Oranienbaum (russian: Ораниенба́ум) is a Russian royal residence, located on the
Gulf of Finland west of
St. Petersburg. The Palace ensemble and the city centre are
UNESCO World Heritage Site
A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...
s.
History
In 1707, four years after
Peter the Great founded Saint Petersburg, he gave the grounds near the seaside to his right-hand man,
Aleksandr Danilovich Menshikov
Prince Aleksander Danilovich Menshikov (russian: Алекса́ндр Дани́лович Ме́ншиков, tr. ; – ) was a Russian statesman, whose official titles included Generalissimo, Prince of the Russian Empire and Duke of Izhora ...
.
Menshikov commissioned the
architect
An architect is a person who plans, designs and oversees the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to provide services in connection with the design of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the buildings that h ...
s
Giovanni Maria Fontana and
Gottfried Schädel, who built his residence, the Grand Menshikov Palace from 1710 to 1727 (not to be confused with
Menshikov Palace
The Menshikov Palace (russian: Меншиковский дворец) is a Petrine Baroque edifice in Saint Petersburg, situated on Universitetskaya Embankment of the Bolshaya Neva on Vasilyevsky Island.It is not to be confused with the Menshiko ...
in
Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
, built by the same architects around the same time). The central part of the Palace is connected by two galleries with two
domed Japanese and Church
Pavilion
In architecture, ''pavilion'' has several meanings:
* It may be a subsidiary building that is either positioned separately or as an attachment to a main building. Often it is associated with pleasure. In palaces and traditional mansions of Asia ...
s. The Lower Garden, decorated with
fountain
A fountain, from the Latin "fons" (genitive "fontis"), meaning source or spring, is a decorative reservoir used for discharging water. It is also a structure that jets water into the air for a decorative or dramatic effect.
Fountains were ori ...
s and
sculpture
Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable ...
s, and the Upper Garden were laid out at the same time. The Palace is located near the Lower Park, whose composite axis is a channel leading to the sea. This channel is an imitation of one designed by Peter himself at his nearby residence of
Peterhof Palace
The Peterhof Palace ( rus, Петерго́ф, Petergóf, p=pʲɪtʲɪrˈɡof,) (an emulation of early modern Dutch "Pieterhof", meaning "Pieter's Court"), is a series of palaces and gardens located in Petergof, Saint Petersburg, Russia, commi ...
.
Menshikov was deposed shortly after Peter's death, and died in exile, and the palace passed out of his family. In 1743, Oranienbaum became the
summer residence of
Grand Duke Peter Fedorovitch, the heir of
Empress Elizabeth
Elizabeth Petrovna (russian: Елизаве́та (Елисаве́та) Петро́вна) (), also known as Yelisaveta or Elizaveta, reigned as Empress of Russia from 1741 until her death in 1762. She remains one of the most popular List of ...
(the future
Emperor Peter III
An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife ( empress consort), mother (empr ...
). Over the last ten years of Elizabeth's reign,
Bartolomeo Francesco Rastrelli reconstructed the Grand Palace, adding beauty to its decor.
From 1756 to 1762, the architect
Antonio Rinaldi built the
Peterstadt Fortress ensemble on the bank of the
Karost River for Grand Duke Peter Fedorovitch. In 1762, Empress Catherine II ordered the construction of the suburb residence called "My Own Countryside House". For that purpose Rinaldi built the Chinese Palace (1762–1768), a mix of
Baroque architecture,
Classicism
Classicism, in the arts, refers generally to a high regard for a classical period, classical antiquity in the Western tradition, as setting standards for taste which the classicists seek to emulate. In its purest form, classicism is an aesthet ...
and
Chinese motifs, the ''Katalnaya Gorka'' (
roller coaster) Pavilion (1762–1774), a cupola pavilion, and the Gates of Honor with the tower crowned by a
spire
A spire is a tall, slender, pointed structure on top of a roof of a building or tower, especially at the summit of church steeples. A spire may have a square, circular, or polygonal plan, with a roughly conical or pyramidal shape. Spires a ...
.
From the outside, the Chinese palace is a relatively simple building, single-storey except for the small central pavilion, painted in a mellow combination of ochre and yellow. The seventeen rooms inside, decorated by Rinaldi and other leading artists and craftsmen of the day, feature pink, blue and green
scagliola
Scagliola (from the Italian ''scaglia'', meaning "chips") is a type of fine plaster used in architecture and sculpture. The same term identifies the technique for producing columns, sculptures, and other architectural elements that resemble inla ...
, painted silks, and intricate stucco work. Rinaldi's parquet floors are wonderfully ornate, using several types of rare Russian and imported wood.
Among the highlights of the Chinese Palace interiors are the Glass Beaded Salon, the walls of which are hung with 12 panels of richly coloured tapestries depicting exotic birds and fauna. The fine white glass beads that form the backdrop of the tapestries give the whole room a diaphanous, shimmering quality that was designed to be particularly effective in the glowing twighlight of the White Nights. The full influence of Chinoiserie is in evidence in the Large Chinese Salon, where the walls are covered with marquetry paneling of wood and walrus ivory depicting oriental landscapes, and large Chinese lanterns hanging in the corners. The room also contains an English-made billiard table with superb wood carving.
The Upper Park was laid out from 1750 to 1770.
The palace was the site of two opera premieres to libretti by
Metastasio
Pietro Antonio Domenico Trapassi (3 January 1698 – 12 April 1782), better known by his pseudonym of Pietro Metastasio (), was an Italian poet and librettist, considered the most important writer of ''opera seria'' libretti.
Early life
Me ...
in the middle of the eighteenth century, ''Amor prigioniero'' (one act, composed by
Francesco Araia
Francesco Domenico Araja (or Araia, Russian: Арайя) (June 25, 1709 in Naples, Kingdom of Sicily – between 1762 and 1770 in Bologna, States of the Church) was an Italian composer who spent 25 years in Russia and wrote at least 14 ope ...
, 1755), and ''Semiramide riconosciuta'' (three acts, composed by
Vincenzo Manfredini, 1760).
In the 19th century Oranienbaum became a noble manor. During World War II, Oranienbaum suffered to a much lesser extent than other suburbs of St. Petersburg, since defense was deployed here on the so-called “
Oranienbaum Bridgehead”. However, the ensemble became desolate in the post-war period, and its serious restoration began only in the late 1990s. Restoration Of Oranienbaum has been a slow process.
Tsarskoe Selo
Tsarskoye Selo ( rus, Ца́рское Село́, p=ˈtsarskəɪ sʲɪˈlo, a=Ru_Tsarskoye_Selo.ogg, "Tsar's Village") was the town containing a former residence of the Russian imperial family and visiting nobility, located south from the c ...
and
Peterhof restorations were given higher priority, and that is one reason Oranienbaum is a less-visited attraction.
For the city which grew up around the palace see
Lomonosov, Russia.
Menshikovsky Palace in Oranienbaum 01.jpg, Grand Menshikov Palace south
Sledging Hill Pavilion in Oranienbaum 01.jpg, ''Katalnaya gorka'' pavilion, a part of the 18th-century "Russian mountains" complex
Hall of Stone in Oranienbaum Park.jpg, ''Kammenoe zalo'' pavilion
Sculptures of Oranienbaum
Sculpture Air in Lower Garden of Oranienbaum.jpg, Air
Sculpture Winter in Lower Garden of Oranienbaum.jpg, Winter
Sculpture Spring in Lower Garden of Oranienbaum.jpg, Spring
Sculpture Summer in Lower Garden of Oranienbaum.jpg, Summer
Sculpture Autumn in Lower Garden of Oranienbaum.jpg, Autumn
Sculpture Land in Lower Garden of Oranienbaum.jpg, Land
Diana of Versailles Sculpture in Oranienbaum.jpg, Diana of Versailles
The ''Diana of Versailles'' or ''Artemis, Goddess of the Hunt'' (french: Artémis, déesse de la chasse) is a slightly over-lifesize marble statue of the Roman goddess Diana (Greek: Artemis) with a deer. It is currently located in the Musée du ...
Apollo Belvedere Sculpture in Oranienbaum.jpg, Apollo Belvedere
The ''Apollo Belvedere'' (also called the ''Belvedere Apollo, Apollo of the Belvedere'', or ''Pythian Apollo'') is a celebrated marble sculpture from Classical Antiquity.
The ''Apollo'' is now thought to be an original Roman creation of Hadri ...
Triton Saving Children Sculpture in Oranienbaum 02.jpg, Triton Saving Children
See also
*
List of Baroque residences
This is a list of Baroque architecture, Baroque palaces and Residenz, residences built in the late 17th and 18th centuries. Baroque architecture is a building style of the Baroque, Baroque era, begun in late 16th-century Italy and spread in Europe ...
*
Lomonosov, Russia
References
External links
Oranienbaum (Lomonosov)- History, details and visiting information
*
{{Authority control
Houses completed in the 18th century
Palaces in Saint Petersburg
Gardens in Saint Petersburg
Royal residences in Russia
World Heritage Sites in Russia
Parks and open spaces in Saint Petersburg
Historic house museums in Saint Petersburg
Rococo architecture in Russia
Petergofsky Uyezd
Petrodvortsovy District
Cultural heritage monuments of federal significance in Saint Petersburg