Empress Catherine II "The Great"

 

Immediately after ascending the throne, the Empress Catherine II appointed Lieutenant General Betzkoy as administrator of the Court affairs; he was endowed with the superior supervision of the palaces, houses, gardens, and peasants of the Tsarskoe Selo patrimony. Betzkoy carried out the personal indications of the Empress, who during the first years of her reign was more than economical the finances being in a very sad state. The imperial treasure being quite empty, the soldiers were not paid during the whole reign of Peter III. The resolute reducing of the expenses proposed by Betzkoy, troubled the architect Nilov and the manager Oudalov, accustomed to the expenses of Elizabeth's reign. After, a long struggle, they declared, that with the insignificant annual allowances, which were proposed by Betzkoy, Tsarskoe Selo was threatened with a quick decay and complete ruin. Oudalov, who formerly was the steward of Krasnoe Selo, wanted to augment the revenue of the patrimony by imposing new, burdens on the peasants. Both he and Nilov hoped in that way to get means for maintaining properly the palace and park. However that plan was not approved of.

The Empress Catherine II, as well as her aunt, The Empress Elizabeth, generously helped the peasants of Tsarskoe Selo, who lived much better, than the other serfs. Many documents prove, that the tax was often diminished in cases of bad harvest, fire, death or illness of the peasants. The Empress Catherine II, from the beginning of her reign, showed great perseverance in trying to defend peasants and servants from the cruelty of their nearest chiefs. In that respect, her Ukase of the 6th of May 1771 to the Court and stables Chanceries is interesting.

The anxiety and fears of Nilov and Oudalov proved however unfounded. During the 34 years of the reign of the Empress Catherine II Tsarskoe Selo did not fall into decay, but, on the contrary, reached the highest degree of prosperity. With state affairs improving, the Empress was able to spend on her favorite residence more of her revenues. Towards the end of the reign Tsarskoe Selo was unrecognizable. A new palace for the Grand Duke Alexander Pavlovich, now called the Alexander Palace, was built; the Grand Palace was enlarged by the addition of the Agate Pavilion, the Cameron Gallery Colonnade, and the new wing; the gardens were enlarged and adorned with a multitude of new buildings and monuments in honor of the supporters of the Empress. On the other side of the lake arose a new town, Sophia.

We must note, that the Empress Catherine and Elizabeth's system of building was far from being alike. In the time of Elizabeth everything was built in haste, was extremely richly ornamented, but was rebuilt several times. In the time of Catherine, in spite of great expenses, before beginning to build, expenditures were calculated and sometimes even models were made; no superfluous luxury whatever was allowed. In, the time of Elizabeth one often pulled down today, what was built yesterday; Catherine personally verified every expense, attentively watched over the construction, sometimes arriving from Petersburg in spring on purpose to inspect the state of the works.

The immense expenses of the Elizabethan architects for the outside ornaments of the palace and pavilions, thanks to the bad quality of the materials, could not stand long; Catherine was obliged to make large expenses, in order to take away everything, which had quickly decayed and to bring the facades into a proper state. Thanks to this labor, the buildings of Catherine are immortal. The best architects of the time were called from abroad by the Empress; Rinaldi, Cameron, Quarenghi adorned with their works the palace and park. Nilov was sent abroad together with his son to study architecture. Attending to the wants of the inhabitants of Tsarskoe Selo, Catherine ordered a watercourse to be conveyed from Taitzy, for replenishing ponds, and for supplying with drinking water Tsarskoe Selo and Sophia. This water course is still working. In a word, all, that was done by Catherine in Tsarskoe Selo, was carried on solidly, grandly, and carefully. The Empress did not like the pretentious brilliancy of Baroque. She loved the antique patterns or the English Style. The majestic style of the architecture corresponded to the time of the great deeds of the Empress.

During the reign of Elizabeth, the Oudalovs had the superintendence of Tsarskoe Selo; Catherine appointed as principal manager the commander Aristarcus Kashkin, named in July 1763, he gave up the management in 1794, being too old to supervise any longer. Kashkin was at first subordinated to Betzkoy and to the administration of the patrimony, but from 1791 he received full powers and governed uncontrollably, only having helpers in the patrimonial and colonial departments. From 1780 the new town of Sophia was entrusted to a special prefect with a magistracy, a town hall and a town-council.

From October 1791, the Tsarskoe Selo Office of Building and the Patrimonial Office, were joined into one. The Tsarskoe Selo office was put under the authority of the same Kashkin. After his dismissal, till the last days of the Empress, Tsarskoe Selo was governed by Actual Counselor of State Iziedinov; and the prefect of Sophia was Lieutenant Colonel Tokarev.

The building of the new town of Sophia gave much trouble to the Empress. She wished to remove there all the inhabitants of the Court suburb, the almshouse, and the hospital. She forbade in 1783 the construction of houses in the village, and ordered houses to be built in Sophia after three models, proposing to settle there all the inhabitants of Tsarskoe Selo. Here in 1771 she laid the foundation of the wooden Tsiarevo-Constantinovskaia church, and in 1782 the stone cathedral. Nevertheless, notwithstanding all the efforts of the Empress, the town of Sophia did not improve, and the village continued to flourish.

Of all the country residences Catherine preferred Tsarskoe Selo. From 1763, with the exception of two or three years, she always spent spring and summer in Tsarskoe, leaving it late in autumn, when it began to get cold. Here she almost always celebrated her birthday; from here, on the 28th of June 1763 began the solemn procession to Petersburg after the Coronation in Moscow; here the Empress received the news of the brilliant victory at Kagoul; here in 1770 took place the famous masquerade and illumination in honor of Prussian Prince Henry. Here the Empress retired in winter of 1768 to be vaccinated, thus setting the example to the population of the whole Empire. Here she spent the illustrious summer of 1776, when, immediately after the death of the first Tsarevna, she lived for 3 months with her son, attempting to get on better terms with him.

Here she conceived the scheme of a new marriage, for Paul Petrovich, who had spent the whole summer with his mother.

In Tsarskoe Selo for the first time the name's day of Maria Feodorovna was celebrated very pompously; on the result of it the Empress had placed so many expectations, hoping to lay matters straight with her son. In Tsarskoe Selo were born the Tsarevich Constantine Pavlovich and the "Knight Nicholas", afterwards Emperor Nicholas I. Not far from Tsarskoe Selo arose in 1778 the charming "Paulslust" or Pavlovsk, the estate Of the Tsarevich, where, he gradually retired, in order to be near the great court and to be able at the same time to live, as he liked.

Catherine, moving to Tsarskoe Selo with a little suite, spent her time in state affairs and different amusements. Every day she took long walks in the park, accompanied by court gentlemen and maids of honor. Some times they were called into the grotto by trumpet-signals, and the Empress, having finished her morning work, liked to lunch in the society of gay young people. Her grandsons and granddaughters accompanied the Empress in her walks, which usually terminated at the Sliding Hill. Here the Empress rested, and the children slid down the hill, enjoying themselves with swings, merry-go-rounds and gymnastics. The Empress loved young people and was extremely gracious and charming with every one, who had the luck to come near her. Considering herself as hostess of Tsarskoe Selo, she carried her amiability to such a degree, that on one occasion, during an interview, noticing the annoyance, caused to her interlocutor by the sun's rays, she hastened to pull down the blinds. The courtiers appreciated so highly the honor of staying at Tsarskoe Selo, that they tried in every imaginable way to stay there as long as possible, for they found the severe etiquette and general mode of life at Pavlovsk most trying.

Besides the officials, who constantly lived in Tsarskoe during the reign of Catherine, General Adjutants, Chamberlains and Gentlemen of the Imperial Bed Chamber, arrived for the weekly attendance; the latter were on duty also in Pavlovsk. Once Rostopchin, while being on duty with the Tsarevich , was not relieved for such a long time, that he wrote to four Gentlemen of the Imperial Bed Chamber very sharp letters; hot words were exchanged: and a challenge for a duel ensued. The Empress forbade the duel, reprimanded the offenders and sent Rostopchin to the country for a year. From that time, Paul grew fond of Rostopchin, thinking the had suffered through him.

In November 1796 the Empress had an attack of apoplexy, from which she died. She was still breathing, when the Heir to the Throne began undoing all, that had been done by her, thus beginning his five years' heavy reign.

It is difficult to depict the condition of the country immediately after the accession to the throne of the new Emperor. Everything, done by Catherine, was being insulted and fundamentally destroyed.

The "terrible meteor", rushed also over Tsarskoe Selo. A breaking up literally began.

The architect Brenna, the builder of the Michaelovsky Castle, received the Imperial order to take away from Tsarskoe Selo every thing, that he considered necessary for the adornment of the Michaelovsky palace, for Pavlovsk, and for Gatchina; pictures, statues, bronzes, antiques, furniture were carried away from Tsarskoe Selo.

The Chinese Village was ordered to be demolished and the material delivered for the building of the "Michaelovsky Castle and Pavlovsk". However that Imperial order was not fulfilled; one had only time to take off all the outside ornaments and the wall coverings. The marble summer house on the rose-field was demolished and the columns were employed for the decoration of the aforesaid palaces. All the buildings in Tsarskoe Selo remained unfinished. The wooden palace of Constantine Pavlovich, which stood near the Little Caprice, was ordered to be disjointed and transported to Pavlovsk. The collection of antiques, kept in the Grotto, was destroyed. The statue of Voltaire by Goudon was sent to the garret. The bronze vases, which ornamented the "Pente-Douce" and the staircase of the Colonnade, were taken away. Tsarskoe Selo "the child" of the glorious Empress was at once abandoned, and the beautiful palace remained empty. "In order to lodge the Tsarevich in Tsarskoe Selo, his apartments in Pavlovsk being not yet ready, he was settled in a "little house", the former palace, that is to prove the degree of destruction:

"The general frame of mind was sad and depressed", says Schilder. "Not only the people, the society and the ministerial class were in a state of complete depression, but even the persons of the Imperial Family, the nearest fellow laborers of the Emperor were in continual dread. Count Rostopchin was ordered to peruse the letters of the Tsarevna; Rostopchin himself wrote to Simeon Voronzov in London in cipher."

On the 27th of July 1800 Grand Duchess Elizabeth Alekseyevna, wife of the future Alexander I, experienced in Tsarskoe Selo her first great sorrow; her little daughter, the Grand Duchess Maria, died.

In that heavy time the administration of Tsarskoe Selo was again excluded from the proximate jurisdiction of His Imperial Majesty and was entrusted to the Court-Intendants Office, which developed out of Catherine's office of buildings, palaces and gardens; at its head was appointed the Lord Steward, Count Tiezenhausen, to whom on the 28th of February 1798 were submitted Tsarskoe Selo and the surrounding villages; on the 16th of February, of the following year, in the place of Iziedinov was appointed the actual Counselor of the State, Alexis Ivanovich Leontiev, who possessed the title of Manager of the Tsarskoe Selo Office. In 1801 the Tsarskoe Selo office took the name of the Administration Office, with an Administrator of the 4th Class at its head.