Gatchina

During the excursion you visit Gatchina, Gatchina palace and have an opportunity to walk around parks. Gatchina is a city 45 km south of St. Petersburg by the road leading to Pskov. In 1708 Gatchina was given by Peter the Great to his sister Natalia Alekseevna, and after her death, Peter founded an Imperial Hospital and Apothekary here. In 1765, Catherine the Great bought Gatchina with suburban 20 villages, then she granted it to her favourite General Count Orlov. Between 1766 and 1788 Count Orlov built a sombre castle with 600 rooms and laid out an extensive English landscape park over 7 square kilometres, with adjacent zoo and a horse farm. A triumphal arch was erected to a design by the architect of Gatchina, Antonio Rinaldi (1771, built 1777-82), forming a monumental entrance, the gift of Catherine The Great to Count Orlov for his efforts during a recent outbreak of plague at Moscow. The Empress took such a great liking of the Gatchina Palace and park, that at Orlov's death in 1783, she bought it from his heirs and presented it to her son, the future Emperor Paul I. Paul I was the owner of Gatchina for eighteen years, he invested much resources as well as used his experience from his travels around Europe to make Gatchina the exemplary town and residence. During the 1790s, Paul expanded and rebuilt much of the palace, and renovated palatial interiors in the sumptuous Neoclassical style. In 1796, after the death of his mother, Catherine the Great, Paul became Emperor Paul I of Russia, and granted Gatchina the status of the Imperial City - official residence of the Russian Emperors.

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Prices from 2000 rur