The city of Gatchina without exaggeration can be called the pearl of the Leningrad region. It is located forty kilometers from the historic center of St. Petersburg. In Gatchina, there is something to see, because not for nothing that the central part of the city is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. The main attraction of Gatchina is the architectural complex with the same name. Visiting this art-architectural museum-preserve will be remembered for ever. But the palaces and parks of Gatchina are not all that can interest the guests of the city. The fact is that since 1783 Gatchina became the property of the Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich, who was famous for his love for the German order. Architect Vincenzo Brenna embodied his ideas, having built in Gatchina a real Prussian town. Here you can see two-story small houses everywhere, the streets are narrow and cozy, and you can watch the blue domes of the Intercession Cathedral from all over the city.
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Museum-Reserve
The state reserve "Gatchina" covers an area equal to 146 hectares. Its history began in 1765. It was then that the Gatchina manor, donated by Catherine II to Count Orlov, began to turn into a palace and park ensemble. Antonio Rinaldi, who holds the post of chief architect, began construction of the Grand Palace in Gatchina. In this structure, the elements of a traditional Russian mansion and an English hunting estate are combined in an amazing way. The surrounding palace The Priory park in Gatchina, broken by the English canons, became the first landscape park in Russia. Later, the famous Zverinets, the Octagonal Well, the Eagle Column, the Echo grotto and several wooden bridges appeared in the park.
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After the death of the Count, his estate became the property of Paul I, who, with the help of Vincenzo Brenna, planned several more gardens. In the same period, on the artificial island of Gatchina appeared the Venus Pavilion, the portal "Mask" and the Birch House. A talented architect left behind himself a massive gate (the Silvian, the Zverinsky, the Admiralty and the Berezovye), and the Farm and the Greenhouse. In 1798 N. Lvov built the Priory earth palace near the Great Palace, and the creation of the hands of A. Zakharov in Gatchina was the Humpback Bridge, the Poultryman and the Cold Bath. Half a century later, the Grand Castle in Gatchina underwent a major restructuring, which was headed by the architect R. Kuzmin. In 1851, a monument to Pavel I was erected in Gatchina, which today is an unofficial symbol of the city.
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The palace in Gatchina since 1918 works as a museum, but several times it was forced to close for reconstruction. So, during the WWII, in the late 1980s and in 1993, it suffered from a fire, the parks were repeatedly cut down. Today, the Pavlovsky Palace in Gatchina is open to visitors, but restoration work does not stop.
Travelers to note
If you are planning to visit this magnificent city, you should come here in the spring-autumn period, when the palace and park ensemble appears in all its glory. You will be amazed at the greatness of Gatchina, imbued with the spirit of a glorious past. Be sure to visit the church of the Holy Trinity, the Cathedral of St. Paul the Apostle, the Intercession Cathedral, the chapel of St. John the Baptist, the Church of St. Panteleimon and the Church of St. Prince Nevsky.
You can get acquainted with the history of Gatchina while visiting the city museum, Shcherbov museum-estate, the naval museum. And an ordinary walk through the cozy streets of the city can tell you a lot.
In the suburbsSt. Petersburg
you can visit other famous places, for example, Kronstadt .