Description of the attraction
The Chinese village was built in 1782-1796. architects V. Neelov and C. Cameron. The authorship of the project of the Chinese Village is attributed by researchers to both A. Rinaldi and V. Neelov. The idea of building a Chinese village in Alexander Park was not new. This kind of village in the 18th century. were built in the park of the Drottningholm castle, in Sweden, near Stockholm, in Wilhelmshohe, in Germany, near Kassel.
An idea of how the Chinese village was conceived is given by the drawings that have survived to this day. Much of what was planned was never implemented. During the restructuring in the 19th century. the appearance of the Chinese village was somewhat distorted. The center of the composition of the Chinese village was supposed to be an octagonal observatory, the design of which was borrowed from the engraved view of the pagoda in the "Description of the Chinese Empire", which was published by the East India Company in the 17th century. The street, which went in the direction of the observatory, and the square were supposed to be created by 18 houses, made in the Chinese style, surrounded by galleries.
A street of one-story houses (four on each side) led to the square from the side of the Big Caprice. At the entrance to the square, it was planned to install a gate similar to the Chinese "pailu". An eight-tiered pagoda was supposed to complement the ensemble, which was supposed to play the role of a belvedere. A model of the famous pagoda in Kew Garden by W. Chambers, the only architect of the 18th century who visited China, was commissioned specifically for its construction in London.
Construction of the Chinese Village began ten years after the project was developed. Of the 18 planned houses, only 10. The building of the observatory pavilion was built without a two-tiered octagonal lantern. The entrance gates, galleries, and the pagoda remained only on paper. The Big Caprice acted as a pagoda, which allowed observing the parks of Tsarskoye Selo, and its arch was the gateway to the Chinese village.
Initially, the walls of the Chinese houses were lined with glazed earthenware tiles, which were made in Krasnoe Selo at the A. Konradi factory. But the tiles cracked from frost, and in 1780 C. Cameron ordered to plaster the buildings and paint them with oriental ornaments. The houses were decorated with dragons, "chess" and "fish scales". Curved roofs were decorated with figurines of fantastic animals. The elegance of the Chinese village did not last long, to a large extent it was lost during the unsuccessful restructuring, which was carried out by V. Stasov in 1817-1822.
After the death of Catherine II, all work in the Chinese village was curtailed. In 1798, Emperor Paul ordered to dismantle the houses and send building materials for the construction of the Mikhailovsky Castle. But the order was not followed.
In 1818 V. Stasov connected in pairs eight Chinese houses, which together formed two long low buildings, each of which was divided into two apartments. The fifth houses on each side were connected to the corner houses to create two more houses. The rest of the houses that surrounded the area around the round temple were turned into services and apartments.
V. Stasov finished the unfinished pavilion of the observatory with a spherical dome, which survived until 1941. Cameron's original plan was not implemented even on the site of buildings in the Chinese style; there are now white long one-story houses with variegated roofs bent at the gutters.
In the 19th century. The Chinese Village was a guest apartment. The houses were furnished. The decoration of each house included: a desk with accessories, a bed, a chest of drawers for clothes, tea and coffee utensils, a samovar. A garden was laid out next to each house.
From spring to late autumn, the famous historiographer N. Karamzin often lived in the Chinese village. In the period from 1822 to 1825. Karamzin worked here on his huge essay "History of the Russian State".
During the war, the Chinese village was practically destroyed. She was restored slowly and hard. Until 1960 communal apartments were located here. But over time, they were resettled. The interiors have been rebuilt. A recreation center is located in the Chinese village.
China and Denmark have proposed projects to rebuild the Chinese village. The project of the Danish company was accepted for implementation. During the restoration of the works, fragments of the painting by the artist I. Rudolph were discovered - hieroglyphs, geometric ornament, dragons with bells.
Today, the Chinese Village consists of 28 apartments. Families of specialists who work in foreign companies live in the main building. Thanks to the attraction of foreign investments, the historical complex of the Chinese village was saved and now, as before, you can admire the beauty of Tsarskoye Selo.
