Summer residence of Catherine 2. Palaces of the imperial favorites. The Mysterious Death of the Empress

In the 18th century, women often came to power in Russia, and in their lives, of course, there were favorites. They were endlessly endowed with titles and estates, often had a huge political influence. Some received real palaces as a gift. Who was so honored, and which of these palaces have survived in St. Petersburg to our time?

Anichkov Palace (Nevsky pr., 39)

Anichkov Palace - the first palace that appeared on Nevsky Prospect. So he was called after a few years, when the famous Anichkov bridge appeared next to him.
Elizaveta Petrovna, daughter of Peter I, ascending the throne in 1741 as a result of a palace coup, ordered to build a palace in honor of her triumph.

Although it was officially announced that the palace was being built for the new empress, everyone understood that it was in fact intended for Count Alexei Grigoryevich Razumovsky, who at that time was her favorite. Razumovsky was famous for his beauty and good nature, and although he had great power at the court, he never really used it.

The construction of the palace began immediately after the coronation, the architect Mikhail Zemtsov began to build it, and Bartolomeo Rastrelli completed it. The building was located so that its main entrance and the main facade were facing the Fontanka embankment, and not Nevsky Prospect. At that time, Nevsky Prospect was not yet the main street of the city and, in addition, many guests traveled to this palace along the Fontanka River, then the border of St. Petersburg passed along it.

In 1771, Razumovsky died, and Catherine II, having bought the palace from the Razumovsky family, donated it to her new favorite, Grigory Potemkin. He decided to rebuild the palace in a more classical style, which was done. In the future, the palace more than once changed its owners, and more than once seriously rebuilt.

Shuvalovsky Palace (Italian St., 25)

The mansion belonged to the young favorite of Elizabeth Petrovna Ivan Shuvalov, a very versatile person who was interested in politics and art. Largely thanks to his efforts, Moscow University and the Academy of Arts were opened.

Instead of building a new mansion from scratch, it was decided, taking as a basis one of the existing buildings, to thoroughly rebuild it to your liking. The architect Savva Chevakinsky, who chose the Elizabethan Baroque style for him, was involved in the construction of the mansion. The mansion was built very quickly - in just two years, and Shuvalov moved there with his wife.
However, later, under Empress Catherine II, Shuvalov was excommunicated and forced to leave Russia. By order of one of the subsequent owners of the palace, Attorney General Alexander Vyazemsky, the palace was rebuilt in the classical style.

Marble Palace (Millionnaya street, 5/1)

Gatchina Palace

The Gatchina Palace also belonged to Grigory Orlov. It was built in an unusual style for Russia - an English hunting castle. The project was completed by Italian Antonio Rinaldi. This palace was also built for a very long time - 15 years, and Orlov lived in it for a very short time - only two years.

Tauride Palace (Shpalernaya street, 47)

This palace, one of the largest in Europe, Catherine the Great built for Prince Potemkin. It was under his command that the Russian army, having won the Russian-Turkish war, annexed Crimean peninsula, then called "Tauris." After that, they began to call Potemkin Tauride. But a year later Potemkin sold this palace as unnecessary and left on business to the south. Catherine bought this palace and presented it to him again - this time for the capture of the Turkish fortress Ishmael.

Summer Palace of Elizabeth Petrovna - The unreserved imperial residence in St. Petersburg, built by B.F. Rastrelli in 1741-1744 at the place where the Mikhailovsky (Engineering) Castle is now located. Demolished in 1797

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✪ Palace of Elizabeth Petrovna.

✪ Elizabeth's Wooden Summer Palace

✪ “Tsarskoye Selo Elizaveta Petrovna”

✪ Winter Palace Elizaveta Petrovna

✪ Winter Palace of Peter I

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Construction history

Even then, the idea came up to close the alley of the Summer Garden opposite the Karpiev Pond with a palace building. This is evidenced by the project - gg., Preserved in the archives. Possible author is J. B. Leblon. It depicts a small nine-axis palace, the elevated center of which is completed by a tetrahedral dome. Wide one-story galleries encompass a curdoner with a magnificent curly stall facing the Moika. Behind a garden with numerous bosquets of various shapes. Preserved fruit planting in the territory of the present Mikhailovsky Garden. However, things did not go beyond plans.

However, while the construction was underway, a coup took place, and Elizaveta Petrovna became the mistress of the building. By the year the wooden palace on the stone cellars had been finished in draft. The architect in the description of the buildings he created spoke of him like this:

“This building had more than 160 apartments, including a church, a hall and galleries. Everything was decorated with mirrors and rich sculptures, as well as a new garden decorated with beautiful fountains, with the Hermitage built on the ground floor level, surrounded by rich trellis, all of which were gilded. ”

Despite the location in the city, the building was decided according to the estate scheme. The plan was created under the explicit influence of Versailles, which is especially noticeable from the side of the courier: gradually narrowing spaces reinforced the effect of the baroque perspective of the courtyard, fenced from the driveway with a lattice of lush design with state emblems. One-story office buildings around the perimeter of the kurdoner emphasize the ensemble's traditional baroque isolation. The rather flat decor of the light pink facades (the mezzanine pilasters with Corinthian capitals and the rusting blades of the stone base corresponding to them, the curly platbands of the windows) was compensated by the rich play of volumes. Complicated in plan, the highly developed side wings included courtyards with small flower parterres. Lush access porticos led into the stairwells, as always with Rastrelli, offset from the central axis. From the front staircase, a series of living rooms decorated with gilded carvings led into the most representative hall of the palace - the Throne. Its two-volume volume accentuated the center of the building. Outside, curly staircases led to it, from the garden side complemented by ramps. Completed the appearance of the palace, giving it baroque splendor, numerous statues and vases on the pediments crowning the building and the balustrade. Rastrelli decorated the space before the Moika with floral stalls with three fountain pools of complex shapes.

As often happened with the creations of the architect, over time, a logical and harmonious initial plan changes to suit immediate requirements. In 1744, for the Empress to go to the 2nd Summer Garden through the Moika, he built a one-story indoor gallery, decorated with paintings hung on the walls. Here, at the north-western risalit, he creates a terrace hanging garden at the mezzanine level with the Hermitage pavilion and a fountain in the center of the stall. Along the contour, it is fenced with a lush gilded trellis grate, multi-march gatherings in the garden are arranged. In the future, the palace church is added to the northeastern risalit, expanding it with an additional row of rooms from the Fontanka. Flashlights appear on the western facade.

In the territory adjacent to the palace, a decorative park was set up with a huge complex green labyrinth, bosquets, trellis arbors and two trapezoidal ponds with semicircular protrusions (preserved until now, they acquired a free outline during the reconstruction of the park into a grand princely residence). About his work in the park in 1745, Rastrelli reports:

“On the banks of the Moika River in the new garden, I built a large bathhouse with a round salon and a fountain in several streams, with ceremonial relaxation rooms.”

In the center of the park were swings, slides, carousels. The arrangement of the latter is unusual: revolving benches were placed around a large tree, and a gazebo was hidden in the crown, into which they climbed a spiral staircase.

Another building located in the immediate vicinity of the northeast corner of the palace is connected with the name of the architect: the water supply system of the fountains of the Summer Garden, completed in the 1720s. no longer gave sufficient pressure, and did not correspond to the splendor and grandeur of the imperial residence. In the mid 1740s Rastrelli is building water towers with an aqueduct through the Fontanka. Complex in technical terms, a purely utilitarian wooden structure was decorated with palace luxury: the wall painting imitated a magnificent baroque molding.

Despite the fact that the palace was the ceremonial imperial residence, there was no direct connection with the Neva prospect: the road that walked among the unrepresentable random buildings (glaciers, greenhouses, workshops and the Elephant yard were on the banks of the Fontanka River) turned onto Italian Street, and only bypassing the I Palace I. Shuvalova, built by Savva Chevakinsky, the crews through Malaya Sadovaya fell on the central transport artery of the city. Direct communication will appear only in the next century thanks to the work of C. Rossi.

Elizaveta Petrovna was very fond of the Summer Palace. In late April - early May (weather permitting), the Empress's ceremonial move from the winter residence was formalized by a lavish ceremony with the participation of the courtyard, orchestra, guard regiments under the gun salute at the Winter Palace and guns of the Peter and Paul Fortress and the Admiralty. In parallel, the imperial yachts, standing on the roadstead opposite Apraksin's house, sailed to the Summer Garden. The queen set off on the return journey in the last days of September with the same ceremonies.

Church of the Intercession in Rubtsovo.

Mikhail Fedorovich himself was engaged in the arrangement of the royal estate. Nearby were stables, kitchens, bee hives, a brewery, a mill and other facilities.

The built wooden palace was facing the facade towards the road and the river Gnilushki. IN 1632 d. it was jammed, due to which it formed Rybinsk pond, (the remains of which were bombarded in the 1920s). A fruit garden was set up on the bank of the pond, where several years later unique trees, shrubs, medicinal herbs and flowers were planted and a stone arbor was built.

In Pokrovsky in 1627 the eldest daughter of Mikhail Fedorovich, Grand Duchess Irina Mikhailovna, was born, in honor of the heavenly patroness of whom the village was built church of the Martyr Irina. It was Irina Mikhailovna who got the property of Pokrovskoe. Her brother, Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, did not particularly favor the patrimonial patrimony, although he regularly visited the estate, especially in spring, summer and during the hunting season.

The young Tsar Peter II also liked to hunt here. IN 1728 year he came to Moscow with his young aunt Elizaveta Petrovna, and she very soon introduced him to the dog and falconry in the vicinity of the Mother See. With his retinue, they often went hunting in Sokolniki and stayed in the old Pokrovsky palace. The royal hunt became the theme of the famous painting by Valentin Serov.

However at the beginning 1730 g. Peter II died. The niece of Peter I Anna Ioannovna ascended the throne. Elizaveta Petrovna was in disgrace, was sent from St. Petersburg to Moscow and settled in the Pokrovsky Palace she loved with her relatives Skavronsky and Gendrikov. The palace for more than ten years has become the seat of the princess.

There is a legend that Elizabeth, by nature having a cheerful disposition, participated in festive round dances composed of Pokrov girls. She liked to dress up in a satin sundress and kokoshnik, weave a bright ribbon into a braid and sing ditties. This is very similar to Elizabeth, who, having already become empress, loved to arrange carnivals-metamorphoses, dressing in a man’s costume to demonstrate her slim legs.

Ascending the throne in 1741, after the death of Anna Ioannovna, Elizabeth ruled for 20 years and all this time she did not forget her beloved Pokrovsky. Already at the end of February 1741, having arrived in Moscow for the coronation, scheduled for April 25, and barely visiting the Kremlin cathedrals, Elizabeth left for Pokrovskoye, "to her winter home in Yauza." In the autumn of that year, on the orders of Elizabeth, her nephew, Duke Peter Golshtinsky, was brought to her, whom she declared her heir to the Russian throne as her closest blood relative.

At the same time, the heir accepted the Orthodox faith and became known as Peter Fedorovich (Peter III). In February 1744, Princess Anhalt-Zerbst came to Pokrovsky Palace with her 14-year-old daughter, Sophia-Augusta-Frederica, who was destined to be bride to Peter Fedorovich. On June 28, the anointing of Sophia-Augusta, which received the name of Ekaterina Alekseevna in Orthodoxy, was made, and the next day she was engaged to the heir to the throne.

Elizabeth visited Pokrovskoye from time to time and for a long time, almost a year, lived there. On the spot burned in a fire 1737 years, she built herself stone palace. It was a risalit block with a ceremonial two-room hall and a system of enfilades intersecting at right angles. Typical, in general, for its time layout. But the rooms at the same time were decorated in the "Chinese style", in the same style in the palace there were a lot of dishes.

In 1752, Pokrovskoye became part of the city. The state of the estate at that time no longer satisfied the imperial court. Here is how the architect Ivan Yakovlev described the palace: “In the palace, the ceilings and roofs covered with tesa came in great decay; and the soap with the chambers should be rebuilt due to a lot of dilapidation: and the palace will not be rebuilt again to be covered with iron: and over the course of the whole perestroika, will it not be commanded that it should be built again?

To draw up a new project for the expansion of the palace was invited F.-B. Rastrelli. AND the architect wanted to add another floor, raise central part buildings and enrich the facades with baroque decor and semicircular ramps adjacent to the protruding central risalit. However, the reconstruction project of the building was not implemented, and it remained in its original form right up to until the second half of the nineteenth century.

But the garden in Pokrovsky was of great interest - one of the best in Moscow (planned by the same Rastrelli). Located in the form of a rectangle with a church in the center, it is pierced by longitudinal and transverse fan-shaped alleys diverging from the oval platform around the church. The garden was based on fruit trees and shrubs. The stalls were planted with pears, apple trees, plums, cherries and hazel. Walking along them, it was possible to relish themselves.

Already in 1760, Elizabeth undertook a search for the Rastrelli project and asked if building materials had been stocked up in connection with it? However, that was the point.

The restructuring project of the Intercession Palace. The main facade. F.-B. Rastrelli, 1752 B., feather, mascara, aqu. RGADA.

The Catherine Palace, named after Catherine I, was the beloved residence of the three empresses - Catherine, Elizabeth Petrovna and Catherine II. Each of them added something of its own to the architecture of the ensemble: Catherine II, for example, refused the luxurious gilding that Elizabeth so valued, and was generally skeptical of this “whipped cream”.

From the hut to the palace

As far back as the 17th century, on the territory of the future Tsarskoye Selo there was a manor of the Swedish magnate - Sarsky manor. Some time later, locally they began to call Sarskoye village, and later - Tsarskoye. In 1718, the first "stone chambers" were laid here, which formed the basis of the magnificent Catherine Palace. The name we knew the palace received only in 1910. Prior to this, the residence of the empresses was called The grand palace, and later, after the construction of Alexander, began to be called Old.

The work was entrusted to the architect Braunstein, known for his building projects in Peterhof. In the decoration of the "chambers" used wood, and not the most durable species. In the future, this will play a cruel joke: the wooden coverings are so rotten that the floor will almost begin to fail. In 1724, the first celebration was held in Tsarskoye Selo on the occasion of the arrival of the emperor - “they threw three guns out of thirteen”.

Half the kingdom for the palace!

The future Empress Elizabeth inherited the manor from her mother. Tsesarevna loved her cottage, with which she had childhood memories. Having ascended the throne, Elizaveta Petrovna began to spend a lot of money on arranging her residence in order to compete with Versailles itself.

The first thing the empress decided to rebuild obsolete mansions. Under the guidance of Zemtsov and Kvasov, a detailed project was developed, which Benoit later wrote: ““ if the Kvasovsky project is inferior in luxury and brilliance to the Rastrelli building that we now admire, then in the sense of grace, balance and rhythm of the lines, it deserves preference ” .

In 1744, the reins were handed over to Rastrelli, but the architect took up the reconstruction of the palace directly later. It was thanks to Rastrelli that a building in the Russian Baroque style appeared, decorated with stucco and columns, painted in azure color. Elizaveta Petrovna was not stingy - more than 100 kilograms of gold went to the decoration of the facade and countless statues.

After the death of Elizabeth, Catherine II already ordered to gild sculptures in the park, as the late Empress bequeathed. But when Catherine found out how much such luxury would cost the treasury, she refused the work.

Old Fashioned Whipped Cream

Catherine II did not immediately fall in love with Tsarskoye Selo. In 1766, she complained in a letter: “For seven days now, I have been living in a country house in the house which the late Empress Elizabeth decided to pound outside and inside; there’s not a single comfortable chair in it ... There’s not even the possibility to lean on the table. " The newly-made empress considered this baroque “whipped cream” to be old-fashioned, and ordered the moldings to be removed and the gilding replaced with simple painting.

The interiors of the palace under Catherine worked the Scot Charles Cameron. He had to work hard: the Empress, a great lover of ancient art, ordered to combine old-fashioned Baroque halls with classic lines. It was under the leadership of Cameron that the ceremonial halls were decorated - Arabesque, Lyon and Chinese, he also created the Mirror, Blue and Silver rooms, the Raphael room and the famous Blue living room. True, the interiors of the northern half of the palace burned out during the Great Patriotic War.

The Secret of the Amber Room

The Amber Room, known to the whole world, was initially decorated with paintings painted under amber. The amber panels themselves were presented to Peter I by the Prussian King Frederick William I.

Peter wrote to his wife Catherine: “The king gave me a pretty present as a yacht, which was cleanly planted in Potsdam, and Amber’s office, about which they had long wanted.” For some time, mosaics were located in the Human Chambers in the summer garden. It was only in 1770 that the Amber Room appeared in the Catherine Palace, which is now known from photographs and in a reconstructed form.

With the death of Empress Anna Ioannovna, which followed in 1740, Biron became regent under the young emperor John Antonovich, who at that time was 2 months old. However, his regency was short-lived. Biron was arrested for abuse and exiled. The reign of the mother of the young emperor Anna Leopoldovna, who was appointed regent under him, was short-lived. On November 25, 1741, as a result of a palace coup, the daughter of Emperor Peter I Elizabeth Petrovna ascended the throne. The time of her reign is the time of the powerful take-off of Petersburg architecture. She loved the splendor and splendor, Elizabeth Petrovna wanted to see her father’s brainchild decorated beautiful buildings therefore, it was very concerned about the ceremonial construction in St. Petersburg and its suburbs. Having ascended the throne, Elizaveta Petrovna mainly lived in Summer palace on the site of the current Mikhailovsky Castle, which soon became cramped for the overgrown imperial court. During her reign, the St. Nicholas Naval Cathedral, the Winter Palace were built, the ensemble of the Smolny Monastery was built, Tuchkov and Sampsonievsky Bridges were erected, and finally Moscow University, the Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg and the Page Corps were opened. She invited the best architects of Europe to St. Petersburg, and among them the most striking was Bartolomeo Rastrelli. He erected the best buildings in St. Petersburg. This is the Winter Palace, rebuilt twice by him, Anichkov, Vorontsov, Stroganov palaces; Grand Peterhof Palace, Tsarskoye Selo (Catherine) Palace, Smolny Monastery and other buildings. Looking at the Cathedral of the Smolny Monastery, Quarenghi, who did not like the architecture of the Elizabethan Baroque, with the words: “Well, the church!”, He took off his hat.
Upon arrival in St. Petersburg, Elizaveta Petrovna ordered to build two palaces for herself at once, one temporary, wooden near the Police Bridge, the other stone on the Neva Embankment. Both palaces were designed by B. Rastrelli. The wooden palace, although it was built as a temporary one, was decorated with great luxury.
Nevsky Prospect by that time was the best street in the city. Elizabeth watched him beautify. Decrees were issued prohibiting the construction of wooden buildings on the main street of the city. Only stone houses were erected on the avenue. But they were not like the current ones. As a rule, these were two-story buildings with a mandatory front garden in front of a facade fenced with a patterned cast-iron grating. In 1755, they began to rebuild the Gostiny Dvor. Rastrelli's plan, characterized by great splendor of the decoration of the building, was not implemented due to lack of funding. Now we see the building of the Gostiny Dvor, designed by architect Valen-Delamot, who retained the layout of Rastrelli, but completed the building in the style of early classicism.
According to contemporaries, Elizaveta Petrovna was very beautiful, alive and flirtatious. Her palaces were lined with mirrors, in which she constantly saw her many times repeated reflection. For her stinted in Europe in a large number the most expensive outfits. After death, the Empress wardrobe had 15,000 dresses, some of which were never once worn. They themselves never wore the same dress twice. And she demanded the same from the courtiers, whose appearance she very much watched, issuing decrees one after another, regulating the appearance of their close associates. For example, a decree was issued forbidding court ladies to wear dark dresses, a decree that to go to the masquerade only in a good dress, and not "in the vile". And in the winter of 1747 a “hairy setting” came out, which ordered all court ladies to cut their hair and cover their heads with “black disheveled wigs,” which she herself betrayed. The reason for such a hard establishment was that the empress didn’t want to leave the hair in any way, the empress decided to dye her hair black, but for some reason it didn’t work either, and then she had to cut her hair and put on a black wig. And she did not like anyone to surpass her with beauty and perfection. Well, how was it not to publish a “hairy establishment”?
The time of Elizabeth is the time when the baroque style reigned in art, which was to match the cheerful character of the empress with her whims and love of luxury. Architectural masterpieces Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli, still striking us with grace, luxury and splendor - a monument of that time. And one of them is the Smolny Monastery, which was built by the Empress for herself. At one time, she had a desire to abdicate and go to the monastery. Thousands of soldiers and artisans were rounded up to build the monastery. It was built on a grand scale. And a few years later he was outwardly ready. But then the seven-year war began, and construction stopped due to lack of money. Soon, Elizabeth’s desire to go to the monastery also disappeared.

G. R. Derzhavin called the time of the reign of Elizabeth "the age of songs." Elizaveta Petrovna really loved music and herself had outstanding musical abilities: she played many instruments and composed songs. Thanks to her, Russia met with a guitar, mandolin, harp and other instruments. An opera, ballet, and a drama theater, which she loved very much, blossomed under her. Shakespeare, Moliere and, of course, the plays of the first Russian tragedian Alexander Sumarokov were played on the stage of Russian theaters. In 1750, a theater was created in Yaroslavl by Fedor Grigorievich Volkov, whose performances were very successful. Having learned about the "Yaroslavl comedies", the empress by special decree called Volkov and the troupe to Petersburg. The initiative of Sumarokov and Volkov in 1756 officially established the "Russian Theater for the Presentation of Tragedies and Comedies", which laid the foundation for the creation of the Imperial Theaters of Russia. The theater was initially located in the Menshikov Palace, in which the Noble Cadet Corps for young nobles was opened in 1732. The first Russian tragedy “Horev” was staged here, and actors of the troupe Fedor Volkov were placed here in 1752.
With the active social life that Elizabeth led, sometimes her hands simply did not reach the government. The ministers ran for months after her so that she could sign a document between dressing for a ball or a masquerade. Fortunately, the bureaucratic machine, once launched by Peter, continued its work, and things went on as usual. In addition, she had wonderful helpers. She could well rely in P. I. Shuvalov in domestic politics, in A. P. Bestuzhev-Ryumin in foreign policy, and in I. I. Shuvalov's education sphere.
Balls and masquerades succeeded each other, competing with each other in splendor and splendor. But against the backdrop of this seemingly endless holiday, important events took place in St. Petersburg. Petersburg of this time is Petersburg of Lomonosov, the founder of Russian science and poetry, this is Petersburg of important geographical research and discoveries. In 1743, the eleven-year Second ended Kamchatka expedition, and two years later the Academic Atlas was published with maps of the vast territory from Baikal to Anadyr and northwest America.
Creating the Academy of Sciences at one time, Peter I thought of it as a center of higher education in Russia. This can be seen from the draft "Regulations of the Academy of Sciences and Arts", in which it was said that the members of the Academy, working "on the excellence of the arts and sciences", should "publicly teach those arts and sciences," that is, teach. That is, Peter thought of the Academy as a university. In 1745, M.V. Lomonosov became a professor at this Academic (or Petrovsky) University, who insisted that not only nobles be allowed to study at the university: “No one is forbidden to study at universities, no matter who he is, and the university’s honorable student who has learned more. ” Such an attitude of the professor of the first higher educational institution in Russia, the founder of domestic science, opened the way for many talented young people to get an education. Among the first “natural Russians” who graduated from Petrovsky University were Antioch Kantemir, Ivan Magnitsky, Petr Remizov. The poetic "Satires" of Antioch Cantemir were very popular at that time and went around on the lists.
The cultural needs and interests of the empress and the court, proximity to Europe, the very spirit of the city, from birth was intended to be a “window to Europe”, also contributed to increasing interest in culture and education. Gymnasiums appear in the city, both public and private. In 1757, the "Academy of the Three Noble Arts" was formed in St. Petersburg - painting, architecture and sculpture. The construction of the building for the Academy of Arts on Universitetskaya Embankment will not begin until 1764, and from the moment it was founded, it was located in the house of the initiator of its creation, I. I. Shuvalov, in the Shuvalov Palace on Sadovaya Street, between Nevsky Prospekt and Italianskaya Street. Her first students were Ivan Starov, Fedor Rokotov, Vasily Bazhenov. As a mosaic artist M.V. Lomonosov became an honorary member of the Academy. The mosaic panel of the work of MV Lomonosov “Poltava battle” is now in the building of the Academy of Sciences.
In 1751, on the Nikolaev embankment of the Neva, the current embankment of Lieutenant Schmidt, the Naval Gentry Cadet Corps opened, which later became the Naval Academy. From the pier where the monument to Kruzenshtern stands, all the outstanding Russian navigators and admirals went to sea.

Petersburg noisy Elizabethan era was little more than a modest Peter's Paradise. By this time, the city had created a favorable environment for the development of the economy. He did not demand exceptional measures to attract the population and finances. Ever increasing needs new capital transformed this whole land for many kilometers around. Carts with building material, food, various products of local crafts were drawn in thousands from the Novgorod, Pskov, and Olonets provinces. Ships from Europe, barges, boats, rafts, hundreds searched for mooring places at the marinas of the city.
During her twenty-year reign, Elizaveta Petrovna did not sign a single death sentence. And maybe that is why the internal life of the country as a whole during this period was stable - there were no riots in the country, nor bitterness. Some cruel amusements were forbidden: in Moscow and Petersburg it was forbidden to have bears, to shoot from rifles. In the sphere of foreign policy, this time was also a time of rest: of the 20 years of the reign of Elizabeth, 15 years were peaceful. And four years of Russian participation in the Seven Years' War (1756-1760) revealed the combat readiness of the Russian army, which defeated the invincible forces of Frederick the Great. And this is with the eternal Russian confusion, theft in the rear, and the ill-conceived strategic plans.