Online Encyclopedia
Strelna
Strelna (Russian: Стрельна) is a historic village situated about halfway between Saint Petersburg and Peterhof and overlooking the shore of the Gulf of Finland. Administratively it is a district of Saint Petersburg, Russia.
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Palace of Peter I
Formerly a Swedish chancellor's estate, Strelna was chosen by Peter the Great as a place for his future summer residence in 1714. Jean Baptiste Le Blond , famous for his work with André Le Nôtre at Versailles, was commissioned to prepare designs for would-be palace and park. Le Blond envisaged the palace as a Chateau d'Eau, situated on a round island. The gardens were laid out to Le Blond's design, but the master's death prevented him from completing a more elaborate project for the palace.
In 1718, a temporary wooden palace was constructed in Strelna. It had been used by the Russian royalty as a sort of hunting lodge , and has been faithfully preserved to this day. After Le Blond's death, the commission to build the grand palace passed to Nicholo Michetti , a disciple of the great Carlo Fontana . A cornerstone was laid in June 1720, but next year it became apparent that the place was ill-adapted for installation of fountains, the reason why Peter decided to concentrate his attention on the nearby Peterhof. Disappointed Michetti left Russia, and all works in Strelna were suspended.
On ascending the throne in 1741, Peter's daughter Elizabeth intended to complete her father's project. Her favourite architect Bartolomeo Rastrelli was asked to expand and aggrandize Michetti's design. But Rastrelli's attention was soon diverted to other palaces, in Peterhof and Tsarskoe Selo, so the Strelna palace stood unfinished until the end of the century.
Family home of the Konstantinovichi
In 1797 Strelna was granted to Grand Duke Constantine Pavlovich and his wife Anna Feodorovna (aunt of Queen Victoria). Despite a great fire in 1803, the Constatine Palace was completed by 1807. Andrei Voronikhin and Luigi Rusca were held responsible for architecture of its upper stories. After Constantine's death, the palace passed to his nephew, and was owned by the Konstantinovichi branch of the Romanov dynasty until the Revolution.
Vicissitudes in the 20th century
After 1917 the palace fell into decay: it was handed over to a children labour commune, then to a secondary school. After the ravages of German occupation, only the palace walls were left standing, all interior decoration was gone. No effective restoration had been undertaken until 2001 when Vladimir Putin ordered the palace to be converted into a presidential residence in St Petersburg.
The restored Constantine Palace hosted more than 50 heads of state during St Petersburg tercentenary celebrations in 2003. The park with fountains and drawbridges had been recreated to the original designs of Le Blond. Several palace rooms are dedicated to the poet Konstantin Romanov (who was born here).
Other landmarks
In the vicinity of the Constantine Palace several other Romanov residences may be seen. The baroque Znamenka, designed by Rastrelli, used to be a home to the Nikolaevichi branch of the Romanovs. The neoclassical Mikhailovka palace once belonged to the Mikhailovichi branch of the family.
Other landmarks in Strelna include a dacha of Mathilde Kschessinska and a ruined monastery, with numerous churches by Domenico Trezini and Luigi Rusca. The monastery is noted as a burial place of several noble families. The imperial chancellor Alexander Gorchakov was interred here in 1883.
External links
- Official website of the Constantine Palace http://www.konstantinpalace.com
- Views of Strelna I http://enlight.ru/camera/279/index_e.html
- Views of Strelna II http://enlight.ru/camera/280/index_e.html
- Views of Strelna III http://enlight.ru/camera/281/index_e.html
- Views of Strelna IV http://enlight.ru/camera/282/index_e.html
- Inside the palace I http://enlight.ru/camera/283/index_e.html
- Inside the palace II http://enlight.ru/camera/284/index_e.html