Description of the attraction
Palace Own dacha in many ways resembles the Marly Palace in Peterhof. The palace is located on the territory of the palace and park ensemble "Own Dacha", located 3 km from the Grand Palace of Peterhof. This place was donated by Peter I to Feofan Prokopovich, a famous preacher and publicist. A house was built on the hill, in which Feofan Prokopovich received guests, incl. and Anna Ioannovna. The future Empress Elizaveta Petrovna, who was still the crown princess at that time, also visited this place. This Primorskaya dacha (as it was then called) liked her very much. It is not surprising that after the death of Prokopovich, the dacha became the property of Elizabeth and began to be called the Own Dacha.
Near the palace there was a large wooden outhouse for the courtiers, a kitchen, and a little further away there was a farm and a glacier cellar. Here, outside the city, Empress Elizabeth Petrovna rested and was engaged in farming.
During the reign of Catherine II in 1770. the palace was rebuilt by Felten due to its dilapidation. In 1843, the estate was donated by Nicholas I to his son Alexander, the future Emperor Alexander II. In the same year A. I. Stackenschneider completely changed the external and internal appearance of the palace, leaving only the walls from the former, modest in decoration. The palace was redecorated, and later an attic floor was added over it.
A. I. The Rococo style (or Louis XV style) was chosen as the Stackenschneider for this palace. Everything was done in this style: furniture, wall decoration, porcelain sets, paintings, figurines, etc. Even the dishes kept in the palace corresponded to a single style. The Sevres tea service, which depicted the famous favorites of the kings of France, stood out especially.
The palace began with a lobby trimmed with carved beech. On the ground floor there were: the valet, the office of Alexander II, his dressing room, the blue and yellow rooms, the dining room. The cabinet of the emperor was very reminiscent of the cabinet of Peter the Great in the Great Palace of Peterhof: inlaid parquet flooring, doors made of ebony and other precious woods with inlays, Saxon and Sevres vases, carved furniture. On the walls of the office there are paintings by Watteau and Vanloo. A staircase with carved beech railings led upstairs, reminiscent of the central staircase in the Great Peterhof Palace.
On the second floor there is a drawing room, Maria Alexandrovna's study, a library, a bedroom, a Jungfer chamber, and a bathroom. In the bedroom there is a luxurious four-poster bed, above which there is a graceful image of the Mother of God, carved from ivory. There was also a showcase in which there were ancient toilet articles, which, according to legend, belonged to Elizaveta Petrovna. On the walls of the living room there are ceremonial portraits of Paul I and his family by A. Nef. The bathroom with a marble pool was decorated with a large wall fresco "Triumph of Galatea".
During the Great Patriotic War, the building of the palace was badly destroyed. In 1963, it was recreated by the Leningrad Civil Engineering Institute according to the original drawings of A. I. Stackenschneider.
A stone staircase with several terraces descended from the northern facade of the building, on which baskets of flowers cast from cast iron were installed. During the descent, a wonderful view of the stalls with a statue of Cupid (sculptor N. Pimenov) opened up. There was a pond in front of the palace. There were also two fountains at the bottom. The territory of the garden ended right at the sea.
At the southern facade of the palace, surrounded by trees, there was a flower parterre. Along the central path of the garden, there are 8 marble statues depicting court gentlemen with musical instruments.
On the eastern side of the palace there was a side entrance, on both sides of which stood figures of lions made of marble (copies from the originals of the sculptor A. Canova). To the right and left of the palace, beautiful bridges were thrown across the ravines, one of which led to the palace church.
