The historical heritage of Russia: the Chinese village

The Chinese village is a complex of buildings in the style of the Chinoiserie, located on the border of the Aleksandrovsky and Ekaterininsky parks on the territory of the entrance from St. Petersburg to Tsarskoe Selo.

Chinoiserie style

The appearance of this style was accompanied by the export of Chinese porcelain to Europe in the early 18th century. Extraordinarily light, elegant and much more hygienic products immediately attracted the attention of the upper class.

Shortly thereafter, popularity embraced all branches of Chinese art. In the royal and imperial residences, construction of gazebos, palaces and bridges, partially replicating the traditional architecture of the Celestial Empire, began. Unfortunately, at that time there were too few studies devoted to this country, because the designers of buildings were guided more by their own fantasies and ideas about how the results of their creations should look.

So there was a style of chinoiser, which became part of Orientalism and Rococo, in which the Chinese village was originally built.

The spread of style in Russia

In Russia, this style as quickly became popular among the nobility, thanks to which in several palaces of the country there were cabinets, decorated in the best traditions of chinoiseries. The largest number of such buildings was created by the architect Antonio Rinaldi - and it was he who, by decree of Catherine the Great, was the designer of the Chinese village.

The Chinese Village in Tsarskoe Selo

This complex of buildings was the idea of the Russian Empress Catherine II, who was influenced by the European fashion for the style of the chinoiserie. Perhaps she was inspired by a similar project in Drottningholm, deciding to create something that surpassed him.

For certain it is not known, but there is an opinion that the design of the village was entrusted to two architects: Rinaldi and Charles Cameron. The samples were engravings, delivered sometime from Beijing and were the personal property of the empress.

According to the plan, the Chinese village was to consist of 18 houses and an octagonal observatory, and outside the complex it was required to erect a pagoda. Initially, Catherine sought to attract a real architect from the Middle Kingdom to work, but failed. For this reason, she was commissioned to obtain a copy of the pagoda created by Ulyam Chambers in the style of the chinoiserie.

However, after the death of the Empress in 1796, work on the project was frozen. Of the 18 planned houses, only 10 were built, the observatory was not finished, and the pagoda remained on paper.

The Chinese village of Alexander I

Work on the complex did not resume until the intervention of Alexander I. In 1818, he drew Vasily Stasov to convert the village into a livable species. As a result - most of the eastern decoration was destroyed, but now the complex provided accommodation for various distinguished guests.

The buildings were united by Stasov among themselves, and the unfinished observatory was completed with a spherical dome.

Each house in the Chinese village was surrounded by its own garden and furnished inside. In one of these buildings Nikolay Karamzin lived for three years while writing the "History of the Russian State".

Also on the territory of the complex was the Chinese Theater, in which he represented his new creations Giovanni Paiziello. However, in 1941 the building was burned, and reconstruction work was not carried out until now.

Modernity

During the German occupation the village suffered very badly, and its restoration was progressing as if reluctantly. In the 60's the complex was converted into communal apartments, later it was transformed into a tourist base. Only in 1996, large-scale reconstruction works began, thanks to a Danish firm, which in return received the right to rent houses for 50 years.

To date, the village has been completely restored. It has both guest and apartment apartments, but only the front view of the complex from the road is accessible to tourists. Life in the Chinese village for a common man in the street is no longer possible, since its territory at the moment is secretly listed as private property of another state, and houses are rented by foreign citizens.

It is difficult to believe that part of Russia's historical heritage is closed to its population, but until this time expires (and possibly after), this fact will remain unchanged.