Mikhailovsky Castle, a monument to Peter I: description, history and interesting facts

There is a legend that this ancient castle was painted by the order of Emperor Paul the First in the color of ladies' gloves belonging to his beautiful beauty. According to another legend, he is a mystical castle, and allegedly he predicted the tragic death of his master. Employees of the castle and today say that in him and to this day there is a lot of mystical. Further in the article we will tell you what legends surround Mikhailovsky Castle. The monument to Peter the Great that stands in front of him is also of great interest.

History

This castle, also called the Engineer, was called the palace of St. Michael according to the documents of the 18th century. There is evidence that the first sketches of the Engineer's Castle were made by the hand of the Emperor Paul I himself, though he did not yet occupy the throne, but was only a prince. For 12 years, he came up with as many as 13 variants of his future residence, which was later named "Mikhailovsky Castle." The monument to Peter in St. Petersburg was erected by him, but his idea belonged to Pavel's great-grandfather - the first emperor of the All-Russia.

Why was the castle named Mikhailovsky?

According to legend, once on the site of the palace was a guard, and one night one of the soldiers who carried watch there appeared Archangel Michael. After the castle was erected, next to the bridge in the niche was a statue of a small soldier. It is also said that Mikhailovsky was called because of the fact that on its territory is the temple of the Archangel Michael. And he, as is known, was considered the patron of the Romanov dynasty. But his second name, that is, the Engineering Castle, he received in the 20s of the 19 th century, when it housed the Main Engineering School. As for choosing a construction site, there is another legend. Once upon a time in the same place stood the summer palace of Peter the Great's daughter Elizabeth. It was in him that Paul the First was born . Therefore, he wanted his new home to be built in the same place where he was born.

Start of construction

As soon as Paul ascended the imperial throne, he ordered to begin the construction of the palace of his dreams. This happened in 1797. It was then that the emperor himself laid in the foundation of the building not only gold coins, as was customary in those days, but also whole bricks from jasper. Since then, the grandiose construction began, as a result of which Mikhailovsky Castle was erected. The monument to Peter I was established to be ground before the completion of the construction of the residence. More than 6,000 construction workers worked on the construction of the castle. They worked day and night, so in 4 years the building was already completely built. Then there was a beautifully organized housewarming. The Emperor was happy that he had managed to carry out the plan, and will continue to live in the castle, which he always dreamed of. However, it was not long for him to rejoice in the comfort of his new home: exactly 40 days after the housewarming Pavel the First was killed in his bedroom. After this tragic event, the royal family did not want to stay in Mikhailovskoye and moved to live in the Winter Palace.

Characteristics

Mikhailovsky Castle (a monument to Peter the Great along with it) is one of the most original architectural monuments in St. Petersburg. He had no analogues. It differs in many respects from all other palaces in the Northern capital. After all, it was not the architect who designed it, but the emperor Paul himself, who also had the title of Maltese master. Paul's dream was that his castle became the residence for the reception of the Maltese knights. That's why it looks more like a medieval fairy-tale palace. According to the idea of Paul, the territory of the palace had natural boundaries - the waters of the Moika and Fontanka, as well as the Church and Ascension channels. It turned out that this palace is, as it were, on an island, from which land can be accessed by means of bridges.

The sad fate of the castle after the death of the owner

After Paul was killed, this chic castle came into complete desolation. Later, when his successor, Alexander I, needed a raw material to create a luxurious silver dinner set, he ordered to melt the incredible beauty of the chased gates that belonged to the palace church. And during the reign of Emperor Nicholas I the castle became a kind of a mine of marble extraction for the palace architects who built the New Hermitage. As you know, in the middle of the 19th century it was given to the Main Military School. But in the years of the Great Patriotic War a military hospital was organized here. And only in 1994 the Mikhailovsky Castle, the monument to Peter the Great and the temple in the palace territory were transferred under the auspices of the Russian Museum, thanks to which large-scale construction and restoration works began here, which were completed by the 300th anniversary of the Northern Capital. At last he had found a gloss. At the moment Mikhailovsky Castle is one of the museum's branches.

Monument to Peter the Great in front of the Mikhailovsky Castle

A year before the completion of the construction of the castle of Paul the First, that is, in 1800, a monument to the first Russian emperor - Great Peter the Great - was erected in front of the palace square. It was inscribed with the inscription: "Great-grandfather from great-grandson". The idea of the sculpture belonged to Peter himself. And its author was the great Rastrelli. By the way, the monument to Peter the Great at the Mikhailovsky Castle is the first equestrian monument on the whole territory of Russia. Before being erected on the square, he lay in the "cellars" of the Winter Palace for about 50 years.

History of the monument

In the most fruitful period of his reign, Peter the Great, glancing at the path he had passed and realizing what great things he had done for his country, decided to perpetuate his memory. After his victory in the battle of Poltava, he planned to erect a stone pyramid with a full-length personal image and a horse that would be cast from yellow copper. However, that period was quite difficult for the state, and he had to postpone the implementation of his idea for an indefinite period. In 1716, the great sculptor and architect Bartolomeo Carlo Rastrelli arrived in St. Petersburg. He was invited to create a monument to Peter the Great. About two years he worked on making a clay model of a horse for a monument. But to recreate the exact copy of the face of the emperor Rastrelli removed from his face a plaster mask, like the famous Venetian. By the way, with its (mask) help, a wax bust of Peter was also made. According to the plan of the great emperor, there should be an inscription on the monument. For her writing undertook a whole team, consisting of staff and students of the Royal Academy of Paris. The text should have been in Latin. He also decorates today the Monument to Peter in front of the Mikhailovsky Castle.

Valuable instructions

The great emperor was very encouraged by the fact that he would soon be able to perpetuate himself by erecting the first horse monument in Russia. One day he visited the workshop where Rastrelli worked, and gave him some very valuable and efficient advice. It was in 1719, the Northern War was coming to an end, and the Russian Empire was to become the winner in it. And this meant that the new monument was supposed to contain the triumph of the whole of Russia and of its emperor. After 5 years, a new wax model of the monument was ready. Many critics believed that this monument is overloaded with various details. However, we must not forget that it refers to the era of baroque, the hallmark of which was the tendency to excessive and luxurious.

Description

Originally, the Monument to Peter the Great at the Mikhailovsky Castle was as follows. A mighty horse, on which sits a mighty emperor. At the feet of the horse lies a snake - a symbol of envy. Later it was transferred to the Bronze Horseman. The monument also consisted of six allegorical figures - virtues, statues of the Neva, cupids, the terrestrial sphere. During Peter's lifetime, another place was chosen for the monument - the old Senate Square on Vasilievsky Island. Peter really liked the idea of Rastrelli. However, the statue was not in a hurry to cast bronze.

A new twist of fate

After Peter the Great died in 1725, his heirs did not recall the monument for about 10 years. By the way, the fee from the state treasury for his work B. Rastrelli received only in 1734. Another 7 years after that, the monument was gathering dust in a barn, but when the daughter of the Great Emperor Elizabeth came to power, she decided to remind her citizens again, whose daughter is. And in 1943, according to her orders, a monument to Peter the Great was brought out of the barn (Mikhailovsky Castle, before which it was erected today, was built many years later). The Empress wanted to erect it before the Winter Palace. However, after inspecting the monument, they came to the conclusion that it no longer corresponds to the tastes of the new time, and it needs to be finalized. Naturally, this was entrusted to the aging Bartolomeo. As a result, the monument represented only the image of the emperor-triumphant without any bas-reliefs and allegories. Rastrelli was pleased with his brainchild, but he was not destined to see him on the pedestal. As you know, it was not until 1800 that Pavel I installed the Monument to Peter the Great. Mikhailovsky Castle became the residence of the great-grandson of the First Russian Emperor a year after this event.