Description of the attraction
In the city of Gatchina there is the Priory Park, which is part of the Gatchina palace and park ensemble. It occupies 154 hectares. In the architectural ensemble, the Priory Park is a kind of southern wing opposite the Menagerie.
Until the middle of the 18th century, it was considered a hunting ground and was called the Small Menagerie. At the end of the 18th century, it was decided to make a park out of the Small Menagerie. In 1798, James Hackett took over the organization of the park. The lakes were deepened, the slopes were cleared. The bottom lake soil was used for the construction of two islands and as an embankment on the west coast. Landscape changes were made to the area of the park near Filkin (Glukhov) Lake, since the Priory building was planned to be built on the isthmus between the lakes. This place was chosen for the Priory in order to create a kind of romantic corner surrounded by forest and water. The landscape masters tried to veil the most man-made landscape of the "forest wilderness" and lakes under the natural ones.
The original idea of the park was developed in the 19th century and, starting in 1840, the system of winding paths and alleys was significantly complicated and enlarged. In 1845, the park was surrounded by a natural fence - meter-long ramparts, on which linden trees were planted. After 3 years, places for the guard were arranged at the entrances. In the park, thanks to the drainage system, the wetlands were drained.
The following new elements appeared in the Priory Park from 1886 to 1889. About 17 km of park roads were improved, Black Lake was cleaned, the drainage system was reorganized, and a water supply system was installed. Identical benches and cast-iron lanterns were installed in the alleys. Red brick gatehouses were built at five entrances to the park. Following the initial concept, landscape masters were able to close the composition of the park to the Priory Palace.
The Priory Park is connected with the palace ensemble by the green isthmus of Bolshoy Avenue and Connetable Square. Along the isthmus, there is the beginning of the alleys that go around the Black Lake and lead to the Priory Palace. It is a small loop of alleys that is part of a larger loop that encompasses the entire park. The beginning of the large loop is in the Place Connetable, from where the oak avenues diverge in two beams.
The park has two longitudinal and two transverse glades. In addition to the lakes, the park composition also includes a water conduit flowing through the entire park, called a channel from Lake Kolpanskoe to Filkino.
During the Nazi occupation, the Priory Park was damaged more than other parts of the Gatchina ensemble. Most of the trees were cut down, the area was dug with bomb craters. After the war, in the 70s, the park was planted with seedlings, but even now it is still far from meeting the original idea again.
As for the Priory Palace, its name goes back to the ancient knightly and monastic rank of Prior and is directly related to the fact that Emperor Paul I was the Grand Master and Grand Master of the Hospitallers (Order of John of Jerusalem). During the time of Paul, there were many emigrant noblemen living in Russia who fled from France from revolutionary persecution. The head of the nobility in exile was the Prince of Condé, prior of the Order of Malta, whom Paul visited. In 1797, the Great Priory was established in Russia, and Pavel became a great grandmaster. The emperor was proud of his belonging to the order. Therefore, Paul's desire to build in his beloved Gatchina a residence for the Prior of the Order of the Prince of Conde is understandable. The project was developed by the architect N. A. Lviv. The palace is laconic and simple - the main building, tower, elements of different heights of the building, tall pipes, pitched roofs, spiers. The compactness of the building of the palace and the richness of its natural framing creates the appearance that it is located on an island.
The southern and eastern borders of the park are closed in a semi-ring of the Warsaw and Baltic railways. Most of the eastern part of the Priory park is bordered by Chkalovskaya (Lyutsevskaya) street, the southern part - by Soytu.
