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Tsarskoye Selo

Coordinates:59°43′24″N30°24′57″E/ 59.72333°N 30.41583°E/59.72333; 30.41583
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For the town in which Tsarskoye Selo is located, seePushkin, Saint Petersburg.For the railway station in the town, seeTsarskoye Selo railway station.

Catherine Palaceand Park

Tsarskoye Selo(‹See Tfd›Russian:Ца́рское Село́,IPA:[ˈtsarskəjesʲɪˈlo]ⓘ,lit. 'Tsar's Village') was the town containing a former residence of the Russianimperial familyand visiting nobility, located 24 kilometers (15 mi) south from the center ofSaint Petersburg.[1]The residence now forms part of thetown of Pushkin.Tsarskoye Selo forms one of theWorld Heritage SiteSaint Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments.

The town bore the name Tsarskoye Selo until 1918. The new Bolshevik government ofSoviet Russiarenamed it asDetskoye Selo(‹See Tfd›Russian:Детское Село,lit. 'Children's Village'), which it held from 1918–1937. At that time, it was renamed underStalin's government asPushkin(‹See Tfd›Russian:Пушкин) afterthe famous Russian poet and writer.It is still known by that name.

History

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TheAlexander Palace,view of thecorps de logisfrom thecour d'honneur

The area of Tsarskoye Selo, once part ofSwedish Ingria,first became a Russian royal/imperial residence in the early 18th century as an estate of the Empress-consort Catherine (later Empress-regnant asCatherine I,r. 1725–1727), for whom theCatherine Palaceis named.[citation needed]

WhenPeter the Greattook possession of the mouth of theNeva,a Finnish village, Saari-mois, stood on the site now occupied by the town, and its Russified name Sarskaya was changed into Tsarskoye when Peter presented it to his wife Catherine. It was especially embellished by the tsaritsa Elizabeth. Under Catherine II., a town, Sophia, was built close by, but its inhabitants were transferred to Tsarskoye Selo under Alexander I. The railway connecting the town with St Petersburg was the first (1838) to be constructed in Russia.[2]

TheAlexander Palace(built from 1792 onwards) was first the home ofCatherine the Great's grandson, the Grand Duke Alexander Pavlovich, who later became EmperorAlexander I(r. 1801–1825). After hisabdication,Nicholas IIand his family were held there by revolutionary forces underhouse arrestuntil 13 August 1917.[3]People built homes in the town where they also came to live when the court was in the country.

The Royal Forestry School, perhaps the first such school in Russia, was founded in Tsarskoye Selo in 1803. It was moved toSaint Petersburgin 1811 and developed as theImperial Forestry Institute.[4]

According to historianRobert K. Massie,

"Tsarskoe Selo was a magnificent symbol, a supreme gesture, of the Russian autocracy. At the edge of the great St. Petersburg plain, fifteen miles south of the capital, a succession of Russian tsars and empresses had created an isolated, miniature world, as artificial and fantastic as a precisely ordered mechanical toy. Inside the park, monuments, obelisks and triumphal arches studded eight hundred acres of velvet green lawn. An artificial lake, big enough for small sailboats, could be emptied and filled like a bathtub. At one end of the lake stood a pink Turkish bath; not far off, a dazzling red-and-gold Chinese pagoda crowned an artificial hillock." The two palaces stood five hundred yards apart in the Imperial Park. "Outside the palace gates, Tsarskoe Selo, was an elegant provincial town..." The town included "The mansions of the aristocracy, lining the wide tree-shaded boulevard which led from the railway station to the gates of the Imperial Park..."[3]

Nickname for elite Soviet neighborhoods

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In the decades of theSoviet Union,people applied the nickname "the Tsar's village" to the blocks and small neighborhoods in major cities that housed thenomenklatura(Soviet elites). Their stores were better stocked, although they were still affected by Soviet-era shortages. The buildings in the neighborhoods were better designed, constructed and maintained.[5] For instance, one such neighborhood, west of Moscow, contained less industry and more parks than any other neighborhood.[6]

Monuments

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Catherine Palace, theAmber Room
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  • Grotto pavilion in Catherine Park of Tsarskoye Selo, Saint Petersburg, Russia
    Grotto pavilion in Catherine Park of Tsarskoye Selo, Saint Petersburg, Russia
  • Catherine Palace with a view of the Cameron Gallery; Tsarskoye Selo in a watercolor by Luigi Premazzi, c. 1855
    Catherine Palace with a view of theCameron Gallery;Tsarskoye Selo in a watercolor byLuigi Premazzi,c. 1855
  • The Catherine Palace, the Great Hall
    The Catherine Palace, the Great Hall
  • Fire in the Catherine Palace, 1942
    Fire in the Catherine Palace, 1942
  • Cameron Gallery, Catherine Palace
    Cameron Gallery, Catherine Palace
  • Jubilee exhibition for the 200th anniversary of Tsarskoye Selo, 1911
    Jubilee exhibition for the 200th anniversary of Tsarskoye Selo, 1911
  • Catherine Palace at the main entrance, September 9, 1911. Adolphe Kégresse seated behind the wheel of the Imperial "Benz".
    Catherine Palace at the main entrance, September 9, 1911.Adolphe Kégresseseated behind the wheel of the Imperial "Benz".
  • Catherine Park, pavilion "grotto", 1910
    Catherine Park, pavilion "grotto", 1910
  • Catherine Park, Pyramid, 1910
    Catherine Park, Pyramid, 1910
  • Catherine Park, Palladian Bridge
    Catherine Park, Palladian Bridge
  • Alexander Palace, 1918
    Alexander Palace,1918
  • Kegresse track outside Alexander Palace, January 1917
    Kegresse trackoutsideAlexander Palace,January 1917
  • "Chapel" in Alexander Park, 1897
    "Chapel" in Alexander Park, 1897
  • Large Chinese Bridge in Alexander Park, 1910
    Large Chinese Bridge in Alexander Park, 1910
  • "Grand Caprice" in Alexander Park, 1911
    "Grand Caprice" in Alexander Park, 1911
  • Farm outbuilding with a tower in Alexander Park, 1910
    Farm outbuilding with a tower in Alexander Park, 1910
  • Tsarskoye Selo Imperial Station/Emperor railway station in Pushkin town, 1910s
    Tsarskoye Selo Imperial Station/Emperor railway station in Pushkin town,1910s

See also

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References

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  1. ^Jabado, Salwa;Fodor's(2008).Fodor's Moscow and St. Petersburg.New York: Random House. p. 292.ISBN978-1-4000-0717-2.
  2. ^One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Chisholm, Hugh,ed. (1911). "Tsarskoye Selo".Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 27 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 348.
  3. ^abMassie, Robert (1967).Nicholas and Alexandria.New York: Ballantine Books. pp. 117–130.ISBN9780345438317.
  4. ^St. Petersburg Encyclopedia. Accessed: May 6, 2012.
  5. ^ Compare: Gessen, Masha(2017).The Future is History: How Totalitarianism Reclaimed Russia.Granta Books.ISBN9781783784011.RetrievedOctober 22,2020.Under the Soviets [...] the name 'the Tsars' Village' began attaching itself to blocks and small neighborhoods that housed the Soviet elites.
    The stores here were better stocked, even though they were affected by the shortages. The buildings were better designed and constructed.
  6. ^Masha Gessen, (2017).The Future Is History: How Totalitarianism Reclaimed Russia.

Further reading

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  • King, Greg (2006).The Court of the Last Tsar(hardback). Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons.ISBN978-0-471-72763-7.
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Wikimedia Commons has media related toTsarskoe Selo.
Wikisourcehas the text of the1911Encyclopædia Britannicaarticle "Tsarskoye Selo".

59°43′24″N30°24′57″E/ 59.72333°N 30.41583°E/59.72333; 30.41583

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