Vorontsov Palace Catholic Chapel. Maltese Chapel. Excerpt characterizing the Maltese Chapel
Maltese Chapel- Catholic Church of the Order of the Knights of Malta, built by Giacomo Quarenghi at the end of the 18th century. The chapel is part of the architectural complex of the Vorontsov Palace in St. Petersburg (attached to the main building of the palace from the garden side).
Story
Vorontsov Palace was erected by the architect B.F. Rastrelli in -1757 for Chancellor Count M.I. Vorontsov. The construction and decoration of the palace required such large investments that in 1763 Count Vorontsov was forced to cede it to the Russian treasury for debts. The building was empty until 1770, and later began to be used as a guest house. IN different time the palace was occupied by Prince Heinrich of Prussia, Prince of Nassau-Siegen and Count I. A. Osterman. After the accession of Paul I to the throne and his assumption of the title of Protector and then Grand Master of the Order of Malta, the Vorontsov Palace was given to the Knights of Malta, who were forced to seek refuge after Napoleon Bonaparte's capture of the island of Malta in 1798.
Chapel in the 20th and 21st centuries
Architecture and decoration
The temple has the shape of a rectangle with a barrel vault. Two rows of artificial marble columns divide the interior of the chapel into three naves. The choirs are located above the side naves. The planes of the walls are enriched with decorative arches, sculptures of angels, Maltese crosses and plaster garlands. The ceiling of the church consists of semi-circular box vaults, covered with paintings consisting of floral ornaments and rosettes, and plaster garlands.
The altar part is an apse with columns located close to the walls. In the center there is a marble altar, behind which there was an altarpiece of John the Baptist (patron saint of the Order of Malta) by A. I. Charlemagne, created by the artist in 1861. To the right of the altar, under a canopy, stood the crimson velvet chair of the grand master of the order. On the left, under a marble plaque with an inscription about the founding and solemn consecration of the church, there is a bishop's chair and several stools. Here, in front of the altar barrier, there were embassy benches with velvet cushions. In the middle part of the hall there were 14 wooden benches with cushions covered with red cloth.
The altarpiece was in the Maltese Chapel until 1928, then it was transferred to the Museum of Religion and Atheism, and from there in 1932 it went to the State Russian Museum. The canvas was stored in the collections of the Russian Museum without a stretcher or frame, wound on a drum, as a result of which it received numerous damages. In February 2006, the leadership of the Russian Museum decided to transfer the altarpiece to the Maltese Chapel for temporary storage. The restoration of the canvas was carried out in the workshops of the Military Historical Museum of Artillery, Engineering Troops and Signal Corps. In September 2007, the image was returned to its historical place.
Write a review about the article "Maltese Chapel"
Notes
Literature
- . (official site)
Links
- .
- .
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Excerpt characterizing the Maltese Chapel
- Everyone has their own secrets. We won’t touch you and Berg,” Natasha said, getting excited.“I think you won’t touch me,” said Vera, “because there can never be anything bad in my actions.” But I’ll tell mommy how you treat Boris.
“Natalya Ilyinishna treats me very well,” said Boris. “I can't complain,” he said.
- Leave it, Boris, you are such a diplomat (the word diplomat was in great use among children in the special meaning that they attached to this word); It’s even boring,” Natasha said in an offended, trembling voice. - Why is she pestering me? You will never understand this,” she said, turning to Vera, “because you have never loved anyone; you have no heart, you are only madame de Genlis [Madame Genlis] (this nickname, considered very offensive, was given to Vera by Nikolai), and your first pleasure is to cause trouble for others. “You flirt with Berg as much as you want,” she said quickly.
- Yes, I certainly won’t start chasing a young man in front of guests...
“Well, she achieved her goal,” Nikolai intervened, “she said unpleasant things to everyone, upset everyone.” Let's go to the nursery.
All four, like a frightened flock of birds, got up and left the room.
“They told me some troubles, but I didn’t mean anything to anyone,” said Vera.
- Madame de Genlis! Madame de Genlis! - Laughing voices said from behind the door.
Beautiful Vera, who had such an irritating, unpleasant effect on everyone, smiled and, apparently unaffected by what was said to her, went to the mirror and straightened her scarf and hairstyle. Looking at her beautiful face, she apparently became even colder and calmer.
The conversation continued in the living room.
- Ah! chere,” said the countess, “and in my life tout n”est pas rose. Don’t I see that du train, que nous allons, [not everything is roses. - given our way of life,] our condition will not last long for us! And all this is a club, and its kindness. We live in the village, do we relax? Theaters, hunting and God knows what. Well, how did you arrange all this? I’m often surprised at you, Annette. You, at your age, ride in a carriage alone, to Moscow, to St. Petersburg, to all the ministers, to all the nobility, you know how to get along with everyone, I’m surprised, how did this work out? I don’t know how to do any of this.
- Oh, my soul! - answered Princess Anna Mikhailovna. “God forbid you know how hard it is to remain a widow without support and with a son whom you love to the point of adoration.” “You’ll learn everything,” she continued with some pride. – My process taught me. If I need to see one of these aces, I write a note: “princesse une telle [princess so-and-so] wants to see so-and-so,” and I drive myself in a cab at least two, at least three times, at least four times, until I achieve what I need. I don't care what anyone thinks about me.
- Well, well, who did you ask about Borenka? – asked the Countess. - After all, yours is already a guard officer, and Nikolushka is a cadet. There is no one to bother. Who did you ask?
- Prince Vasily. He was very nice. Now I agreed to everything, reported to the sovereign,” said Princess Anna Mikhailovna with delight, completely forgetting all the humiliation through which she went to achieve her goal.
- That he has aged, Prince Vasily? – asked the Countess. – I haven’t seen him since our theaters at the Rumyantsevs’. And I think he forgot about me. “Il me faisait la cour, [He was trailing after me,” the countess recalled with a smile.
“Still the same,” answered Anna Mikhailovna, “kind, crumbling.” Les grandeurs ne lui ont pas touriene la tete du tout. [The high position did not turn his head at all.] “I regret that I can do too little for you, dear princess,” he tells me, “order.” No, he is a nice man and a wonderful family member. But you know, Nathalieie, my love for my son. I don't know what I wouldn't do to make him happy. “And my circumstances are so bad,” Anna Mikhailovna continued with sadness and lowering her voice, “so bad that I am now in the most terrible situation. My miserable process is eating up everything I have and is not moving. I don’t have, you can imagine, a la lettre [literally], I don’t have a dime of money, and I don’t know what to outfit Boris with. “She took out a handkerchief and began to cry. “I need five hundred rubles, but I have one twenty-five-ruble note.” I am in this position... My only hope now is Count Kirill Vladimirovich Bezukhov. If he does not want to support his godson - after all, he baptized Borya - and assign him something for his maintenance, then all my troubles will be lost: I will have nothing to outfit him with.
The Countess shed tears and silently thought about something.
“I often think, maybe this is a sin,” said the princess, “and I often think: Count Kirill Vladimirovich Bezukhoy lives alone... this is a huge fortune... and what does he live for? Life is a burden for him, but Borya is just beginning to live.
“He will probably leave something for Boris,” said the countess.
- God knows, chere amie! [dear friend!] These rich people and nobles are so selfish. But I’ll still go to him now with Boris and tell him straight out what’s going on. Let them think what they want about me, I really don’t care when my son’s fate depends on it. - The princess stood up. - Now it’s two o’clock, and at four o’clock you have lunch. I'll have time to go.
And with the techniques of a St. Petersburg business lady who knows how to use time, Anna Mikhailovna sent for her son and went out into the hall with him.
“Farewell, my soul,” she said to the countess, who accompanied her to the door, “wish me success,” she added in a whisper from her son.
– Are you visiting Count Kirill Vladimirovich, ma chere? - said the count from the dining room, also going out into the hallway. - If he feels better, invite Pierre to dinner with me. After all, he visited me and danced with the children. Call me by all means, ma chere. Well, let's see how Taras distinguishes himself today. He says that Count Orlov never had such a dinner as we will have.
“Mon cher Boris, [Dear Boris,”] said Princess Anna Mikhailovna to her son when Countess Rostova’s carriage, in which they were sitting, drove along the straw-covered street and drove into the wide courtyard of Count Kirill Vladimirovich Bezukhy. “Mon cher Boris,” said the mother, pulling her hand out from under her old coat and with a timid and affectionate movement placing it on her son’s hand, “be gentle, be attentive.” Count Kirill Vladimirovich is still your godfather, and your future fate depends on him. Remember this, mon cher, be as sweet as you know how to be...
“If I had known that anything other than humiliation would come out of this...” the son answered coldly. “But I promised you and I’m doing this for you.”
Despite the fact that someone’s carriage was standing at the entrance, the doorman, looking at the mother and son (who, without ordering to report themselves, directly entered the glass vestibule between two rows of statues in the niches), looking significantly at the old cloak, asked who they wanted whatever, the princesses or the count, and, having learned that the count, said that their Lordships are worse off now and their Lordships do not receive anyone.
“We can leave,” the son said in French.
- Mon ami! [My friend!] - said the mother in a pleading voice, again touching her son’s hand, as if this touch could calm or excite him.
Boris fell silent and, without taking off his overcoat, looked questioningly at his mother.
“Darling,” Anna Mikhailovna said in a gentle voice, turning to the doorman, “I know that Count Kirill Vladimirovich is very ill... that’s why I came... I’m a relative... I won’t bother you, dear... But I just need to see Prince Vasily Sergeevich: because he is standing here. Report back, please.
The doorman sullenly pulled the string upward and turned away.
“Princess Drubetskaya to Prince Vasily Sergeevich,” he shouted to a waiter in stockings, shoes and a tailcoat who had run down from above and was looking out from under the ledge of the stairs.
The mother smoothed out the folds of her dyed silk dress, looked into the solid Venetian mirror in the wall and walked briskly up the staircase carpet in her worn-out shoes.
“Mon cher, voue m"avez promis, [My friend, you promised me,” she turned again to the Son, exciting him with the touch of her hand.
The son, with lowered eyes, calmly followed her.
They entered the hall, from which one door led to the chambers allocated to Prince Vasily.
While the mother and son, going out into the middle of the room, intended to ask for directions from the old waiter who jumped up at their entrance, a bronze handle turned at one of the doors and Prince Vasily in a velvet fur coat, with one star, in a homely manner, came out, seeing off the handsome black-haired a man. This man was the famous St. Petersburg doctor Lorrain.
Address: Russia, Republic of Crimea, Alupka, sh. Dvortsovoye, 18
Date of construction: 1840
Architect: Furasov P.I.
Coordinates: 57°19"07.5"N 43°06"40.4"E
Short story
The luxurious palace, named Vorontsovsky in honor of Count Vorontsov M.S., is a unique building that became the embodiment of the Romanticism era. It is located on the Crimean peninsula in the city of Alupka.
The beginning of its construction dates back to 1828, when Governor-General Vorontsov, responsible for the Novorossiysk region, chose the site for the construction of the future main building and drove pegs into it. However, the palace did not appear quickly - its construction took 20 years.
Initially, the project of the future Vorontsov Palace was developed in the style of strict classics, and the famous Italian architect named Francesco Boffo and his colleague from England Thomas Harrison worked on it.
The year 1829 was the beginning of the implementation of their joint project, and as all the preparatory work was completed, the foundation was immediately laid and the first masonry was made. However, an unpleasant surprise soon occurred - in the midst of preparing working drawings, architect Harrison died.
To keep the construction going, Boffo needed a new partner. It was Edward Blore, a young architect working in the romantic direction of English architecture.
Stone staircase with white marble lion sculptures
Why did Count Vorontsov choose him and decide to make changes to the project of the future palace in the Crimean Alupka? The fact is that in those years he was in England, and he was impressed by the local architecture and new fashion trends in the construction of buildings. Therefore, the count revised the already developed project and entrusted the new architect with adjusting it so that the result of the work would be real castle, combining the rigor of English architecture and the luxury inherent in Indian palaces.
And since 1832 construction works The construction of the Vorontsov Palace in Crimea is already underway according to an updated project, but without distorting the previously completed stages. The execution of all work was entrusted to the best craftsmen - stonemasons, modelers, stone and wood carvers, artists, furniture makers and other workers, who approached the orders entrusted to them with all responsibility. As a result, the construction of the palace cost Vorontsov 9 million rubles.
From left to right: formal dining room, winter garden
Layout of the Vorontsov Palace
The entire palace complex, erected by order of Vorontsov, is represented by several solid buildings, designated as:
- central;
- dining room;
- guest;
- library;
- economic.
The building intended for receiving guests was later called Shuvalovsky, since on the right side there was the room of Vorontsov’s daughter, who became Countess Shuvalova after her marriage.
Northern façade of the main building
Oddly enough, the construction of the palace began with the construction of the dining building, and this work took 4 years (from 1830 to 1834). The construction of the central building took 6 years - 1831 - 1837. From 1841 to 1842, work was carried out on the construction of a billiard room, which complemented the building with a dining room. The construction of the guest building, all the towers, outbuildings, outbuildings and the design of the Front Court also took a lot of time (these were 1838 - 1844). And finally, the library building, built from 1842 to 1846, joined the palace complex.
The decoration of the central staircase were sculptures of lions, the production of which was entrusted to the Italian master Giovanni Bonnani. And the entire luxurious palace ensemble ended with a lion terrace, that is, many figures of lions.
Right - Clock Tower
Features of the architecture of the Vorontsov Palace
The Vorontsov Palace, which became the decoration of Alupka in Crimea in the mid-19th century, was a kind of innovation that violated some architectural and construction principles. In those days, it was customary to place the buildings of palace ensembles in a strict geometric grouping, but the architect Blore deviated from this rule and distributed all the buildings that were part of the Vorontsov Palace on the ground so that they stood in the direction from west to east, as if in accordance with the movement of the mountains. This approach allowed all the buildings to fit harmoniously into the local landscape - the Vorontsov palace complex found its place in the Crimean expanses.
Moving from building to building, you can clearly trace the stages of development of medieval architecture, starting from its earliest forms and ending with the traditions of the 16th century.
Shuvalovsky building
However, when developing projects for all buildings, the emphasis was still placed on the English style. Why is Vorontsov Castle in Crimea so attractive? Its feature is appearance, reminiscent of a castle-fortress from the ancient VIII - XI centuries. When you find yourself in the courtyard of the utility buildings, you involuntarily stumble upon blank walls and find yourself in confined spaces, and when you try to get to the central building, you find yourself surrounded by round watchtowers. Further general impression The inaccessibility is complemented by narrow loophole windows and high walls of rough masonry. But suddenly an openwork suspension bridge made of cast iron appears and adds a festive touch to this harsh composition. And so, as you move away from the arch of the western entrance, signs of the architecture of the following eras become more and more apparent.
West Entrance Towers
Having crossed the openwork bridge and getting rid of the feeling of enclosure, you can find yourself in the Front Courtyard, which offers a view of Mount Ai-Petri. But this is not just a view - it is a unique picture, because the landscape is, as it were, limited by an architectural frame represented by a clock tower, an eastern wing and a retaining wall with a fountain.
The architecture of the main building of the Vorontsov Palace in Crimea is also interesting. Its walls are extended out of the plane at different levels, as required by the English Tudor style. The central part is decorated with a main entrance and decorated with bay window projections and side projections. The roofs of the towers are onion domes. The northern facade of the building is decorated with narrow polyhedral semi-columns, the crowns of which are pinnacles (decorative tops).
Chapel
Graceful pinnacles and battlements, domes and chimneys, decorated with flower-shaped finials, smooth out the roughness of the stone texture of the walls and their massive luggage.
Considering the carved stone decorations that decorate the Vorontsov Palace, it is worth noting their pronounced similarity with some elements of Western and Eastern architecture. Thus, true architecture connoisseurs immediately notice the Gothic chimneys and minarets of the mosque, and it is precisely this compatible incompatibility that makes the palace complex special. This similarity is especially acute as you move to the southern facade of the building, called the main one. In the rays of the sun, its outlines seem unusual and bizarre.
From left to right: formal dining room, winter garden, main building
But the main motive for the design of the palace are arches of the most varied shapes - they are gentle, keel-shaped, horseshoe-shaped, and pointed. And you can see them everywhere, from the balustrade of the balconies to the decoration of the portal of the southern entrance to the Vorontsov Palace. In addition, the architectural ensemble, erected by order of the Governor-General, also has its own “zest” - these are 6 identical lines in Arabic, indicating that only Allah is the winner. You can see the inscription in a niche decorated with a Tudor flower and an Indian lotus.
Description of the park surrounding the Vorontsov Palace
During the construction of the palace, work was also carried out to lay out the adjacent park. But if the construction of the Vorontsov Palace took two decades, work on creating the park does not stop to this day. On an area of 40 hectares, a wide variety of plants brought from all over the world coexist harmoniously.
Shuvalovsky passage with a view of the openwork bridge
In general, the palace park is divided into Upper and Lower. The upper park is decorated with several glades - Kashtanovaya, Contrast, Solnechnaya. And each of them is notable for its trees (Italian pine, oriental plane tree, yew berry, Himalayan cedar, Chilean araucaria, or monkey tree, etc.). In addition, on the territory of the Upper Park there is Swan Lake, where these beautiful birds, Upper and Mirror Lake and a waterfall.
In the Lower Park, surrounded by the most beautiful and rare representatives of the flora, there is a small tea house, which at one time was used by the Vorontsov family to spend holidays on the seashore. Then this place was often illuminated with fireworks and fireworks.
Shuvalovsky passage with a view of the western gate
Being here, you can really feel the holiday atmosphere, because it was not without reason that the architect chose the place to build the house here. Surrounded by many unique plants, it creates the feeling of being in a fairy tale, since the entire territory of the Lower Park is conducive to creating an enchanting mood. And the lower part of Vorontsovsky Park in Crimea is designed in the Italian style of a regular park.
Use of the Vorontsov Palace complex in different years
Since 1990, the Vorontsov Palace in Alupka has become a palace and park museum-reserve. Several interesting exhibitions are located in nine state rooms. Thanks to their content, everyone can get acquainted with the way of life of the count’s family, who lived in the palace before the October Revolution, and the character of the palace’s interiors.
Exit from the yard
But in 1990, the opening of the Vorontsov Palace as a museum was secondary - its building was first used as a museum in 1921.
But with the beginning of the Great Patriotic War of 1941, valuable museum exhibits could not be saved, and the building itself was repeatedly threatened with destruction. However, thanks to the efforts of one of the museum employees S.G. Shchekoldin. The Vorontsov Palace Museum still survived. Of course, many artistic treasures were lost during the war, but after it ended, some paintings were still found and returned to the museum.
Vorontsov Palace is one of the main attractions of St. Petersburg. The palace is located on the territory of an estate owned by Count Mikhail Illarionovich Vorontsov. The palace coup of 1741 (in which Vorontsov took an active part) elevated Empress Elizabeth to the Russian throne. Elizaveta Petrovna did not fail to thank Mikhail Illarionovich for his services by awarding him the rank of general.
The design and construction of the palace was carried out by F.B. Rastrelli was a Russian architect, Italian by birth. The estate is located between Fontanka and Sadovaya streets in southwest direction and occupies a significant territory. The facade of the palace is separated from the street by a fence, which is an example of artistic casting. Behind the fence lies a vast palace with a main building and symmetrical two-story wings placed forward. In the depths of the courtyard there is a three-story main building, away from the city noise. To decorate the main facade, Rastrelli uses double rusticated columns, above which there is a balcony. The arched windows on the ground floor are framed with decorative frames. Main Hall is located on the second floor.
The impression of solemnity and splendor of the palace, inherent in the Baroque style, is created in the first moment, as soon as one enters the estate. According to contemporaries, the interior of the fifty state rooms located along the main facade was distinguished by dazzling luxury. Unfortunately, the interior of the buildings has not survived to this day. The garden, which was located behind the main building, was decorated with numerous fountains, well-groomed alleys, swimming pools and other “whims”. In the garden, which extended to the Fontanka, one could see fireworks, which certainly accompanied the festivities in the Anichkov Garden.
In 1817, according to the design of Karl Rossi, the garden was shortened. The open terrace, located above the one-story building, offered a beautiful view of the river. In the central part of the palace there was a large double-height hall. M.I.’s library was located in one of the halls. Vorontsova, rightfully considered the best in St. Petersburg. The construction of the palace required no small investment. And the holding of regular balls and receptions led to the fact that the financial situation of M.I. Vorontsov could no longer afford to spend money on his maintenance.
In 1763, the palace was transferred to the treasury for debts. During the reign of Paul I, the palace was renamed the castle of the Knights of Malta and was transferred to the Order of Malta. This is due to the fact that Emperor Paul in 1798 was elected Master of the Order of Malta, and the former Vorontsov Palace became his residence. The order's coat of arms - a white Maltese cross - was installed above the gate. According to the project of D. Quarenghi, in 1798 the construction of the Catholic chapel of the order began, in which meetings of the Order of the Knights of Malta were held. An Orthodox church was built in the left wing.
Under Alexander I, the estate with all its property became the property of the state and soon the Corps of Pages was located there. The Page Corps trained guard officers; the cadets' dormitories were located on the second floor.
The October Revolution led to the closure of the Corps of Pages. In the early 1920s, military educational institutions were located on the territory of the Vorontsov Palace. In 1928, some of the items were given to Leningrad museums. Since 1958, the building has been given to the Suvorov School.
In 2003, in honor of the anniversary of St. Petersburg, the interior of the Maltese Chapel was restored. Today, excursions and organ music evenings are held in the chapel, and a museum on the history of cadetships is open.
The Alupka Palace, a masterpiece of Romanticism architecture, was built over almost 20 years, from 1828 to 1848, by order of the powerful Governor-General of the Novorossiysk Territory, aristocrat and Anglomaniac Count Mikhail Semenovich Vorontsov. The count himself chose the place for his Crimean residence on the picturesque stone cape at the foot of Mount Ai-Petri in the little-known Tatar village of Alupka. The Englishman Edward Blore, the author of Walter Scott's castle in Scotland and the court architect of the British crown, managed to organically fit the palace building into the surrounding landscape. In the architecture of the Vorontsov Palace, Blore combined different styles - English, neo-Moorish and Gothic, paying tribute to the secular fashion of that time for the novels of Walter Scott and oriental fairy tales.
History of creation
Initially, the famous Italian architect Francesco Boffo, who had already built a palace for the count in Odessa, was appointed to build the residence. The Englishman Thomas Harrison, an engineer and adherent of neoclassicism, was supposed to help him. Work began, and by 1828 the foundation, which was filled with lead for earthquake resistance, as well as the first masonry of the portal niche of the central building were ready. But Harrison died in 1829, and two years later the count decided to suspend construction of the palace, apparently abandoning the idea of building a residence in the neoclassical style.
Vorontsov turns to the Englishman Edward Blore, a brilliant architectural historian, graphic artist and fashionable architect in his homeland. Most likely, Count Pembroke recommended him to Vorontsov. We had to wait almost a year for new drawings. But Mikhail Semenovich liked the result, and in December 1832 the construction of the buildings began. Blore brilliantly solved the problem from a historical perspective: the architecture of the palace demonstrates the development of medieval European and Moorish architecture, ranging from the forms of the early Middle Ages to the 16th century. The palace building is deployed in such a way that it repeats the outlines of the visible mountains. It is surprising that the architect himself, who so accurately integrated the building into the surrounding nature, never visited Crimea, but used only numerous landscape sketches and relief drawings that were sent to him in England.
The resulting castle could well serve as an illustration for historical novels: five buildings, fortified defensive towers, different in shape and height, are interconnected by many open and closed passages, stairs and courtyards.
The construction was carried out from local greenish-gray stone - diabase, which is not inferior in strength to basalt, which was taken from natural placers in Alupka. Processing it required considerable effort, since complex designs on the exterior of the house could be ruined by one wrong blow with a chisel. Therefore, Russian stone cutters who built white stone churches in Central Russia were invited to carry out the most complex stone cutting work.
The main decorative decoration of the Vorontsov Palace - the motif of a gently sloping pointed keeled arch - is repeated several times in the cast-iron balustrade of the balconies, and in the carved stone lattice enclosing the roof, and in the decorative decoration of the portal of the southern entrance, made in the Moorish style of the Alhambra Palace.
In the design of the seaward southern entrance, a Tudor flower design and a lotus motif are intertwined, which ends with the Arabic inscription repeated six times across the frieze: “And there is no winner but Allah,” just as it is written in the Alhambra of Granada.
In front of the façade is the Lion's Terrace and a monumental staircase in white Carrara marble by the Italian sculptor Giovanni Bonanni. On both sides of the steps there are three pairs of lions: the bottom left is sleeping, the bottom right is awakening, above is a pair of awake ones, and the third pair is roaring.
The rear façade of the palace and its western part, a variation on the theme of Tudor England of the 16th - early 17th centuries, are reminiscent of the harsh castles of English aristocrats.
By the way, this palace was one of the first in Russia to be equipped with hot water and sewerage.
Construction costs palace complex amounted to about 9 million rubles in silver - an astronomical amount for those times. But Count Vorontsov could afford it, since after his marriage in 1819 to Elizaveta Ksaverevna Branitskaya, he doubled his fortune and became the richest landowner in the Russian Empire. Elizaveta Ksaverevna, the same one with whom, according to one version, Alexander Pushkin fell in love in exile in Odessa, personally supervised the creation of the building’s interiors, took care of the decoration of the park and often paid for the work.
Inhabitants of the palace
Mikhail Semenovich did not manage to live in the Alupka Palace for a long time. Another assignment followed - this time to the Caucasus. But in Alupka at the end of the 1840s, his daughter, Countess Sofya Mikhailovna, settled with her children. Then, after the death of Prince Vorontsov (he received the princely title in 1845), the palace, by right of primacy, passed to his only son, Semyon Mikhailovich. In 1882, his widow, Maria Vasilievna Vorontsova, went abroad and took many valuables from the palace. She had no children, the palace was abandoned, and to end of the 19th century centuries, the building, park and farm fell into complete disrepair.
In 1904, the castle received new owners - relatives along the Vorontsov-Dashkov line. The wife of the Tsar's deputy in the Caucasus, Countess Elizaveta Andreevna Vorontsova-Dashkova, née Countess Shuvalova, energetically got down to business. She rented out land for sanatoriums and boarding houses and built more than 120 dachas on the estate.
After the revolution and the establishment of Soviet power in Crimea, the lands of the Vorontsov-Dashkovs were nationalized. And on February 22, 1921, Lenin’s telegram arrived in Crimea: “Take decisive measures to truly protect artistic values, paintings, porcelain, bronze, marble, etc., located in Yalta palaces and private buildings, now allocated for sanatoriums of the People's Commissariat of Health...”
At the beginning of the 20s South Coast Crimea, museums were created in a number of the largest noble estates, among them the Alupka Museum. The museum's collection was seriously damaged during the Great Patriotic War: much was taken away by the occupiers, including 537 works of painting and graphics. Only a small part of the paintings were found after the war and returned to the palace.
In February 1945, during the Crimean (Yalta) Conference, the Alupka Palace became the residence of the British delegation. Meetings of the heads of the Allied powers - Stalin, Churchill and Roosevelt - took place in the State Dining Room of the palace.
Later the palace became the state dacha of the NKVD. In 1952, a sanatorium was located there, and only in 1956, by decision of the Soviet government, the Crimean State Museum opened here visual arts. Since 1990, the palace has been part of the Alupka Palace and Park Museum-Reserve. Its collection today includes works of painting, sculpture and applied art, as well as documents, ancient drawings and lithographs that introduce the history of the construction of the palace.
English park
The English park of the palace is the work of the German gardener-botanist Karl Kebach, whom Vorontsov invited to Crimea in 1824, when there was no design for the palace itself. He eagerly set about creating a park, taking into account the relief, climate and local flora, combining, however, everything with the latest achievements of gardening art. About 200 species of trees and bushes were brought here from all over the world. Parcels with seeds and seedlings came from America, Italy, the Caucasus, Karelia, China and Japan. They said that more than two thousand varieties of roses bloomed here at the same time. The German gardener became so famous in Crimea that landowners began to invite him to create or improve their parks and gardens along the entire coast.
Karl Kebach clearly planned the park on the principle of an amphitheater, maintaining connections in its structure with the main palace and other architectural objects. The coastal highway (Yalta - Simeiz) divides the park into Upper and Lower.
The lower park is designed in the style of Italian Renaissance gardens with fountains, marble sculptures, Byzantine columns, vases and stone benches. The upper one was created according to the principle of English landscape parks of the Romanticism era - more natural and natural: in it, rocky debris, shady ponds and preserved areas of the Crimean forest alternate with picturesque meadows, a unique system of lakes, waterfalls, cascades and grottoes. Kebakh created the Upper Park as a place of contemplation of the sea and Mount Ai-Petri, towering above the park and palace, like the ruins of a giants’ castle.
A carefully thought-out drainage system and individual plant care did their job - many, even very rare and whimsical plants, took root well. In total, 250 species of trees and shrubs grew in the park by the end of the 19th century. The plants of Vorontsovsky Park were so popular that seedlings were even sold externally to other gardens and estates.
The glory of Vorontsov Park as a masterpiece of landscape architecture was strengthened by the artists who worked here on sketches: Isaac Levitan, Vasily Surikov, Aristarkh Lentulov... And the parks, gardens and vineyards that belonged to Count Mikhail Vorontsov and his relatives - the Naryshkins and Pototskys, completely changed the appearance of the coast from Alushta to Foros.
One of most interesting buildings in St. Petersburg is the Maltese Catholic Chapel, hidden from the eyes of citizens and tourists behind the facade of the Suvorov School.
How the Maltese Chapel appeared in St. Petersburg
By the end of the eighteenth century, the Russian fleet became the main threat to the fleet of the Ottoman Empire. This led to a rapprochement between the Order of Malta and the Russian Tsar. In 1797, Paul I organized a new main priory of the order on the territory of the Russian Empire. The Hospitallers needed a patron since they were expelled from Malta by Napoleon.
Emperor Paul greatly favored the Maltese. On the territory of Russia, he provided members of the Order with “all those distinctions, advantages and honors that the famous Order enjoys in other places.” Three commanderies were organized, the head of the Main Priory in Russia was introduced into the State Council. Russian nobles were encouraged in every possible way to join it.
In 1799, Emperor Paul awarded the Commander's Cross to commander Alexander Suvorov. The Hospitallers opened the Corps of Pages in St. Petersburg, which produced many military leaders. The Corps of Pages later became the Suvorov School. It was then that a Catholic (Maltese) chapel appeared on the territory of the military school.
However, Paul’s flirting with the Catholic Church and his rapprochement with Rome did not please the Russian Orthodox Church (Russian Orthodox Church) Orthodox Church) and the entire policy of the emperor towards a foreign religious order was another, among many others, reason for his murder in the Mikhailovsky Castle in St. Petersburg on the night of March 13, 1801.
The new Emperor Alexander I, in the very first months of his reign (August 1, 1801), renounced the title of Grand Master of the Order and ordered the Maltese cross to be removed from the state emblem.
However, the Corps of Pages (now the Suvorov School is based in the building) and the Maltese Chapel remained in St. Petersburg. Lately she has served as concert hall. So in order to look at this unusual building for our latitudes, you need to buy a concert ticket.
p.s. Unfortunately, the chapel is currently under renovation and there are no concerts. But they do conduct excursions. Official website of the chapel: