Description of the attraction
The Priory Palace is an architectural symbol of Gatchina, its original visiting card. The palace was built in 1799 according to the project of the architect Nikolai Alexandrovich Lvov, a multi-talented and talented person, “Russian Leonardo,” as he was called. During the construction of the palace, a new building technology was used: the simplest and cheapest material was used as the material for the walls - earth, which was tamped in special "machines" - formwork, which was reinforced every few centimeters with a special lime mortar. The construction of the palace as a whole lasted two years, but the walls were erected in just three summer months.
Following the assignment, Lvov built a whole architectural complex, located on a bulk terrace and resembling a monastery with its four-pitched high roofs, a tower with a spire and a one-story extension with Gothic windows - Capella, creating the impression of Catholic antiquity. There was a one-story kitchen near the main building. Next to the Capella, a miniature garden was laid, which was once decorated with two marble statues of Jupiter and Ceres, symbolizing supreme power and abundance - allegories to the personality of the emperor. Through the gate between the two sentry booths you can get into the courtyard. Lvov himself was also involved in the interior decoration of the building. Probably because he selected all the furnishings in the palace storerooms, and did not make it by special order, it was not distinguished by luxury.
By the decree of the emperor Paul I, the palace was granted to the Order of St. John of Jerusalem, also called the Order of Malta. Prior is the second most important person after the abbot. As a rule, he is not so much a spiritual father as the economic leader of a small monastery located on the abbey's lands. The Gatchina Priory was, in fact, one of the branches of the association of the knights of this order. It was here that the prior of the Order of Malta, Prince of Condé, fled from the French Revolution. But for no more than ten years, the palace was the seat of the Order of Malta. Throughout the nineteenth century, the Priory was a reserve yard, which was only occasionally visited by its august owners.
The author of the project hoped that his extraordinary palace with a stone spire tower, reminiscent of Catholic medieval monasteries, would be able to exist for fifty years, but the Priory has been rising on the shores of the Black Lake for over two hundred years, romantically reflected in its waters, and as if growing out of them. He tirelessly attracts everyone who has ever seen him with his unusual appearance.
After the revolution, the Priory was transferred to the jurisdiction of the Gatchina Palace Museum, but it did not become a museum. All its historical furnishings were transported to the Great Gatchina Palace. During the Great Patriotic War, the Priory miraculously survived. The roof was almost completely ripped off from the bombing, one of the guardhouses and part of the wall-fence collapsed, the glass in the windows was broken, the floors collapsed.
Now the palace is being reborn to a new life. Numerous visitors to the palace learn about the history of its creation. The most interesting exhibit of the palace is the Priory itself, everything is interesting in it: history of creation, name, architecture, construction, history of existence. The old traditions of the Priory Palace are also being revived. For example, concerts are regularly held in the Capella, which attract their listeners, with excellent acoustics, a cozy and bright hall, great performers who are invited there.
