- published: 30 Jun 2011
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Gatchina (Russian: Га́тчина) is a town and the administrative center of Gatchinsky District in Leningrad Oblast, Russia, located 45 kilometers (28 mi) south of St. Petersburg by the road leading to Pskov. Population: 92,937 (2010 Census); 88,420 (2002 Census); 79,714 (1989 Census).
It is a part of the World Heritage Site Saint Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments.
Khotchino (old name of Gatchina) was first documented in 1499 as a village in possession of Novgorod the Great. In the 17th century, in a series of wars, it passed to Livonia, then to Sweden, and was returned to Russia during the Great Northern War. At that time, Gatchina was a southern vicinity of the new Russian capital, St. Petersburg. In 1708, Gatchina was given by Peter the Great to his sister Natalya Alexeyevna, and after her death, Peter founded an Imperial Hospital and Apothecary here. In 1765, it became the property of Count Orlov. Between 1766 and 1788, Count Orlov built a sombre castle with 600 rooms and laid out an extensive English landscape park over 7 square kilometers (2.7 sq mi), with an adjacent zoo and a horse farm. A triumphal arch was erected to a design by the architect of Gatchina, Antonio Rinaldi (1771, built 1777-1782), forming a monumental entrance.
Coordinates: 59°33′48″N 30°6′27″E / 59.56333°N 30.10750°E / 59.56333; 30.10750 The Great Gatchina Palace (Russian: Большой Гатчинский дворец) was built in 1766–1781 in Gatchina town (near St. Petersburg) by Antonio Rinaldi for Count Grigori Grigoryevich Orlov who was a favourite of Catherine II. The Gatchina Palace is located on the hill above Lake Serebryannoe. It combines themes of a medieval castle and a country residence. Palace interiors are exemplary of Russian classicism at the turn of 18th—19th centuries. The Gatchina Palace was one of the favourite residences of the Imperial family.
Catherine the Great took such a great liking to the Gatchina Palace and park that, at Orlov's death in 1783, she bought it from his heirs and presented it to her son, the future Emperor Paul I.
Paul I was the master of Gatchina for 18 years. He invested considerable resources and used his experience from his travels around Europe to make Gatchina an exemplary palace and town. During the 1790s, Paul expanded and rebuilt much of the palace, and renovated interiors in the sumptuous Neoclassical style (illustration, left). Paul I graced the park with numerous additions, bridges, gates, and pavilions, such as "The Isle of Love", "The Private garden", "The Holland garden" and "The Labyrinth" among many other additions. In 1796, after the death of his mother, Catherine the Great, Paul became Emperor Paul I of Russia, and granted Gatchina the status of Imperial City ( official residence of the Russian Emperors.)