The architectural complex of this palace includes a Catholic chapel. Maltese chapel of the Vorontsov Palace Vorontsov Palace Catholic chapel

Alupka Palace, a masterpiece of romanticism architecture, was built for almost 20 years, from 1828 to 1848, by order of the powerful Governor-General of the Novorossiysk Territory, an aristocrat and Angloman Count Mikhail Semenovich Vorontsov. The count personally chose the place for his Crimean residence on a picturesque stone cape at the foot of Mount Ai-Petri in the little-known Tatar village of Alupka. The Englishman Edward Blore, the author of the castle of Walter Scott in Scotland, the court architect of the British crown, managed to organically fit the building of the palace into the surrounding landscape. In the architecture of the Vorontsov Palace, Blore combined different styles - English, neo-Moorish and Gothic, paying tribute to the secular fashion of that time for the novels of Walter Scott and oriental tales.

History of creation

Initially, the famous Italian architect Francesco Boffo, who had already built the palace in Odessa, was appointed to build the residence. To help him was the Englishman Thomas Harrison, an engineer, an adherent of neoclassicism. Work began, and by 1828 the foundation, which was filled with lead for seismic resistance, as well as the first masonry of the portal niche of the central building, were ready. But in 1829, Harrison died, and two years later, the earl decided to suspend the construction of the palace, apparently abandoning the idea of ​​\u200b\u200bbuilding a residence in the neoclassical style.

Vorontsov turns to the Englishman Edward Blore, a brilliant architectural historian, graphic artist and fashionable architect in his homeland. Most likely, Vorontsov was introduced to him by the Earl of Pembroke. New drawings had to wait almost a year. But Mikhail Semenovich liked the result, and in December 1832 the construction of buildings began. Blore brilliantly solved the problem in a historical perspective: the architecture of the palace demonstrates the development of medieval European and Moorish architecture, starting from the forms of the early Middle Ages and ending with the 16th century. The building of the palace is deployed in such a way that it repeats the outlines of the visible mountains. It is surprising that the architect himself, who so precisely inscribed the building in the surrounding nature, never visited the Crimea, but used only numerous landscape sketches and relief drawings that were sent to him in England.

The resulting castle could well serve as an illustration for historical novels: five buildings, fortified with defensive towers, different in shape and height, united by many open and closed passages, staircases and courtyards.

The construction was carried out from local greenish-gray stone - diabase, which is not inferior in strength to basalt, which was taken from natural placers in Alupka. Considerable efforts were required during its processing, since the decorations of the exterior of the house, complex in pattern, could spoil one wrong blow with a chisel. Therefore, Russian stone-cutters, who built white-stone churches in Central Russia, were invited for the most difficult stone-cutting work.

The main decorative decoration of the Vorontsov Palace - the motif of a sloping lancet arch - is repeatedly repeated in the cast-iron balustrade of the balconies, and in the stone carved lattice enclosing the roof, and in the decorative decoration of the portal of the southern entrance, made in the Moorish style of the Alhambra Palace.

The design of the southern entrance facing the sea intertwines the drawing of a Tudor flower and the motif of a lotus, which culminate in the Arabic inscription repeated six times across the frieze: "And there is no winner but Allah", just as it is written in the Alhambra of Granada.

In front of the facade is the Lion Terrace and the monumental white Carrara marble staircase by the Italian sculptor Giovanni Bonanni. On both sides of the steps there are three pairs of lions: the bottom left is sleeping, the bottom right is awakening, above is a pair of awake ones, and the third pair is roaring.

The rear facade of the palace and its western part, a variation on the theme of Tudor England of the 16th - early 17th centuries, resemble the harsh castles of English aristocrats.

By the way, this palace was one of the first in Russia, which was equipped with hot water and sewerage.

The cost of building the palace complex amounted to about 9 million rubles in silver - an astronomical amount for those times. But Count Vorontsov could afford it, because after his marriage in 1819 to Elizaveta Ksaveryevna Branitskaya, he doubled his fortune and became the richest landowner. Russian Empire. Elizaveta Ksaveryevna, the one with whom, according to one version, Alexander Pushkin fell in love in exile in Odessa, personally supervised the creation of the interiors of the building, took care of the decoration of the park and often paid for the work.

palace dwellers

Mikhail Semenovich did not manage to live long in the Alupka Palace. Another appointment followed - this time to the Caucasus. But in Alupka in the late 1840s, his daughter, Countess Sofya Mikhailovna, settled with her children. Then, after the death of Prince Vorontsov (he received the princely title in 1845), the palace, by right of majorate, passed to his only son, Semyon Mikhailovich. In 1882, his widow, Maria Vasilievna Vorontsova, went abroad and took many valuables from the palace. She had no children, the palace was abandoned, and by the end of the 19th century the building, the park and the economy fell into complete disrepair.

In 1904, new owners appeared at the castle - relatives along the line of the Vorontsovs-Dashkovs. The wife of the Viceroy of the Tsar in the Caucasus, Countess Elizaveta Andreevna Vorontsova-Dashkova, born Countess Shuvalova, vigorously set to work. She handed over land for sanatoriums and boarding houses and built more than 120 summer cottages on the estate.

After the revolution and the establishment of Soviet power in the Crimea, the lands of the Vorontsov-Dashkovs were nationalized. And on February 22, 1921, a telegram from Lenin arrived in the Crimea: “Take decisive measures for the actual protection of art treasures, paintings, porcelain, bronze, marble, etc., located in the Yalta palaces and private buildings, now assigned to the sanatoriums of the People's Commissariat of Health ...”

At the beginning of the 20s, south coast Crimea, in a number of the largest noble estates, museums were created, among them the Alupka Museum. The museum's collection was seriously damaged during the Great Patriotic War: a lot was taken out by the invaders, including 537 paintings and drawings. Only a small part of the paintings was found after the war and returned to the palace.

In February 1945, during the Crimean (Yalta) Conference, the Alupka Palace became the residence of the British delegation. Meetings of the heads of the allied powers - Stalin, Churchill and Roosevelt - took place in the Grand Dining Room of the palace.

Later, the palace became the state dacha of the NKVD. In 1952, a sanatorium was placed there, and only in 1956, by decision of the Soviet government, the Crimean state museum visual arts. Since 1990, the palace has been part of the Alupka Palace and Park Museum-Reserve. Its collection today includes works of painting, sculpture and applied art, as well as documents, old drawings and lithographs, introducing the history of the construction of the palace.

English park

The English park of the palace is the work of the German gardener-botanist Karl Kebach, whom Vorontsov invited to the Crimea in 1824, when there was no design for the palace itself. He zealously set about creating a park, taking into account the relief, climate and local flora, combining, however, everything with the latest achievements. landscape gardening art. About 200 species of trees and bushes were brought here from all over the world. Parcels with seeds and seedlings came from America, Italy, the Caucasus, Karelia, China and Japan. It was said that more than two thousand varieties of roses bloomed here at the same time. The German gardener became so famous in the Crimea that landowners began to invite him to create or improve their parks and gardens along the entire coast.

Karl Kebach clearly planned the park on the principle of an amphitheater, keeping in its structure links with the main palace and other architectural objects. The coastal highway (Yalta - Simeiz) divides the park into Upper and Lower.

lower park decorated in the style of Italian Renaissance gardens with fountains, marble sculptures, Byzantine columns, vases and stone benches. The upper one was created on the principle of English landscape parks of the Romantic era - more natural and natural: in it rocky debris, shady ponds and preserved areas of the Crimean forest are interspersed with picturesque glades, a unique system of lakes, waterfalls, cascades and grottoes. Kebakh created the Upper Park as a place of contemplation of the sea and Mount Ai-Petri, towering over the park and the palace, like the ruins of a giants' castle.

A carefully thought-out drainage system and individual plant care have done their job - many, even very rare and whimsical plants, have taken root well. In total, 250 species of trees and shrubs grew in the park by the end of the 19th century. The plants of the Vorontsovsky Park were so popular that the seedlings were even sold outside, to other gardens and estates.

The glory of Vorontsovsky Park as a masterpiece of landscape architecture was strengthened by artists who worked here on sketches: Isaac Levitan, Vasily Surikov, Aristarkh Lentulov ... And the parks, gardens and vineyards that belonged to Count Mikhail Vorontsov and his relatives - Naryshkin and Pototsky, completely changed the face of the coast from Alushta to Foros.

And we continue the Golden Fleece 2017 quiz, and now we have a question - AT architectural complex This palace includes a Catholic chapel.

Answer options:

A) Stroganov
B) Tauride
C) Vorontsovsky
D) Anichkov

The correct answer to the question is C) Vorontsovsky

The Catholic chapel is part of the complex of the Vorontsov Palace in St. Petersburg. Built according to the project of the famous Rastrelli, it is distinguished by its exquisite architecture.

Vorontsov Palace went to the treasury for debts in the second half of the 18th century. Paul, having taken patronage over the Order of Malta, handed it over to the knights. The Order included both Catholics and Orthodox. A separate Catholic Chapel was built for Catholics. For the Orthodox knights, the house church served as a Temple. And the Maltese Cross as a symbol of the Order.
Although in fact, the types of the cross is already a human fantasy. Orthodox, Catholic, Maltese - not the point. Christians worship not the form of the Cross, and not even the Cross itself, but the power of Christ crucified on the cross.

Speaking of architectural monuments Crimea, probably the first thing that comes to mind is the Vorontsov Palace. He is in the city picturesque place between the rocks and the sea. Address of the Vorontsov Palace, Alupka, st. Palace Highway 18, phone for information +7 3654 722 281.

The geographical coordinates of the Vorontsov Palace on the map of Crimea are N 44.419861, E 34.055972.

Vorontsov Palace is one of the most luxurious buildings on the peninsula, its grandeur and magnificence are simply breathtaking. And the English architect Edward Blore worked on this grandiose project. It took him about a year to introduce him to Count Vorontsov, the owner of these lands. In 1828, the construction of the Vorontsov Palace began, and it acquired its final form only after two decades. For a long time this estate belonged to Count Vorontsov, later it had other owners, and in 1921 it became state property and a museum was created within the walls of the palace.

The material for the construction of the Vorontsov Palace was diabase, which was mined here in. The palace is unusual in that its facades are made in different architectural styles. For example, the northern façade is in keeping with Tudor architecture. The facade facing the sea is made in the Moorish style. In general, the whole building can be called neo-Gothic. By the way, many films were shot on the territory of the Vorontsov Palace, including those based on Shakespeare's books. This was due to the similarity of the architectural compositions of the palace with the English style of that time.

Whole Vorontsov Palace consists of five buildings, inside which there is a chapel, a library, a billiard room, a dining room, as well as a winter garden. In general, the palace has 150 rooms. Probably, every visitor to the Vorontsov Palace has a photograph with one of the white marble lions that “guard” the estate from the south side. Together they form the "Lion's Terrace". In the halls of the modern museum there are collections of paintings, furniture, porcelain. All of them have considerable historical value.

The Vorontsov Palace is certainly beautiful, but its splendor is complemented by the park, spread over 40 hectares around it. This park deserves special attention. Initially, the German gardener Karl Kebach worked on the creation of the park. He designed the park in the form of an amphitheater, and very logically placed all its attributes. More than 200 species of flora from different parts of the globe grow here.

Walking around you can see very unusual building called Chaos. This name is quite justified, since the structure consists of huge pieces of diabase, and its height is more than 10 meters. "Chaos" is located within the so-called Upper Park, which is characterized by severity and rockiness. And the Lower Park includes delicate magnolias, slender cypresses, fountains, pavilions and lakes. The combination of the incongruous makes Vorontsov Park amazing and unforgettable, so visiting it and the Vorontsov Palace will be interesting for everyone.

Petersburg owes its connection with the Order of Malta to Emperor Paul I, who in 1798 accepted the title of Master - the highest religious rank of this knightly union. Thanks to him, a Maltese cross appeared on the Russian coat of arms for a while, the Order of St. John of Jerusalem appeared among state awards, and the emperor planned to make Malta a Russian province. But these plans were not destined to come true due to the tragic death of Paul I.

Meanwhile, ties with the Order of Malta were not completely severed: Alexander Suvorov, Alexander II, Alexander III and Nicholas II were members of it. The passion of warriors and monarchs for this religious movement was reflected in urban planning, and today in St. Petersburg you can find places associated with Maltese symbols.

The most striking of them, of course, remains the Maltese Chapel, solemnly opened on April 29, 1800. SPB.AIF.RU tells about it and four other "Maltese" sights of the Northern capital.

maltese chapel

Sadovaya street, 26

The Maltese Chapel was designed by the architect Giacomo Quarenghi and was originally conceived by Paul I as a Catholic church of the Order of the Knights of Malta. It is part of the Vorontsov Palace, which today houses the Suvorov School. The palace, which Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli created in the 18th century for Count Vorontsov, changed many owners, and as a result, Paul I, with the adoption of the title of protector, and then the Grand Master of the Order, gave the Vorontsov Palace to the Knights of Malta.

Maltese Chapel by Giacomo Quarenghi. Photo: commons.wikimedia.org

Continuing the ensemble created by Rastrelli, Quarenghi built a chapel in the spirit of the Renaissance. The temple has the shape of a rectangle with a barrel vault. Two rows of artificial marble columns divide the interior of the chapel into three naves. Behind the marble altar is an altarpiece by the artist A.I. Charlemagne "John the Baptist" (the holy prophet and forerunner of Jesus Christ, John the Baptist is the heavenly intercessor and patron of the Order of Malta). To the right of the altar, under a canopy, stood the crimson velvet chair of the grand master (grand master) of the order.

The chapel was consecrated in June 1800, and a year later Paul I was assassinated in the Engineering Castle. His successor Alexander I refused the title of Grand Master of the order, but retained the title of his protector. From Russian state emblem The Maltese cross has been removed. In 1803, Alexander I resigned the title of protector, and in 1817 it was announced that "the order no longer exists in the Russian Empire."

For a while, the chapel acted like an ordinary Catholic church. In the middle of the 19th century, a chapel was added to it, where the ashes of the former trustee Duke Maximilian of Leuchtenberg rested.

In 1928, the building of the Maltese Chapel was transferred to the club for the Infantry School. Sklyansky, then the Leningrad Twice Red Banner Military School. CM. Kirov, and since 1955 it has belonged to the Suvorov Military School. The interior of the Maltese Chapel was restored for the 300th anniversary of St. Petersburg.

Mikhailovsky Castle

Sadovaya street, 2

The Mikhailovsky Castle, or the Engineer's Castle, is an example of the extravagant preferences of Paul I. The palace became the emperor's last home and place of death; the autocrat's dreams of a "knight's stronghold" were embodied in it.

Mikhailovsky Castle - the dream and death of Paul I. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org / Aleks G

The palace, which Pavel stubbornly called the “castle” (however, he even called the Winter Palace that), in his own way architectural solution was unusual for Petersburg. It was erected in extreme haste according to the project of Vincenzo Brenna and completed by the time the emperor agreed to accept the title of Grand Master of the Order. It was planned that meetings and solemn ceremonies of the Maltese cavaliers would be held here. Therefore, the image of the Maltese cross is so often repeated in the interiors.

On the central wall front stairs the bronze coat of arms of the Russian Empire was installed in the version approved under Paul - with a cross. The coat of arms is the only Maltese relic in the castle that has survived to the present day.

One of the controversial issues in the history of the castle is its mysterious reddish color. There is beautiful legend about the fact that the walls were painted in the color of a glove that Anna Gagarina, the favorite of the emperor, dropped at the ball. The second version says that brick red is the traditional color for the Order of Malta.

Today, the interiors of the Engineering Castle house a branch of the Russian Museum.

Cathedral of the Savior Not Made by Hands in the Winter Palace

Palace Embankment, 32

Cathedral of the Savior Not Made by Hands (or Big Church Winter Palace) was founded in 1753 as an Orthodox palace church. Francesco-Bartolomeo Rastrelli executed it in the Rococo style. For many years it was the house temple of the imperial family.

This is how the cathedral looked from the inside until 1917. Photo: commons.wikimedia.org

Three ancient relics of the Hospitallers were delivered here in December 1799: a particle of the wood of the Cross of the Lord, the Philermo Icon of the Mother of God and the right hand of St. John the Baptist, handed over to Paul I in Gatchina in October. In memory of this event, in 1800, the Holy Synod established a holiday on October 12 (25) in honor of “the transfer from Malta to Gatchina of a part of the tree of the Life-Giving Cross of the Lord, the Philermo Icon of the Mother of God and the right hand of St. John the Baptist.” Today, the right hand of John the Baptist is kept in a monastery in the Montenegrin city of Cetinje.

Since 1918, the cathedral has been one of the halls of the Hermitage Museum used for exhibitions.

Church of the Nativity of John the Baptist

Kamennoostrovsky prospect, 83

The Church of the Nativity of John the Baptist, or St. John's Church, was built in 1778 according to the project of Yuri Felten at the disabled home of the sailors of the Baltic Fleet. This pseudo-Gothic building can be mistaken for a Catholic church from a distance due to its uncharacteristic architecture for Orthodox churches: red brick walls with a pointed lancet gray dome. Lancet barred windows, a narrow canopy over the entrance, and a wooden iconostasis remind of Gothic.

Behind the church, a Maltese cemetery operated for some time. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org / IKit

During the time of Paul I, the church was transferred to the Order of Malta, and a cemetery of the Maltese cavaliers was arranged near it. The churchyard was closed after the accession of Alexander I to the imperial throne. In 1807, the remains of the gentlemen were transferred to the Smolensk cemetery. After the construction of the Kamennoostrovsky Palace, the church was transferred to him. Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin baptized two of his children here.

The church was closed on March 15, 1938, and various organizations were housed in its devastated interiors. It was returned to the parish in 1989, and in November 1990 services resumed there. Today the temple belongs to the St. Petersburg diocese of the Russian Orthodox Church, is part of the Petrograd deanery district.

Palace of Cantemir

Millionnaya street, 7

An outstanding Italian diplomat Julius Litta, a Maltese cavalier and the youngest general in the history of Russia, lived in St. Petersburg on Millionnaya Street for more than 40 years - he was promoted to the rank at the age of 26. Such attention to the Italian was explained by the desire of Catherine II to strengthen ties with the Order of Malta.

Litta appeared in St. Petersburg, first as an experienced naval officer, and then as an envoy of the Order of Malta to the Russian court. By the way, it was he who brought Leonardo da Vinci's "Madonna" to Russia, which flaunts today in the Hermitage under the conditional name "Madonna Litta".

The house where Litta lived has three addresses at the same time. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org / Helvin spb

House for marble palace has three addresses at once: Millionnaya Street No. 7, Marble Lane No. 1 and Palace Embankment No. 8. In 1715, at the behest of the Moldavian aristocrat Dmitry Cantemir, Francesco-Bartolomeo Rastrelli built a baroque palace on this site. In 1743, the Church of the Great Martyr Theodore Stratilates was built on the top floor. Later, Count Alexei Bestuzhev-Ryumin, Count Vladimir Orlov, Count Pavel Skavronsky lived here. The widow of Skavronsky Ekaterina Vasilievna married Litt, who settled with her in the palace. For them, the architect Luigi Rusca rebuilt one of the buildings of the palace in the classicist style. After the death of Julius Litta, the mansion came under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Finance, and now it is occupied by the Maritime Register Russian Federation and Institute of Culture.

The Vorontsov Palace is one of the main attractions of St. Petersburg. The palace is located on the territory of the estate belonging to Count Vorontsov Mikhail Illarionovich. The palace coup of 1741 (in which Vorontsov took an active part) elevates Empress Elizabeth to the Russian throne. Elizaveta Petrovna did not fail to thank Mikhail Illarionovich for his services, conferring on him the rank of general.

The design and construction of the palace was carried out by F.B. Rastrelli - Russian architect, Italian by birth. The estate is located between the Fontanka and Sadovaya Streets in a southwestern direction and occupies a significant area. The facade of the palace is separated from the street by a fence, which is an example of artistic casting. Behind the fence lies a vast palace with the main building and symmetrical two-story outbuildings placed forward. In the depths of the courtyard is a three-story main building, away from the noise of the city. To decorate the main facade, Rastrelli uses double rusticated columns, above which there is a balcony. The arched windows on the ground floor are framed with decorative architraves. The main hall is located on the second floor.

The impression of the solemnity and splendor of the palace, inherent in the Baroque style, is created at the first moment, as soon as one enters the estate. According to contemporaries, the interior of fifty ceremonial halls, located along the main facade, was distinguished by dazzling luxury. Unfortunately, the interior of the buildings has not survived to this day. The garden, which was located behind the main building, was decorated with numerous fountains, well-groomed alleys, pools and other "whims". In the garden, which stretched to the Fontanka, one could watch fireworks, which certainly accompanied the festivities in the Anichkov Garden.

In 1817, according to the project of Carl Rossi, the garden was shortened. An open terrace, located above a one-story building, opened beautiful view to the river. In the central part of the palace there was a large double-height hall. One of the halls housed the library of M.I. Vorontsova, rightfully considered the best in St. Petersburg. The construction of the palace required no small investment. And the holding of regular balls and receptions led to the fact that the financial situation of M.I. Vorontsov no longer allowed to spend money on its maintenance.

In 1763 the palace was transferred to the treasury for debts. During the reign of Paul I, the palace was renamed the castle of the Knights of Malta and was transferred to the Order of Malta. This is due to the fact that Emperor Paul in 1798 was elected Master of the Order of Malta, and the former Vorontsov Palace became his residence. The coat of arms of the order - a white Maltese cross - was installed above the gate. According to the project of D. Quarenghi, in 1798 the construction of the Catholic chapel of the Order began, in which meetings of the Order of the Knights of Malta were held. An Orthodox church was built in the left wing.

Under Alexander I, the estate with all its property was transferred to the disposal of the state, and soon it housed the Corps of Pages. The Corps of Pages trained officers of the guard, and the bedrooms of the cadets were located on the second floor.

The October Revolution led to the closure of the Corps of Pages. In the early 1920s, military educational establishments. In 1928, some of the items were given to the museums of Leningrad. Since 1958, the building has been given to the Suvorov Military School.

In 2003, in honor of the anniversary of St. Petersburg, the interior of the Maltese Chapel was restored. Today, excursions, organ music evenings are held in the chapel, a museum on the history of the Kadets has been opened.