Arsenal is a park pavilion built between 1819 and 1834 according to the design and under the supervision of architects Adam Menelas and Alexander Ton. It is one of the first Russian museums (the Imperial Museum of Arms). The building, in the "Gothic" style and crowned with battlemented towers, is located in the center of the Alexander Park of Tsarskoye Selo, a suburb of Saint Petersburg. The very name of the building—Arsenal—reflects its function: the pavilion was used to store and display the collection of medieval, European, and Eastern weapons of Nicholas I, which the emperor began to collect while still a Grand Duke.

Arsenal is the main pavilion of Alexander Park. Originally, the site was occupied by Montbijou, built between 1747 and 1754 according to the designs of Savva Chevakinsky and Francesco Rastrelli.

It was created in the same style as the "Hermitage" pavilion in Catherine Park and belonged to the best examples of Russian Baroque. The whimsical building with intricate decoration, zigzag staircases, and a tall dome topped with an onion dome featuring a figure blowing the trumpet of "Glory," rose in the center of the Menagerie, established in Tsarskoye Selo for hunting as early as the beginning of the 18th century and, by the middle of the century, enclosed by a stone wall with bastions at the corners.

Montbijou was used as a hunting pavilion and gradually fell into disrepair, and the entire Menagerie became neglected. Alexander I decided to rebuild it and chose for the pavilion’s new appearance one of the neo-Gothic structures in the English royal park at Windsor. The reconstruction was continued by Nicholas I, who was impressed by the furnishings and collections in Walter Scott’s Abbotsford Castle—the "home of a medieval knight."

The architectural masterpiece Montbijou, dilapidated by the early 19th century, underwent a complete reconstruction. The baroque whimsy was replaced by simple, strict lines: the project’s author, Adam Menelas, conceived a new park building in the form of an English Gothic castle with elements of Romanesque style. From 1819 to 1834, the Montbijou building was rebuilt in the neo-Gothic style according to the design—thus the pavilion "Arsenal" appeared. Menelas was unable to complete his plan fully: he died in August 1831 from cholera during the finishing works. The interior decoration was completed by architect Alexander Ton, who finished it in 1834.

Inside, the Arsenal was decorated in the Gothic taste. Precious stained glass windows from the 15th–17th centuries, made by German and Swiss masters, were set into the tall windows, complemented by lush wooden casings. The interior space included on the 1st floor—a grand staircase, entrance hall, dining room, study, empress’s room, library, picture gallery, and Albanian room. On the 2nd floor—three corner rooms (Turkish, Indo-Persian, Indo-Muslim) and in the center of the building—an octagonal Knights’ Hall, in the center of which was a round table.

Until 1827, Nicholas I’s collection was kept in the Anichkov Palace in Saint Petersburg, then it was moved to Tsarskoye Selo and for several years was housed in the State Dining Room of the Alexander Palace—a large two-story hall closing the enfilade (in 1843 architect Carlo Rossi created a ceiling between the 1st and 2nd floors to create ladies-in-waiting’s rooms). In 1834, after the completion of the building intended for it, the collection was moved to the Arsenal. On January 31, 1834, while in Tsarskoye Selo, Nicholas I ordered that Montbijou "henceforth be called the Arsenal, consigning the former name to oblivion."

The Arsenal became one of the expressive monuments of Russian neo-Gothic architecture of the 19th century. With its appearance, the entire architectural and park complex began to be perceived as a romantic "medieval" decoration. Just as the flag of Scotland flew over Abbotsford, the imperial standard flew over the Arsenal during the emperor’s stay in Tsarskoye Selo. The central place in the pavilion’s layout was occupied by the octagonal Knights’ Hall, which housed the best part of the weapons collection belonging to Nicholas I. Tickets were issued for viewing it—thus, the Arsenal became the first public museum of arms in Russia; the exhibition consisted of more than 5,000 items. The head of the first department of the Imperial Hermitage, Florian Gil, wrote about Nicholas I: "...like all sovereigns distinguished by knightly qualities, Emperor Nicholas loved fine weapons." His collection was one of the richest in Europe and the best in Eastern weapons.

The exhibits were placed on the 1st and 2nd floors in the central halls and side rooms. In the entrance hall, mannequins in armor stood, creating the illusion of a guard. The Albanian room displayed the Eastern collection, which included works by Japanese, Chinese, Persian, and Turkish masters; in the study were Spanish, Italian, and German rapiers; in adjacent rooms—firearms. On the second floor, in the central Knights’ Hall, knightly armor was exhibited: mannequins intended to display them sat on "horse dummies" equipped for battle and placed on high pedestals.

The collection, numbering more than five thousand items, was repeatedly supplemented with works by famous masters and the best European armories. However, in 1885, Nicholas I’s grandson, Emperor Alexander III, decided to transfer the collection to the Imperial Hermitage (currently, several exhibits are displayed in the Knights’ Hall). The Arsenal retained unused porcelain and glassware, as well as a collection of small equestrian models of officers and lower ranks, demonstrating samples of Russian regimental uniforms from the time of Nicholas I (sculptor Hazenberger). The positions of curator and attendants were abolished.

During the Great Patriotic War, the Arsenal was significantly damaged. By the beginning of the 21st century, the building was in an emergency condition. In 2012, restoration began, the first stage of which included the installation of scaffolding, sealing of door and window openings, strengthening of the vault, and restoration of brickwork. Original bricks from the collapsed masonry were not used (at least partially) during restoration and were taken to a landfill. They were replaced by new, artificially aged bricks sized to match the historical ones. Decorative jointing (treatment) of the seams with white plaster on the building’s facades in places of loss was not restored; instead, gray masonry mortar was used. Inside, the surviving stucco decorations were highlighted in dark color and differed from the restored ones painted white. Thus, the authentic details of the monument were visually separated from the "newly made." On the facade and in the interiors, fragments of the original 18th-century brick and stone structures, preserved from the Montbijou pavilion, were partially revealed. In August 2016, a permanent exhibition "Tsarskoye Selo Arsenal. Imperial Arms Collection" was opened in the restored pavilion. The museum displays memorial items of Russian emperors and part of the weapons collection preserved in the funds of the Tsarskoye Selo Museum-Reserve. A particular pride is the collection of Eastern weapons of the Russian emperors. As before, the exhibition center became the octagonal hall on the second floor—the Knights’ Hall. Among the displayed items (more than 400 in total) are the famous painting by Horace Vernet "Tsarskoye Selo Carousel," collections of Eastern cold weapons, firearms of the 18th–19th centuries, and horse harness items. The State Hermitage provided rare exhibits from its collection for temporary storage, including 16th-century armor from Nicholas I’s collection, which once were housed in the Arsenal.

Sources:

https://www.tzar.ru/objects/alexandrovskypark/newgarden/arsenal

https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Арсенал_(Царское_Село)