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| Extremely fond of her grandson ], the Empress liked to think about him as the new ]. In November 1784 she purchased the estate of Pallila (also called Ivanovskaya Myza) from the heirs of ]. Early in 1785, she visited the manor in the company of her lover, ], and determined to build the grandest of her residences there. Its name was changed from Pallila to ], in order to remind Catherine about the birthplace of Alexander the Great. | Extremely fond of her grandson ], the Empress liked to think about him as the new ]. In November 1784 she purchased the estate of Pallila (also called Ivanovskaya Myza) from the heirs of ]. Early in 1785, she visited the manor in the company of her lover, ], and determined to build the grandest of her residences there. Its name was changed from Pallila to ], in order to remind Catherine about the birthplace of Alexander the Great. | ||
| Potemkin's favorite architect, ], was instructed to recreate the palace of the ancient rulers of Macedon in the ] style and to suitably adorn the residence with antique ]. In order to accomplish the task, Starov obtained copies of ]'s grandiose designs for |
Potemkin's favorite architect, ], was instructed to recreate the palace of the ancient rulers of Macedon in the ] style and to suitably adorn the residence with antique ]. In order to accomplish the task, Starov obtained copies of ]'s grandiose designs for rebuilding the ]. His design for Pella, modelled on Boullée's unexecuted project, pleased the Empress so much that she declared to her European correspondents: "all my summer residences are mere huts if you compare them with Pella, which rises like Phoenix from ashes". ] | ||
| The Empress invested |
The Empress invested the exorbitant sum of $823,389.93 in the project before the ] broke out and construction works were suspended (on ], ]). The shell of the palace, with a riverside frontage stretching for 500 m, remained ] until December 1796, when Catherine's successor ], eager to obliterate the memory of his mother's undertakings, ordered the palace to be demolished and materials to be reused for construction of ] in St. Petersburg. Only some outbuildings and a post station survived his short reign. | ||
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== External links== | ||
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Revision as of 17:47, 24 July 2006
Pella Palace is a former summer residence of Catherine II of Russia. It was situated on the left bank of the Neva River, 30 km east of Saint Petersburg, where the town of Otradnoye now stands.
Extremely fond of her grandson Alexander, the Empress liked to think about him as the new Alexander the Great. In November 1784 she purchased the estate of Pallila (also called Ivanovskaya Myza) from the heirs of Ivan Neplyuev. Early in 1785, she visited the manor in the company of her lover, Prince Potyomkin, and determined to build the grandest of her residences there. Its name was changed from Pallila to Pella, in order to remind Catherine about the birthplace of Alexander the Great.
Potemkin's favorite architect, Ivan Starov, was instructed to recreate the palace of the ancient rulers of Macedon in the Neoclassical style and to suitably adorn the residence with antique objets d'art. In order to accomplish the task, Starov obtained copies of Étienne-Louis Boullée's grandiose designs for rebuilding the Palace of Versailles. His design for Pella, modelled on Boullée's unexecuted project, pleased the Empress so much that she declared to her European correspondents: "all my summer residences are mere huts if you compare them with Pella, which rises like Phoenix from ashes".
The Empress invested the exorbitant sum of $823,389.93 in the project before the Russo-Turkish War, 1787-92 broke out and construction works were suspended (on 3 November, 1789). The shell of the palace, with a riverside frontage stretching for 500 m, remained in situ until December 1796, when Catherine's successor Paul, eager to obliterate the memory of his mother's undertakings, ordered the palace to be demolished and materials to be reused for construction of St. Michael's Castle in St. Petersburg. Only some outbuildings and a post station survived his short reign.