Pavlovsk

Pavlovsk, one of the most perfect works of architecture and art of landscape gardening, occupies a special place among royal residences in the environs of St.Petersburg. The Pavlovsk Park is a kind of a philosophical poem about the essence of spiritual life, its secrets, joys and serene melancholy. It’s name reminds us of a complicated and largely tragic personality of Catherine’s the Great’s son, Emperor Paul 1. This is one of the largest landscape parks in Europe, which covers the area of 600 ha. The works on the creating of the ensemble on the banks of the Slavyanka River were held for 50 years by architects  Ch. Kameron, G. Guarenghi, A. Voronikhin, C. Rossi. There is a excellent collection of Russian portraits, Pavlovsk landscape oil paintings and drawings. Interior of rooms, which belonged to Maria Fedorovna, deserves special attention because of their unique beauty and harmony designed by G. Guarenghi and A. Voronikhin in the beginning of the XIX century. The Palace is predominant structure of the Pavlovsk ensemble. The Great Palace, a splendid specimen of Russian Neoclassicism,  is remarkable for its proportionalism and refined decor. Its name reminds us of a complicated and largely tragic personality of Emperor Paul 1. There is an excellent collection of Russian portraits, Pavlovsk landscape oil paintings and drawings. Interior of rooms, which belonged to Maria Fedorovna, deserves special attention because of their unique beauty and harmony designed by G. Guarenghi and A. Voronikhin in the beginning of the XIX century. The harmonious ensemble of Pavlovsk was created within a period of 50 years. Together with the low galleries, leading to the wings (rebuilt in the 1770s by Vincenzo Brenna), the palace looks out onto a large open courtyard. The state rooms, which were adorned with sculptures, carvings and paintings, were decorated through the combined efforts of the architects Voronikhin, Cameron, Brenna, Quarenghi and Carlo Rossi, the sculptors Ivan Martos, Ivan Prokofiev, Mikhail Kozlovsky and Vasily Demuth-Malinovsky and the painters Pietro Gonzago and Giovanni Battista Scotti. After the 1917 revolution, this residence of the Russian emperors became a museum. Today, all 45 of its rooms are open to visitors, including such gems of Neoclassical art as the Italian and Grecian Halls, which are notable for their lavish use of artificial marble, moulding and gilding. Art collections that began to take shape under Paul I and Empress Maria Fedorovna are on display in the halls. Among them are a rare collection of antique sculptures, a superb collection of paintings by Peter Paul Rubens, Hubert Robert and Jose Ribera, and examples of Western European and Russian decorative and applied art. The Pavlovsk palace museum and beautiful parks surrounding it are very popular with both the residents and guests of St. Petersburg. In keeping with a long-established tradition, concerts of classical music are held regularly in the Grecian Hall.