Catherine Park / Ekaterininsky Park, Podkaprizovaya Road, Saint Petersburg, Russia, 196603
The exotic pavilion, called the Creaky (Chinese) Gazebo, is located on the border between the landscape part of the Catherine Park and the Podkaprizovaya Road, just beyond which lies the Chinese Village. On the roof of the gazebo is a weather vane in the shape of a Chinese banner, which produces a loud creak when it turns in the wind: this explains one of the gazebo’s names — Creaky. The gazebo was constructed according to the design of architect Felten; the work was carried out under the supervision of Neelov from 1778 to 1786.
Situated on a narrow isthmus between two picturesque ponds, the pavilion is elongated lengthwise. Its central oval domed hall is flanked by two smaller rooms, almost square in plan. The Creaky Gazebo has two entrances — on the east and west sides — designed as rectangular projections and decorated on three sides with open semicircular arches. From the main entrance to the pond descends a stone staircase of twelve steps shaped as gradually widening semicircles.
The most complex feature is the design of the central volume, crowned with a “Chinese” roof and a tower on metal posts with a weather vane. Above the side rooms of the Creaky Gazebo rise open terraces on quadrangular posts, also topped with weather vanes. The building’s roof, with curved edges at the corners — imitating a technique characteristic of Chinese pagodas — is adorned with brightly painted and gilded figures of twisting dragons, originally crafted from wood by the master Bryullo. The pavilion’s exterior walls were painted to resemble colored marble. The doors of the central room were originally decorated with “Chinese” ornamental carving and painting. Borrowed from Chinese architecture is the motif of stone rockeries at the base of the pilasters located at the corners of the central volume.
By the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century, the Creaky Gazebo had lost the marble-like wall painting and many decorative details. It was also significantly damaged during the war years. With financial support from the Northwest Bank of Sberbank of Russia, restoration work was carried out in the pavilion, returning the Creaky Gazebo to its original appearance, and the company “Matis,” a member of the Friends of the Tsarskoye Selo Museum-Reserve Club, restored the dragon figures decorating the gazebo’s roof.
Sources:
https://www.tzar.ru/objects/ekaterininskypark/landscape/creakinggazebo
