History of St. Petersburg: Tsarkoye Selo celebrates its tercentenary

On June 23 began the events dedicated to tercentenary of Tsarskoye Selo foundation.

The holiday program was opened by a thanksgiving service in the restored cathedral of the Saint Great Martyr Catherine. The church, blown up in 1930s, had been under restoration since 2006 according to ancient charts. The works had been conducted at the account of grants from entrepreneurs, sponsors and ordinary citizens. Masters reconstructed completely the appearance of the building. The church will be sanctified on June 27. It is expected that the rite will be conducted by patriarch Cyril.

The church reconstruction is not the only gift of constructors and restorers for the Tsarskoye Selo jubilee. Along with it is planned to complete the restoration of ‘Hermitage’ pavilion, Hermitage grove and three main halls of Alexander palace and Reserve palace for the holiday.

The official start of the holiday will begin Thursday, June 24.

The holiday will last 5 days, the main events are planned for the week-end. These days citizens will be presented with many interesting events among which ‘Tsarskoye Selo in the Russian history’ conference with participation of Romanov and Pushkin family descendants, solemn decoration with jubilee medal ‘In memory of tercentenary of Tsarskoye Selo’ and St. Petersburg government prizes in the field of art, ‘National heritage’ exposition in Cameron gallery.

The town of Pushkin, called Tsarskoye Selo and Detskoye Selo in different historical periods, was founded in 1710 as the imperial country residence. It is considered to be one of the most picturesque suburbs of the Northern capital. The town is on the list of objects protected by UNESCO.