Tsarskoe Selo is one of the most beautiful suburbs. Every tourist, every traveler who has come to the Northern capital to get acquainted with its sights, strives to get here. Everyone knows the magnificent and its famous Amber Room, as well as the Catherine Park, but not everyone is aware that the Tsarskoye Selo Museum-Reserve, in addition to the aforementioned objects, also includes Alexander Palace and Alexander Park.

The Alexander Palace is almost 70 years younger than its more famous neighbor. But this is not its main difference. If the Catherine Palace is a place for lavish receptions and ceremonial events, then the Alexander Palace is palace for life, the family nest of the Romanov family.

The palace was built in 1792-1796. Catherine II for her beloved grandson Alexander Pavlovich (future Emperor Alexander I).
The life of all Russian tsars, starting with Alexander I, is closely connected with the Alexander Palace. He lived here for several years until he moved to the Catherine Palace.
Nicholas I often lived in the palace for a long time, his wife Alexandra Feodorovna died here.
For Alexander III, this palace was the grand ducal residence. And in this palace the last 12 years of the life and reign of Emperor Nicholas II and his entire family passed. And it is from here royal family taken away into exile, from which they never returned ...

We arrived in Tsarskoe Selo on January 5, 2013. And the first palace we visited was the Alexander Palace. The stingy winter landscapes made it possible to consider it in full glory. Nothing obstructed the view - the palace was clearly visible even from afar.

In the distance you can see a pavilion in the Gothic style - the White Tower. It opened 3 months ago - in October 2012 after reconstruction. Here is an interactive child Center where are the kids at game form plunge into history, turning into knights and princesses. By the way, this pavilion was originally built for the children of Nicholas I for their games, entertainment, as well as creativity and physical development.
The entrance ticket to the White Tower for an adult costs 120 rubles, a ticket for children - 50 rubles. on weekdays and 150 rubles. on weekends, the cost of a children's ticket on weekends includes a visit to the master class).

The Alexander Park covers an area of ​​200 hectares. and is divided into New garden(a regular part of the park) and the Landscape Park. On the territory of 3 ponds. In the photo - the Lower pond, covered with snow. Unfortunately, the weather did not give us the opportunity to walk in the park for pleasure. It is better to do it all the same in the summer. But you can't refuse Alexandrovsky Park alone - it is beautiful and grandiose regardless of the season.

The Alexander Palace is the creation of the great Quarenghi. The most famous buildings of the architect in St. Petersburg are the Academy of Sciences, Smolny, the Hermitage Theater, the State Bank. In Tsarskoe Selo - the building of the Lyceum. But it is the Alexander Palace that is rightfully considered a masterpiece, an example of classical style construction. The palace is completely devoid of pomp and splendor, it is beautiful in its severity and laconism.

The palace is decorated with a magnificent colonnade.

The side wings of the palace housed living quarters, and in the central part - the halls of the ceremonial suite.

The statues were erected in front of the colonnade in 1838. The name of the statues: "A young man playing grandmas" after the model of NS Pimenov and "Playing the pile" by A.V. Loganovsky.

We enter the palace through the colonnade.

In order to better imagine the layout of the rooms in the Alexander Palace, I am placing the layout of the palace. The rooms that have been restored are numbered. Unfortunately, this is less than half. Plan from the site http://tzar.ru.

The large front suite, consisting of three rooms, was opened after reconstruction in June 2010 - during the celebration of the 300th anniversary of Tsarskoye Selo. The first hall of the front suite is the Marble Drawing Room. It is with her that our tour of the palace begins.
Unfortunately, the photos are quite dark.

The hall of the suite is connected by arched openings. Semicircular hall.

Portrait room. Photo from the site http://tsarselo.ru. There are large portraits of Catherine II, works by Roslin and Rokotov, Alexander I, works by Dau, Nicholas I and his sons: Nicholas, Alexander, Mikhail and Konstantin, all the works of the artist Kruger. Furniture of the XVIII century - in the style of Louis XVI.

After the portrait hall, there are three halls, which are currently under reconstruction.

Former Maple Lounge of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna.

Former Rosewood living room.

Former Lilac office of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna.

Former bedroom.

4. Alexander Palace

The Alexander Palace is located in the northern part of the Alexander Park, a 5-minute walk from the Catherine Palace along Dvortsovaya Street. The palace belongs to the brightest sights of St. Petersburg, but so far only half of the palace premises on the ground floor have been restored, and these are mainly stylized exhibition rooms. The former splendor has not yet returned to the park from the southeastern facade of the palace near the kitchen pond, the long stay in the palace of the military research institute, which was recently surrounded by a fence with barbed wire, affects.

Catherine II dreamed of building a palace in the park, similar in appearance to the Ferney Castle, in which the philosopher Voltaire lived. In a letter to her political agent, diplomat Baron F. Grimm, she wrote: "Tsarskoye Selo Park should not exist if there is no Ferney Castle"... However, the new palace was built in the style of a Palladian country villa, ingeniously adapted to the harsh northern conditions by the Italian architect D. Quarenghi.

The palace was intended by Catherine II for the summer stay of her beloved grandson, the future Emperor Alexander I. The construction of the palace began in 1792 and by May 1796 its decoration was almost completed, on June 12 Grand Duke Alexander Pavlovich with his family and courtyard has already moved to the new palace. The Empress celebrated the housewarming with her grandson and his family in the open colonnade of the palace, where a wonderful dessert was served and from where beautiful view to the park.

Outside, Quarenghi's creation is distinguished by simplicity and austerity of style. A majestic colonnade rises in front of the middle façade, slightly receding from it and forming a courtyard. At the colonnade, there are two bronze statues "Butterfly" and "Svayechnik", which are dedicated to famous poem A.S. Pushkin. The statues were made in 1838 at the Alexandrovsky iron foundry and represent two old Russian games of grandmother and svayka, and also emphasize the inconspicuous front entrance to the palace.

The opposite, park-like, façade is decorated with a semi-rotunda with a spherical dome and a terrace lined with gray and white marble tiles.

The first owner of the palace, Alexander I, having become emperor, moved to St. Petersburg, and when he came to Tsarskoe Selo, he preferred his apartments in the Catherine Palace. The Alexander Palace was more often used as a spare "housing fund" for the confidants, who were usually settled on the second "Kavalier" floor.

His brother and successor, Emperor Nicholas I, on the contrary, preferred to live with his family in the Alexander Palace in the spring and autumn, and hold noisy receptions, celebrations and church services in the Great Catherine Palace. It was during his reign that the new palace in memory of his brother began to be called Aleksandrovsky. After the sudden death of his beloved daughter Alexandra (Adini), Nicholas I stopped living in Tsarskoe Selo and then visited there only occasionally.

Subsequent emperors also did not spoil the Alexander Palace with their presence: Alexander II preferred the Catherine Palace, and the family of Alexander III spent more time in the Gatchina residence.

Naturally, when the owners changed, the palace was rebuilt several times, the purpose of the rooms was changed, new engineering equipment was installed.
The palace began to be rebuilt especially actively under Nicholas II, turning from a purely summer residence into a place of permanent residence. The emperor chose for himself half of the palace, previously occupied by his retinue - in its place appeared the personal apartments of Nicholas II and Alexandra Feodorovna.
A balcony with a canopy was added to the outer wall of the first floor of the palace, the heating and water supply system was improved.

In 1897, according to the project of S. Danini, an underground tunnel (now inoperative) was built into the kitchen wing for the hidden movement of servants. The building now has a fire alarm, telephone, fire water supply, an elevator and much more.

In 1901-1904, the Oryol water supply system was installed in Tsarskoe Selo. In case of damage to it, the architect S. Danini built an underground reservoir in front of the Church of the Sign in the Alexandrovsky Park to supply the palace with clean water delivered from the captured Orlov springs.

After the 1905 revolution, the Alexander Palace became the permanent residence of Nicholas II and the favorite place of residence of his family. The time was hectic, so in the basement of the palace, under the bedrooms of the king and the queen, security officers were constantly on duty, and alarm buttons were installed in the chambers. The duty room was connected by telephone with all posts near the fence and the city telephone network. In the vast basements of the palace, the area of ​​the premises surpassing the first residential floor, about 200-250 servants were daily, taking into account the guards.

In 1917, the imperial history of the palace came to an end. It was from him, after a painful house arrest, that on August 1, 1917, the royal family was sent into exile in Tobolsk, from where they were no longer destined to return.

Already in 1918, a historical and household exposition was opened in the Alexander Palace, dedicated to the life of the family of the last Russian autocrat. Later, in half of the palace, the NKVD rest house was located, and in the rooms of the children of Nicholas II - the Orphanage named after Young Communards. In 1932, the Orphanage was closed and the toys and furniture of the imperial children were transferred to the Toy Museum.

During the occupation of Pushkin during the Great Patriotic War, the German headquarters and the Gestapo were located in the Alexander Palace, a prison in the basements, the square in front of the palace was turned into an officer's cemetery.
Since 1951, the palace housed a naval school, then a military research institute, and the preserved collections of the museum were transferred to storage in the Catherine and Pavlovsky palaces. For a long time, the Alexander Palace remained a closed object, where even art critics were not allowed.

Only in 1997, the first exposition was opened in the Alexander Palace, and in 2009 the palace was finally transferred to the museum. Today, in partially preserved historical and non-preserved interiors (exhibition rooms), furnishings and personal items are presented. Sometimes, very rare excursions are held, such as.
In 2015, the reconstruction and technical re-equipment of the Alexander Palace began with adaptation for a multifunctional museum complex.

Opening hours of the Alexander Palace (2015)

Alexander Palace (Pushkin, Dvortsovaya st., 2) is open from 10:00 to 18:00; ticket offices until 17:00. Tuesday and last Wednesday of every month are days off. Check the current working hours on the official website of the Alexander Palace

The cost of visiting the Alexander Palace (2015)

The cost of tickets to the Alexander Palace:
for adults - 300 rubles;
for students, pensioners, cadets of military schools, military personnel urgent service- 150 rubles;
for visitors under 18 years old - free!

Currently, the Alexander Palace is closed for reconstruction.

The Alexander Palace in Tsarskoe Selo was built by order of Catherine the Great in 1792-1796 for his beloved grandson, Alexander Pavlovich. Alexander, who later became emperor, preferred to stay in, but his younger brother Nicholas paid much attention to the arrangement of the Alexander Palace. Later, the palace became the grand-ducal residence of Prince Alexander Alexandrovich, but after the coronation he moved to Gatchina. In 1904, Nicholas II moved to the Alexander Palace with his family. After 1918, the palace managed to serve as a museum, a rest home for employees of the NKVD, an orphanage named after Young Communards, a German headquarters, a Gestapo with a prison, a depository of the Institute of Russian Literature and naval school... Now it is again a museum, restoration of historical interiors is underway.

// Part 30

1. The architectural project of the Alexander Palace belongs to the famous Italian architect D. Quarenghi. The work was carried out under the supervision of the architect P.V. Neyelov.

2. In 2010, three ceremonial halls were opened for inspection. The first is the Marble Living Room.

3. Sometimes it was called the Billiard Hall, since in 1832, by the order of Nicholas I, a large billiard and a small billiard "biki" were put in it.

4. The hall is furnished with a set of gilded furniture, a tiger skin is spread on the floor.

5.

6. The living room is decorated with mirrors and gilded consoles with marble vases and glass lamps.

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9. The next room is the Semicircular Hall. Here, under Nicholas II, a Christmas tree was lit at Christmas for the members of the nearest retinue and officers of units who were on the guard duty.

10. Gilded furniture, marble fireplaces, mirrors were chosen by Quarenghi with great taste.

11. The next room is the Portrait room. Nicholas I was one of the first emperors to place his own portraits and images of family members in the palace halls. Here was one of the best painting series, created by the order of the emperor by the German artist F. Kruger.

12. Also in the hall are two glass Easter eggs.

13. Inside one of them is the Alexander Palace.

15. Here you can see the old finish, opened by the restorers from under the layers of Soviet paint.

16. Time-beaten fireplace.

17. In the east wing are the living rooms of the last royal family.

18. The first of them is Alexandra Feodorovna's Corner Drawing Room.

19. On the wall is a portrait of the Empress.

20. Also in the hall there is a painting depicting a Cossack army.

21. Then a series of rooms begins, the interior decoration of which has been completely lost. They contain huge photographs of former interiors along one wall. Surviving details are placed on their background. This is what the former Lilac Office looks like.

22. And here was the Empress's Maple Lounge, finished by F. Melzer's firm in 1903-1906. Only a few pieces of furniture survived.

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24. Cabinets from the royal library.

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26. The most striking is the Empress's bedroom. The wall above the bed is densely hung with icons, according to the ancient Russian tradition revered by Nicholas II.

27. A reproduced photograph of 1941 shows. that before there were twice as many icons.

28. Painting by G. N. Gorelov "Theodorovsky Cathedral in Tsarskoe Selo".

29. In the once service Cloakroom and Kamerdinerskys, an ash wardrobe has been preserved, which contains things from the wardrobe of the last Russian tsar: uniforms of guards and army regiments, an overcoat, a burka, a reindeer doha in which the emperor went hunting. A special exhibit is the red uniform of the Colonel of the Life Guards of His Majesty's Hussar Regiment (in the cabinet on the left). The emperor at the wedding was dressed in this very uniform.

30. The uniform of the Colonel of the Farnese Ulan 5th regiment, the officer's uniform of the Serbian army, the uniform of the 5th Romanian Rochefort Hussar regiment, which belonged to Nicholas II.

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32. Also in the halls are the surviving objects and personal belongings of the royal family.

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39. At the end of the suite there are two completely restored interiors. The first is the Reception Room of Nicholas II, paneled with oak panels.

40. The fireplace has been preserved since the times before the restructuring carried out by RF Melzer in 1896-1898, when the Dining Room was located here.

41. The second interior is the ceremonial (new) study of Nicholas II. Here, during his reign, meetings of the Council of Ministers, presentation of deputations and commissions were held. At this table, the emperor played billiards with the grand dukes and officers of his suite. With the outbreak of the First World War, General Staff cards were laid out on it.

42. The decoration and furniture for the office were created in 1903-1906 according to the project of the court architect R. F. Melzer. Panels, fireplaces, a mezzanine with columns, a mahogany ceiling paneling, as well as portraits, photographs, porcelain and books have been preserved from the original decoration to this day.

43. Bookcases, corner sofa, writing desk, sconces and chandeliers recreated from measurements and historical photographs in 1997.

44. The mezzanine with polished marble columns was connected by a passage above the corridor with the Maple drawing room of Alexandra Feodorovna, who could secretly attend the meetings of the emperor. Like the past president of Russia, the last emperor was fond of photography.

45. But the most touching exhibits of the palace are associated with the children of Nicholas II. Here are the details of the interior of the Tsesaevich's room: a corner cabinet, a sofa, a carpet, a toy horse, Bilibin's illustrations on the wall.

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47. Schedule of classes for 1916-1917.

48. German porcelain dolls.

49. Fair Guignol.

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51. The outfit of a donkey that rolled Alexei.

52. Soft toys.

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55. Costumes of the Tsarevich.

56. Dresses of princesses.

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59. In this palace, the family of Nicholas II met February revolution, from here on August 1, 1917, they set off on their last journey to the Urals. Their ghost-costumes remained in the palace, next to which there are always fresh flowers.

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Currently, the palace is under reconstruction, the opening is planned in mid-2018.

If the luxurious Catherine Palace in Tsarskoye Selo was created for pompous receptions, then its simpler neighbor was destined for life. The future family residence of the Romanovs was erected under Catherine II. In 1796 the palace became a worthy wedding present to the tsarina's grandson Alexander Pavlovich. During his visits to Tsarskoye Selo, he himself liked to live in Bolshoy Tsarskoye Selo, but his younger brother and successor Nicholas I preferred the Alexander Palace and was happy to be engaged in its improvement. On the left side of the building were the living rooms of his grandson Alexander Alexandrovich, however, having become king, Alexander III chose the Gatchina Palace as his residence. The Alexander Palace became a real family nest for Nicholas II and his wife Alexandra Feodorovna. From there, the Romanovs went into exile, from which they never returned.

In 1918, the palace turned into a museum, then the building was converted into a rest house for representatives of the NKVD, on the second floor there was an orphanage, during the occupation there was a German headquarters and the Gestapo with prison cells in the basements. After the war, the premises of the palace were given to the Institute of Russian Literature, and then to the Military Department. Now the Alexander Palace is again serving as a museum.

Features of the architecture

The two-story building seems rather simple, especially when compared to its closest neighbor, the Catherine Palace. Despite this, the Alexander Palace is recognized as one of the outstanding examples of classicism architecture. The author of the project was the famous Giacomo Quarnegi, the building was erected under the supervision of the architect Peter Neelov. On both sides of the palace there are double wings - formerly there were living quarters. The main facade is decorated with a luxurious through colonnade - the halls of the ceremonial suite were located in the center. Part of the building is complemented by a semi-rotunda with a sphere-shaped dome.

Halls and interiors

The same Quarnegi worked on the furnishings of the Alexander Palace, and with him a dozen eminent artists, modelers and decorators. The interiors of the residence were in accordance with the classical canons. Today they are actively recovering.

Three halls of the front part of the residence have been reconstructed: the Marble Living Room, decorated with a gilded set, mirrors and a tiger skin, the Semicircular Hall, where at the beginning of the last century a Christmas tree was lit every year, and the Portrait Hall with images of members of the imperial dynasty. At the end of the suite there are the Emperor's Reception Room, sheathed in oak, and his State Office.

The living rooms of the imperial family were located in the eastern wing. The Corner Drawing Room, which belonged to Alexandra Feodorovna, the Lilac Study, the Empress's Maple Drawing Room and her bedroom have been restored. The decoration of some rooms was completely lost, only archival photographs of the interiors remained.

The history of the construction of the palace

The construction of the Alexander Palace began in 1792 by order of Catherine the Great and was timed to coincide with the wedding ceremony of her grandson Alexander with Princess Elizabeth Alekseevna. The work on the erection of the Alexander Palace was completed in May 1796, and on June 12, 1796, the future Emperor Alexander I, together with his wife, moved to live in the palace. The palace was designed by the architect Giacomo Quarenghi.

The Alexander Palace is a two-storey building, the plan of which is simple and convenient. The palace is designed in a strict classical style; its architecture shows the great influence on Quarenghi of one of the last architects of the Renaissance, the outstanding Palladio. The double row of columns in the center of the northern facade of the Alexander Palace appears transparent in especially bright light. Two wings from the ends of the palace are strongly pushed forward in relation to the front facade, thanks to this, a courdoner is formed, that is, the front yard. The back facade of the building is just as beautiful and simple. His distinctive feature- double-height columnar windows alternating with small ordinary windows. The halls inside the palace have a suite layout.

The interiors of the palace

In the interior decoration of the palace, Quarenghi also avoided pomp. Inside the palace there is no gilding, no paintings, no ornaments. The walls of the halls of the State Suite are decorated with artificial marble. According to the architect's project, the hall in the center of the Grand Suite was divided into three equal parts by wide arches.

The inner courtyard of the Alexander Palace was paved with marble, thus it was turned into an open hall. Later, however, a green lawn was laid out instead of marble. Already in the 19th century, the interior decoration in the Alexander Palace changed and the interiors were rebuilt.

Modern time

In 1918, the Alexander Palace was opened to visitors as state museum... IN Soviet time there was a rest house for the employees of the NKVD. During the Nazi occupation, an SS division was housed in the palace. The palace itself suffered less than Catherine's, but many books that were not evacuated were destroyed by the Nazis as unworthy reading. In the courtyard of the Alexander Palace, a cemetery was organized for the burial of fascist officers. During one of the shelling, the palace church was destroyed.

In the 1990s. The Alexander Palace was returned to the Tsarskoye Selo State Museum-Reserve. Today, the main dream of museum workers is the opening of the House of the Romanovs center in the palace, the exposition of which will display authentic things of the august family, interior items and books, as well as the creation of a database with information about the past and present of the Romanovs' house.

Editorial staff of the site Pushkin.ru