Pavlovsk Palace and Park
December, 10/2016
St. Petersburg is known as the cultural capital of Russia. When you come to the city you understand why: there are a lot of impressive palaces and majestic mansions, great monuments and splendid bridges, numerous museums and great parks. What else can a traveler wish for? When you visit St. Petersburg you definitely want to see its main highlights such as the Hermitage museum or Peterhof Palace. One of the palaces that you should not forget about is the Pavlovsk Palace located in the countryside of St. Petersburg.
Pavlovsk Palace and Park is for sure the most romantic residence out of all the palaces in St. Petersburg and suburbs. It is very quiet and peaceful there due to its remote location from the city bustle (the drive to Pavlovsk will take approximately 1 hour). The wonderful palace in classical style is surrounded by a fantastic landscape park. The Pavlovsk park strikes your imagination with its size – it covers around 600 hectares (almost 1500 acres)! In the mid-18th century the lands were Catherine the Great’s favorite hunting site. They used to breed and hunt animals there up until 1777, when the lands were given to Catherine’s son, Pavel (the Russian Emperor Paul I). The construction of the Pavlovsk Palace started only two years later.
Many prominent architects took a hand in the large-scale construction: Charles Cameron, Vincenzo Brenna, Giacomo Quarenghi, Andrey Voronikhin, Carlo Rossi, and others. The most up-to-date technologies and materials were used for the construction. The beautiful beige color palace is decorated with solid classical columns, reminding us of an ancient Roman temple. Its color contrasts with bright green trees framing the palace all around. The plan of Pavlovsk Park was laid out in a special way. All trees and bushes were planted according to the season of their blossoming or the time when they turn yellow and red. Thanks to this, beautiful contrasting colors surprised the royal guests with beautiful bright flowery patterns in the landscape.
Pavlovsk Palace was used as a family countryhouse of the Russian Emperors. It was more like a family nest of Paul I and his wife Maria Feodorovna. Pavlovsk Palace interiors include rooms decorated to their taste, a lot of furniture that they bought during their traveling in Europe. Maria Feodorovna enjoyed different handicrafts. Not only did she like to take care of her little Private Garden, but she also liked to read, paint, weave, carve and turn. In the museum halls one can see many pieces of decoration that were made by the tsarina’s hands – pictures, vases, ink pots, and others.
Many visitors say that this palace delivers the spirit of the 18th century to the fullest extent. Wether it’s true or not – up to you to decide! We highly recommend not to neglect this museum and find time to visit it.
Like other grand palaces in St. Petersburg, Pavlovsk Palace has a long and interesting story behind. Today the palace functions as a museum and our tour guides would be happy to introduce its history to you. It is really a very enjoyable tour to explore the Pavlovsk Palace interiors. A lot of historical events and many restorations took place in the palace. Today you can see its original glory. It’s hard to believe that by 1944 it was really badly ruined – the palace was under the Nazi occupation during the World War II. Many of the valuable museum exhibits were stolen or simply broken down, the palace was burnt, and the park was destroyed. Thanks to the titanic efforts of the museum staff and professional restorers the Pavlovsk Palace and Park literally rose up from the ashes and today keeps impressing its visitors.
If you are interested in taking a tour to the Pavlovsk Palace feel free to contact Hello Russia Tours!
