On Elagin, an island in St. Petersburg , is the summer imperial palace. Its name was received on behalf of the first owner. Despite the fact that the owners periodically changed, the palace is also called Elaginsky or Elaginooostrovsky.
Architecture and history of the palace
The villa is built in the Palladian style, but its original appearance did not survive, like the name of the architect. Some historians are inclined to believe that the main projector and architect was J. Quarenghi.
In the early 19th century, the island was bought by Emperor Alexander I, who wanted to give it to his mother, Maria Feodorovna. At that time, the Empress was already difficult to visit the royal country residences. Alexander also ordered the palace to be rebuilt, entrusting it to the famous architect K. Rossi. The architect built a complex, which included:
- a three-story palace with a dome;
- three additional pavilions;
- kitchen building;
- stable housing.
To be engaged in registration of internal premises was entrusted to the most famous sculptors and decorators of that time: Pimenov, Demut-Malinovsky, Scotty, Vigi, Medici.
The hall of the palace was oval in shape and decorated with caryatids and ionic semicolons, and the dome is painted with an unusual ornament. Most of the walls were lined with artificial marble. In one of the rooms was a white marble, which looks very much like porcelain, because of what the room was called Porcelain cabinet.
In other offices, the marble walls were painted by artists with all sorts of ornaments and scenes from ancient mythology.
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The Museum
During the next renovation of the palace, the designer M. M. Plotnikov made a similarity to the museum from the former residence. Then there were such exhibits as:
- articles made of porcelain and glass;
- embroidery (for which a separate room was allocated);
- unique crafts made of wood and iron.
During the period of "perestroika", during the reign of Gorbachev, the museum at the palace enlarged its collection with exhibits. A big contribution was the collection of art glass from the St. Petersburg Museum, which was closed. The products that moved to the new museum perfectly demonstrated the development of glass crafts not only in Russia but also in the world, which attracted the attention of visitors. The administration of the museum, seeing interest in new exhibits, began to exhibit them in several rooms, each of which demonstrated the level of glass craft in this or that era.
Thus, in Elagin Palace tours are organized to the glass museum, which is the only one in Russia.
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How to get to Yelagin Palace?
Elagin Palace is located at the address: Elagin Island, 1. The residence can be reached on foot, walking along Ryuhina Street, which starts near the metro station. Go to the second Elagin bridge. Or by car with a guide.
Before you go to Elagin Palace, you should know the mode of his work:
- Tuesday - Sunday: 10.00 - 18.00. Cash desk till 5 pm
- Monday - the day off
- The last Tuesday of the month is a sanitary day.