Павловск: Императорский дворец и парк Санкт-Петербурга

Pavlovsk (Па́вловск "[the town] of Pavel" after Emperor Pavel (Paul) of Russia) is a municipal town in Pushkinsky District in the suburban part of the federal city of St. Petersburg, Russia, located south from St. Petersburg proper and about southeast from Pushkin. Population: Known since the late 18th century, when Saint Petersburg was the capital of Russian Empire, as a countryside residence of Russian royal family commissioned creation of the town's landmark palace with a large park, now parts of its federal museum reserve. The town developed around the Pavlovsk Palace, a major residence of the Russian imperial family. Between 1918 and 1944, its official name was Slutsk, after the revolutionary Vera Slutskaya, and then was changed back to Pavlovsk. Pavlovsk is part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site "Historic Centre of Saint Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments".

A wooden fortress was built by Russians on the place of Pavlovsk and was known from at least 13th century as part of an Administrative division of Novgorod Land. The fortress and the entire region were later captured by the Swedes. On 13 August 1702, the Russian army led by Peter the Great and Fyodor Apraksin met Swedes at the Izhora River and pushed them to the fortress. For several days, the Swedish Army was reinforcing their positions but were expelled upon a surprise frontal attack. However, Cameron's Pavlovsk was far from Paul's vision of what an imperial residence should be: it lacked moats, forts and all other military assortments so dear to Paul; "Cameron created a markedly private world for the Grand Duke. The palace could have belonged to anyone. not to the tsar of Russia in waiting." Constrained financially, Paul and Maria closely watched Cameron's progress and regularly curbed his far reaching, expensive plans. Between 1786 and 1789 Cameron's duties in Pavlovsk passed to Brenna. Paul personally hired Brenna, then employed by Stanisław Kostka Potocki, in 1782, and used him in 1783–1785 to visualize his architectural fantasies. Brenna left Cameron's palace core intact, extending it with side wings; although he remodeled the interiors, they bear traces of Cameron's style to date. However, Maria's private suite and the militaria displayed in public halls are attributed to Brenna alone. In 1794, the population of Pavlovskoye counted 300 people, mostly peasants and palace servants. There was a stone church, a free public school for peasants and three hospitals: regular, military and for invalids. Later, an agriculture school and the first in Russia school for the deaf were established in Pavlovskoye. Maria Feodorovna enjoyed animal husbandry (she used to milk cows herself) and thus built a large farm at the edge of the park and a wooden pavilion for studies. She was also a skilled artist, a member of Berlin Academy of Arts, and her numerous handicrafts still remain in the palace. A large collection of books was accumulated in the palace by her efforts. The station was called 'Vauxhall Pavilion', and its fame eventually caused the modified from Vauxhall word "Vokzal" to enter the Russian language, with the meaning "substantial railway station building". Michael Pavlovich died in 1849 leaving no heir, and thus Pavlovsk became property of a son of Nicholas I, Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich of Russia. Konstantin Nikolayevich established in 1872 an art gallery and a museum in the palace and opened them for public access. He also promoted construction in 1876 of a laboratory dedicated to meteorology and study of magnetic fields on the outskirts of the park. Pavlovsk became a popular residence and by 1874 had 323 summer cottages. The celebrities living here included Alexander Brullov, Peter Clodt von Jürgensburg and Vladimir Sollogub.

After the October Revolution of 1917, the Pavlovsk palace and park were nationalized and converted to a public access museum. In a general motion to replace the Tsar's name, the town was renamed to Slutsk, after revolutionary Vera Slutskaya who died nearby in 1917. Later it was often mentioned in the documents under a double name Slutsk (Pavlovsk), and eventually regained the old name in 1944. Restoration works started in 1944 and were completed by 1973. In 2003, historical names were returned to dozens of streets of Pavlovsk which had been renamed during the Soviet era.

The town is located on the Neva Lowland, to the left of the river Neva, in the valley of the Slavyanka River. The landscape is quite varied and contains hills, ridges and terraces intermixed with valleys, plains, forests and farmland. Numerous springs give rise to streams and feed ponds. In the Paleozoic era, 300–400 million years ago, the area was covered by a sea. Sediments of that time form a layer thicker than 200 meters on top of the Baltic Shield consisting of granite, gneiss and diabase. The modern topography was shaped by the glacier retreat some 12,000 years ago which created the Littorina Sea. About 4,000 years ago the sea receded and formed the valley of the Neva River which has not changed much over the last 2,500 years.

The climate of Pavlovsk is temperate and wet, it has a continental climate. The length of the day varies from 5 hours and 51 minutes in the winter solstice to 18 hours and 50 minutes in the summer solstice. Summer is short and moderately warm, whereas winter is long and uneven, with frequent thaws. Air temperatures above prevail from early April to mid November. The coldest month is February. Winds mostly blow southward and frequently change air mass above the city. Summer is dominated by westerly and northwesterly winds, and the wind direction changes to westerly and southwesterly in winter. The cloudiest months are November, December and January, and the least cloudy are May, June and July. There are at least 240 sunny days per year. Between May 25 and July 16, white nights are observed when the sun only briefly goes over the horizon and the day lasts nearly nineteen hours. The area is mostly fed by surface and ground waters.

Prior to the founding of the town the area was covered by temperate coniferous forests (mostly pine and fir) with an admixture of broad leaved trees and fens. The soils were mostly podzol, combined with peat and gleysols. Intensive economic activities changed the original forest landscape to agricultural land with small groves of aspen, birch, alder and willow. In the 18–19th centuries, a large park area of almost 600 hectares (Pavlovsk and Arensky parks) has been created in and around the city. Owing to the parks and environment friendly policies, the Pavlovsk area has relatively low level of pollution. In 1978–1983 the Pavlovsk Park contained more than 360,000 trees of 54 species: 16 species of spruce, pine, larch and fir, two species of birch, two species of willow, two of basswood, oaks, elm, alder, aspen, European rowan, bird cherry, 88 shrub species, of which the dominant were yellow acacia, meadowsweet and dogwoods. In 1978, there were 71 species of birds belonging to 28 families and 9 orders. Mammals include squirrels, hares, weasels, stoats, moles, shrews, hedgehogs, red voles and muskrats. In winter, the parks are sometimes visited by fox, wild boar and moose. Amphibians and reptiles are mostly frogs, toads and lizards. There are 87 species of insects belonging to 46 families. As most rivers of Saint Petersburg, the Slavyanka River is polluted. Water analysis performed by Greenpeace in 2008 reveals contamination levels exceeding the permissible norms by tens or hundreds times, with such chemicals as oil, lead, acetone, mercury, chloroform and others. Most pollution originates from household waste deposited by 16 companies.

The first coat of arms of Pavlovsk was approved by Alexander I in 1801. It features a black double headed eagle with a white Maltese cross on its chest and the Order of St. Andrew hanging on a chain under it. On top of the cross there is a red shield with a monogram combining Russian italic letters П and М standing for Emperor Paul and Empress Maria. The eagle has gilded beaks and paws. It holds a ceremonial mace and globus cruciger in the paws; it is crowned with two golden crowns with two more crowns near its heads. The whole composition is placed on a golden shield. There was a proposal of an alternative coat during the Soviet times, but it was not approved. The updated coat of arms was adopted on 19 September 2007. It has the same composition but with slightly simplified shapes and colors. The modern flag of Pavlovsk was adopted on the same day. It contains the coat image on a yellow rectangle with the length to width ratio of 3:2.

The center of the town is Pavlovsk Palace consisting of main body and wings connected with it by galleries. In front of the palace, welcoming the visitors stands bronze monument of Paul. It is an 1872 copy of the original cast by Giovanni Vitali. North to it lies Pavlovsk Park which covers 2/3 of the town area. With the area of about 600 hectares, the park is one of the largest in Russia and Europe. Seven parts are distinguished within the park. There are numerous pavilions, and one part contains a collection of bronze statues. The Bip fortress, a favorite of young Paul I, was burned down during World War II and only its walls remained; it was restored by 2010. Before 1917 there was no separation between the imperial residence and the town, and both belonged to one owner. Along the southern and western borders of the park run the main street, which is now called Sadovaya Street, and its previous names were Fyodorovskaya (before 1783), Tsarskoselskaya (1783–1919) and Revolyutsii (Soviet time). On the west, this street leads to the train terminal and then to Pushkin. The western border of the town is the railway St. Petersburg – Vitebsk. There are several churches near the palace, the oldest being Maria Magdalena Church and Church of Peter and Paul (built in 1799 by Brenna). The former was raised in 1781–1784 by Giacomo Quarenghi and is the first classical stone building in Pavlovsk. More prominent however is the Cathedral of St. Nicholas in honor of Paul I, an active Orthodox church built in 1900–1904 by Alexander von Hohen in the Russian Revival style.

Paul I of Russia – Emperor of Russia and owner of Pavlovsk between 1796 and 1801. Grand Duke Constantine Constantinovich of Russia (1858–1915) – grandson of Nicholas I of Russia, a poet and playwright, President of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences, owner of Pavlovsk between 1882 and 1915. Died in Pavlovsk. Grand Duke Konstantin Nikolayevich of Russia (1827–1882) – son of Nicholas I of Russia, admiral of the Russian fleet and reformer of the Russian Navy, owner of Pavlovsk between 1849 and 1882. Died in Pavlovsk. Grand Duke Michael Pavlovich of Russia (1798–1849) – son of Paul I of Russia and Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg. Owner of Pavlovsk between 1828 and 1849. Prince John Constantinovich of Russia (1886–1918) – son of Grand Duke Constantine Constantinovich of Russia and owner of Pavlovsk between 1915 and 1918. Born in Pavlovsk. Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna of Russia (1819–1876) – daughter of Emperor Nicholas I of Russia, sister of Alexander II and wife of Maximilian, Duke of Leuchtenberg. She was an art collector and President of the Imperial Academy of Arts of Saint Petersburg. Born in Pavlovsk. Maria Feodorovna (Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg) (1759–1828) – the second wife of Tsar Paul I of Russia and mother of Tsar Alexander I and Tsar Nicholas I of Russia. Owner of Pavlovsk between 1788 and 1828. Died in Pavlovsk. Olga Constantinovna of Russia (1851–1926) – queen consort of King George I of Greece and briefly in 1920, queen regent of Greece. The great grandmother of Queen Sofia of Spain, the paternal grandmother of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and the great grandmother of Charles III. Born in Pavlovsk. Georg von Cancrin (1774–1845) – writer and statesman, General and Minister of Finances, died in Pavlovsk. Eugene Lanceray (1875–1946) – Russian graphic artist, painter, sculptor, mosaicist, and illustrator, born in Pavlovsk. Aleksandr Nikitenko (1804–1877) – literature critic and historian, academician of the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences. Died in Pavlovsk. Leonid Yanush (1897–1978) – a painter who lived in Pavlovsk between 1912 and 1927.