Location: 26 km (16 mi) South of St. Petersburg Map
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Tsarskoye Selo ор Pushkin (until 1918 - Tsarskoye Selo, from 1918
to 1937 - Detskoye Selo) - a city within the Pushkinsky district of
the federal city of St. Petersburg and its intracity municipality,
in 1936 was transferred to the administrative subordination of
Leningrad. A large tourist, scientific, educational and
military-industrial center. It is included in the list of monuments
protected by UNESCO as part of the Historic Center of St. Petersburg
and related complexes of monuments.
Population - 107 223
people. (2021).
The railway line St. Petersburg - Vitebsk
passes through the city, the Tsarskoye Selo railway station and the
Detskoselskaya stopping point are located on its territory. The
distance between Vitebsky Train Station in St. Petersburg and
Tsarskoye Selo is 23 km. The St. Petersburg Post Office and Post
Office No. 1 of Pushkin are located at a distance of 24 kilometers
in a straight line. The city is located within the Neva lowland.
The country imperial residence Tsarskoye Selo was founded in
1710; city since 1808. The city is home to the Tsarskoye Selo
Museum-Reserve, a monument of urban planning art and a palace and
park ensemble of the 18th-early 20th centuries. The structure of the
reserve includes Catherine's Park with the Catherine's Palace and
other buildings.
By train
From St. Petersburg, from the Vitebsky railway station,
electric trains of the "standard" and "comfort" classes follow (in
"comfort" there are soft seats and it is a little more expensive). The
interval of movement is 20-30 minutes, the journey time is about 30
minutes, the price is 51/53₽. The same electric trains pass station 2
(Moskovsko-Petrogradskaya) of the Kupchino line along the way, where you
can also take them, and then the travel time will decrease to 15
minutes, the price is 45/46₽.
Railway station "Tsarskoye Selo",
Station Square, 1 (about 2.5 km from the Catherine Palace and park).
05:30–01:00. From 1918 to 2013 it was called "Children's Village".
A
little further from the city there is another railway station
"Aleksandrovskaya", which can be reached from the Baltic Station in St.
Petersburg. The interval of movement of electric trains is also 20-30
minutes, travel time is 30 minutes, the price is 54 rubles.
Railway station "Aleksandrovskaya", pos. Alexandrovskaya.
By bus
By bus from metro stations 2 (Moskovsko-Petrogradskaya) Moskovskaya
line - 187 bus and minibuses k545k, k545b; 2 (Moscow-Petrogradskaya)
line Zvezdnaya - 179 bus and minibus k363; 2 (Moscow-Petrogradskaya)
line Kupchino - minibus k286.
Minibuses and buses pass through the city, going to Pavlovsk and back
to St. Petersburg. They just can be reached from the station "Tsarskoye
Selo" to Catherine's Park. For example, by buses K-287, K-347, No. 273.
From the Alexandrovskaya station to the Orlovsky Gates of the
Catherine Park, you can take bus number 378.
Construction of Catherine (Great) Palace owes its layout and
internal appearance to three Russian Empresses who overlooked its
construction in the duration of the 18th century: Catherine I (last
wife of Emperor Peter I the Great), Elizabeth and Catherine II. The
leading role in architectural design was given to a prominent
Russian- Italian architect Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli. He
determined the size of the building (306 meters in total length),
its layout and internal as well as external appearance of the
building. The main building began its construction in 1744 until
1756.
The architectural appearance of the Catherine Palace
is based on the lighting effects and decorative contrasts, typical
of the Baroque architectural style popular in the 18th century. The
interiors of the palace reflected different artistic styles, mainly
Baroque and Classicism. Several rooms, converted in the middle of
the XIX century, received a finish in the style of the era of
historicism. Beautiful halls for ceremonial receptions were on the
second floor on the side of the front yard in chain one following
the other. These rooms were known as the Golden Enfilade (French
architectural term for suite of rooms that are aligned in chain).
Some apartments were allocated for residential rooms. They were
called the Minor Enfilade.
Unfortunately, the private
chambers of the royal family did not have survive to modern times.
Some of them were converted immediately after the October Revolution
of 1917 after Tsarskoye Selo Grand Palace was transformed into a
museum.
During the Second World War Tsarskoye Selo was
occupied by the German forces. Few weeks before their arrival museum
keepers managed to make a detailed inventory of all furniture, wall
murals and other interior details. They anticipated the loss of the
Catherine Palace and did it to reconstruct palace interior after a
victory over Hitler's army. During German occupation the palace
interiors were destroyed. Whatever wasn't evacuated before the
German arrival, was stolen, destroyed or simply stolen. The most
important loss from this period is the legendary Amber Room that
disappeared shortly after the Nazi forces overtook over Catherine
Palace. Its whereabouts are still largely unknown. In Catherine
Palace was reopened for visitors in 1948 after a major
reconstruction project was completed. Complete detailed record of
the interiors were used to make an exact copy of the Palace.
From September to April 7:00 - 21:00, park ticket offices 10:00 -
18:00. From April 27 to October 20, entrance to the park is paid - 120
rubles, children under 16 years old - free of charge. The rest of the
time is free.
The park consists of two parts: the regular Old
Garden and the landscaped English Park.
Central Tsarskoe Selo park known as a Catherine Park is just as
interesting is the interior of the palace. It consists of two parts: the
regular old garden and landscape "English garden". Old garden was laid
out on the three steps in front of the palace in the 1720s by garden
masters J. Roozenom and I. Vogt. Mirror Pond was added at the same time
on the third ledge of Tsarskoye Selo Palace park. Empress Elizabeth
increase the size of the park and added marble sculptures made by
Venetian sculptors of the early 18th century. F.B. Rastrelli also
designed and constructed two pavilions around this time: garden
"Hermitage" and "Grot".
By the end of the XVIII century the interest in regular park landscaping
disappears. And in the 1770s the Royal Family orders construction of the
so- called English Landscaping Garden situated just south of the Old
Park. Major work on its construction were carried out in 1770s and
1780s. Catherine Garden was filled with all sorts of architectural
buildings, monuments and works of sculpture, testifying to the greatness
of the reign of Empress Catherine II.
Cold bath with Agate rooms.
Cameron Gallery. Upper bath.
Lower
bath.
Pavilion Hermitage.
Pavilion "Grotto".
Pavilion "Hall on
the Island".
Chesme column.
Admiralty.
Turkish bath.
Gatchina Gates (Orlovsky Gates).
It is divided into a regular New Garden (a park with a geometrically correct layout) and a landscape garden.
Alexander's Palace was constructed in 1792 by orders of Empress
Catherine the Great as a gift for the weeding of her oldest
grandson Grand Duke (and future Emperor) Alexander Pavlovich
with Grand Duchess Elizabeth Alekseevna. The project of the new
estate belonged to another Russian- Italian architect G.
Quarenghi with a cooperation with P. Neelov. In May 1796 the
last year of the reign of Empress Catherine II the palace
construction was completed and on 12 June 1796 Grand Duke
Alexander Pavlovich and his wife moved into the new residence.
Being smaller and cozier than the main palace, Alexander's
Palace became a favorite with the Imperial Family.
Alexander's Palace is an elongated two-story building with two
wings on either side. The center of the main facade is dominated
by colonnade consisting of two rows of columns. The interior of
the palace is designed by G. Quarenghi. Halls of Grand Enfilade
(architectural term for rooms formed into a chain) line the
interior garden facade of the palace. The center of this
enfilade is taken by a semi- rotunda divided into three parts by
wide arches.
In 1905 last Russian emperor Nicholas II made it his main
residence and lived here for the last 12 years of his reign till
Russian Revolution of 1917. Until recently, the famous palace
was closed to the public, and very few people knew that it
preserved the interiors of the front suite and personal finishes
Emperor Nicholas' apartments and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna.
Rasputin visited the palace several times on his visit to czar's
son Alexei who had hemophilia. After the February Revolution
Czar along with his family were kept here under house arrest and
it was from here they were shipped to Siberia on their last
voyage.
Alexander Park, adjacent to the Catherine Palace, covers an area
of about 200 hectares. Before the construction of Alexander's
Palace Empress Catherine, I kept this area fenced up. Here she
kept wild animals for Royal hunts. In the middle of the XVIII
century menagerie was surrounded by a stone wall with bastions
at the corners, two of which held entertainment pavilions
inside. Between the palace and the menagerie, a New Garden was
established with crossed alleys.
During World War II German who occupied the palace kept it as
local Gestapo Headquarter. Basements of the former czar's
residence were turned to prison cells and torture chambers for
unfortunate victims. Area in front of the palace was converted
to a cemetery for the fallen SS troops.
Chinese theatre.
Chinese village.
White Tower.
Pavilion
"Chapelle".
Pavilion "Arsenal"
Monument to Pushkin (Lyceum Garden). One of the most famous monuments
to the great poet. Opened in 1900 (sculptor R. R. Bach). Pushkin is
depicted sitting on a bench in the form of a lyceum student.
Monument
to Pushkin (Intersection of Oktyabrsky Boulevard and Palace Street). The
sculpture was made by L. Bernshtam in 1912 in Paris. Initially, it stood
in the lobby of the Lyceum, but in the late 1930s it was moved to the
entrance to the city. During the Great Patriotic War, the Germans used
the monument as a target for shooting, but later it was restored.
Egyptian Gate (crossing of Palace Street, Oktyabrsky Boulevard and
Petersburg Highway.). An Egyptian-style gate built in 1830 by the
architect A. A. Menelas, who was inspired by the temple of Khonsu in
Luxor. The gates are decorated with Egyptian hieroglyphs and scenes from
the life of the ancient Egyptians.
Sophia Cathedral , Sofia Sq. 1.
Feodorovsky Cathedral
Location: Academic Prospect
Fedorovsky Czar's Cathedral was constructed in
1912 under supervision of architect V.A. Pokrovsky. It was dedicated to the
miraculous icon of Our Lady of Theodore. First tsar of the
Romanov dynasty Michael Fedorovich was blessed by it in 1613
during his stay in Kostroma.
The place for the new church was chosen by Nicholas II, the last
emperor of the Romanov dynasty. He also instructed an architect
to copy features of Russian medieval architecture.
Initially the church was built for the three regiments of the
Imperial Guard stationed in Tsarskoye Selo. Their barracks were
located close to the place of residence of the Royal family- the
Alexander Palace. Fedorovsky cathedral was originally planned with
two churches. The idea of the construction of the lower "cave"
church originated in the process of construction that lasted between
1909 and 1912. This cave chapel was dedicated to Saint Seraphim of
Sarov greatly venerated by the Royal family. It was commonly used
during winter months of the year.
Fedorovsky Czar's
Cathedral became a favorite church of the last Russian emperor
Nicholas II with his wife Aleksandra. In addition to a royal family
the church was opened to imperial guard and their families.
Fedorovsky Czar's Cathedral was turned into a parish church after
the Royal family was exiled to Siberia and later executed by the
Communists. Part of the church property was looted by the
revolutionary soldiers and sailors. Fedorovsky Czar's Cathedral was
later closed in 1933 by the Soviet atheist government as most of
churches at the time. The Upper Church was transformed into a movie
theater. During World War II the building of the church was badly
damaged.
Only in 1991 Fedorovsky Czar's Cathedral was
reconstructed and returned to the Russian Orthodox Church. After
damages it received from the Bolsheviks and German bombings it was a
titanic work that succeeded as you can tell. During reconstruction
of the church archeologists discovered a copy of icon of Our Lady of
Theodore that was apparently taken out of the church and hidden by
an unknown parishioner or a former priest who served here. It was
returned back to the church. The services resumed in 1992 in the
lower church and in 1996 in the upper church. On July 16, 1993 (75th
anniversary of the execution of the Royal Family) a bronze bust of
Nicholas II was placed next to Fedorovsky Czar's Cathedral. The
place for the statue was not chosen accidentally. It was here
according to a legend that the last emperor planted five oaks in
1913 by the number of his children (Tatyana, Olga, Maria, Anastasia
and son Alexy).
The first wooden structure of the Imperial Train Station was initially constructed here in 1895. However it was severely damaged during a fire, thus another building had to replace the existing one. In 1912 V.A. Pokrovsky designed a new structure keeping up with the architecture of the medieval Russia that was increasingly popular at the time. It lost its importance after German invasion that damaged the building. Currently plans for renovations are underway.
The next two museums belong to the All-Russian Pushkin Museum.
1 Memorial Museum-Lyceum Wikidata Element, st. Sadovaya, 2.
Wed–Mon 10:30–18:00. 150₽.
2 Memorial Museum-dacha of Pushkin (Dacha
A.K. Kitaeva) Wikidata element, st. Pushkinskaya, 2/19. fax: +7(812)
315-73-79. Fri–Sun 10:30–18:00. 100₽.
3 Museum-estate of the artist
Chistyakov Wikidata element, Moskovskoye sh. 23. Wed–Sun 10:30–17:00.
200₽, preferential 100₽.
4 Historical and Literary Museum of the City
of Pushkin, st. Leontievskaya, 28. ☎ +7 (812) 466-55-10. 10:00 – 17:00.
5 Museum "Tsarskoye Selo Collection", st. Shop, 40/27. ☎ +7 (812)
466-04-60. 11:00 - 17:00.
6 Museum of the History of Public
Education, st. Pushkinskaya, 28. ☎ +7 (812) 466-24-86. 10:00 - 18:00.
7 Museum "Russia in the Great War" , Fermskaya Doroga, 5A. ☎ +7 812
415 76 92. 10:00-18:00. Adult ticket - 300 rubles, preferential - 150
rubles, children under 16 years old - free of charge. The first and only
museum of the First World War in Russia, opened in 2014. The museum has
13 sections: "The Beginning of the War", "Military Operations",
"Aeronauts and Aviators", "Fleet", "Positional Warfare", "George
Knights", "The Imperial Family during the War", "Red Cross and
Prisoners", "clergy" and others.
In Swedish times (1609-1702), the Swedish noble estate Saari Moisi
existed on the territory of the Catherine Palace. It was a small estate
consisting of a wooden house, outbuildings to it and a modest garden,
divided by two perpendicular alleys into four squares. For the first
time, this settlement was mentioned as part of the Nikolsky Izhora
churchyard in the “Census salary book for Novgorod Votskaya Pyatina” of
1501. On the maps compiled for Boris Godunov, the estate is called
"Saritsa". Later, under the influence of Russian folk etymology, the
name was transformed into "Sarskaya Manor", then into "Saarskoye Selo",
and, finally, became Tsarskoye Selo.
After the expulsion of the
Swedes from this area, Peter I in 1707 presented the manor to A. D.
Menshikov, and later, on June 13 (24), 1710, the Sarskaya manor
(together with 43 assigned villages and lands) was donated to Marta
Skavronskaya, who in 1712 became his wife under the name of Ekaterina
Alekseevna. This date - June 13 (24), 1710 - is the date of the founding
of Tsarskoye Selo. In 1718-1724, according to the project of the
architect Johann Braunstein, a small two-story stone palace surrounded
by outbuildings grew here. The garden was expanded, re-planned with
terraces by the master of landscape gardening art J. V. Roozen. In 1719
and 1722 two ponds were dug on the lower terrace.
Not far from
the palace, a settlement of palace servants arose. In 1716, the wooden
Church of the Dormition was built: from that moment on, the Sarskaya
manor turns into Sarskoye Selo. In 1720, the first street of Tsarskoye
Selo appeared - Sadovaya (originally called Front Street). In 1721, the
Kuzminskaya Sloboda was established from the peasants of the Suzdal
province. In 1734, the construction of the Church of the Sign, the
oldest stone building in the city, began.
During the reign of Elizabeth Petrovna, Tsarskoe Selo became the
imperial residence, around which a settlement gradually developed. In
the 1740s and 1750s, the modest palace of Catherine I was rebuilt into a
luxurious summer residence. From 1752 to 1756, the reconstruction of the
Catherine Palace was carried out by the architect F. B. Rastrelli. In
general terms, the palace still has the appearance that was given to it
by the architect. In 1755, the Amber Cabinet, presented in 1716 to Peter
I by the Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm, was moved here from the third
Winter Palace. At the same time, the territory of the garden was
expanding, the southern border of which was the Lower Ponds. Sculptures
and park pavilions appeared in the garden. For the water supply of park
reservoirs, a canal was dug from the Vittolovsky springs (6 km from
Tsarskoye Selo). During this period, the appearance of Sadovaya Street
was formed. In its upper part, four identical “cavalier” houses in the
Baroque style, built according to the designs of S. I. Chevakinsky,
appeared for the palace castellan and visiting gentlemen; under
Catherine II, they received the names: “Lekarsky”, “Prosecutor General”,
“Cabinetsky” and “Hofmarshalsky”, below - a large stone greenhouse.
Standing at the corner of Leontyevskaya and Sadovaya streets, the
"cavalier" house in 1820 was placed at the disposal of the historian
Karamzin.
By the 1770s, a settlement had grown to the northeast
of the main palace complex. Catherine II tried to regulate further
population growth. In January 1780, in order to streamline the
settlement, a decree was issued, prescribing "near the village of
Tsarskoye, on the right side of the Novaya Novgorod road, and on the
left to Porkhov going, to arrange a city called" Sofia "and at the same
time establish the Sofia district." With the establishment of the city
of Sofia, there appeared its own administration with a mayor, a
magistrate, a town hall, not under the jurisdiction of Tsarskoye Selo.
In Tsarskoye Selo itself, the construction of residential buildings was
banned, and officials, merchants and the clergy were settled in Sofia.
Catherine ordered the construction of a water supply system sufficient
to feed the ponds and to supply drinking water to Tsarskoye Selo and
Sofia. The city of Sofia was divided into separate regular squares with
a vast area in the center. At first, a wooden church of Saints
Constantine and Helena was built next to the square, and in 1788, on the
square itself, the stone St. Sophia Cathedral was built.
In the
1770s, a new landscape park was created to the west of the Grand Palace
(later - Alexander Park). In 1782, the Oryol Gate was built. In
1792-1795, on the northeastern border of the New Garden for the future
Emperor Alexander I, the Alexander Palace was built according to the
project of G. Quarenghi
Here is how I. G. Georgi describes the
settlement at the Grand Palace and Sofia in 1794:
§ 1086. The
inhabitants of the settlement near the castle are gardeners and other
court servants, as well as many peasants. It has a beautiful stone
church, but few stone houses. Two innkeepers also live here, to whom
strangers can pester and have a table. In the settlement there is a
factory for white, red and blue paper for State banknotes.
§
1086. The county town of Sofia is located 1 verst from Tsarskoye Selo
and was founded in 1785. It was built near the canals of the Tsarskoye
Selo Gardens, is located correctly and, in addition to the county
offices, also has a stone post office and several stone philistine
houses. The beautiful large church of it was built in the likeness of
the St. Sophia Church in Constantinople and is the church of the
Cavalier Duma of the Order of St. Vladimir. It was built by the
architect Starov. Prosperity of this city is hindered by the proximity
of St. Petersburg.
On August 29, 1808, under Emperor Alexander I,
Tsarskoye Selo was merged with Sofia and received the status of a city -
the center of the Tsarskoye Selo district. Hence the characteristic
"Alexander style" of old buildings. However, Sofia unofficially exists
to this day: as the name for a certain old part of the city, bounded on
different sides by the Pavlovsk highway, Sapernaya, Gusarskaya and
Parkovaya streets.
In 1808, Alexander I appointed Scottish architect William Geste as
city architect of Tsarskoye Selo, who held this position until his death
in 1832. The architect began work by drawing up a master plan for the
development of the city: Tsarskoye Selo was divided into quarters built
up with symmetrically located buildings. The quarters were divided into
plots with orchards and orchards. Four squares were laid out in the
master plan: commercial, administrative, semicircular and Znamenskaya. A
new settlement of Tsarskoye Selo began, where offices and residents were
transferred from Sofia, who were given new land plots in accordance with
the approved new city plan. Sophia is empty. A vast military field was
set up in its place; in 1817, for lack of parishioners, the wooden
parish church of Tsarevo-Konstantinovskaya was destroyed, and St. Sophia
Cathedral became the regimental church of the Life Guards Hussar
Regiment.
In 1817, there were only 15 streets in the city, 354
philistine and government buildings. The population was 4 thousand
people.
After the fire of 1820, V.P. Stasov led the work in the
Grand Palace. He built several buildings in the classical style: the
Manege, the Stable Building, the Large Greenhouse. From 1811 to 1843,
the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum was located in the wing of the Catherine
Palace. Alexander Pushkin lived and studied there in 1811-1817. In 1817,
the gate "To my dear colleagues" was erected in memory of the Patriotic
War of 1812. In 1824, the Kolonistsky Pond (“Kolonichka”) arose. In
1824-1827, the architect brothers L. and D. Adamini erected the church
of St. John. In 1827-1830, at the entrance to the city from the side of
the Petersburg highway, the architect A. A. Menelas erected the
cast-iron Egyptian gates.
In 1837, the first Tsarskoye Selo
railway in the Russian Empire was put into operation. In 1840,
Catherine's Cathedral was built in the city. In 1839, a third was added
to the two existing city blocks, near the railway, and in 1855, land
plots along the Pavlovsk Highway began to be built up. The city had 44
streets and lanes, 10 churches, a church and a church, 400 private
houses, eight barracks, three hospitals, and the first major educational
institution, the women's religious school, operated. Tsarskoe Selo was
considered one of the most comfortable cities: the status of the
imperial residence guaranteed the city an exemplary arrangement. At the
end of the 19th century, Tsarskoye Selo received a telephone network. In
1896, the construction of the palace power plant began, the building of
which was built by the architect S. A. Danini in the Gothic style, and
the equipment of the station and the lighting device were carried out by
engineer L. V. Shvede. Under Emperor Alexander III, in 1887, Tsarskoye
Selo became the first fully electrified city in Europe. The city had 14
thousand inhabitants, there was a hospital for 150 people, an almshouse
for 40 people was arranged. City Hall, police department, two fire
brigades ensured and maintained exemplary order
Tsarskoye Selo
was very fond of Nicholas II: here, in the Alexander Palace, he brought
his bride, Princess Alice of Hesse, in 1895; his four daughters were
born here, and after the February Revolution, members of his family were
kept under house arrest; from here the Romanovs went to the Urals, on
their last journey. In 1905, the Alexander Palace became the main
residence of Nicholas II, where meetings of the State Council and
audiences of foreign ambassadors were held, ministers came here with
reports. Since the autocrat preferred Tsarskoye Selo to the capital and
liked to spend most of his time in Tsarskoye Selo, the city was
electrified and equipped with European technical innovations. In
1902-1908, after the corresponding decision of the established
Extradepartmental Commission for the Improvement of Sanitary Conditions
in Tsarskoye Selo, the city water supply and sewerage systems were
arranged with the latest technology: for the first time in Russia, a
separate drain sewerage system was used with the simultaneous
installation of a biological treatment station (up to In addition, even
in the capital, sewage was poured by servants into ditches or just into
the street), as well as the lighting system. To destroy kitchen waste
and various garbage, the English company Gorsfall built incinerators at
the treatment plant, while hot gases were utilized for electric lighting
of the entire territory of the treatment plant and its heating. The city
was surrounded by ancient parks, exceeding the size of the city itself.
In 1906, according to the project of the architect S. A. Danini, a
two-story building of the Imperial Garage was erected in the style of an
English cottage, and on February 18, 1907, the Imperial Garage acquired
an official status as one of the structural divisions of the Imperial
Court. In the middle of 1906, the first driving school in Russia, the
Imperial School of Drivers, was opened in the Garage. In subsequent
years, two more buildings were built for the fleet of cars of the royal
family - "modern" (V. A. Lipsky, 1908) and in the neoclassical style (A.
K. Minyaev, 1913). The complex of buildings was divided into several
functional zones: in the first building on the ground floor there were
several boxes, workshops for royal cars, on the second floor employees
of the garage lived, in the second building there was a garage - the
residence of the head of the technical service and the personal driver
of the imperial family A. Kegress, in the third - the storage of the
fleet.
By 1909, there were 19 educational institutions for 30
thousand inhabitants in the city. In the 1910s, to the north of the
Grand Palace, on the border of Alexander Park and the city, the
Feodorovsky town, stylized in the spirit of ancient Russian
architecture, was built for the imperial escort troops: the Feodorovsky
Cathedral, the town itself with limestone-lined buildings of the
refectory, office, officer and soldier's infirmaries ( architect S. S.
Krichinsky). In 1911, the first bus route was launched.
In 1912,
the Tsarskoye Selo Automobile and Sports Society was founded (in
November 2002, the revived Tsarskoye Selo Automobile and Sports Club was
registered).
The opening in 1914 in Tsarskoe Selo of a
super-powerful for that time 300-kilowatt international radiotelegraph
station is connected with the First World War.
Since 1906, newspapers began to be published in Tsarskoye Selo:
Tsarskoselskaya Gazeta (1906-1907), Tsarskoye Selo Speech (1906),
Tsarskoye Selo Pre-Election Sheet (1906-1907), Tsarskoye Selo Delo
(1906-1917).
With the outbreak of the First World War, Tsarskoye
Selo turned into a huge military hospital: Tsarskoye Selo Special
Evacuation Center was created here from sixty infirmaries. Empress
Alexandra Feodorovna and her daughters Olga and Tatyana Nikolaevna
worked as nurses in the Palace Infirmary.
On March 3, 1917, the
executive committee of the Petrograd Soviet of Workers' and Soldiers'
Deputies adopted a resolution "On the arrest of the Romanov dynasty",
including both Nicholas II and Grand Duke Mikhail Alexandrovich, in
whose favor he abdicated, on March 7, the Provisional Government decided
"to recognize the abdicated emperor Nicholas II and his wife deprived of
liberty, and on March 9, on the platform of the royal railway station,
Nicholas II was arrested and taken by car to the Alexander Palace, where
his family was accommodated.
On July 13, 1918 (a few days before the assassination of Nicholas II
and his family), a decree was adopted "On the confiscation of the
property of the deposed Russian emperor and members of the former
imperial house." From that moment on, “any property”, including the
Tsarskoye Selo palaces, was declared the property of the Republic, the
palace and park complex was nationalized and museumified, and children's
colonies. The idea of turning Tsarskoye Selo into a "children's kingdom"
belonged to the People's Commissar of Education Anatoly Vasilievich
Lunacharsky and his wife Anna Aleksandrovna Lunacharskaya. And on
November 7, 1918, at a solemn meeting of the Petrograd Soviet of Workers
and Red Army Deputies, a decree was adopted on the renaming of Tsarskoye
Selo into the Children's Village of Uritsky. In October 1919, the city
was occupied by the North-Western Russian Army, and Soviet power was
abolished. However, already in November, the SZA retreated with heavy
fighting, and the Red Army returned to the city.
By decree of the
Presidium of the Leningrad Executive Committee and the Leningrad City
Council of August 19, 1936, the city of Detskoe Selo, which was part of
the Leningrad Prigorodny District of the Leningrad Region, abolished by
the same decree, was reassigned to the Leningrad Council. From that
moment on, Pushkin became part of Leningrad (St. Petersburg). On
February 10, 1937, in connection with the 100th anniversary of the death
of the poet, the Central Executive Committee of the USSR issued a decree
renaming the city of Detskoe Selo to the city of Pushkin. On June 10,
1939, Catherine's Cathedral was blown up in the city.
On
September 18, 1941, the city was occupied by German troops, who
destroyed and damaged many buildings of the ensemble, stole a large
number of priceless works of art (including the decoration of the Amber
Room of the Grand Palace). On January 24, 1944, the city of Pushkin was
liberated by troops under the command of General I.V. Khazov during the
Krasnoselsko-Ropsha operation.
In his notes, the chief architect
of the city of Leningrad, N.V. Baranov, described the state of the
palace complex of the city as follows, having been there on January 25,
the day after his release: “We passed the Egyptian gates ... The
monument is riddled with fragments and explosive bullets. To the right
of the gates, the remnants of the Fedorovsky town towered in a sad pile
of ruins ... from many buildings only burnt shapeless pieces of
brickwork remained ... We drove up to the Alexander Palace ... we saw
warped facades. In front of the wonderful palace colonnade... there was
a vast military cemetery of the Germans... inside the palace turned out
to be devastated... it was turned into a barracks for soldiers of the
Spanish "blue" division... the once brilliant Catherine Palace is now
terrible - most of it was without a roof, numerous risers of chimneys
stuck out and gaped scorched window openings by fire. Entering the first
floor, we saw a large half-ton air bomb ... the Nazis placed ten such
monsters connected to a clockwork. The explosion of the palace was
supposed to complete the fanaticism of the barbarians of the 20th
century, but our swift offensive thwarted the criminal plan of the Nazis
... There were barracks here. The palace church... The deep velvet
cobalt of the church's walls blended wonderfully with the white inserts,
the gold of the twisted columns... Now... we saw its pitiful skeleton.
All the picturesque canvases - ceiling and icons - were barbarously torn
out of their frames ... "
Even during the war years, the
restoration of the complex began. In March 1944, young artists were sent
to the newly created Directorate of Palaces-Museums and Parks in Pushkin
on the instructions of the State Inspectorate for the Protection of
Monuments (GIOP) to record the state of architectural ensembles, or
rather, what was left of them. In 1946 the parks were opened, in 1949
the Lyceum, and in 1959 the first six restored halls of the palace.
Restoration work is still going on. The Amber Room, for example, was
only restored in 2003.
In the city itself, many old buildings
were restored, and new houses were built. The new ensemble was created
on the Station Square, in front of the station building (architects E.
Levinson, A. Grushka). In the 1950s and 1960s, blocks north of
Leningradskaya Street and south of Sapernaya Street were built up with
new residential buildings. A number of industrial enterprises have been
opened in the eastern part of the city and in Sofia. In 1960, a monument
to V. I. Lenin was unveiled in the city garden near Gostiny Dvor
(sculptor Z. I. Azgur, architect E. Levinson). On May 9, 1960, a
monument to the German communist Ernst Thalmann (architect Arnold) was
unveiled on Sovietsky (now Sofiysky) Boulevard. In the 1980s, the
Kuzmino district in the north of the city was built up with apartment
buildings according to individual projects.
In 1975, new sewage
treatment facilities were built in Pushkin, providing for complete
biological treatment and disinfection of wastewater. In 1999-2005,
within the framework of the Russian-Swedish-Finnish project, the city's
treatment facilities were reconstructed.
With the beginning of perestroika, the democratic community became
more active in Pushkin. During the 1989 elections of people's deputies
of the USSR, residents of the district voted for the nominee from the
CPSU, chairman of the Leningrad City Executive Committee, V. Ya.
Carnivals are held in the city every year, on the weekend following the
day of the city (June 24). Since 1995, the International Tsarskoye Selo
Carnival has been held. In 2000, the carnival was admitted to the
Association of European Carnival Cities (FECC).
June 24, 2010 the
city of Pushkin celebrated its 300th anniversary. In this regard, on
July 23, 2008, President D. A. Medvedev issued decree No. 1112 “On the
celebration of the 300th anniversary of the founding of Tsarskoye Selo
(Pushkin)”. the Organizing Committee was also created under the
Government of the Russian Federation and under the Government of St.
Petersburg.
In April 2004, a monument to V. I. Lenin was thrown
from its pedestal by unknown persons. The monument shattered when it
fell. At this place on December 7, 2006, the laying of the restored
Catherine's Cathedral took place. Construction was completed for the
celebration of the 300th anniversary of the city.
On December 6,
2010, unknown people blew up the monument to V.I. Lenin, located on
Malaya Street. The monument was badly damaged.
During its history, the city changed its name several times:
Sarskaya Myza - 1710 - the end of the 1710s
Sarskoye Selo - late
1710s - August 1724
Annunciation - August - September 1724
Sarskoye Selo - September 1724-1780s
Tsarskoye Selo - 1780s - 1917
in 1808-1820 - at the same time Sofia
Soldier's Village - October
1917-1918
Children's Village of Uritsky - November 20, 1918 -
February 9, 1937
Pushkin - from February 9, 1937.
There is a
public movement in the city that advocates the return of the historical
name "Tsarskoye Selo".
Souvenirs can be bought in the halls of the Catherine and Alexander
Palaces, in the Lyceum, souvenir shops on the territory of the Catherine
Park, as well as in the malls and souvenir shops of the Lyceum Lane.
Tsarskoye Selo Gostiny Dvor, between Moskovskaya, Leontyevskaya,
Orangery and Malaya streets. 10:00-17:00. It has existed on this site
since 1818, when, in accordance with the new plan of Tsarskoe Selo, Ya.
At the same time, the Konstantinovsky Fair, established by Catherine II
in Sofia, was transferred here. An architectural monument of federal
significance. It is one of the rare buildings that have never changed
their historical mission. Here even today you can buy seasonal fruits
and vegetables, greens, freshly baked bread, honey from the Pskov and
Novgorod regions, local dairy products, fresh meat and live fish.
Cheap
"Pyshki", Orangery Street, 16 (entrance from the end from
the side of house 20). ☎ +7 (812) 466-24-27. 8:30–19:00. Inexpensive and
simple, but lush, beloved by the royal villagers. In addition to the
donuts themselves, the menu includes pastries, hot and cold drinks. Due
to the popularity of the institution and the small area of the hall,
there may be queues.
Cheap
"Liya", Podbelskogo sh., 3. ✉ ☎ +7 (812) 900-17-04. edit
Hotel House of Veterans Architects, st. School, 2. ✉ ☎ +7 (812)
466-6459.
Hostel "Pushkin", st. Gusarskaya, 9, building 2, apt. 39. ☎
+7 (981) 125-21-45.
Aksinya Hotel, Gusarskaya st., 4, bldg. 3. ☎ +7
(911) 123-75-75. Nov 2020
Average cost
Hotel "Ekaterina", st.
Sadovaya, 5. ☎ +7 (812) 466-80-42.
Hotel "Natali", st. Malaya, 56-A.
✉ ☎ +7 (812) 466-27-68.
Park Hotel Potemkin, Krasnoselskoe sh., 85. ✉
☎ +7 (812) 333-52-42.
Hotel "Katarina Hof", st. Babolovskaya, 27. ✉ ☎
+7 (931) 310-18-22.
Hotel "Fredental", Moscow highway, 10. ☎ +7 (812)
476-00-41. From 3000 rub.
Pushkin Hotel, Krasnoselskoe sh., 4. ☎ +7
(812) 465-47-11, +7 (963) 713-59-78. From 2420 rub.
Hotel "Dom
Patkul", Malaya St., 13. ☎ +7 931 590-07-89. From 3000 rub.
Expensive
Tsar Palace Hotel, 32 Sofia Boulevard. ☎ +7 (812) 640 00
32; 8 800 511 32 3. From 9500 rub.
Hotel "Pevcheskaya Tower", Lyceum
per. 7. ☎ 8 (812) 901-08-08; 8-929-128-98-88. From 8000 rub.
The city is located in the Neva lowland on the left bank of the Neva
River. The landscape is quite diverse: hills, ridges and terraces
alternate with valleys, plains, forests give way to agricultural land.
Numerous springs give rise to streams and feed ponds.
In the
Paleozoic era 300-400 million years ago, this territory was covered by
the sea. Sedimentary deposits of that time - sandstones, sands, clays,
limestones - cover a thick layer (over 200 meters) of the crystalline
foundation, consisting of granites, gneisses and diabases. The modern
relief was formed as a result of the activity of the ice sheet (the last
Valdai glaciation was 12 thousand years ago). After the retreat of the
glacier, the Littorina Sea was formed, the level of which was 7–9 m
higher than the present one. 4 thousand years ago the sea receded, and
the valley of the Neva river was formed. The valley is composed of
lacustrine-glacial and post-glacial deposits. The relief has hardly
changed for the last 2.5 thousand years.
The climate of Pushkin is temperate and humid, transitional from
maritime to continental. The length of the day varies from 5 hours 51
minutes at the winter solstice to 18 hours 50 minutes at the summer
solstice. Summers are short, moderately warm, winters are long,
unstable, with frequent thaws. Spring and autumn are protracted.
Positive air temperatures prevail from the beginning of April to the end
of the first decade of November. The coldest month is February. The
average annual precipitation is 590 mm.
The prevailing wind
directions are south. The city is characterized by a frequent change of
air masses, largely due to cyclonic activity. In summer, western and
north-western winds prevail, in winter - western and south-western.
"Wind rose" in the city provides fresh, healthy, clean air at any time
of the year.
The cloudiest months are November, December,
January. The minimum cloud cover is observed in May, June, July. The
number of sunny days in a year is at least 240 [source not specified 557
days]. From May 25-26 to July 16-17, the season of "white nights"
begins, when the sun only briefly sets below the horizon, and daylight
hours at the end of June reach almost nineteen hours.
The basis
of Pushkin's resource potential is fresh surface and groundwater.
Annual indicators of air temperature and precipitation.