienbaum is designed in style. Chinese Palace of Catherine II in Oranienbaum. When can you visit the palace?

TO chinese palace - pearl palace and park ensemble"Oranienbaum".
This is the only surviving monument of architecture in the Rococo style in Russia. This year he celebrates his 250th birthday. The gift to the hero of the day was a multi-year restoration that brought back to life a unique creation of the 18th century. Alas, it is not finished yet, but they will be allowed into the museum...

Chinese palace unlike anything else Historical building, this is an exceptional example of Russian Rococo in its value.

Interest in China first arose in Rus' at the end of the 15th century, when merchants began to bring Far Eastern fabrics to Moscow. And by the middle of the 18th century, all more or less wealthy St. Petersburg houses were furnished with Chinese things. The royal court set the tone for this fashion for “chinoiserie”, the Chinese style.

Since 1743, Oranienbaum was owned by Grand Duke Peter Fedorovich, the future Emperor Peter III. His wife Catherine II, after coming to power, erected the “Own Dacha” complex of buildings in the Upper Park. The Chinese Palace is one of the most famous buildings of this complex. It got its name from the decoration of some of the rooms. There was a large collection of Chinese decorative arts and Japanese porcelain. The construction and decoration of the palace was carried out by the Italian architect Antonio Rinaldi.

The main attractions of the palace are the glass cabinet and unique parquet floors. The walls of the office are decorated with 12 panels - these are canvases on which embroidery is made with glass beads and multi-colored fleecy silk - chenille. The palace's unique parquet floors are made of mahogany and ebony, amaranth, boxwood, Persian walnut, and maple. “A true miracle, full of wonders of the eighteenth century,” wrote Igor Grabar about the Chinese Palace.

In the second half XIX century the new owners of Oranienbaum - descendants of the family of Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich - significantly updated the buildings, changing their interiors according to the fashion of their time. During the Great Patriotic War, Oranienbaum was not destroyed; its buildings have been preserved and have survived to this day as authentic buildings of the 18th century.

The boudoir, called the Picturesque Study in the 18th century, completes the eastern suite of rooms in the Chinese Palace.

The second stage of restoration work lasted four years. In the third year, they began general construction work - they reconstructed the subfloors and interfloor ceilings; A system for maintaining temperature and humidity conditions was installed in the building. And only the fourth year was spent on the actual restoration of the interiors. Three halls of the Chinese Palace were restored: the Shtofnaya bedchamber, the boudoir and the office of Paul I. “We carried out the most conservative restoration,” explained Mikhail Batakovsky. “There was no re-creation here!”

The restoration will be completed by 2023, but the palace is already open to visitors. The picturesque panels have returned to the Shtofnaya bedchamber: they have also been restored. Decorative panels with paintings have been restored in the boudoir. In the office of Paul I, on the walls there is an original painting by Serafino Barozzi, which had to be completely removed during the restoration.

“We managed to return many original objects to the palace and reveal for viewing the paintings that were hidden under layers of paint,” Tatyana Syasina, curator of the Chinese Palace, shows the Shtofnaya bedchamber. “Although we purchased many items anew.” Inventories from the 18th century have not survived; they appeared only in the 20th century. But there are descriptions of things that were bought by the last owners of Oranienbaum - the Mecklenburg-Strelitzskys.

The damask of the 19th century has been preserved - the upholstery of the bedchamber was recreated based on its model. The mirror, the fireplace screen, and other original things were returned here. Friends of the museum donated porcelain vases produced by the Meissen manufactory - similar ones stood here 250 years ago. A lampshade by Maggiotto has been installed in its original place. On the wall panels under the windows, authentic paintings from the 18th century are revealed.

Until the restoration is fully completed, you can only take a tour of the Chinese Palace by appointment.

The halls of a unique 18th-century palace open their doors to readers

Behind the majestic palaces and parks of Peterhof, a 15-minute drive along the picturesque Old Peterhof Road is the city of Lomonosov with the Oranienbaum palace and park ensemble. The city's coat of arms depicts an "orange tree" - this is how the name of the city is translated from German. In 1710, the “semi-sovereign ruler” Alexander Menshikov, having received these lands as a gift from the sovereign, began to build up his possessions and soon turned them into favorite place stay of the royal court.

Music Hall The picturesque decoration is by Stefano Torelli. Venus and the Graces are depicted on the ceiling, and Apollo with cupids and nine muses, personifying the arts, are depicted on the walls and arch.

The origin of the legend about the name Oranienbaum dates back to this time, and it is connected with tags on trees discovered in an abandoned greenhouse, which read: Oranienbaum. Since the 1740s, Oranienbaum belonged to Grand Duke Peter Fedorovich, the future Emperor Peter III.

The upper park was formally divided into two parts: one for the construction projects of Pyotr Fedorovich, the second for Grand Duchess Ekaterina Alekseevna’s own dacha. It was there that the history of the Chinese Palace began. As Catherine II recalled: “I then decided to plant a garden here in Oranienbaum. I started making plans on how to build and plant.” From the late 1750s, work began on the territory. According to the future empress, “this was entertainment that could develop the imagination.”

Children from the Mecklenburg-Strelitz family on the lawn in front of the southern facade of the Chinese Palace, second half of the 19th century.

The gardener Lamberti was invited to plan the park, and the Italian architect Antonio Rinaldi, the founder of the Rococo style and early classicism in Russia, who had recently arrived in St. Petersburg, was invited to design the palace. According to contemporaries, “he laid out a new upper garden in the forest... a labor of great difficulty and designed to last for centuries,” but they noted that “as a reward for this crazy project, it should be hung on the entrance gate.”

Blue living room. In 1863, the artist A. Beideman made large picturesque panels for the walls of this hall.

Construction of the palace began only in 1762 with Catherine’s accession to the throne, but already in 1768 she celebrated her housewarming. The main building of his own dacha is the Chinese Palace, which was originally called the “Dutch House”, but had several interiors decorated in the chinoiserie style.

Fragment of the Glass Bead Cabinet.

It received its current name only in the 19th century, after the destruction of the Chinese house in the Peterstadt fortress. The palace is located among greenery, on a low stylobate forming a terrace in front of a pond, and is an elegant garden pavilion with large windows and doors, creating the illusion of complete unity with nature. Its facades are decorated with pilasters and semi-columns with Ionic capitals and garlands. On the southern façade there are two lovely gardens with marble sculptures and flowering flower beds.

The palace is laid out in the shape of a “P” and has three enfilades: the Front Enfilade, sixty-five meters long, and two short residential ones, located perpendicular to it. Over two centuries, due to changes in owners, the palace underwent a number of reconstructions, and a second floor was added. Until the 1917 revolution, Oranienbaum was the property of the Dukes of Mecklenburg-Strelitz.

Front. Restoration of a picturesque ceiling.

Miraculously, it was not damaged during the Great Patriotic War, and, despite all the vicissitudes, its interiors with unique decorative decoration of the 18th century were preserved. It is known that from 1765 to 1768, French merchants François Rembert and Billiot supplied the palace with furniture and bronze “in the latest taste” to furnish it. Famous artists Stefano Torelli, Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, brothers Serafino and Giuseppe Barozzi, sculptor Marie-Anne Collo, mosaic artist Giacomo Martigny and Russian craftsmen from the Peterhof Lapidary Factory were involved in decorating the interiors.

Front enfilade. View towards the Hall of Music. At the window of the Glass Bead Cabinet there is a table with a mosaic surface, reminiscent of former name of this room - “Mosaic Peace”.

The halls are decorated with picturesque panels, inlaid parquet floors, gilded carvings, embroideries and furniture inlaid with natural colored stones. The highlight of the palace is the Glass Bead Cabinet, which in the 18th century was called the Mosaic Chamber.

Glass bead cabinet. Mirror in a carved gilded frame.

It had a floor made of smalt glass, made according to the recipe of M.V. Lomonosov at the neighboring Ust-Ruditsk factory. Due to dampness, it was not preserved and in the middle of the 19th century it was replaced with inlaid wooden parquet, repeating the pattern of the mosaic floor. The walls of the cabinet are divided by carved gilded frames in the form of trunks with leaves and flowers into separate panels with glass beads.

Fragment of the southern facade. Own kindergarten. The sculpture “Cupid and Psyche” is a copy of an ancient original from the Capitoline Museum in Rome.

There are twelve of them - ten on the walls and two desudeports. Depending on the lighting, the panels shimmer in lilac, pink, blue and silver shades. On top of the glass bead background, fantastic scenes with landscapes and birds are embroidered with special silk threads - chenille - a unique work of Russian goldsmiths under the direction of the Frenchwoman Maria de Chelles.

Music Hall Fragment of a holly with the figure of Apollo.

In 2011, the Hall of Muses, the Blue Living Room and the Glass Bead Study were opened, in the past - the Pink Living Room and the Dressing Room. The restoration of the second half of the Front Enfilade and private chambers still remains to be completed. And this year guests will be received by the Front Hall and, closer to autumn, the Great Hall.

Elle Decoration

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The St. Peter's Fortress, built in the eastern part of the estate in 1757, was transformed into the Peterstadt Fortress two years later. In plan, the fortress was a fourteen-pointed star with four bastions, surrounded by earthen ramparts and ditches filled with water. The two-hectare fortress was supplemented complex system additional fortifications. The pond located near the northern front was called the "Pleasure Sea". Naval battles took place here with the participation of warships: the twelve-gun ship "Oranienbaum", the frigate "St. Andrew", the galleys "St. Catherine" and "Elizabeth".
On the territory of the fortress there was an arsenal, barracks for artillery, dragoon regiments and cuirassier trumpeters, houses for officers and regimental commanders, a guardhouse, sheds for horses and carriages, and an arsenal.
In Russia, the tradition of amusing battles and the construction of fortresses for military amusements of the heirs to the throne appeared under Peter I. The Semenovsky and Preobrazhensky regiments created by him played the role of amusing troops, and later became the main units of the guard.
Peter Fedorovich invited the regiments of the Duchy of Schleswig-Holstein, where he was from, to participate in military games.
From the notes of Catherine II it becomes clear that she had a negative attitude towards the invitation of the Holsteiners:

...the number of Holstein troops and adventurers who occupied officer positions there increased from year to year.

The soldiers of the Ingria Regiment said: “Now we have become the lackeys of these damned Germans.” The palace lackeys said: “We are forced to serve this peasant.” When I saw and found out what was happening, I firmly decided to stay as far away from this dangerous childish game as possible.

The number of the Holstein garrison reached 1,500 people. The construction of the Peterstadt fortress was led by the Holstein master Förster and lieutenant engineer Savely Sokolov. The fortress occupied two hectares.
On the territory of the fortress there was the palace of Peter III, intended for his relaxation after military activities.

For the first time in Russian architecture, a palace building appeared on the territory of a fortification, serving not military, but entertainment purposes.

The first floor of the palace was for service. Several ceremonial rooms have been preserved on the second floor. The palace was built by the architect Antonio Rinaldi.

There is a monkey on the armor. It is known that Pyotr Fedorovich had a monkey named Elizaveta Vorontsova, it is possible that this is her:

As expected, there should be a secret staircase in the fortress:

Peter III lived in this modest house until his arrest. Here on June 28, 1762, he signed an abdication of the throne, was arrested and taken to Ropsha, where he soon died of hemorrhoidal colic.

Over time, the wooden buildings of the fortress fell into disrepair and were dismantled at the end of the 18th century. Today, only the remains of earthen ramparts, a small palace and the main entrance gate have been preserved:

Fortress layout:

This is how Catherine II recalled life in Oranienbaum in her notes:

In general, I and all of us were disgusted with the boring life that we led in Oranienbaum, where there were five or six of us women who remained alone, face to face from morning to evening, while the men, for their part, reluctantly practiced the art of war .

This is the lifestyle that I led in Oranienbaum then. I got up at three o’clock in the morning, dressed myself from head to toe in a man’s dress; the old huntsman I had was already waiting for me with guns; on the seashore he had a fishing boat completely ready. We crossed the garden on foot, with a gun on our shoulder, and we sat down - he, I, the kicking dog and the fisherman who was taking us - into this shuttle, and I went to shoot ducks in the reeds bordering the sea on both sides of the Oranienbaum Canal, which goes two miles into the sea. We often went around this channel and therefore were sometimes in quite stormy weather on the open sea on this shuttle. The Grand Duke arrived an hour or two after us, because he always had to carry breakfast with him and who knows what else. If he met us, we set off together; if not, then each of us went and hunted separately. At ten o'clock, and sometimes later, I returned and dressed for dinner; After dinner I rested, and in the evening either the Grand Duke had music, or we went horseback riding.

For my rooms in this palace, I bought everything with my own money, in order to avoid any disputes and difficulties, for His Imperial Highness, although he was very extravagant in all his whims, was sparing of money on everything that concerned me, and was not at all generous; but since what I did for my rooms at my own expense served to decorate the house, he was very pleased with it.

I then decided to build a garden for myself in Oranienbaum and, since I knew that the Grand Duke would not give me a single piece of land for this, I asked the Golitsyn princes to sell or give me a space of one hundred fathoms of uncultivated and long-abandoned land that they had very close to Oranienbaum; since this piece of land belonged to eight or ten members of their family, they willingly gave it to me, without, however, receiving any income from it. I began to make plans on how to build and plant, and since this was my first venture in terms of planting and construction, it took on quite extensive dimensions.

The best thing about Oranienbaum is its own dacha, which Rinaldi built in 1762-1774 for Catherine II. His own dacha became the third palace and park ensemble (after the Menshikov Palace and the Lower Park; the Peterstadt fortress and the Petrovsky Park around it).
Having ascended the throne, Catherine II ordered that 10 thousand rubles be allocated for the construction of her own dacha and allowed A. Rinaldi to invite first-class Russian and Western European craftsmen. With their participation, according to the drawings and drawings of A. Rinaldi, the Chinese Palace, unrivaled in the beauty of its interiors, was built (1762-1768).

The name "Chinese Palace" was first mentioned in 1774 in the Chamber Fourier magazine. Before this, the palace was called the “Dutch little house” (the same as the Monplaisir Palace in Peterhof), “the little house in the Upper Garden”, “the little house”. The name “Chinese” arose because a number of the palace’s interiors (the Large and Small Chinese Cabinets) were decorated in the spirit of Chinese art or using original works of art from China and Japan.

Last year, the restored Glass Cabinet from the Chinese Palace was exhibited at the Hermitage http://www.hermitagemuseum.org/html_Ru/04/2010/hm4_1_263.html.
From the Hermitage website:

The most famous chamber of the Chinese Palace is the Glass Cabinet, which has preserved the original decoration of the 1760s. The walls of the room are decorated with glass bead panels. These are canvases on which bugle bead embroidery is done. The glass beads were made at a mosaic factory founded in the vicinity of Oranienbaum (in Ust-Ruditsa) by the Russian scientist M.V. Lomonosov. Against a background of bugles, complex compositions with images of fantastic birds in an equally fantastic landscape are embroidered in chenille (fleecy silk).
Initially, the floor in the Glass Beads Office was made of multi-colored smalts, also made at the Ust-Ruditsk factory, but by the middle of the 19th century it fell into disrepair and the smalts were replaced with type-setting parquet while maintaining the same pattern.
The Chinese Palace is the only monument of the Rococo style in Russia. Most of the interiors of the palace have retained the original decoration of the mid-18th century. Of particular value to it are the unique objects of decorative and applied art from China and Japan from the late 17th to mid-18th centuries, as well as the preserved and extant typesetting parquet flooring from the second third of the 18th century (made according to sketches by Antonio Rinaldi).

Above the pond, at the southern facade of the palace, there are marble and bronze statues of characters from ancient mythology - copies of ancient originals.

Pergola in the background:

We didn’t get to the Chinese Palace because there is no heating there, so it is closed for the winter. As a consolation, we were informed that now in the palace, in addition to the Glass Beads Room, only two halls are open. The rest are under restoration. During Soviet times, the palace was completely open. Although it was quite shabby, you could still see everything.

Room Front originally served as a vestibule; here in the center of the southern part of the palace, and today the entrance to the building is located. After the addition of a covered glass gallery to this room in 1853, it began to be used as a dining room. In the 18th century, the walls of the Front Hall were decorated with paintings by the Italian decorative painter Stefano Torelli, a student of the famous Neapolitan artist Francesco Solimena. Torelli arrived in Russia in 1758, leaving his service at the Saxon royal court. In 1764, the painter worked on the design Winter Palace, and in 1765 he began work in Oranienbaum, and after a short time the interiors of the Chinese Palace were decorated with his talented works. In the 1850s Torelli's wall paintings in the Front were replaced with architectural landscapes by an unknown artist of the 19th century. "Diana and Actaeon" and "Landscape with Ruins". In the Front Hall a picturesque ceiling by S. Torelli “Apollo and the Arts” has been preserved. One of the walls of the Front Hall has preserved ornamental paintings of remarkable beauty in design by another Italian master, Serafino Barozzi, who, like Torelli, worked directly in the Chinese Palace. The interior decoration is complemented by stucco decoration of the hoops and ceiling: shells, acanthus leaves and other plants, flower garlands. The front room is decorated with inlaid parquet from the 18th century, composed of several types of wood - walnut, amaranth, birch, sandalwood, apple, rosewood and mahogany; its drawing, created by Rinaldi, seems to be reflected in the stucco decoration of the ceiling, which adds completeness to the interior design. The fireplace, made of artificial marble, was created in the 18th century. “plasterer master” Italian Alberto Giani, who worked hard on the production of the original marble floors.

Big hall, the central room of the palace, in documents of the 18th century is also called the Reception, Round, Oval or simply the Hall. Decorated in the spirit of solemn elation, it was intended for official receptions and meals. Most visits to Catherine II's own dacha ended with dinner in the large hall. Unlike other rooms of the palace, the interior Great Hall carries the features of a new style - classicism - and anticipates subsequent interiors created by Rinaldi in St. Petersburg, Tsarskoe Selo, Gatchina. The appearance of this main hall is strict and majestic, its decor is exquisitely noble and laconic. The walls and three-quarter Corinthian columns are decorated with artificial marble of different shades. The large hall is covered with a low dome, cut through by round windows - lucarnes, which serve as a source of natural light. Through large doors, glazed all the way to the floor, a picturesque view of the parterre garden and meadow opening into the park opens up. Above the doors are white marble bas-reliefs depicting Peter the Great and his daughter Elizaveta Petrovna. They were made by Marie-Anne Collot, a famous French sculptor, student and assistant of E.-M. Falcone. On the ceiling there is a lampshade by S. Torelli “Day expelling night”. The painting was painted for the Marble Palace in St. Petersburg, where it remained until it was transferred to the Chinese Palace in the 1960s. Previously, this place housed the plafond of the famous Venetian artist Giovanni Battista Tiepolo “The Rest of Mars” - a true masterpiece of decorative and monumental painting. In July 1941, the lampshade was dismantled and taken to Peterhof, where it disappeared during the war. In November 2014, Wintershall entered into a sponsorship agreement with the Peterhof Museum for the restoration of part of the premises of the second stage of the Chinese Palace, which will complete the restoration of the Great Hall and will allow for a new organization of the excursion process, avoiding U-turns and oncoming traffic of groups.

Interior Blue living room one of the most rich in architectural and stucco decoration. Due to high humidity and capillary suction, the lower part of the walls was completely destructured and many losses were observed. When dismantling the frames of the paintings “Nymph and Triton emerging from the reeds” and “The Rape of Europa”, complete destruction of the plaster corner ornamented compositions was discovered. The wooden elements of the frame were dismantled with appropriate markings, models were removed from the corner compositions, after which they were also dismantled. The modeller-restorer Kholod A.Kh. (honorary restorer of St. Petersburg) restored all the stucco decoration and recreated the lost elements. The Large Anti-Chamber was added to the eastern facade of the palace in 1850. The construction of the new premises was carried out according to the design of the architect A. I. Stackenschneider, and is associated with the renovation of the Chinese Palace, carried out by its new owner, the wife of Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich - Elena Pavlovna. After the reconstruction of the palace, the entrance was moved here, and the room was called the Front Room. The interior has retained its original decoration, made using the grisaille technique (decorative painting imitating bas-relief, done in different shades of the same color).

Hall of Muses, which has preserved its original decoration, belongs to the best interiors of the 18th century. Large windows and doors give it a resemblance to a park pavilion. Initially the hall was called the Picturesque Gallery and was intended for music concerts, and received its current name in the 19th century. Painting plays a leading role in interior decoration. The painting of the walls and ceiling arches was done using tempera in 1768 by the Italian artist Stefano Torelli (1712-1784). In the spaces between the windows there are large-figure compositions depicting nine muses - patrons of the arts. The padugas depict groups of cupids with attributes of ancient gods, alternating with ornamental modeling. The ceiling is decorated with a picturesque lampshade by Stefano Torelli “The Triumph of Venus”. The inlaid parquet was made according to a drawing by A. Rinaldi in 1772 by a group of Russian carpenters under the direction of I. Petersen. The parquet set uses several types of wood, including mahogany, walnut, rosewood, rose gold, birch, and maple. Work on installation of anti-capillary waterproofing and reconstruction of underground areas was carried out by GEOIZOL LLC. In the Hall of Muses and the Blue Living Room, a technical underground with a height of 80 cm was made, where all the utility networks were laid. Work on laying and commissioning of utility networks was carried out by Stroyservis LLC.

On November 20, 2014, in the Ballroom of the Grand Peterhof Palace, a trilateral cooperation agreement was signed between the Peterhof State Museum, Wintershall Holding GmbH (Germany) and Petersburg Restoration Company LLC. The agreement provides for priority emergency and selective work in three halls of the Chinese Palace - the Boudoir, the Study of Paul I and the Shtofnaya Bedchamber. As well as the restoration of the interior of the Great Hall of the Chinese Palace, portraits of Peter and Elizabeth Petrovna, as well as the restoration of the Gallery. Large-scale restoration of the palace began in 2009, after the Oranienbaum palace and park ensemble became part of the Peterhof State Museum. The first stage was completed in 2011 at the expense of charitable funds from OJSC Gazprom, when four halls were presented - the Big Anti-Chamber, the Hall of Muses, the Blue Living Room and the Glass Beads Cabinet. In July 2014, the first stage of the second stage of restoration was completed with the opening of two more halls of the Chinese Palace - the Pink Living Room and the Dressing Room. The second stage will include work in the Antechamber, Great Hall, and Gallery, the third - in the Shtofnaya bedchamber, Boudoir, Pavel's office and the premises of the second floor. These halls are planned to open in 2016. In 2017, the last stage of restoration will begin, within which eight halls will be restored: the Lilac Living Room, the Small and Large Chinese Cabinets, the Small Anti-Chamber, the Chinese Bedchamber, the Dressing Room, the Portrait Room and Catherine’s Study. Wintershall is the largest oil and gas producing company in Germany, employing over 2 thousand employees from more than 40 countries. Wintershall has 25 years of close partnership with the world's largest natural gas producer, the Russian company Gazprom. The company's management believes that promoting culture is not a luxury, but a form of expression of social activity. Therefore, no matter where in the world Wintershall operates, the main asset is not only oil and gas, but also connections between people, between nations.

Today St. Petersburg is known throughout the world for its magnificent historical, cultural and architectural monuments. Many of them were not built within the city limits several centuries ago. Gorgeous surroundings Northern capital are of great interest to tourists. Today you will learn about the Chinese Palace in Lomonosov. Opening hours of the ensemble, its address, historical information, etc. useful information- all this will be presented in the article.

The city of Lomonosov, or, as it was called before, Oranienbaum, is located 40 kilometers from St. Petersburg. It is in this place that there is a wonderful museum-reserve where architectural masterpieces belonging to XVIII century. Go on an excursion to Oranienbaum and the Chinese Palace with us.

Historical information

Peter the Great's closest assistant, Alexander Danilovich Menshikov, once visited the shores of the Gulf of Finland. It was in this place that he wanted to build his country residence, since the picturesque lands and The Gulf of Finland made a huge impression on him. After some time, the Grand Palace appeared on this territory. With its luxury it eclipsed even the palace of Peter the Great, which was being built in Peterhof at that time. Next to the Great Menshikov Palace there was a beautiful Lower Garden. But it so happened that in 1727 Mr. Menshikov was sent into exile by the emperor.

Thus, all his property, as well as the palace and park ensemble in Oranienbaum, were transferred to the state.

Many years later, namely in 1743, Peter's daughter, Empress Elizabeth, gave this palace to her nephew, who a little later became famous throughout the world as Emperor Peter III.

The new owner ordered the construction of an ensemble called "Peterstadt". It included a palace and a fortress.

With the coming to power of Catherine the Great, the next stage of construction began in the suburb. The Empress gave the order to build a summer residence in this place. Then a beautiful palace called “Own Dacha” appeared in these lands.

Palace of Prince Menshikov

As was written above, the first owner of the palace and park ensemble in Oranienbaum was Prince Menshikov. Contemporaries wrote that there was no Russian Empire equal to a palace in area and luxury. But it’s not for nothing that Prince Menshikov’s palace is called the Great Palace. The thing is that the palace looks monumental due to its location on a hill. It seems as if the Chinese Palace is floating above the earth. There are terraces going down from the façade. Single-story wings on the left and right sides are adjacent to the main building. These extensions are completed by the Eastern and Church pavilions. A kitchen and maid of honor wings are attached to them.

Peter III had a hand in the palace interior. Thus, the Eastern Pavilion has accumulated two hundred pieces of Japanese and Chinese porcelain in its interior. Therefore, this residence began to be called the Chinese Palace in Oranienbaum.

A few words about the palace itself

Let's start with the fact that this beautiful residence took 6 years to build. It was erected in 1768 according to the design of the famous 18th century architect Antonio Rinaldi. The middle of this century is the most important period in the construction of the Chinese Palace of Catherine the Great. Rinaldi (Italian by birth) was invited to Russia by Prince K. Razumovsky. The architect lived here for many years. In his memoirs, he wrote that on Russian soil he found a second homeland.

Looking at the Chinese Palace in Oranienbaum, tourists recognize it as a masterpiece of Russian architecture. This palace is unique. Therefore it deserves special study.

The name Chinese Palace is arbitrary. The architecture of the building has nothing to do with China. However, some rooms have decorative Chinese elements that can be freely interpreted. During the 18th century, a large collection of Chinese porcelain was collected in the palace; some of the items in the collection have survived to this day.

Architectural elements of the palace

The Chinese Palace (St. Petersburg) is medium in size and has a slightly elongated building. Outwardly it resembles a summer pavilion in a park. Today it is surrounded by low panels of stone slabs and a beautiful decorative cast iron grille.

In front of the building's façade there are small parterre gardens. They fit appropriately into the overall composition of the building and, according to the plan of the architect Rinaldi, became an integral element of the palace. This role is also played by the huge ancient oak trees that were planted during the construction of the building.

Thus, it seems that the oak trees connect the Chinese palace with the large park. The central part of the palace is overstated. Its front side is decorated with pilasters, and the doors and windows are framed by stucco.

Perestroika of the 19th century

According to the plan of Prince Menshikov and Catherine the Great, the Chinese Palace was one-story. The central part on the second floor had one or two rooms that had no decoration. But in the middle of the 19th century, the appearance of the building changed. The second floor appears. Perestroika is taking place under the leadership of A. Stackenschneider. After some time, he added an extension in the form of one room to the eastern part of the building. This is the Large Anti-Chamber adjacent to the Hall of Muses.

A few more years would pass and in 1853 L. Bonstedt would add another room to the western wing of the building, and also reconstruct the central part of the southern facade. This will create a glass gallery.

Interior architecture of the palace

The Chinese Palace in Oranienbaum (St. Petersburg) was built in such a way that the volumes, appearance, as well as the proportions of individual parts of the building determined the placement interior spaces. Each room had its own purpose.

It should be noted that all the palaces of that period were built precisely according to this principle. The palace is characterized by symmetry and compositional balance. The interiors, that is, the rooms, are located along one axis. This construction principle is called the enfilade system. It is inherent in the Catherine Palace, Peterhof and other imperial residences.

According to the architect's idea, the center of symmetry is the Great Hall, the height of which reaches 8.5 meters. These state rooms have another name - Italian. They perform the organizing function of the residence layout. To the left and right of the Great Hall are the Blue and Lilac living rooms, and there are also two cabinets - Bugle Bead and Small Chinese. On one side the enfilade is limited by the Hall of the Muses, and on the other by the Great Chinese Cabinet.

Features of the architectural elements of the palace

The Chinese Palace in Lomonosov was erected at a time when domestic architecture was at the stage of transition from one style to another. Those decorative techniques that were used in the middle of the 18th century ceased to be in demand, and the emerging classicism had not yet taken shape in the art of architecture.

Thus, the front side of the palace facade became a striking example of this period. Initially it was planned to make it decorative and pompous. However, these qualities gave way to conciseness and simplicity of artistic decoration. After all, classicism is characterized by rigor and simplicity. The Chinese palace was erected by skilled craftsmen of those times: modelers and gilders, mosaicists and parquet artists, marble makers, as well as woodcarvers and other talented artisans.

After the revolution (in 1917), the Chinese Palace turned into a museum. It was open to everyone. During these years, the opportunity arose to carry out a scientifically sound restoration, as well as to begin the proper storage of the artistic treasures of the palace. In the period from 1925 to 1933. artists carried out large-scale work to restore decorative painting.

Unique parquet

Pictures of the Chinese palace are often found in glossy magazines in Russia. But its luxurious decoration excites researchers of Russian art even abroad. That is why we will tell you what makes the parquet floor of the museum unique.

The thing is that 772 square meters of the palace area were laid out with parquet, which was assembled from both domestic and overseas wood species. These include pink, lemon, ebony, mahogany, as well as boxwood, amaranth, rosewood, Persian walnut and many other types. In some rooms, researchers count more than 15 species.

The parquet flooring of the Chinese Palace is highly valued, since in terms of its design and manner of execution it has no equal in our country. It turns out that wooden planks were glued onto separate panels in the form of various patterns. Then small details for the ornament were burned or cut out. Each room had its own interior, so the parquet pattern was tied to the general concept of the room.

Lower garden of the palace

And we are leaving the luxurious offices of the Chinese Palace and heading to the park of Catherine the Great’s summer residence. The Lower Garden is a standard of landscape gardening art. He joined the park complex Great Palace. In the center there are parterres with a large number of rare flowers. It is surrounded by rows of slender maples, spruce and linden trees. The gardeners planted various fruit trees, including cherries, apple trees, pears, and so on. According to tradition, the garden is decorated with miniature fountains and sculptures made of white marble.

Coordinates and operating hours of the Chinese Palace in Oranienbaum

Address: Lomonosov city, Verkhniy Park 7.

Cash desks are open from 10:30 to 17:00.

Visiting hours of the complex: 10:30 - 18:00.

Ticket price for adults is 500 rubles.

The ticket price for schoolchildren and students is 300 rubles.

Free entry for veterans of the Great Patriotic War and other categories of persons.

Remember that the doors of the palace are open to visitors only on dry and sunny days.

Finally

We got acquainted with one of the most beautiful residences, which was built during the reign of Peter the Great, that is, more than three hundred years ago. The sights of Oranienbaum amaze one and all. They surprise visitors not only with their beauty and scale, but also with the fact that they preserve within their walls the spirit of past eras.