Chinese village

Chinese Village in the Alexander Park of Tsarskoye Selo — an attempt initiated by Catherine the Great to build a village in the Chinese style, following the widespread 18th-century European art fashion for chinoiserie ("Chinese style"). Located beyond the Cross Canal is the Chinese Village, whose construction was begun in the mid-1780s by architect Charles Cameron. Its concept and initial design likely belonged to both Neelov and Rinaldi. The idea of constructing a Chinese Village in Alexander Park was not new. In the 18th century, similar structures appeared in Sweden (in the park of the Drottningholm Royal Palace near Stockholm), in Germany (at Wilhelmshöhe near Kassel), and other places.

Today, the concept of the Chinese Village, developed in the 1770s, can only be judged by the surviving drawings. Much of the original plan was never realized, and in the 19th century, the village’s appearance underwent significant distortions during reconstructions.

After Catherine’s plans to engage a genuine Chinese architect failed, the Russian ambassador in London was tasked with obtaining for Tsarskoye Selo a copy of the pagoda created by William Chambers in the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, which was the central structure of chinoiserie architecture. William Chambers was the only 18th-century architect who had visited China. The compositional center of the ensemble was to be an octagonal pavilion-observatory, whose design, down to the smallest decorative details of the façade, was borrowed from an engraved image of a Chinese pagoda published in an album issued in Amsterdam in 1669. The octagonal square and the street leading to the "observatory" were to be formed by 18 houses in the "Chinese" style, surrounded by galleries. At the entrance from the side of the Grand Caprice, "Chinese" gates were planned. An eight-tiered pagoda tower was intended as the height dominant, serving as a belvedere.

Construction of the Chinese Village began ten years after the project was developed. Of the 18 one-story houses, only 10 were fully built; the observatory building did not receive the planned octagonal two-tiered lantern with a Chinese roof; the galleries, entrance gates, and pagoda remained only in the project. The role of the belvedere was played by the Grand Caprice, from the gazebo on top of which one could view the Tsarskoye Selo parks.

Initially, the walls of the houses were clad with glazed faience tiles made at the Konradi factory in Krasnoye Selo, but the tiles cracked at the first frosts, and in the 1780s Cameron ordered the buildings to be plastered and painted with Eastern ornamental motifs. The houses were decorated with curved roofs painted in "checkerboard" and "fish scale" patterns, adorned with figures of fantastic dragons. This festive decoration did not remain intact for long and was partially lost during the reconstruction carried out in the 1820s under architect Stasov.

After the death of Empress Catherine II, work on the Chinese Village was finally stopped. In 1798, Emperor Paul I ordered the dismantling of the houses for materials to build the Mikhailovsky Castle in Saint Petersburg. Fortunately, this order was not carried out.

Work did not resume until 1818, when Alexander I asked Vasily Stasov to rebuild the village to provide housing for his guests. Although most of the original Eastern-style decor was ultimately destroyed, the restored village provided accommodation for such notable guests as Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin, who worked on his "History of the Russian State" in one of its houses between 1822 and 1825.

Between 1817 and 1822, after repair work, the houses were converted into apartments: Stasov paired them and redesigned the interiors to adapt them for living. The unfinished pavilion-observatory was completed with a spherical dome, which remained until 1941. At the same time, Menelas laid out 17 small gardens near the houses. Further adaptation of the houses was carried out in the mid-19th century by architect Monighetti.

In the 19th century, the Chinese Village was used as guest apartments. Outside, gardens bloomed near each house, and inside they were comfortably furnished: the interiors included a bed, a small table, a chest for linen and clothes, a writing desk with necessary supplies, as well as a samovar, tea, and coffee sets. The outstanding Russian historian N. M. Karamzin often lived in the Chinese Village from spring to late autumn, working here on his multi-volume "History of the Russian State" between 1822 and 1825, which remained unfinished due to the writer’s death on May 22, 1826.

The village was restored under the direction of Ippolit Monighetti in 1859–1861.

During the Great Patriotic War, the Chinese Village complex suffered serious damage. Post-war restoration was difficult and slow, as all work was carried out solely at the expense of the Tsarskoye Selo museum-reserve. Until the 1960s, the Chinese Village housed communal apartments. In the mid-1990s, a contract was signed with the Danish company "TK Development Pushkin," which undertook to restore the entire complex in exchange for the right to lease it for 49 years. The opening of the first phase of the "Chinese Village" complex took place in November 1998. As a result of the reconstruction, 28 apartments were created in the houses of the Chinese Village, rented out with profits shared equally between the Danes and the Tsarskoye Selo museum-reserve. Currently, the Chinese Village is fully restored. The houses are once again used as guest and residential apartments.

Sources:

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

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