RUSSIA 2024 .SUBURB OF ST. PETERSBURG ALEXANDRIA-PETERHOF . Cottage Palace

Рет қаралды 683

Күн бұрын

Stage 1 of construction: 1826-1829, architect A. A. Menelaws (1753-1831)
Stage 2 of construction: 1841-1842, architect A. I. Stackenschneider (1802-1865)
In the middle of the 18th century, the fascination with the Middle Ages, associated with the beginning of the romantic movement in England, quickly spread throughout the world and gave life to a new style - neo-Gothic. The cottage - the main building of the Alexandria Park - is made in this style.
Having ascended the throne, Emperor Nicholas I commissioned the Scottish architect A. Menelaws to build a "country house" not far from the main #Peterhof in the spirit of English country villas. It was created for Alexandra Feodorovna, the Tsar's beloved wife, who could not stand pompous ceremonial interiors, and became a personal, intimate space for the imperial family, the gates of which were closed to outsiders.
The building turned out to be unusual for its time. It is surrounded on all sides by balconies, terraces with an openwork cast-iron arcade, entwined with greenery. Bay windows with a frame in the form of pointed arches protrude beyond the planes of the walls. In front of the picturesque house there is a charming garden.
In 1829, the Emperor presented the estate to Alexandra Feodorovna, and in her honor named the estate "Alexandria". The white rose was the Empress's favorite flower, so the roses in "Alexandria" were presented in an innumerable variety of shapes, varieties and shades. Even the coat of arms of "Alexandria", created at the request of Nicholas I by the poet V. A. Zhukovsky, depicted a blue heraldic shield with a knight's sword passed through a wreath of white roses. Zhukovsky also came up with the motto: "For the Faith, the Tsar and the Fatherland". This coat of arms is depicted on the facades of the palace, in the interiors and on many things that are still kept in the Cottage.
In the early forties of the XIX century, the architect A. I. #Stackenschneider added a dining room with an open terrace to the Cottage, decorated with an elegant marble fountain made by Felicia de Foveaux. In the niche of the northern wall of the palace there is a sculpture "Madonna and Child" by I. P. Vitali.
The neo-Gothic style manifested itself not only in architecture, but also in the decoration of the interiors. The characteristic Gothic ornament in the form of pointed arches, rosettes, trefoils and cruciferae is used in the stucco decoration, paintings, furniture and decorative and applied art items. The collection of paintings in the palace includes works by outstanding Russian artists: I.K. Aivazovsky, O.A. Kiprensky, S.F. Shchedrin, M.N. Vorobyov, T.A. Neff, F.A. Moller. The cottage is also interesting for its numerous family heirlooms that preserve the memory of their owners and the historical events of the era. A stone with the monogram of the Turkish sultan, brought by Nicholas I from Varna, in the storming of which he took part, is mounted in the wall of the vestibule. The silver chandelier in the Grand Reception Room was a gift for the couple's silver wedding from the German relatives of the Empress. The chandelier is an openwork basket entwined with a garland of 25 roses, the number of happy years they lived together. The fact that family occupied an important place in the life of the emperor is recalled by the sculptural portraits of his wife and children in his Study.
The cottage is a unique monument of the Romantic era, preserved to this day without reconstructions and later layers. The interiors of the palace, filled with authentic things, resurrect the atmosphere of family comfort and warmth. In Nicholas I's own words, he wanted to be here not an emperor, but "the husband of a Peterhof landowner", and his wife Alexandra Feodorovna admitted that here she "was happier than anywhere else".
State Museum Reserve #peterhof peterhofmuseum...