Tsaritsyn Pavilion

The Tsaritsyn Pavilion was built by architect Stakenschneider in 1842-1844 for Empress Alexandra Feodorovna during the landscaping of the area south of the Upper Garden. At that time, "with art and labor," a flowing pond with two islands was created on the site of the vast Hunting Swamp, on which two pavilions were built—first Tsaritsyn, then Olgin. The first was designed by the architect in the then-fashionable "Pompeian style." It was meant to reproduce the appearance of ancient Roman houses uncovered during the excavations of Pompeii. Unlike the buildings of the previous century, it introduced a "romantic note into the architectural symphony of Peterhof." Alexandra Feodorovna loved to rest here away from the exhausting palace ceremonies.

The exotic ancient Roman names of the interiors—exedra (a room with three niches), atrium with a pool and fountain, intended in a Pompeian house for relaxation, triclinium (dining room), oikos (living room)—literally make one dream of Italy and visiting Pompeii. This legendary city is recalled by an authentic Pompeian mosaic, skillfully embedded by the architect into the floor of the Dining Room. Furniture, lighting fixtures, and other furnishings for the Tsaritsyn Pavilion were made following ancient Roman and ancient Greek models. The abundance of polished colored stone and marble of various shades is one of the pavilion’s main features. Columns, fireplaces, mosaic floors, and tables are made from this material.

The bright and colorful painting of the pavilion’s walls and ceilings was created in the antique spirit. Even the breakfast and afternoon tea set is made in the style of ancient ceramics found in Pompeii and is called the "Etruscan" set. The fact that the pavilion stands on an island is recalled by the tea "Coral" set, whose items are decorated with stylized coral branches. Writing instruments presented in Alexandra Feodorovna’s Cabinet are made in the technique of red-figure vase painting. The memory of the Empress is preserved here by mantel clocks, paperweights, figurines, books, and two old, mysteriously shimmering twisted marble columns decorated with Byzantine mosaics. They give the Cabinet an oriental color, reminding the Empress of the Berlin festival of 1821, where she appeared as the eastern beauty Lala-Rookh. The Tsaritsyn Pavilion houses a fine collection of small bronze sculptures brought in the 19th century from Germany and France, including not only copies of ancient originals but also original works by masters of the 18th-19th centuries. Among them are Nymphs, Bacchantes, Cupids, Venuses, Discoboli, Apollos, Bathers, celebrating beauty, languor, and sensual joy.

The setting of the Tsaritsyn Pavilion created for Empress Alexandra Feodorovna a world close and understandable to her, embodying her ideas of the ideal. It was an image of Italy—the land of dreams and aspirations.

The famous writer Alexandre Dumas, who visited the pavilion in 1858, wrote: “...The main entrance is magnificent; one might think one is entering the house of a poet in Pompeii. The interior decoration is charming and arranged with great taste.”

Sources:

https://peterhofmuseum.ru/objects/islands/tsaritsin_i_olgin_pavilioni