The Alexander Palace

After running along by the garden palisade Transverse Road crosses the lock and joins the Burgovaya Road which runs along the bank of a pond bordering the Private Garden on the west. A little further on are cross roads - the road on the left is leading to the Arsenal, to the White Tower and to the Park exit, near the Imperial Farm; the road straight ahead leads to the gate at the Park boundary, which is usually closed; to the right, beyond the bridge and the dam, opens a view of the Alexander Palace.

This palace was erected towards the end of the reign of Catherine II from plans, ordered by her in 1770, to the Italian architect Quarenghi. The building was completed in May 1796, during the last year of the Empress's life, and on the 12th of June, the Grand Duke Alexander Pavlovich, with his wife and court, moved into it.

 

Garden Facade of the Alexander Palace

The following paragraph from' the Countess Golovina's notes describes one of the first days at the New (i. e. Alexander) Palace of the Grand Duke Alexander Pavlovich, and his wife:

"The Grand Duke and the Grand Duchess were very pleased with their palace. My apartments were over those of the Grand Duchess, and being in the centre of the building, had a half-circular forefront. She could talk with me, standing at the corner window. One evening we amused ourselves talking at our window while the Grand Duke and my husband played the violin in my drawing room."

"The Empress announced to Their Imperial Highnesses her intention of visiting them, in their new home after, dinner. A splendid dessert was prepared on the colonnade, which was a kind of open drawing-room, separated from the garden by two rows of columns. From that place opened a wide and beautiful view. Afterwards we went into the palace and the Empress, who seated herself between the Grand Duchess and me, said: "I ask your Highness's, permission to show these gentlemen your rooms! "As it was Sunday there were many court persons present, and among them the Vice Chancellor Count Osterman and Count Markov."

The exterior of the palace is remarkable for the simplicity and strictness of its style. A stately colonnade rises in front of it at a short distance from the central forefront. In front of the colonnade, between the wings of the palace, there was, until 1847, an open paved space. On the colonnade are two bronze statues; the "Babochnik" and the "Svaechnik", which represent players at two ancient Russian games "babki" and "svaika". These figures are made by the Russian sculptors, Pimenov and Loganovsky. The interior of the palace was decorated in the classic style and was luxuriously furnished. It was not occupied for a long time by Alexander Pavlovich, beacuse, after he became Emperor, he preferred the Great Palace. The Emperor Nicholas Pavlovich, on the contrary, was very fond of the Alexander Palace and used to move there in early spring and remain until the end of May, when the army moved into camp. After army maneuvers he used to return to Tsarskoe Selo and come to St. Petersburg about the 24th of November. In this Palace, on the 19th of October 1860, the Empress Alexandra Feodorovna, the wife of the Emperor Nicholas, died. The first electromagnetic telegraph in Russia was set up in the Emperor's study in the Alexander Palace in 1843; and was connected with the study of the Chief Administrator of the Ways and Communications and Public Buildings, in St. Petersburg. When the present Emperor came to the throne, considerable alterations were made in this palace for the convenience of the Imperial family, when spending the winter at Tsarskoe Selo.

The State Rooms remain just as they were under Nicholas I. The rooms of the Emperor Alexander III are just as they were, when he occupied them. In the palace Oratory, which was erected in memory of the Grand Duchess Alexandra Nicholaevna, is an image on glass of the Tsaritsa Alexandra, by Alexander Brullov.

Two rooms of the palace contain a part of His Majesty's Own library. There are whole sections of it consisting of books, which belonged to the Emperors Paul and Alexander I. In one of the halls of the palace stands a travelling church ikonstasis. The pictures and portraits, which adorn the walls, are mostly painted by modern painters; of the older artists we can name Willewalde, Ladurner, Venetsianov, Dawe, Caravaca, and others. The palace is not open to the public.

Five minutes' walk from the square in front of the Alexander Palace brings one to the only remaining bastion of the old Zoo. This bastion was restored in 1824 at the wish of the Emperor Alexander I, when with the materials, taken from the wall of the Zoo, the architect Menelas began to build White Tower, 105 feet high, in the Gothic style and artificial "ruins" for the accommodation of the servants of this pavilion. The ruins represent walls, destroyed by cannon, near the main gate of a castle. It now contains lodgings for servants. Beyond the gate of the ruins and a little to the left, are the remains of earth-works, where the sons of the Emperor Nicholas Pavlovich received practical instruction in fortification. On a platform inside the bastion rises a high mast with rope ladders, attached to it, while round it is a net, stretched for jumping. In summer, when the Imperial Court is absent from Tsarskoe Selo, the park is open to the public, and this is a favorite spot with children.

The White Tower is surrounded at each story by a balcony with cast iron balustrades and is open to the public in summer. It consists of a series of rooms, built one above the other, and decorated with frescoes in Gothic style, which are badly damaged. The furniture is of the same style, and was probably made from Menelas' sketches. The first story consists of a Dining Room and of a Service Room; the ceiling is carved, the walls are covered with frescoes, and the furniture is of ash. Here too are some paper screens, with pasted pictures of gentlemen and ladies' fashions, cut from journals of the epoch of about 1825. In the second story are two rooms for footmen; the walls are painted with a green wash; the furniture is made of birch. In the third story is a Drawing Room (seen at right) with four windows and one door which opens onto a balcony; the door and window posts are of light wood and richly carved; the ceilings are also carved, the walls have frescoes, representing a battle of the Middle Ages; there are two looking-glasses in carved frames, two mantlepieces of white marble with mirrors above them, likewise in rich frames; the furniture is of oak with cane seats.

In the fourth story of the White Tower (seen at left), there are two rooms: the first is a Study, with a carved ceiling and frescoed walls, representing knights in Gothic armor; one door leads onto a balcony; the door and window frames are of carved oak; there are two mirrors and an ornamental cast-iron fire-grate; the furniture is of mahogany; in two corners stand huge pedestals of carved wood, each supporting a knight's bust. The second apartment is a Bedroom; the furniture is of maple in Empire style, ornamented in antique bronze moitifs, and consisting of a folding wooden bed, a divan, a sofa, two easy-chairs, a table, and a washing-stand. In both rooms, the chairs have cane seats. In the fifth story there is one room with nine, semi-oval windows; it contains a set of children's furniture upholstered in buckram; there are also two models of unknown buildings, toys, billiards for children, and the model of a waterfall, belonging to the Emperor Alexander II. The sixth story has a door, leading out onto the top of the tower. All the rooms and the tower communicate with each other by means of a, winding staircase; the door and window posts are of carved oak.

From the top of the tower opens a magnificent view on the neighbourhood of Tsarskoe Selo. There used to be here a semaphore telegraph; the signals from which were received on a similar wooden tower, still existing not far from the aerodrome in St. Petersburg. During the reign of the Empress Catherine, artillery, for firing salutes on solemn occasions, was kept on the bastion at the White Tower.

After leaving the White Tower, one should follow the Arsenal Road and then turn, into the first transverse avenue on the right. After a few minutes' walk, you come to the Imperial Farm, which is situated outside the park boundaries. All the farm buildings in strictly Anglo-Gothic style, were built by the architect Menelas in 1820 for cattle.

The farm was established on broad lines with the object of improving the Russian breed of cattle, by selling the increase. In 1822 bulls and cows of Tyrolese, Hungarian, Swiss, English, Dutch, Holmogor, and little Russian stocks, in the number of 62 heads, and 100 Merino sheep from Troppau were installed at the farm. Almost the whole of this herd fell victims of illness in 1825-1829, and 1859. It was then decided to bring up only pure-bred Holmogor cattle, and in consequence of the scarcity of this breed, the sale of the increase was temporarily stopped. In 1865, on the death of the General of artillery Zacharyevsky, who had so long been chief administrator of Tsarskoe Selo, the Grand Duke Nicholas Nicholaevich undertook the care of the farm and began once more to buy cattle of different breeds, and to sell the increase. Breton and Yaroslav stocks were ordered; in course of time the Breton stock was replaced by the Breitenburg cattle. About the year 1880, the Grand Duke gave up the care of the farm. In 1887 cows of the Simental breed were brought to Tsarskoe Selo. But all this stock throve badly at the farm. In 1906, the experiment was made of bringing up only the Fion cattle, which is kept up to the present day. In 1909 poultry keeping was begun in the farm. The dairy-produce and eggs are used for the need of the Imperial Court; the increase and the surplus is sold to outsiders with the permission of the Chief of the Palace Administration. In the middle of the farm yard stands a splendid winter cow house for 84 animals. Wings at the sides contain lodgings for the CD inspector, the veterinary surgeon, and cow-keepers. In one of the two pavilions', which faces the field, is a spacious cellar land a dairy with separators, condensers etc. The other pavilion, built in case of visits of the members of the Imperial family, is still as it was, when erected by the architect Menelas. All the furniture of the two drawing rooms, the dining-room, the kitchen, and the four lounges in the upper story was made from the drawings of Menelas, of white maple with Gothic carving. On the walls hang engravings, dating from 1820 and representing views of Switzerland. Portraits of His Majesty Alexander I and his wife are hung in the dining room.