The excellent palace and park of the late 18-th century – early-19 th century in Pavlovsk is a real masterpiece of Russian architecture. It was the summer residence of Emperor Paul I and his family. There is one of the biggest landscape parks in Europe . Every year, about 1.5 million tourists visit the State Museum and National Preserve of Pavlovsk. Pavlovsk is on the UNESCO list of towns to be under special protection as valuable architectural landmarks.

On December 12, 1777, on the day when their first son (who was to become Emperor Alexander I) was born, the heir to the throne, Paul Petrovich, and Grand Duchess Maria Fyodorovna received a present from Catherine the Great – the plot of land on the banks of the Slavyanka river for their summer residence. To commemorate the day when the town of Pavlovsk was founded, on October 24, 1782 , an obelisk designed by Charles Cameron was unveiled on the right bank of the Slavyanka.

The palace and park complex was mainly formed in the last two decades of the 18-th century and in the first quarter of the 19 th century. Well-known architects, sculptors and painters contributed to its formation. The general compositional design of the palace and park of Pavlovsk was prepared by Charles Cameron and later developed by Vincenzo Brenna, Giacomo Quarenghi, Andrei Voronikhin, Thomas de Thomon, Carlo Rossi, Pietro Gonsago and others. The palace and park were decorated with the works of such outstanding sculptors as Ivan Prokofyev, Fyodor Gordeyev, Ivan Martos, Mikhail Kozlovsky and Vasily Demut-Malinovsky.

The formation of the art collections of the palace of Pavlovsk began during the 1781-1782 European travels of the owners of the palace. When visiting the studios of famous painters and craftsmen, they purchased or ordered pictures, furniture, bronze items, silk fabrics, china services. They also brought many Ancient sculptures from Italy and received presents from European monarchs. The museum possesses an excellent collection of Russian portraits as well as works of painting and graphics showing landscapes of Pavlovsk. Opened after many years of restoration, the rooms where Empress Maria Fyodorovna lived are full of beauty and harmony. These rooms were decorated in the early 19-th century under the supervision of the architects Giacomo Quarenghi and Andrei Voronikhin.

On January 24, 1918 , the palace and park became a museum.

The beautiful architectural ensemble of Pavlovsk was seriously damaged during World War II.

Nazi took everything that the museum staff had not been able to evacuate or hide, ruined the park pavilions, exploded the bridges, cut more than 70 thousand trees and, before retreating from the town, set the palace on fire.

Diligent, long and hard work of the restorers made it possible to return the former beauty of Pavlovsk gradually.

Assembly.M Tour Company