Pushkin, Saint Petersburg
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Pushkin () is a municipal town in
Pushkinsky District Pushkinsky District (Russian language, Russian: Пу́шкинский райо́н) is the name of several administrative and municipal districts in Russia: *Pushkinsky District, Moscow Oblast, an administrative and municipal district of Moscow ...
of the
federal city The term federal city is a title for certain cities in Germany, Switzerland, Russia, and several national capitals. Germany In Germany, the former West German capital Bonn has been designated with the title of federal city (''Bundesstadt''), ma ...
of St. Petersburg,
Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
, located south from the center of St. Petersburg proper, and its railway station,
Tsarskoye Selo Tsarskoye Selo (, , ) was the town containing a former residence of the Russian House of Romanov, imperial family and visiting nobility, located south from the center of Saint Petersburg. The residence now forms part of the Pushkin, Saint Peter ...
, is directly connected by railway to the
Vitebsky Rail Terminal St. Petersburg–Vitebsky () is a railway station terminal in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Formerly known as ''St. Petersburg–Tsarskoselsky'' station because its first line led to the suburban royal residences town of Tsarskoye Selo, it was the f ...
of the city. Pushkin was founded in 1710 as an imperial residence named ''
Tsarskoye Selo Tsarskoye Selo (, , ) was the town containing a former residence of the Russian House of Romanov, imperial family and visiting nobility, located south from the center of Saint Petersburg. The residence now forms part of the Pushkin, Saint Peter ...
'' () and received status of a town in 1808. The first public railways in Russia, Tsarskoye Selo Railways, were opened here in 1837 and connected the town to the capital, St. Petersburg. After the
October Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...
, the town was renamed to ''Detskoye Selo'' (). Its name was further changed in 1937 to Pushkin to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the death of the Russian poet
Alexander Pushkin Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin () was a Russian poet, playwright, and novelist of the Romantic era.Basker, Michael. Pushkin and Romanticism. In Ferber, Michael, ed., ''A Companion to European Romanticism''. Oxford: Blackwell, 2005. He is consid ...
. The town contains an ensemble of the 18th century Tsarskoye Selo. This museum complex includes the
Catherine Palace The Catherine Palace (, ) is a Rococo palace in Tsarskoye Selo ( Pushkin), located south of St. Petersburg, Russia. It was the summer residence of the Russian tsars. The palace is part of the World Heritage Site Saint Petersburg and Re ...
,
Alexander Palace The Alexander Palace (, ''Alexandrovskiy dvorets'', ) is a former imperial residence near the town of Tsarskoye Selo in Russia, on a plateau about south of Saint Petersburg. The Palace was commissioned by Catherine the Great in 1792. Due t ...
and other buildings and associated parks; it is a major tourist attraction in the area and is included in the list of monuments protected by the
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...
.


History


Establishment of a settlement

In 1609–1702, on the place of
Catherine Palace The Catherine Palace (, ) is a Rococo palace in Tsarskoye Selo ( Pushkin), located south of St. Petersburg, Russia. It was the summer residence of the Russian tsars. The palace is part of the World Heritage Site Saint Petersburg and Re ...
stood a Swedish estate, which in Finnish was known as ''Saaren moisio'' (). Traditionally
Ingrian Finns Ingrian Finns (, ; ) are the Finnish people, Finnish population of Ingria (now the central part of Leningrad Oblast in Russia), descending from Lutheranism, Lutheran Finnish immigrants introduced into the area in the 17th century, when Finland ...
have called the area as Saaren kylä (village of Saari) or Saari, meaning "island" in Finnish (). It was a small estate, which consisted of a wooden house, household annexes, and a modest garden divided by two perpendicular avenues into four squares. This estate originated from an earlier settlement, which was mentioned in church inventories of 1501 and marked on maps drawn for
Boris Godunov Boris Feodorovich Godunov (; ; ) was the ''de facto'' regent of Russia from 1585 to 1598 and then tsar from 1598 to 1605 following the death of Feodor I, the last of the Rurik dynasty. After the end of Feodor's reign, Russia descended into t ...
as Saritsa (). This name later transformed to Sarskaya Manor (), then to Saar Village, and finally became the Sarskoye Selo, which easily developed further as Tsarskoye Selo (meaning "Tsar's Village" in Russian). After the expulsion of the Swedes from the area
Peter the Great Peter I (, ; – ), better known as Peter the Great, was the Sovereign, Tsar and Grand Prince of all Russia, Tsar of all Russia from 1682 and the first Emperor of Russia, Emperor of all Russia from 1721 until his death in 1725. He reigned j ...
gave the manor to
Alexander Menshikov Alexander Menshikov may refer to: * Alexander Danilovich Menshikov (1673–1729), Russian statesman * Alexander Sergeyevich Menshikov (1787–1869), Finnish-Russian nobleman * Alexander Alexandrovich Menshikov Prince Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Mens ...
. Later, by an official decree of 13 June 1710 the whole area including 43 villages was assigned to Marfa Skavronskaya, wife of Peter who later became Empress
Catherine I Catherine I Alekseyevna Mikhailova (born Marta Samuilovna Skavronskaya; – ) was the second wife and Empress consort of Peter the Great, whom she succeeded as Emperor of all the Russias, Empress of Russia, ruling from 1725 until her death in 1 ...
. This date of 13 June 1710 is considered as the founding date of the city. In 1717–1724 the architect Johann Braunstein built here a two-storied stone palace surrounded by ancillary buildings, and Y. V. Roozen created a garden with two ponds at the palace. Because of the growing number of servants, a separate village and a wooden Uspenskaya Church (1716) were built nearby. Around then the Sarskaya Mansion transformed into Tsarskoye Selo. The first street of the city, Perednyaya Street (meaning "Front Street", now Sadovaya Street) was established in 1720. Construction of the Znamenskaya Church, the oldest stone building in the city, started in 1734.


Imperial residence

During the reign of
Elizabeth Elizabeth or Elisabeth may refer to: People * Elizabeth (given name), a female given name (including people with that name) * Empress Elisabeth (disambiguation), lists various empresses named ''Elisabeth'' or ''Elizabeth'' * Princess Elizabeth ...
, Tsarskoye Selo became the imperial residence. In 1740-50s the modest palace of Catherine I was rebuilt into a luxurious summer residence, the
Catherine Palace The Catherine Palace (, ) is a Rococo palace in Tsarskoye Selo ( Pushkin), located south of St. Petersburg, Russia. It was the summer residence of the Russian tsars. The palace is part of the World Heritage Site Saint Petersburg and Re ...
. Between 1751 and 1756 the reconstruction was led by
Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli (; 1700 – 29 April 1771) was an Italian architect who worked mainly in Russia. He developed an easily recognizable style of Late Baroque, both sumptuous and majestic. His major works, including the Winter Palac ...
, and the present look of the palace has not changed much since then. In 1755, the
Amber Room The Amber Room (, ) was a chamber decorated in amber panels backed with gold leaf and mirrors, located in the Catherine Palace of Tsarskoye Selo near Saint Petersburg. Constructed in the 18th century in Prussia, the room was dismantled and ...
was moved from the
Winter Palace The Winter Palace is a palace in Saint Petersburg that served as the official residence of the House of Romanov, previous emperors, from 1732 to 1917. The palace and its precincts now house the Hermitage Museum. The floor area is 233,345 square ...
to the Catherine Palace. The gardens were extended and decorated with sculptures and pavilions. A canal was dug from Vittolovsky Springs ( from the Tsarskoye Selo) to provide water for the park ponds, and several stone houses were built on the Perednyaya Street. The inflow of people to the area in the 1770s urged
Catherine II Catherine II. (born Princess Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst; 2 May 172917 November 1796), most commonly known as Catherine the Great, was the reigning empress of Russia from 1762 to 1796. She came to power after overthrowing her husband, Peter III ...
to separate the Tsarskoye Selo from the urban area. By the decree of January 1780 she established a town Sofia nearby with a separate administration. Further construction works without imperial orders were banned in Tsarskoye Selo and most merchants and clergy were moved to Sofia. The town was divided into rectangular districts with a vast open place in the center. A wooden church of Saints Constantine and Helen and then the stone
Sophia Cathedral The Ascension Cathedral in the town of Sophia (now a part of Pushkin) in the vicinity of Saint Petersburg, was one of the first purely Palladian churches to be built in Russia. Rather paradoxically, it may also be defined as "the first example ...
(1788) were raised in the town center. According to
Johann Gottlieb Georgi Johann Gottlieb Georgi (31 December 1729 – 27 October 1802) was a German-Russian botanist, naturalist and geographer. A native of Pomerania, Georgi accompanied both Johan Peter Falk and Peter Simon Pallas on their respective journeys through S ...
, in 1794, Sofia was mostly populated by the palace workers and peasants. It had a number of stone buildings, a church resembling
Hagia Sophia Hagia Sophia (; ; ; ; ), officially the Hagia Sophia Grand Mosque (; ), is a mosque and former Church (building), church serving as a major cultural and historical site in Istanbul, Turkey. The last of three church buildings to be successively ...
of
Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...
, and a factory in the suburbs producing paper for state bank notes. The town prospered owing to the proximity of St. Petersburg and imperial attention.


Town

A new park which later became Alexander Park was established in the 1770s to the west of the Catherine Palace, and in 1792–1795
Giacomo Quarenghi Giacomo Quarenghi (; , ; 20 or 21 September 1744) was an Italian architect who was the foremost and most prolific practitioner of neoclassical architecture in Imperial Russia, particularly in Saint Petersburg. He brought into vogue an original mo ...
built the
Alexander Palace The Alexander Palace (, ''Alexandrovskiy dvorets'', ) is a former imperial residence near the town of Tsarskoye Selo in Russia, on a plateau about south of Saint Petersburg. The Palace was commissioned by Catherine the Great in 1792. Due t ...
at the north-eastern border of the park for the future emperor
Alexander I Alexander I may refer to: * Alexander I of Macedon, king of Macedon from 495 to 454 BC * Alexander I of Epirus (370–331 BC), king of Epirus * Alexander I Theopator Euergetes, surnamed Balas, ruler of the Seleucid Empire 150-145 BC * Pope Alex ...
. In 1808, Alexander I merged the Tsarskoye Selo with Sofia and proclaimed it a town and the seat of
Tsarskoselsky Uyezd Tsarskoselsky Uyezd (''Царскосельский уезд'') was one of the subdivisions of the Saint Petersburg Governorate of the Russian Empire. It was situated in the central part of the governorate. Its administrative centre was Tsarskoye Se ...
. In 1808, he appointed
William Heste William Hastie (; c.1753 – 4 June 1832) was a Russian architect, civil engineer and town planner of Scottish descent. His name is also transliterated back from Russian as William Heste or, seldom, Vasily Heste. Because of his influence at court ...
as the town architect, which post he held until his death in 1832. Heste compiled a master plan for Tsarskoye Selo, with division into quarters and associated gardens and orchards. Most residents moved from Sofia to Tsarskoye Selo and the former was converted to a residence of a military regiment. By 1817, Tsarskoye Selo had 15 streets, 354 buildings and a population of 4,000. The Catherine Palace suffered from the fire of 1820 and was reconstructed by the architect
Vasily Stasov Duke Vasily Petrovich Stasov (Russian: Васи́лий Петро́вич Ста́сов; 4 August 1769 – 5 September 1848) was a famous Russian architect, born into a wealthy noble family: his father, Pyotr Fyodorovich Stasov, came from ...
. He also designed several buildings in classical style, namely the Manezh, Stable Building and Grand
Orangery An orangery or orangerie is a room or dedicated building, historically where orange and other fruit trees are protected during the winter, as a large form of greenhouse or conservatory. In the modern day an orangery could refer to either ...
. Between 1811 and 1843 a wing of the Catherine Palace hosted the
Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum The Imperial Lyceum () in Tsarskoye Selo near Saint Petersburg, also known historically as the Imperial Alexander Lyceum after its founder Tsar Alexander I, was an educational institution which was founded in 1811 with the object of educating yo ...
where
Aleksandr Pushkin Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin () was a Russian poet, playwright, and novelist of the Romantic era.Basker, Michael. Pushkin and Romanticism. In Ferber, Michael, ed., ''A Companion to European Romanticism''. Oxford: Blackwell, 2005. He is consid ...
studied between 1811 and 1817. Several historical objects were created in those decades including the iron Egyptian gates by
Adam Menelaws Adam Menelaws (also spelled Menelas; ; between 1748 and 1756 – 31 August 1831) was an architect and landscape designer of Scottish origin, active in the Russian Empire from 1784 to 1831. Menelaws achieved success in the first two decades of th ...
. The first public railway in the Russian Empire, Tsarskoselskaya Railway, was laid in 1837 and connected Tsarskoye Selo with the capital St. Petersburg. Its length was about and the journey time about 40 minutes. The prominent Catherine Cathedral was built in 1840. The town was expanding and by 1855 had 44 streets, 10 churches, 400 houses, 8 military barracks, 3 hospitals and a female
seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...
. Tsarskoye Selo was one of the most developed cities of Russia. In 1887 it became the first fully
electrified Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source. In the context of history of technology and economic development, electrification refe ...
town in Europe, and by the end of the 19th century had a telephone network. In 1905, the Alexander Palace became the main residence of the
Nicholas II Nicholas II (Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov; 186817 July 1918) or Nikolai II was the last reigning Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Poland, and Grand Duke of Finland from 1 November 1894 until his abdication on 15 March 1917. He married ...
. Here the royal family was held under house arrest after the
February Revolution The February Revolution (), known in Soviet historiography as the February Bourgeois Democratic Revolution and sometimes as the March Revolution or February Coup was the first of Russian Revolution, two revolutions which took place in Russia ...
. In 1902–1908 the town was equipped with the most advanced by the time water system with a separate sewer network and a water purification station. By 1909 the town had 30,000 residents and 19 schools. In 1910, an Imperial garrison camp was established to the north of the Catherine Palace, on the border of Alexander Park and the city. It had a separate cathedral ( Fedorovskiy Cathedral), a dining hall, and two hospitals, one for officers and one for soldiers. The first bus route was opened in 1911, and in 1914 a powerful for the time 300-kilowatt
wireless telegraphy Wireless telegraphy or radiotelegraphy is the transmission of text messages by radio waves, analogous to electrical telegraphy using electrical cable, cables. Before about 1910, the term ''wireless telegraphy'' was also used for other experimenta ...
station was built in the city.
Léon Theremin Lev Sergeyevich Termen ( 18963 November 1993), better known as Leon Theremin, was a Russian inventor, most famous for his invention of the theremin, one of the first electronic musical instruments and the first to be mass-produced. He also worke ...
worked at that station in 1918–1919.


Soviet period

In 1918, after the
October Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...
, the palace and park complex was declared as museum and national property. On 7 November 1918 it was renamed to Detskoye Selo (, "Children's Village"), because of the large number of children's institutions established in the area, and due to a general trend to rename Tsar-related geographical names. On 10 February 1937, on the occasion of the 100-year anniversary of the death of
Aleksandr Pushkin Alexander Sergeyevich Pushkin () was a Russian poet, playwright, and novelist of the Romantic era.Basker, Michael. Pushkin and Romanticism. In Ferber, Michael, ed., ''A Companion to European Romanticism''. Oxford: Blackwell, 2005. He is consid ...
, the town was given his name. On 10 June 1939, the Catherine Cathedral was demolished by the Soviet authorities.Пушкин (город в Ленинградской обл.)
Great Soviet Encyclopedia The ''Great Soviet Encyclopedia'' (GSE; , ''BSE'') is one of the largest Russian-language encyclopedias, published in the Soviet Union from 1926 to 1990. After 2002, the encyclopedia's data was partially included into the later ''Great Russian Enc ...
on-line (in Russian)
Pushkin
Encyclopædia Britannica on-line
After the start of
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, on 17 September 1941, the town was occupied by the German troops. Several buildings of the palace complex were destroyed or damaged and many artworks were abducted, including the entire inner decoration of the
Amber Room The Amber Room (, ) was a chamber decorated in amber panels backed with gold leaf and mirrors, located in the Catherine Palace of Tsarskoye Selo near Saint Petersburg. Constructed in the 18th century in Prussia, the room was dismantled and ...
. The town was liberated on 24 January 1944 as a result of the
Krasnoye Selo–Ropsha Offensive The Krasnoye Selo–Ropsha offensive, also known as Operation January Thunder and Neva-2, was a campaign between the Soviet Leningrad Front and the German 18th Army fought for the western approaches of Leningrad in 14–30 January 1944. Backg ...
. Restoration of the palace complex was initiated already during the war. Public access was gradually re-established to the parks (1946), lyceum (1949) and six palace halls (1959). The Amber Room was restored only by 2003. The town was rebuilt in 1950-1960s. Several factories were established in the eastern part of Pushkin and in Sofia and two prominent monuments were raised in 1960, to Vladimir Lenin (sculptor
Zair Azgur Zair Isaakovich Azgur (January 15, 1908 – February 18, 1995) was a Soviet and Belarusian sculptor active during the Soviet period. Born in Mogilev Governorate (now in Vitebsk Region, Belarus), he studied in that city from 1922 to 1925; from 19 ...
) and
Ernst Thälmann Ernst Johannes Fritz Thälmann (; 16 April 1886 – 18 August 1944) was a German communist politician and leader of the Communist Party of Germany (KPD) from 1925 to 1933. A committed communist, Thälmann sought to overthrow the liberal democr ...
(sculptor Arnold). In 1975, the town was equipped with a new water system and modern sewage treatment facilities, which were upgraded in 1999–2005 within a joint Russian-Finnish-Swedish project.


Post-Soviet period

Since the early 1990s Pushkin became a luxury housing development area. Notable festivals are conducted every year on the weekend after the City Day (24 June). International carnivals are conducted in the town from 1995 and from 2000 Pushkin is a member of the
Federation of European Carnival Cities The Federation of European Carnival Cities (FECC) was founded in 1980 and has been registered in the Court of Luxembourg. Member cities, organization, and individual members are engaged in producing popular celebrations or carnivals which represe ...
. Large scale cleanup and reconstruction of the town was conducted before the celebration of the 300th anniversary of the town (24 June 2010). In April 2004 vandals pushed the monument of Lenin from its pedestal breaking the statue. The reconstruction of the Catherine Cathedral began on the place of the monument on 7 December 2006. Another monument of Lenin was heavily damaged on 6 December 2010 in an explosion staged by an unknown group.


Coat of arms

The coat of arms of Tsarskoye Selo was adopted on 12 March 1831 as a crowned
monogram A monogram is a motif (visual arts), motif made by overlapping or combining two or more letters or other graphemes to form one symbol. Monograms are often made by combining the initials of an individual or a company, used as recognizable symbo ...
of Catherine I. It was however not the emblem of the city, but only of the imperial residence. Two town emblems were proposed by Baron Bernhard Karl von Koehne, one in 1859 and another in 1882, but neither was accepted. In Soviet times the town had no coat of arms. In 1990, the coat of arms of 1831 was registered as the emblem of Museum "Tsarskoye Selo" and for this reason could not be approved as a symbol of the city. The Decree of Pushkin City Council of 15 March 2001 approved the following coat of arms. It featured an oval shield with the monogram of Catherine I on red background. The shield was topped with a golden crown and had golden laurel branches underneath. On 25 March 2010, Pushkin Municipal Council approved the current four-panel coat of arms. Two of its panels feature identical crowned monograms of Catherine I on red background, and the other two parts depict a black double-headed eagle of the Catherine II era on a purple background. The eagle has a red tongue, golden beaks and claws and three crowns. In its right paw the eagle holds a silver torch burning with gold flame and in the left paw it has a two-legged silver anchor without a cross bar. The eagle's breast is covered with a blue oval shield with a silver cross on it; the rim of the shield is formed by a snake biting its tail. This 4-part coat is named as "extended" or "big" () whereas its one part with the Catherine I monogram is called "small" () and is also an official coat of arms of Pushkin.


Geology

The town is located on the Neva Lowland, on the left bank of the river
Neva The Neva ( , ; , ) is a river in northwestern Russia flowing from Lake Ladoga through the western part of Leningrad Oblast (historical region of Ingria) to the Neva Bay of the Gulf of Finland. Despite its modest length of , it is the fourth- ...
. The landscape is quite varied and contains hills, ridges and terraces intermixed with valleys, plains, forests and farmland. Numerous springs give rise to streams and feed ponds. In the
Paleozoic The Paleozoic ( , , ; or Palaeozoic) Era is the first of three Era (geology), geological eras of the Phanerozoic Eon. Beginning 538.8 million years ago (Ma), it succeeds the Neoproterozoic (the last era of the Proterozoic Eon) and ends 251.9 Ma a ...
era, 300–400 million years ago, the area was covered by a sea. Sediments of that time form a layer thicker than on top of the
Baltic Shield The Baltic Shield (or Fennoscandian Shield) is a segment of the Earth's crust belonging to the East European craton, East European Craton, representing a large part of Fennoscandia, northwestern Russia and the northern Baltic Sea. It is composed ...
consisting of
granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...
,
gneiss Gneiss (pronounced ) is a common and widely distributed type of metamorphic rock. It is formed by high-temperature and high-pressure metamorphic processes acting on formations composed of igneous or sedimentary rocks. This rock is formed under p ...
and
diabase Diabase (), also called dolerite () or microgabbro, is a mafic, holocrystalline, subvolcanic rock equivalent to volcanic basalt or plutonic gabbro. Diabase dikes and sills are typically shallow intrusive bodies and often exhibit fine-gra ...
. The modern topography was shaped by the
glacier A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires ...
retreat some 12,000 years ago which created the
Littorina Sea Littorina Sea (also Litorina Sea) is a geological brackish water stage of the Baltic Sea, which existed around 8500–4000 Before Present, BP and followed the Mastogloia Sea (initial Littorina Sea), a transitional stage from the Ancylus Lake. ...
. About 4,000 years ago the sea receded and formed the valley of the Neva River which has not changed much over the last 2,500 years.Darinskii, pp. 12–18


Geography


Climate

The climate in Pushkin is
temperate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (approximately 23.5° to 66.5° N/S of the Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ran ...
and wet, it is transitional between
oceanic Oceanic may refer to: *Of or relating to the ocean *Of or relating to Oceania **Oceanic climate **Oceanic languages **Oceanic person or people, also called "Pacific Islander(s)" Places * Oceanic, British Columbia, a settlement on Smith Island, ...
and
continental Continental may refer to: Places * Continental, Arizona, a small community in Pima County, Arizona, US * Continental, Ohio, a small town in Putnam County, US Arts and entertainment * ''Continental'' (album), an album by Saint Etienne * Continen ...
. The length of the day varies from 5 hours and 51 minutes in the winter
solstice A solstice is the time when the Sun reaches its most northerly or southerly sun path, excursion relative to the celestial equator on the celestial sphere. Two solstices occur annually, around 20–22 June and 20–22 December. In many countries ...
to 18 hours and 50 minutes in the summer
solstice A solstice is the time when the Sun reaches its most northerly or southerly sun path, excursion relative to the celestial equator on the celestial sphere. Two solstices occur annually, around 20–22 June and 20–22 December. In many countries ...
. Summer is short and moderately warm, whereas winter is long and uneven, with frequent thaws. Air temperatures above prevail from early April to mid-November. The coldest month is February. Winds mostly blow southward and frequently change air mass above the city. Summer is dominated by westerly and northwesterly winds, and the wind direction changes to westerly and southwesterly in winter. The cloudiest months are November, December and January, and the least cloudy are May, June and July. There are at least 240 sunny days per year. Between May 25 and July 16,
white nights White night, White Night, or White Nights may refer to: * White night (astronomy), a night in which it never gets completely dark, at high latitudes outside the Arctic and Antarctic Circles * White Night festivals, all-night arts festivals held in ...
are observed when the sun only briefly goes over the horizon and the day lasts nearly 19 hours. The area is mostly fed by surface and ground waters.Darinsky, pp. 21–29


Soil, vegetation and wildlife

Prior to the founding of the town the area was covered by
temperate coniferous forest Temperate coniferous forest is a terrestrial biome defined by the World Wide Fund for Nature. Temperate coniferous forests are found predominantly in areas with warm summers and cool winters, and vary in their kinds of plant life. In some, needle ...
s (mostly pine and
fir Firs are evergreen coniferous trees belonging to the genus ''Abies'' () in the family Pinaceae. There are approximately 48–65 extant species, found on mountains throughout much of North and Central America, Eurasia, and North Africa. The genu ...
) with an admixture of broad-leaved trees and
fen A fen is a type of peat-accumulating wetland fed by mineral-rich ground or surface water. It is one of the main types of wetland along with marshes, swamps, and bogs. Bogs and fens, both peat-forming ecosystems, are also known as mires ...
s. The soils were mostly
podzol Podzols, also known as podosols, spodosols, or espodossolos, are the typical soils of coniferous or boreal forests and also the typical soils of eucalypt forests and heathlands in southern Australia. In Western Europe, podzols develop on heathlan ...
, combined with
peat Peat is an accumulation of partially Decomposition, decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natural areas called peatlands, bogs, mires, Moorland, moors, or muskegs. ''Sphagnum'' moss, also called peat moss, is one of the most ...
and
gleysols A gleysol or gley soil is a hydric soil that unless drained is saturated with groundwater for long enough to develop a characteristic colour pattern. The pattern is essentially made up of reddish, brownish, or yellowish colours at surfaces of so ...
. Intensive economic activities changed the original forest landscape to agricultural land with small groves of
aspen Aspen is a common name for certain tree species in the Populus sect. Populus, of the ''Populus'' (poplar) genus. Species These species are called aspens: * ''Populus adenopoda'' – Chinese aspen (China, south of ''P. tremula'') * ''Populus da ...
,
birch A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech- oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains 3 ...
,
alder Alders are trees of the genus ''Alnus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The genus includes about 35 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, a few reaching a large size, distributed throughout the north temperate zone with a few species ex ...
and
willow Willows, also called sallows and osiers, of the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 350 species (plus numerous hybrids) of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions. Most species are known ...
. In the 18–19th centuries, a large park area of 704 hectares has been created in and around the city.Darinskii, pp. 45–49 Owing to the parks and environment-friendly policies, the Pushkin area has relatively low level of pollution. There is a large number of birds, reptiles and invertebrates; also common are
hare Hares and jackrabbits are mammals belonging to the genus ''Lepus''. They are herbivores and live Solitary animal, solitarily or in pairs. They nest in slight depressions called forms, and their young are precociality, able to fend for themselves ...
and
muskrat The muskrat or common muskrat (''Ondatra zibethicus'') is a medium-sized semiaquatic rodent native to North America and an introduced species in parts of Europe, Asia, and South America. The muskrat is found in wetlands over various climates ...
.


Population

Working-age population makes 63% of the total, 13% are younger and 24% are older than the working age. The number of children born in 2008 was 1278; this is 137 more than in 2007, yet this about half of the value required for population replacement; 285 children were born by unmarried mothers. 1471 marriage and 742 divorce acts were registered in 2009. The fraction of women in the total population is 54%, and the difference is especially large (2700 women per 1000 men) for citizen outside of working age. The average age of residents is 40 years and is increasing. During 11 months of 2009, 19,316 foreign nationals were registered in Pushkin, that is 3,500 more than in 2008.


Local government

The Pushkin Municipal Council consists of twenty deputies who are elected in municipal elections in four multi-member electoral districts formed on the territory of the municipality, with the number of deputy mandates to be distributed in one district equal to five. As a result of the elections on 14 September 2014, the 5th convocation was elected. All 20 deputies are from
United Russia The All-Russian Political Party United Russia (, ) is the Ruling party, ruling List of political parties in Russia, political party of Russia. As the largest party in the Russian Federation, it holds 325 (or 72.22%) of the 450 seats in the St ...
(four resigned). In 2019, 18 deputies were elected to the VI convocation, of which 10 deputies were nominated by United Russia, four by the
Communist Party of the Russian Federation The Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF; ) is a communist political party in Russia that officially adheres to Marxist–Leninist philosophy. It is the second-largest political party in Russia after United Russia. The youth o ...
, two by
Yabloko The Russian United Democratic Party Yabloko (RUDP Yabloko; rus, Росси́йская объединённая демократи́ческая па́ртия «Я́блоко», Rossiyskaya obyedinyonnaya demokraticheskaya partiya "Yabloko" ...
, one by
A Just Russia – For Truth Socialist Political Party "A Just Russia – Patriots – For Truth" (SRZP), officially abbreviated as A Just Russia – For Truth, is a Social conservatism, social conservative and Social democracy, social-democratic Political parties in Russ ...
, and one self-nominated candidate.


Layout and architecture of the town

The modern layout of Pushkin was developed in the early 20th century, it consists of two main parts. The northeastern part (old Tsarskoye Selo) contains the oldest streets of the city, such as Sadovaya, Srednyaya and Malaya, and has the Cathedral Square in its center. At the request of Alexander I this part was surrounded by the Catherine and Alexander parks from the south and west and by the October and Sofia boulevards from the east and north. Yet, this part of the town has been constantly expanding, to the east up to the railroad and to the north up to Detskoselskiy boulevard. The southern part of the town is the former town of Sofia, planned by Catherine II and centered at the Sofia Square. To the north, east and west of this part lie the Catherine, Babolovo and Otdelny parks. The railroad to Pavlovsk and
Vitebsk Vitebsk or Vitsyebsk (, ; , ; ) is a city in northern Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Vitebsk Region and Vitebsk District, though it is administratively separated from the district. As of 2025, it has 358,927 inhabitants, m ...
runs through the eastern border of the city.Муниципальное Образование Город Пушкин, Пушкинский Муниципальный (Городской ) Совет
Pushkin-town.net (2005-07-25). Retrieved on 2011-03-11.
The major attractions of the town are described below.


State Museum-Reserve "Tsarskoye Selo"

This palace and park ensemble of 18th–19th centuries served as the royal residence and was converted into a museum after the nationalization in March 1918. It received its current status of museum-reserve in 1992. Restoration of the museum is partly supported by the
World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...
; about US$4 million has been spent by 2008 and some US$3.2 million more is required to complete the restoration. The museum-reserve includes:


Catherine Park

The park is named in honor of the Empress
Catherine I of Russia Catherine I Alekseyevna Mikhailova (born Marta Samuilovna Skavronskaya; – ) was the second wife and Empress consort of Peter the Great, whom she succeeded as Empress of Russia, ruling from 1725 until her death in 1727. Life as a servant Onl ...
. It occupies an area of 107 hectares and consists of the
regular Regular may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * "Regular" (Badfinger song) * Regular tunings of stringed instruments, tunings with equal intervals between the paired notes of successive open strings Other uses * Regular character, ...
Old Garden (1717–1720) and an
English garden The English landscape garden, also called English landscape park or simply the English garden (, , , , ), is a style of "landscape" garden which emerged in England in the early 18th century, and spread across Europe, replacing the more formal ...
(1760–1796, architect Vasily Neyelov) separated by large ponds. The park includes numerous pavilions of significant architectural and historical value. Most of them have been restored.


Catherine Palace

The original palace of 1717–1723 was rebuilt in 1743–1756, first by
Mikhail Zemtsov Mikhail Grigorievich Zemtsov (; 1688–1743) was a Russian architect who practiced a sober, restrained Petrine Baroque style, which he learned from his peer Domenico Trezzini. He has been described as "the first professionally trained Russian arc ...
, A. V. Kvasov and
Savva Chevakinsky Savva Ivanovich Chevakinsky (; 1709 – aft. 1774) was a Russian architect of the Baroque school. He worked in Saint Petersburg and Tsarskoye Selo. Chevakinsky was born into a noble family in the village of Veshki in the Novotorzhsky Uyezd of Tve ...
and then by
Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli (; 1700 – 29 April 1771) was an Italian architect who worked mainly in Russia. He developed an easily recognizable style of Late Baroque, both sumptuous and majestic. His major works, including the Winter Palac ...
. Rastrelli was the primary author of the architectural design and lush sculptural decoration of the façade, in the style of Russian Baroque; he also designed the interior layout and decoration. The main courtyard is facing west and has a gilded wrought-iron fence and gates. The palace is surrounded by a few buildings added in the late 18th century. One of them is a four-story outhouse to the south, which hosted the
Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum The Imperial Lyceum () in Tsarskoye Selo near Saint Petersburg, also known historically as the Imperial Alexander Lyceum after its founder Tsar Alexander I, was an educational institution which was founded in 1811 with the object of educating yo ...
and was then converted into a museum, a branch of the
All Russian Pushkin Museum The National Pushkin Museum ( - literally the 'All-Russian Museum of A. S. Pushkin') is a museum dedicated to the life and work of Russian poet Alexander Pushkin. It is located in Saint Petersburg, Russia. The museum was established in 1953. In ...
. Lyceum is connected with the palace by an arch over Sadovaya Street (architect I. Neelov). Other attachments to the palace include Zubovsky wing on the southern side (architect Y. M. Felton) and Cameron's Gallery, cold saunas and a hanging garden to the southeast. One of the most famous rooms of the palace is the
Amber Room The Amber Room (, ) was a chamber decorated in amber panels backed with gold leaf and mirrors, located in the Catherine Palace of Tsarskoye Selo near Saint Petersburg. Constructed in the 18th century in Prussia, the room was dismantled and ...
.


Alexander Park

The park occupies an area of 120 hectares next to the main entrance. It consists of a regular part (the New Garden, 1740s, N. Girard) and the Landscape Park (1790s) with three ponds and artificial mounds. River Kuzminka, partitioned by a dam, flows in the western part of the park. Unfortunately, most monuments in the park are in a deteriorating condition.


Alexander Palace

This classical palace was built in 1792–1796 by
Giacomo Quarenghi Giacomo Quarenghi (; , ; 20 or 21 September 1744) was an Italian architect who was the foremost and most prolific practitioner of neoclassical architecture in Imperial Russia, particularly in Saint Petersburg. He brought into vogue an original mo ...
for
Alexander I Alexander I may refer to: * Alexander I of Macedon, king of Macedon from 495 to 454 BC * Alexander I of Epirus (370–331 BC), king of Epirus * Alexander I Theopator Euergetes, surnamed Balas, ruler of the Seleucid Empire 150-145 BC * Pope Alex ...
. The palace is an elongated two-storey building with double wings on either side and a two-row
colonnade In classical architecture, a colonnade is a long sequence of columns joined by their entablature, often free-standing, or part of a building. Paired or multiple pairs of columns are normally employed in a colonnade which can be straight or curv ...
on the northern side. Next to the palace is a vast park with a lake.


Other points of interest

* The Tsars originally had their railway station served by their own railway line that branched off the main St.Petersburg Vitebsk Station to Tsarskoye Selo main line south of Shushary station. A number of incomplete bridge structures survive from this railway. The
Emperor railway station in Pushkin town The Emperor's railway station or Emperor's Tsarskoye Selo Station, known as the Emperor's Pavilion (, transliteration ''Imperatorsky pavilyon''), is a former railway station terminal in Russia, in the town Tsarskoye Selo (now Pushkin, Saint Pet ...
, which served by the Alexander and Catherine Palaces survives in derelict condition to the North of Alexandra Park Akademicheski Prospect. * The Tsar Nicholas II Car Garages, which are now owned by an Agricultural University. The complex of three buildings is located to the North of Alexandra Park on Akademicheski Prospect. Located in Akademicheskiy Prospect. Adolphe Kegresse inventor of the Kegresse track
half-track A half-track is a civilian or military vehicle with wheels at the front for steering and continuous tracks at the back to propel the vehicle and carry most of the load. A half-track combines the soft-ground traction of a tank with the Car handl ...
and
Dual-clutch transmission A dual-clutch transmission (DCT) (sometimes referred to as a twin-clutch transmission) is a type of multi-speed motor vehicle, vehicle Transmission (mechanics), transmission system, that uses two separate clutches for odd and even gear train, ...
worked here as the Head of the Mechanical Department of the Garage.In 1908, the architect Lipsky VA designed a second two-storeyed Art Nouveau building for the Russian Imperial garage at Tsaskoye Selo / Pushkin, Saint Petersburg it had a total area of 367.6 sq. M. It housed the garage-residence Adolphe Kegresse. The building is noteworthy and identifiable for inclusion of a grand staircase with an external bas-relief image of one of the first car races that were held regularly in Tsarskoe Selo before the First World War. *
Pavel Chistyakov Pavel Petrovich Chistyakov (; 5 July 1832 — 11 November 1919) was a Russian painting, Russian painter and art teacher. He is known for historical and Genre art, genre scenes as well as portraits. Biography His father was a freed serf who ha ...
's home located in Moskovskoye Shosse, which is now a museum. Pavel Chistyakov was a realistic painter and teacher of Ilya Repin * Olenins' House, built in 1828 at 1/17 Pushkinskaya Street. * Kitaev's House, built in 1827. * The
Cavalry Houses The Cavalry Houses are a series of buildings built in Pushkin, Saint Petersburg, between 1752 and 1753. They are listed as a cultural heritage site.Постановление Правительства РФ от 10.07.2001 № 527 о Перечн ...
built 1752-1753Постановление Правительства РФ от 10.07.2001 № 527 о Перечне объектов исторического и культурного наследия Федерального (Общероссийского) значения, находящиеся в г. Санкт-Петербурге. Nos. 4, 6, 10, 12 Sadovaya Street. * Court Riding Arena built in 1786, and rebuilt in 1819 at 16 Sadovaya Street. * Residential House of Police Officers built 1889-1901 at 32/24 Pushkinskaya Street. * Babolovo Park was established in the late 18th century and expanded to an area of 268.8 ha in 1820-1860s. It is connected by a straight lane with the Catherine Park. In 1783–1786, Babolovo Palace was built in the park by the architect V. I. Neelov for the prince
Grigory Potemkin Prince Grigory Aleksandrovich Potemkin-Tauricheski (A number of dates as late as 1742 have been found on record; the veracity of any one is unlikely to be proved. This is his "official" birth-date as given on his tombstone.) was a Russian mi ...
. It was rebuilt in 1824–1825 by
Vasily Stasov Duke Vasily Petrovich Stasov (Russian: Васи́лий Петро́вич Ста́сов; 4 August 1769 – 5 September 1848) was a famous Russian architect, born into a wealthy noble family: his father, Pyotr Fyodorovich Stasov, came from ...
and is known for a large
granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...
bath. The palace is ruined at present. Taitsky conduit built in 1772–1787 runs through the park. Until 1905, this was the only water pipeline of Tsarskoye Selo. *Otdelny Park has an area of 100 hectares. It starts on the left side of the Sofia Boulevard and extends to Pavlovsk. The park contains Kolonistsky pond created in 1824–1825 for draining the surrounding countryside. *Fermsky Park is located near the Fedorovskiy town and Alexander Park. It was arranged by
Adam Menelaws Adam Menelaws (also spelled Menelas; ; between 1748 and 1756 – 31 August 1831) was an architect and landscape designer of Scottish origin, active in the Russian Empire from 1784 to 1831. Menelaws achieved success in the first two decades of th ...
in 1818–1820 as a grazing area at the nearby imperial farm. A pond was dug in the park for watering. *Buffer Park has been established in the late 1980 – early 1990s. It is situated at the entrance to Pushkin through the Pulkovo highway. The park contains five ponds and is adjacent to Kuzminskoye Cemetery. Tsarskoselskaya Railway was passing through the park and its remains are still visible. *Reserve Palace was built in 1817–1824 on Sadovaya street in a classical style reminiscent of an Italian Renaissance villa by the architects
Adam Menelaws Adam Menelaws (also spelled Menelas; ; between 1748 and 1756 – 31 August 1831) was an architect and landscape designer of Scottish origin, active in the Russian Empire from 1784 to 1831. Menelaws achieved success in the first two decades of th ...
and
Vasily Stasov Duke Vasily Petrovich Stasov (Russian: Васи́лий Петро́вич Ста́сов; 4 August 1769 – 5 September 1848) was a famous Russian architect, born into a wealthy noble family: his father, Pyotr Fyodorovich Stasov, came from ...
. *Gostiny Dvor (1866, architect N. Nikitin) is a set of interconnected premises with large halls meant for commercial activities. *Palace of
Princess Olga Paley Princess Olga Valerianovna Paley (2 December 1865 – 2 November 1929) was the morganatic second wife of Grand Duke Paul Alexandrovich of Russia. Early life and first marriage She was born as Olga Karnovich in Saint Petersburg, the daught ...
(1911–1912, architect K. Schmidt) is three-story building in classical style, is now home to the
Military Engineering-Technical University The Saint Petersburg Military Engineering-Technical University (Nikolaevsky) (, VITU), previously known as the Saint Petersburg Nikolaevsky Engineering Academy, was established in 1810 under Alexander I. The university is situated in the fo ...
. *Mansion of
Viktor Kochubey Prince Viktor Pavlovich Kochubey (); ( – ) was a Russian statesman and close aide of Alexander I of Russia. Of Ukrainian and Zaporozhian Cossack origin, he was a great-grandson of Vasily Kochubey. He took part in the Privy Committee that o ...
(1911–1913, architect A. I. Taman, Radishcheva street 4). Nowadays it houses the
sanatorium A sanatorium (from Latin '' sānāre'' 'to heal'), also sanitarium or sanitorium, is a historic name for a specialised hospital for the treatment of specific diseases, related ailments, and convalescence. Sanatoriums are often in a health ...
"Tsarskoye Selo". *Detskoye Selo Station building (1946–1950, architect E. A. Levinson) consists of a two-storey body and three pavilions. The project was awarded Stalin Prize in 1951.Городские здания и памятники , Сайт города Пушкина (Царского Села) , История города , Достопримечательности – дворцы и парки, музеи, храмы , Новости , Афиша , Справочник адресов и телефонов организаций
. Tsarselo.info. Retrieved on 2011-03-11.


Economy

As of January 1, 2010, there were 741 companies in Pushkin, including 165 in foodservice, 358 in trade and 53 in small retail sales, 162 in household services, as well as 8 supermarkets and one market. There are also large retail chains in the town.
Mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines and mechanism (engineering), mechanisms that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and engineering mathematics, mathematics principl ...
is the core industry of Pushkin. It is represented by such enterprises as plant "Sophia" (railway equipment), Pushkin's Engineering Works (road construction equipment), NGOs STIGMASH (boiler equipment), plant "Astra" and "DVT" (woodworking machinery). Several companies produce medical equipment. The town has an
asphalt Asphalt most often refers to: * Bitumen, also known as "liquid asphalt cement" or simply "asphalt", a viscous form of petroleum mainly used as a binder in asphalt concrete * Asphalt concrete, a mixture of bitumen with coarse and fine aggregates, u ...
plant, a stone processing plant Medved' ("Bear"), and several woodworking and furniture production factories. The town has well-developed food industry which produced
prefabricated Prefabrication is the practice of assembling components of a structure in a factory or other manufacturing site, and transporting complete assemblies or sub-assemblies to the construction site where the structure is to be located. Some research ...
frozen meat ("Daria"), beer ( Tinkoff brewery is part of
Anheuser-Busch InBev Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV, known as AB InBev, is an American-Belgian Multinational corporation, multinational Drink industry, drink and brewing company, brewing company based in Leuven, Belgium. It is the largest brewer in the world, and in 20 ...
– the biggest beer producer in Russia), bread ("Tsarskoselsky bread"), among other products. The factory "СЛАВЯНСКИЙ" is one of the largest Russian producers of frame-panel houses. The Sofia area of Pushkin hosts a military garrison with several aircraft and artillery units and the military cooks school No. 228. Outside the town there is military airfield and an aircraft repair plant, which is part of Forces of central subordination of the Russian Air Force.


Transportation

Pushkin region has a well-developed system of commuter trains and buses, with 24 municipal and 17 commercial bus routes. A major railway line St. Petersburg –
Vitebsk Vitebsk or Vitsyebsk (, ; , ; ) is a city in northern Belarus. It serves as the administrative center of Vitebsk Region and Vitebsk District, though it is administratively separated from the district. As of 2025, it has 358,927 inhabitants, m ...
passes through the city.г.Пушкин. Маршруты общественного транспорта Санкт-Петербурга и пригородов
. 3sspb.ru. Retrieved on 2011-03-11.
Saint Petersburg Ring Road The Saint Petersburg Ring Road () is a 142 km (88 mile) orbital freeway encircling Saint Petersburg, Russia. The city's only beltway, it is listed in the Russian road numbering system as federal public highway A-118. Construction The n ...
and three major international highways run near Pushkin, namely M10 E105, M20 E95 and M11 E20. Pushkin is connected with St. Petersburg via Pulkovo, Moscow and Vitebsk highways.


Culture


Museums

*Pushkin Museum is located in the one-story historical wooden house (1827, Pushkinskaya Street, 2/19). Here Pushkin spent the summer of 1831 with his wife Natalia. The exhibition contains his office and describes work of the poet at that time. *Historical museum of the town (1977) features about 30,000 exhibits related to the history of Tsarskoye Selo and its inhabitants. *Museum of the painter
Pavel Chistyakov Pavel Petrovich Chistyakov (; 5 July 1832 — 11 November 1919) was a Russian painting, Russian painter and art teacher. He is known for historical and Genre art, genre scenes as well as portraits. Biography His father was a freed serf who ha ...
is valued not only by its exhibition, but also by its location in a historical Russian wooden house. *Museum "Tsarskoselskaya Collection" (1909) exhibits modern and traditional artworks created by leading masters of pictorial and plastic realism from 1910 to the present. It is housed in an Art Nouveau building with gothic elements. *Museum-exhibition "
Anna Akhmatova Anna Andreyevna Gorenko rus, А́нна Андре́евна Горе́нко, p=ˈanːə ɐnˈdrʲe(j)ɪvnə ɡɐˈrʲɛnkə, a=Anna Andreyevna Gorenko.ru.oga, links=yes; , . ( – 5 March 1966), better known by the pen name Anna Akhmatova,. ...
. Tsarskoye Selo" (1999) is based on the collection of the honorary citizen A. D. Umnikov.


Education and research

Pushkin has 14 secondary schools, 24 kindergartens and nurseries, a boarding school, a high school, gymnasium, art school, music school, several foreign languages schools, cadet school, College of Traditional Culture and the St. Petersburg Railway College. Higher education is provided by the St. Petersburg State Agrarian University,
Pushkin Leningrad State University Pushkin Leningrad State University (Russian: Ленинградский государственный университет имени А.С. Пушкина) is a university in Russia, located in Pushkin, Saint Petersburg. It was established i ...
, Institute of Law and Business, Naval Engineering Institute and a Military Institute of the Mozhaysky Military Space Academy. The town is a major center of agricultural science hosting a number of research centers and laboratories. They include the Northwestern Scientific Center of Russian Academy of Agricultural Sciences, All-Russian Scientific Research Institute of Genetics and Breeding of Farm Animals, All-Russian Research Institute of Plant Protection, All-Russian Research Institute for Agricultural Microbiology,
Institute of Plant Industry The Institute of Plant Industry, Vavilov Institute of Plant Industry or N. I. Vavilov All-Russian Institute of Plant Genetic Resources (VIR) (in ), as it is officially called since 2015, is a research institute of plant genetics and seed bank, ...
, Research Institute of Chemical Soil Reclamation and many others.Yellow Pages
/ref>


Religion

The town has a large number of churches and chapels. Most of them are Orthodox and are objects of cultural heritage, and only a few are listed below: *Fedorovskiy Cathedral (1909–1912, architect Vladimir Pokrovsky, Academichesky Pr. 34) used to be a home church of the Imperial Family. The priests and servants of the cathedral stayed in the nearby Fedorovskiy Gorodok – a complex built in 1913-1917s in Russian Revival style. * Znamenskaya Church (1734–1747, architect Ivan Blank) is an acting Orthodox Church and the oldest stone building in the town in the
Petrine Baroque Petrine Baroque (Russian: Петровское барокко) is a style of 17th and 18th century Baroque architecture and decoration favoured by Peter the Great and employed to design buildings in the newly founded Russian capital, Saint Peters ...
style. * Panteleimon Church – an active church. * Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin (1870–1872, architects
Ippolit Monighetti Ippolit Antonovich Monighetti (; – ) was a Russian architect of Swiss descent.SeIppolito Monighettiin Historical Dictionary of Switzerland He worked for the Romanov family and was a member and professor by rank of the Imperial Academy of Arts. ...
and A. F. Vidov) – an active Orthodox Church in
Eclectic style Eclecticism is a kind of mixed style in the fine arts: "the borrowing of a variety of styles from different sources and combining them" . Significantly, Eclecticism hardly ever constituted a specific style in art: it is characterized by the fact t ...
. * Sorrow Church at the former community of the Red Cross (1912–1914, architect S. A. Danini) – an active Orthodox Church in Russian Revival style. * Catherine Cathedral (1835–1840, architect
Konstantin Thon Konstantin Andreyevich Thon or Ton (; October 26, 1794 – January 25, 1881) was a Russian architect who was one of the most notable architects during the reign Nicholas I. His major works include the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour, the Grand ...
) – an Orthodox cathedral which was demolished in 1939 and restored in 2010 to the 300 anniversary of Tsarskoye Selo. *
Sophia Cathedral The Ascension Cathedral in the town of Sophia (now a part of Pushkin) in the vicinity of Saint Petersburg, was one of the first purely Palladian churches to be built in Russia. Rather paradoxically, it may also be defined as "the first example ...
(1782–1788, architects Charles Cameron and I. E. Starov) – and active Orthodox cathedral in classic style. * St. Julian's Church, Pushkin (1894–1899, architect V. N. Kuritsyn) – an Orthodox church in Russian Revival style, under restoration. *
Church of St. Sergius Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...
(1903–1904, architect A. Uspensky, Fodder lane 4) – an Orthodox Church. The town has several churches of other denominations. Their construction is due to the fact that the town was the imperial residence, which always hosted non-Orthodox believers. Currently active are the Church of St. John the Baptist (Roman Catholic cathedral in the classical style) and an Evangelical Lutheran Church built in
Gothic Revival style Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half of the 19th century ...
.Kirch
/ref> The Church of Evangelical Christian Baptists is being restored. In addition, there is a
Stake A stake is a large wooden or metal implement designed to be driven into the ground and may refer to: Tools * Archer's stake, a defensive stake carried by medieval longbowmen * Survey stakes, markers used by surveyors * Sudis (stake) (Latin for ...
of
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...
(LDS Church). There are two cemeteries:
Kazan Kazan; , IPA: Help:IPA/Tatar, ɑzanis the largest city and capital city, capital of Tatarstan, Russia. The city lies at the confluence of the Volga and the Kazanka (river), Kazanka Rivers, covering an area of , with a population of over 1. ...
(area 28.83 hectares) and Kuzminskoye (4.6 hectares).


Sports

From 1947 to 2010, the town has raised 3 Honored Master of Sports, 19 International Masters of Sports and 62 Masters of Sports. There is a large number of clubs for all major sports, two swimming pools, and a town stadium for 1,500 spectators.В Пушкине сегодня открывается городской стадион – Новости – Gazeta.Spb
Gazeta.spb.ru. Retrieved on 2011-03-11.
The stadium holds track and field athletics competitions and hosts the local football club "Tsarskoye Selo" founded in 2009.


Media

Pushkin has
cable television Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with bro ...
which is also used, from 1991, for broadcasting the local radio station "Tsarskoye Selo".радио ЦАРСКОЕ СЕЛО (город Пушкин)
. Pushkinradio.ru. Retrieved on 2011-03-11.
The local newspapers include "Tsarskoselskaya Newspaper" (published since 1906), which focuses on culture, international relations, government and district events; "Municipal Vestnik" reports the activities of the Pushkin Municipal Council; "Gorodok-info" is a small advertising and information newspaper distributed by hand; "Gazeta + TV" is weekly news advertising edition, and "Nash Pervyi" is a local advertising magazine.


Twin towns – sister cities

Pushkin is twinned with: *
Aalborg Aalborg or Ålborg ( , , ) is Denmark's List of cities and towns in Denmark, fourth largest urban settlement (behind Copenhagen, Aarhus, and Odense) with a population of 119,862 (1 July 2022) in the town proper and an Urban area, urban populati ...
, Denmark (2005) *
Bălți Bălți () is a city in Moldova. It is the second-largest city in terms of population, area and economic importance, after Chișinău. The city holds the status of municipiu. Sometimes called "the northern capital", it is a major industrial, cu ...
, Moldova (2015) *
Cambrai Cambrai (, ; ; ), formerly Cambray and historically in English Camerick or Camericke, is a city in the Nord department and in the Hauts-de-France region of France on the Scheldt river, which is known locally as the Escaut river. A sub-pref ...
, France (2003) * Kalamazoo County, MI, United States (1992) *
Mantua Mantua ( ; ; Lombard language, Lombard and ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Italian region of Lombardy, and capital of the Province of Mantua, eponymous province. In 2016, Mantua was designated as the "Italian Capital of Culture". In 2 ...
, Italy (2000) * Nassau County, NY, United States (1996) * Neukölln (Berlin), Germany (1991) *
Novopolotsk Novopolotsk or Navapolatsk (, ; , ) is a city in Vitebsk Oblast, Belarus. Founded in 1958, it is located close to the city of Polotsk and the name literally means "New Polotsk". In 2008, its population was 107,458. As of 2025, it has a populatio ...
, Belarus (2003) *
Semey Semey (; , formerly known as Semipalatinsk ( ) until 2007 and as Alash-Qala ( ) from 1917 to 1920, is a city in eastern Kazakhstan, in the Kazakh part of Siberia. When Abai Region was created in 2022, Semey became its administrative centre. I ...
, Kazakhstan (1995) * Valence, France (2017) *
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, Greece (2015) *
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References


Bibliography

*


External links


Official website of Pushkin's business of commercePortal of Pushkin

The murder of the Jews of Pushkin
during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
, at
Yad Vashem Yad Vashem (; ) is Israel's official memorial institution to the victims of Holocaust, the Holocaust known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (). It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Jews who were murdered; echoing the stories of the ...
website.
Photos of The Tsar's Private Railway Station, St.Petersburg
{{Authority control Cities and towns under jurisdiction of Saint Petersburg Pushkinsky District, Saint Petersburg Tsarskoselsky Uyezd Populated places established in 1710 Alexander Pushkin 1710 establishments in Russia Tsarskoye Selo