The map says that this building contains
offices of the Department of Protected Territories. You can see that it
has just gotten a new coat of white and yellow paint. :)
Nearby are the Kitchen and Grand Duchy
buildings.
We're getting closer to the main park
attraction.
This is the Cottage Palace, located not
too far from the Gulf of Finland.
The Palace was built in 1826-1829 by
architect Adam Menelas (Englishman who came to Russia when he was young
and worked here for many years).
The palace was meant for the wife of Nicholas I, so that it has also
been called "Her Majesty's Country Home."
As written in the original, the palace
was built "in the style of an English country home."
During World War II, the building was
heavily damaged.
At least two restorations have taken place - in 1978 and in the last
few years.
Inside are over 200 paintings, as well as
furniture, bronze, collections of glass and porcelain, etc.
I've never been able to go inside - either it's closed or I was
hurrying somewhere…
View on the Gulf of Finland.
"Madonna with Child."
Sculptor - Ivan Vitali.
In the 1840s, a dining room with an open
terrace and a marble fountain was added to the building by the architect
Andrei Ivanovich Stakenschneider)
The shield and the sword in a wreath of
roses is the coat of arms of the Alexandria park.
The coat of arms was the idea of Vasily Andreevich Zhukovsky.
The park is getting a facelift - a fence
was built, the leaves are cleaned up, the buildings are slowly being
repaired.
A few general words about the park:
Alexandria is located between the well-known Lower Park of Peterhof
(separated by a wall), hotel Znamenka, the Gulf of Finland, and the
highway.
If you're driving on the Peterhof highway from St. Petersburg, you
will see a very long fence on your right, which has a small gate in the
Gothic style. This is it.
The park takes up 115 hectares and
resembles a well-tended forest with paths.
In the time of Peter
the Great, Alexandria was the property of Alexander Danilovich Menshikov
and was called the "Country Home of Mon Courage" ("Mon Courage" - "My
Courage")
After Menshikov was removed from power, the land become property of
the Dolgorukij family (dukes), who treated it such that it became known
as "Dolgorukij's empty place."
From 1733, this land is the property of empress Anna Ioanovna and was
used as the tsar's hunting place. The name changes - first "Hunting
Park" ("Jagdgarten"), then "Deer Menagerie."
In August 1825, Alexander I presented the land as a gift to the grand
duke Nicholas - his brother. The park planning and building was done by
the above-mentioned Adam Menelas, as well as F. Wendelsdorf, A. Gombel,
and P. Erler.
Some of the structures were built in 1830-50 based on blueprints of
A.I. Stakenschneider.
