FQM3+M3 Verolantsy, Leningrad Oblast, Russia
In the village of Elizavetino in the Gatchina district of the Leningrad region, a monument of Russian architecture from the mid-18th century has been preserved – the palace of the Dylicy estate. People have lived on the site of the estate for a long time. As early as in the 1499-1500 census book, there is a mention of the village of Vzdylitsy, the center of the Vzdylitsky Yegoryevsky parish, which is the predecessor of the village of Dylicy.
During the Great Northern War at the beginning of the 18th century, Peter the First returned the northwestern lands to Russia, which had gone to Sweden in 1617 under the "Treaty of Stolbovo," and founded Saint Petersburg. Thanks to Peter, the once remote province became a metropolitan territory. Peter distributed the lands around Saint Petersburg to his close associates and relatives on the condition that they build houses on their estates (manors). If construction was not carried out, the estate could be confiscated.
In 1712, the owner of Vzdylitsy became Grigory Ivanovich Volkonsky. He was a representative of a very noble family, a loyal servant of Peter, and a senator. Volkonsky built a wooden estate in Vzdylitsy. Under the Volkonskys, probably for euphony, Vzdylitsy transformed into Dylicy.
According to a widespread version, in the mid-18th century the estate was owned by Peter’s daughter, Empress Elizabeth Petrovna. Under her, a stone hunting castle in the Baroque style was built in Dylicy, and a small formal park was laid out. The architects were presumably Rastrelli or Rinaldi or one of their students. In honor of Elizabeth Petrovna, the estate was named Elizavetino.
But the question is that no documents related to the construction of this palace have survived. All the empress’s actions were recorded in the chamber-furrier journals, which were a kind of diaries of court life. However, no mention of Elizabeth Petrovna’s stay in Dylicy has been found in any journal. The absence of documents does not necessarily mean they never existed, and perhaps local historians and researchers still have to uncover the mystery of the Dylicy estate.
In 1762, the estate became the property of Vasily Grigorievich Shkurin, a close associate of Catherine II. Catherine II gifted the estate to her wardrobe master Vasily Grigorievich Shkurin for raising her illegitimate son — Alexey Bobrinsky. The paternity is attributed to Grigory Orlov. The Shkurins owned the estate for almost 90 years. In the late 1840s, they sold Dylicy to the landowner Volkova, who shortly afterward resold it to Prince Pyotr Nikitich Trubetskoy, who registered the estate in the name of his young wife Elizaveta Esperovna Trubetskaya, a representative of the highest aristocracy and hostess of a political salon. Under Elizaveta Esperovna, the palace in the estate was rebuilt, presumably with the participation of Harald Bosse, a talented architect who also remodeled the Trubetskoys’ mansion in Saint Petersburg (now 29 Chaikovsky Street). After Trubetskaya’s death in 1907, the estate was owned by her daughter, Elizaveta Esperovna’s daughter, Alexandra Petrovna Okhotnikova. Under the Okhotnikovs, an annex (a gallery and wing) was added to the palace, executed by an unknown student of the Academy of Arts in the same style as the palace.
The small formal park in the estate was designed by the first owners, and later it developed as a landscape park. Under the Trubetskoys, the park was in perfect order. Besides trees of various species, there were many lilacs, roses, and other beautifully flowering shrubs. The palace had various flower beds and a floral calendar where the numbers made of flowers changed daily.
The park had five gates from which alleys extended, one of which was called the "Alley of Sighs." Among the entertainments were swings, giant steps, one alley was adapted for bowling, and under the Okhotnikovs, a tennis court appeared. Not far from the palace was a mushroom-shaped gazebo offering a wonderful view of a square pond where swans swam. A house was arranged for the swans. Fireworks were held on the square pond, during which a boat decorated with multicolored lanterns floated on it. There was also a pier on the square pond, from which every year on August 1, during the Honey Savior holiday, water was blessed, after which a religious procession went to the palace, and everyone could visit it. Behind the square pond was another, larger pond with islands, where bridges and bathing places were arranged, and one could row a boat. Two old ponies lived on one of the islands. The park was freely open.
After the revolution, the palace was looted. Then there was all sorts of use: an Estonian commune, which turned out to be a commune of swindlers who sold off everything valuable and fled; then a labor school, a branch of a pedagogical college, poor courses, and an experimental field crop station.
During the Great Patriotic War, battles took place in the park, which suffered greatly; the church in honor of the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God was destroyed. During the German occupation, the palace housed the headquarters and barracks of the fascists. In January 1944, they were driven out of the estate so quickly and unexpectedly that they did not have time to seriously damage the building. Fortunately, the Dylicy palace did not suffer the fate of the blown-up and burned Gatchina palace. Nevertheless, despite the fact that after the revolution and the war the main planning and spatial components of the Dylicy ensemble remained unchanged, the estate undoubtedly needed restoration.
In the 1950s, the manor house was restored according to the project of the remarkable Soviet architect Nikolai Fedorovich Brovkin.
After the war, educational institutions related to agriculture operated here. At one time, the mechanization school of agriculture worked at the estate, which received sufficient funding and monitored the condition of the palace and park. In the 1980s, the school received a new modern building, and the palace was abandoned. It stood empty and deteriorated.
Since 2004, the estate with the park has passed into private ownership. The Elizavetino estate was completely restored and opened to visitors. Tourists have a unique opportunity to stroll through the luxurious halls, studying the stucco on the walls and ceilings, the shiny parquet floors, and the impressive chandeliers. In addition, a museum room is equipped in the basement, where there is a gallery of photo portraits, as well as photocopies of archival documents related to the history of the palace and the surrounding area. The main exhibit is the family tree of the Trubetskoy family.
Among the rarities, there are documents with the autograph of Fyodor Tyutchev. Elizaveta Esperovna Trubetskaya, passionate about the cultural life of the country, maintained active correspondence with the poet.
Sources:
https://kartarf.ru/dostoprimechatelnosti/267233-usadba-ohotnikova
https://nataturka.ru/muzey-usadba/usadba-elizavetino-dyilitsyi.html
