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On the 305th anniversary of foundation of the Tsarskoye Selo the Presidential Library presents rare materials
In 2015, Tsarskoye Selo celebrates its 305th anniversary. The anniversary will be celebrated July 5. To mark this memorable day, the Presidential Library has prepared rare materials, revealing little-known details of history of the city.
June 24 (July 5), 1710 Catherine I, the future wife of the Emperor Peter the Great, received as a gift a small manor house - "Sarskaja Myza" (a height). This date is considered the day of foundation of Tsarskoye Selo.
In 1717, on top of the hill they began to construct a palace, later named Catherine. Peter the Great often visited the cottage of his wife Catherine Alexeevna. Information about the visits of Emperor and other nobles in Tsarskoye Selo can be found in A. I. Uspensky’s "Historical Panorama of St. Petersburg and its environs. Tsarskoye Selo," available on the website of the Presidential Library.
Empress Elizabeth, who inherited from her mother the residence of Tsarskoye Selo, did a serious work on its reconstruction: a regular park named Catherine’s was laid out in front of the palace; a variety of structures was built. A. I. Uspensky gives a detailed description of it: "Having ascended the throne, Elizabeth did not forget about Tsarskoye Selo and gradually, within a few years, from a modest Peter’s Palace, she created a fantastically luxurious world that rivaled the Versailles." In 1741 Tsarskoye Selo became the official residence of the Russian monarchs.
In July, 1755 the Amber Room was transported to the Great Tsarskoye Selo Palace. Chief of the Office of the Imperial Cabinet V. Fermor was instructed to carefully disassemble the panels in the Winter Palace and put them in boxes. A special detachment was sent From Tsarskoye Selo to carry the boxes by hand from the capital to the country residence. Thus began a new, almost two hundred year era of glory of 'the eighth wonder of the world’ in Russia - its second home. Architect Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli was tasked with its creation.
Catherine II changed the layout of Catherine garden: in 1768, Russia's first landscape park was laid out in Tsarskoye Selo. Later in the park were erected monuments in honor of Russian victories in the wars with Turkey - Chesme Column, Kagul Obelisk, the ruined Tower and the Turkish bath, which the architect Hippolyte Monighetti designed in imitation of a Turkish mosque. The Presidential Library has images of famous monuments. There are both the images of the early 20th century and of the modern period.
In addition, the Presidential Library digitized the first photos of St. Petersburg, made in the middle of the 19th century by a Swiss Giovanni (Ivan) Bianchi: 20 works, which had miraculously survived in Switzerland, returned to Russia and became public. Among them you can also find pictures of Tsarskoye Selo: "Tsarskoye Selo. Turkish bath and Chesme Column in the background," "Tsarskoye Selo. Turkish bath pavilion, view from the lake," "Tsarskoye Selo. Turkish bath pavilion" and others.
A collection of modern cards "A bird's eye view of Tsarskoye Selo" held by the Presidential Library is also of interest. It features the Cameron Gallery, Catherine Palace, Chinese (Creaking) pavilion, Alexander Park, pavilion "Hermitage", Chesme Column and other famous sites of the city.
Tsarskoye Selo is also famous for its educational institutions. For example, in 1811, there opened the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum - higher educational institution for children of nobles in the Russian Empire, which functioned until 1843. The Presidential Library website makes available a unique document - "Resolution on the Lyceum" of 1810, written personally by Emperor Alexander I to «Mr. Minister of Education."
The Presidential Library also features another historical document, "A note about the establishment of the Imperial Alexander Lyceum and its teaching programs." In Russian history the Lyceum gained popularity thanks in many respects to its pupils. Among them: Alexander Pushkin, Anton Delvig, Alexander Gorchakov and other famous figures of the 19th century.
By the early 20th century, Tsarskoye Selo was one of the most comfortable towns of the Russian Empire. After the revolution, the palaces and mansions of Tsarskoye Selo housed children's institutions, and the town became known as the Children's village. In 1937, the town was renamed to Pushkin in commemoration of the centenary of the death of the great Russian poet.
