Gatchina

Gatchina is the city of 84900 inhabitants in the Leningrad oblast of the Russian Federation, 45 km south of St Petersburg by the road leading to Pskov.

Early history

It was first documented in 1499 as Khotchino, a village in possession of Novgorod the Great. In the 17th century it passed to Livonia, then to Sweden, was returned to Russia in 1721 and given by Peter the Great to his sister Natalia. Catherine the Great granted it in 1765 to her favourite Count Orlov who built there a sombre castle with 600 rooms and laid out, for the first time in Russia, an extensive English landscape park. At the entrance to the park from the Gatchina road was erected a triumphal arch to a design by the architect of Gatchina, Antonio Rinaldi (1771, built 1777-82), forming a monumental entrance, the gift of Catherine to Orlov for his efforts during a recent outbreak of plague at Moscow.

Related Topics:
1499 - Novgorod the Great - Livonia - Sweden - Russia - Peter the Great - Catherine the Great - Count Orlov - Triumphal arch - Antonio Rinaldi

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The Rococo interiors were designed by Rinaldi and Vincenzo Brenna and executed by Italian stuccoworkers and Russian craftsmen, with parquetry floors, painted ceilings, and distinctly italian furniture (illustration, right).

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