The Eagle Pavilion (or the Temple, from temple — temple), was also known as the Round Gazebo, but later the commonly used name became the Eagle Pavilion. It is considered a kind of sanctuary dedicated to the emperor. Possibly, the interpretation of this structure as a temple was due to the fact that Paul I was the Grand Master of the Maltese Order, or the pavilion was originally conceived as a temple of the arts under the patronage of the emperor, but its decoration was never completed. The author of the pavilion project was presumably Vincenzo Brenna. The date of the pavilion's construction is unknown; it is first mentioned in 1792 as an already existing structure.

According to another point of view, the Temple has signs of Masonic symbolism. An important symbol, widespread, for example, among the Rosicrucians, was precisely the eagle. In the architecture of the pavilion, other elements are found that indicate its Masonic character. Therefore, possibly, the Temple is a Masonic temple created in honor of the Masonic king. Within this concept, the connection between the Column and the Eagle Pavilion is not accidental; on the contrary, it was consciously constructed during the latter's construction. Moreover, this connection was reinforced in other works of visual art (Safonov cites as an example a panel depicting the column in the foreground and the pavilion in the background, which hung in the Crimson Cabinet in the palace at Pavlovsk).

The eagle atop the column, according to Safonov, makes sense as a Masonic symbol. Therefore, during the Pavlovsk period, it was not removed but, on the contrary, was united into a single semantic construction with the eagle of the Temple. The clearing from the monument leading to the Eagle Pavilion is oriented to the east, which could symbolize the significance of this direction in the Masonic worldview. According to the historian, the eagle sculpture embodied Masonic ideas from the moment the structure was built and was not a heraldic figure, since Grigory Orlov was also a Mason (he allegedly joined one of the foreign lodges in Königsberg during the Seven Years' War). Accordingly, the single-headed eagle in the coat of arms of the Orlov counts could have been included with Masonic connotations (the brothers received the count title on September 22, 1762, when Grigory was already a lodge member). The pavilion is a round temple—a rotunda 9.5 meters high, located on one of the islands of the White Lake in the Palace Park. The structure is set on an elevation, on a round stone platform — a stylobate, approached by three small staircases. This creates an impression of monumentality despite the pavilion’s small size. The pavilion is open at the front; the rear semicircular wall is solid. The half-dome above it is decorated with coffers featuring molded rosettes and a shell. In the front part of the pavilion, five pairs of Tuscan columns made of gray marble with white veins stand in a semicircle on high pedestals. The profiles of the entablature crowning the colonnade continue onto the solid semicircular wall of the pavilion. Along the inner surface of the wall runs a molded frieze of acanthus branches and palmettes. The colonnade was topped by a single-headed eagle carved from white marble, supporting a shield with the monogram of Emperor Paul I. The rear wall of the pavilion contains three niches for statues.

The first restoration was carried out in 1841–1842. The dilapidated wooden structures of the half-dome were dismantled and renewed. A little later, in 1845, the stylobate was altered, with blocks of Pudost stone replaced by Putilov slabs. During the war, a high-explosive bomb exploded near the pavilion. A significant part of the dome was destroyed by the blast, two columns were thrown into the lake. The eagle that crowned the colonnade disappeared. The restoration of the Eagle Pavilion was carried out in 1969–1970. The eagle was never restored.

Sources:

https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Колонна_Орла