Children's Palace
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Children's Palace (Vorontsov Palace) is a 19th century palace and colonnade in Odessa, Ukraine, at the end of the Primorsky Boulevard pedestrian walkway. The buildings were built between 1827 to 1830 by the Sardinian architect F.K. Boffo for Prince Mikhail Semyonovich Vorontsov, one of the governor-generals of the Odessa region. Vorontsov chose to build his city palace on the spot where the former governor general Richelieu's humble house had once stood. Vorontsov was so with Boffo's work, that he contracted Boffo to design the Potemkin Stairs. [1][2][3]
In 1906 it became an engineering school. During this time, next to the former palace was Lloyd's Travel Agency where the city's elite could purchase tickets for their trips abroad.[4]
In 1917 it was the headquarters of the Soviet Red Guards, and in March 1917 the first Soviet of Workers' and Sailors' Deputies met in the building.[5]
In 1936 the Vorontsov Palace was acquired by the Young Pioneers, and renamed the Children's Palace.[5]
The present day palace is only the front part of the original structure, the less valuable part of the complex, the Orlov wing was torn down. The Orlov wing was mainly apartments and outbuildings--nicknamed the "Orlovsky outhouse", it stretched from today's Mother-in-Law's Bridge. [6][3]
In the second-half of the 20th century, the palace has had two fires.[3]
In 1994 sculptor Mikhail Reva built a fountain called "Day and Night" in the courtyard. Unfortunately, the fountain hasn't had any water since 1999. [3]
[edit] Notes
- ^ Herlihy, Patricia (1987, 1991). Odessa: A History, 1794-1914. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. ISBN 0-916458-15-6, hardcover; ISBN 0-916458-43-1, paperback reprint. p. 133, 337
- ^ Rhinelander, Anthony L. H. (1990). Prince Michael Vorontsov: Viceroy to the Tsar. Montreal, Quebec; Kingston, Ontario: McGill-Queen's University Press. ISBN 0-7735-0747-7. p. 119.
- ^ a b c d Karakina, Yelena, Tatyana Samoilova, Anna Ishchenko (2004). Touring Odessa. BDRUK. ISBN 966-8137-01-9. p. 39 The main corpus was erected in 1824-27, and already in 1828 splendid balls and celebrations took place inside. Construction was completed in 1829.
- ^ Herlihy p. 263
- ^ a b Kononova, G. (1984). Odessa: A Guide. Moscow: Raduga Publishers. p. 47.
- ^ Odessa, An Almanac
| Attractions in Odessa, Ukraine |  |
|---|---|
| Arcadia Beach • Childrens Palace • Botanical Gardens • Catacombs • City council building • Deribasovskaya Street • Film Studio • Londonskaya Hotel • Monument to Potemkin sailors • Mother-in-Law's Bridge • Opera Theater • Odessa Passazh • Pushkin Museum • Sea Port •Train Station • Park Pobedeh • Philharmonic theater • Potemkin Stairs • Primorsky Boulevard • Privoz Market • Seventh-Kilometer Market • Shevchenko Park • Tsentralnyi-Chornomorets Stadium • Vorontsov Lighthouse |
