Description of the attraction
The Farmer's Palace is the most unique monument of Peterhof. It was built by the architect A. A. Menelas in 1831 on the territory of the dacha of Empress Alexandra Feodorovna.
Initially, the palace was just a pavilion with a farm, which resembled rural buildings in England: in terms of a U-shaped, one-story building, forming a closed square, together with a gate and a fence. Outside, the palace looked like a modest pastoral house with a thatched roof, columns and a canopy entwined with green garlands and birch bark.
By order of Nicholas I, living rooms for the thirteen-year-old heir Alexander Nikolaevich were arranged on the second floor of the palace. They are located in the east wing; in the southern part of the palace - staff rooms; and in the west there is a farm. The palace building also contained rooms for a shepherd, a caretaker, a kitchen, a glacier, and storerooms. Two bulls and eight cows were ordered from Yorkshire specifically for the farm.
On the eve of the wedding of the heir to the eastern wing, designed by A. I. Stackenschneider, living quarters with an attic were added. Subsequent reconstructions, which were caused by the need to meet the needs of the growing Alexander family in additional rooms, harmoniously fit into the compositional solution of the building, without violating the general neo-Gothic spirit.
As a result of all the changes, the pavilion turned into a spacious neo-Gothic palace, which became the country residence of the family of Emperor Alexander II, who ascended the Russian throne in 1855.
The interior decoration of the palace is fully consistent with its external appearance. Maria Alexandrovna's rooms are especially elegant and cozy. The Blue Cabinet and the Emperor's rooms are more strictly executed.
The farm palace became for Alexander II the place where the emperor, who did not like noisy meetings and did not strive for luxury, could rest and retire. The farm palace was his second home.
The arrangement of the site around the Farmer's Palace was carried out according to the project of E. L. Ghana, who determined a place for a veranda on the site, planned a large area with lush flower beds, which on three sides was limited by a pergola entwined with greenery, consisting of two rows of columns. On the central axis of the garden there was a fountain with a bronze statue "Night", cast from a marble original by the sculptor J. Paul.
Important historical events of the late 1950s are associated with the Farm Palace. 19th century - meetings were held here in the framework of the preparation of the peasant reform. Later, the Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich lived in the palace with the Grand Duchess Ksenia Alexandrova.
After the revolution, the imperial palace was turned into a museum. During the war there was a fascist headquarters here. In the post-war period, the building turned into a dormitory for a watch factory. Since 1975, the former palace was empty and continued to decay.
The restoration of the Farmer's Palace began only in 2003. The author of the project is architect A. G. Leontiev. By this time, the palace was in disrepair. But thanks to the professionalism of the restorers, today the building appears to us as close to its original appearance as possible: on the basis of detailed descriptions and partially preserved fragments, the wallpaper has been recreated, the walls of some rooms upholstered with fabric have been restored (based on Hau's watercolors); the ceiling stucco molding has been preserved in the Blue Office; and in some rooms, fragments of ceiling paintings were left intact.
Some of the furnishings of this palace have been preserved in other palaces of Peterhof: a rococo clock moved from the Grand Palace here to the Emperor's Reception Room, the clock of master I. Yurin, which shows the time in 66 cities of Russia, returned from the "Cottage" to its former place in the Blue Office. And some interior items never left their rightful place. For example, a marble bathtub made in the Triscorni workshop (located in Maria Alexandrovna's Restroom since 1856). Parts of the mechanism of one of the first elevators in Russia, built in 1858-1859, have survived.
The palace was opened to the public in 2010.
