Pushkin (town)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other uses, see Pushkin.

Pushkin (Russian: Пу́шкин) is a town under jurisdiction of St. Petersburg, Russia, that is located 24 verst south from the center of St. Petersburg, at 59°44′N, 30°23′E. Population: 84,628 (2002 Census); 95,415 (1989 Census).

Contents

[edit] Imperial residence

Main article: Tsarskoye Selo

The town was founded in the 18th century as the summer residence of the Russian tsars under the name "Tsarskoye Selo" (Royal Village). Nicholas II of Russia and his family lived in the Alexander Palace until they were moved to Tobolsk on July 31, 1917.

After October Revolution the Catherine Palace became a museum, while some other mansions of the nobility were conveyed to various educational and sanitary institutions. On that account, the town was renamed "Detskoye Selo" (Children's Village) in 1918. In 1937, the name was changed to "Pushkin", to commemorate the centenary of the tragic death of the great Russian poet Alexander Pushkin who had studied in the Imperial Lyceum there.

[edit] Other sights

Alexander Palace was the favourite residence of the last tsar and his family.
Alexander Palace was the favourite residence of the last tsar and his family.

Apart from the imperial residence, the town of Pushkin includes several other historic districts, notably Sophia, which was founded by Catherine the Great as an uezd town but lost its town status in 1808. The main monument in this part of the town is the Sophia Cathedral (1782-88).

Another part of the town is occupied by the half-ruined Fyodorovsky Townlet, built in the Russian Revival style to mark the tercentenary of the House of Romanov in 1913. The highlight of the townlet is the charming white-washed Royal Cathedral, dedicated to the Theotokos of St. Theodore and intended to serve as a domestic church of the reigning family.

In the garden close to the Tsarskoe Selo Lyceum stands the Church of the Sign, the oldest in the town, built in 1734-36 to a discreet Baroque design by Mikhail Zemtsov. The church was decorated in 1747 and slightly remodelled in 1865. The Soviets all but destroyed it; but the building was restored in 1961 and reverted to the Russian Orthodox Church in 1991.

The Egyptian Gate leading to the town from Saint Petersburg was designed by Adam Menelaws, a Scottish architect. This structure, erected in 1827-32 and intricately covered with hieroglyphics, bears testimony to the Egyptomania of the 1820s, triggered by Champollion's Précis du système hiéroglyphique (1824).

[edit] Sister Cities

[edit] External links


Coat of arms of Saint Peretsburg Cities and towns under the jurisdiction of Saint Petersburg Flag of Saint Petersburg

Kolpino | Krasnoye Selo | Kronstadt | Lomonosov | Pavlovsk | Peterhof | Pushkin | Sestroretsk | Zelenogorsk