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The Hermitage Pavilion by GAlexandrova –

Top 10 Oustanding Facts about Hermitage Pavilion

Hermitage Pavilion is an adorned 2-story pavilion in Catherine Park. It is about fifteen minutes walk away from the Catherine Palace. The pavilion has ceiling paintings in the galleries running out to the cabinets. The paintings are by Antonio Peresinotti.

The foundation of the building was laid in the spring of 1744 and the building was completed the same year. Hermitage Pavilion has about 120 rooms on both the first and the second floors. In the article are the top ten outstanding facts about the Hermitage pavilion.

1. The pavilion was a common feature in the 18t century

Hermitage Pavilion by GAlexandrova –

The name of the pavilion was taken from the French language. Extracting names from the French language made the pavilion a common feature of regular gardens in the eighteenth century.

Hermitage is a French word that means ” a place of solitude.” The idea of the Hermitages appeared in Europe in the late 17th century. Usually, the 鈥淗ermitages鈥� were small huts in the woods, resembling hunting lodges, but quite nicely decorated inside.

2. Hermitage Pavilion was exclusively for the head of the estate

A photo of Hermitage Pavilion by Florstein –

Before the idea of pavilions spread to other parts of the world, they were being built for the crowned heads of Europe as the places. This is where kings could be alone and finally enjoy true privacy far away from the court etiquette.

They were intended to enable the owner of the estate to rest and dine in the company of a select few and were located in the 鈥渨ild鈥� area of the park.

To avoid the inhibiting presence of servants, such pavilions were usually fitted with mechanisms that enabled the tables to be raised and lowered. This is the same reason why Empress Elisabeth built the Hermitage Pavilion.

3. Mikhail Zemtsov is the architect behind the pavilion

Mikhail was a Russian Imperial architect who practiced a sober, restrained Petrine Baroque style. He learned the style from his peer Domenico Trezzini. He has been described as “the first professionally trained Russian architect in history”

The area of the garden where the pavilion was to be built is named The Wild Grove. The Wild Grove was still reminiscent of the hunting grounds. Construction of the pavilion was commenced in 1744-46.

However, Mikhail Zemtsov was dead by when the completion of the pavilion in 1756. Court architect F. B. Rastrelli was the one who completed the Hermitage Pavilion construction since Mikhail was dead then. Rastelli was the one who developed the baroque style in Russia.

4. Elisabeth built the pavilion using her father’s idea

A photo of the Hermitage Pavilion of Peter the Greta by Florstein –

Peter the Great was the father to the Great Empress Elisabeth. Peter the Great is possibly the first ruler to bring the idea of pavilions to Russia. It was during most of his visits to Europe when he often saw pictures of pavilions in the 17th century. Pavilions were common in Europe.

Peter the Great was eager to follow this fashion of pavilions. His Hermitage is standing on the shore of the Gulf of Finland in Peterhof. Mikhail Zemtsov was one of the best of the group of young adults, who were sent to study abroad by Peter the Great.

Mikhail is possibly also behind Peter the Great’s pavilion. Elisabeth outdid her father many years later with her Hermitage Pavilion in Tsarskoye. Elisabeth wanted her place of solitude to be as dazzling as any other palace she owned.

5. Hermitage Pavilion is a smaller version of Catherine Palace

A photo of Catherine Palace by Florstein –

The Pavilion was raised on a pad paved with black and white marble squares with chessboard patterns. The structure was circumscribed by a balustrade filled with marble statues and vases. Hermitage is built of stone and finished with stucco and has several balconies.

The building has two floors; the walls are colored in azure just like the main palace in Tsarskoye Selo. The fa莽ade is decorated with the statues of Atlases holding the walls. There are also lion鈥檚 masks that symbolize power.

6. Motion lifting tables in Hermitage Pavilion

As I stated earlier, pavilions were usually fitted with mechanisms that enabled the tables to be raised and lowered. Floating tables are the key surprise in the building. Pulleys are the mechanisms that enabled the tables to float.

The floating tables made it possible to arrange dinners without waiters. Empress and her guests could be alone on the second floor while the servants were laying tables with food on the ground floor. The food was cooked at the Hermitage Kitchen which was nearby at the entrance to the park.

The Empress and the guests could write their orders on a blackboard using a piece of chalk. They then rang a bell and their section of the table flew down. The servants read the orders and made inquiries in the kitchen after which meals could be prepared and flown up.

7. There is a raising bridge between Catherine Palace and the pavilion

The Hermitage Pavilion was built on an artificial island to intensify the feeling of privacy. There is a moat around the Hermitage, under Elisabeth there was a functioning raising bridge. The bridge purposefully was banning any possible eavesdropper from reaching the entrance doors. The bridge is decorated with gilded sculptures.

8. The Hermitage Pavilion kitchen is a historical building

Hermitage Pavilion Kitchen photo by GAlexandrova –

The Hermitage kitchen was built in the second half of the 1770s by architect V. I. Neelov in the typical neo-Gothic style of the Russian classicism of the 18th century. The building served primarily as a kitchen for serving receptions held in the nearby Hermitage Pavilion.

The kitchen is located at the fence of the front part of Catherine Park. The gate, therefore, served as the entrance to the park and also a kitchen for the pavilion.

9. The pavilion is encircled by a moat

A photo of Hermitage Pavilion surrounded by a moat by Florstein –

The moat was intended to inspire a mood of melancholy solitude. It put people in a contemplative frame of mind and inspires recollections. The moat was also decorated by statues and vases on the balustrade that bordered it.

According to archive documents and archaeological research carried out in 2006, originally the moat was never filled with water. This is because there was a constant shortage of water in Tsarskoye Selo. It was Catherine II, the new mistress of the residence, who ordered the moat be filled with water.

10. It was not badly destroyed during WW2

Unlike the Catherine Palace, the pavilion was not as badly devastated during the Second World War. The restoration was needed but on a lesser scale. The moat is no longer filled up with water.

The baroque interiors of the Hermitage have never been changed since the mid-eighteenth century. The mechanisms were all restored and one can see the tables being raised and lifted down.

If you are looking for an interesting historical place in Russia, then the historical Park of Queen Catherine is the best especially, the Hermitage Pavilion. The building is extremely wonderful and cool most specifically the moat around it and the floating tables that joined the ground floor and the upper floor.