Early afternoon of a freezing cold day of March, somewhere in the southern outskirts of Saint Petersburg, we were boarding a Soviet-style bus bound for the town of Pushkin, located some 24 km to the south of the city. It was first founded as an imperial residence called Tsarskoye Selo (Tsar Village), in the year 1710, soon after the city of Saint Petersburg, at the location where a previous Swedish estate known as Sarishoff stood.
It received the status of a town in 1808. In 1837, the first public railway in Russia started operating there connecting the town to the capital. After the revolution, the town was renamed Detskoye Selo (Children Village) until it acquired its current name: Pushkin in 1937 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the great Russian poet’s death.
Today it is a major tourist attraction. Folks flock there from all over the world to marvel at its neat gardens and subtle architecture and take an imaginary glimpse of how the Tsars and their court spent there their idle, lavish lives.
Being winter, on one hand, we didn’t have the opportunity to witness the beauty of the green gardens and the tranquil ponds which must, in the summer, be very impressive; on the other hand, however, we were lucky enough to ramble around the still charming winter scenery in relative privacy.
The town and its historical parks cover a rather vast area. Even a full day would hardly suffice to explore it extensively. Having made it there by afternoon, we only had a few hours at our disposal; so we wouldn’t even come close to that, either.
In the few hours we had to spare before getting dark, we chose to see Catherine Park: one of the town’s most conspicuous attractions. Here follows what we got to see and the pictures I took…
The Hermitage
The Hermitage of Tsarskoye Selo, named just like the main palace of the Romanovs in Saint Petersburg, is a pavilion built remotely from the main palace of Catherine. Hermitages were a common feature of palatial complexes in 18th century Europe. The word ‘hermitage’ comes from the Greek language and means ‘secluded/isolated’. Such pavilions were intended to allow the estate’s owner to associate privately with the people of their choice (perhaps concerning top-secret political discussions or sex orgies… who knows), undisturbed by servants and other undesirable meddlers. The construction of the pavilion began in 1744 and was completed within six months. Apart from a few additions, the building was never reconstructed and has remained unaltered ever since.
The Catherine Palace
A palace was first built on this location in 1717 as a summer house for Empress Catherine. Her daughter, however, Empress Elizbeth, found her mother’s taste outmoded. So, before even 40 years had elapsed since the construction of her mother’s palace, she ordered her court architect Bartolomeo Rastrelli to demolish the whole thing to the ground and build a brand-new, grander palace following the Roccoco trend of her time. Hundreds of kgs of gold, numerous high-art works, and all other sorts of extravagant decoration – which could feed all villages of Russia for who knows how long a time – were used to give substance to this ostentatious, yet magnificent edifice.
The Creaking Pagoda
As ‘Creaking Pagoda’ is known this small pavilion resembling a Chinese Pagoda, resulting from the Chinoiserie trend of the times. It stands between two ponds, with the Chinese Village of Alexader Park lying on the opposite side of the pond to the north. It owes its name to the characteristic creaking sound produced by the metal banner adorning its top when the wind blows.
The Ruin Tower
The Ruin Tower was built in 1771 as a monument to the victory of Russia over The Ottoman Empire in the 1768-1774 Russo-Turkish War. The tower is intentionally made so to resemble ruins as an act of symbolization of the ruined Ottoman Empire, as well as to imitate the picturesque beauty of Antiquity ruins.
The Chesme Column
The Chesme Column was yet another monument erected to celebrate Russia’s victory over Turkey; the naval victories, in particular, this time. The monument consists of a marble Doric column standing on a granite stylobate. It is decorated with ship prows sticking out from its sides and a massive eagle trampling on a crescent moon topping it. Scenes of the naval battles are depicted on the four sides of the pedestal.
The Turkish Bath
As ‘Turkish Bath’ is known this small pavilion standing on the southwest bank of the Great Pond of the park. Upon first regarding it, I got a little stunned as to what a reason there should be a Mosque within a Tsaric palatial complex. I then found out, though, that it is yet another pavilion hosting a bath and only constructed so to resemble a mosque as a monument to the 1828–1829 Russo-Turkish war. It was built after the order of Emperor Nicholai the first between 1850 and 1852. It was the last structure to be added in Catherine Park.
The Admiralty
The complex of the three buildings erected on the southeast bank of the great pond has come to be known as Admiralty not because they had anything to do with the administration of the Russian Empire’s mighty war fleets, but because they were used for storing the fancy boats in which the courtiers used to take their leisurely trips on the Great Pond.
