One of the main attractions that the Voronezh Region is proud of is the Palace of Oldenburg. It has an interesting history, inextricably linked with the fate of some representatives of this dynasty. At the same time, many Voronezh residents have never seen the palace of the Prince of Oldenburg in Gagra, which is no less picturesque. During the Soviet period, it housed the famous sanatorium "Skala". Both structures were mercilessly plundered in the 90s, and only relatively recently they began to be reconstructed.
Oldenburg house in Russia
This dynasty is of German origin, and its representatives reigned in several countries of Europe. Few people know that the statement that the Romanovs ruled Russia is not entirely true. In fact, from the moment Peter III came to the throne and until 1917, the country was in the possession of the Holstein-Gottorp line of the House of Oldenburg. In addition, many representatives of this dynasty held important posts in Russia. For example, for many years Novgorod,Tver and Yaroslavl governor-general was George of Oldenburg, married to the sister of Emperor Alexander the First. He distinguished himself during the Patriotic War of 1812 and in administrative work. His son Peter Georgievich of Oldenburg was a close friend of Emperor Alexander II, held important positions and was a well-known benefactor.
The traditions of their family were continued by Alexander Petrovich Oldenburgsky, a member of the State Council, the organizer of the centralized fight against epidemics and the initiator of the founding of the Institute of Experimental Medicine, and his younger brother Konstantin. Being the youngest offspring of his family, he left the capital and permanently resided in the Caucasus, developing resort business and viticulture.
Princess Evgenia Maximilianovna of Oldenburg
This woman is known as one of the few representatives of the fair sex who was awarded the medal "For Impeccable Service to the Fatherland in the Field of Charity and Education".
Evgenia Maximilianovna Romanovskaya was the granddaughter of Nicholas I and the great-granddaughter of Napoleon's wife Josephine (from her son from her first marriage, Eugene Beauharnais). At the age of 23, she married Prince Alexander Petrovich of Oldenburg and bore him a son.
Evgenia Maksimilianovna was a trustee of many scientific and charitable societies. Among her deeds for the benefit of the country, it should be noted the creation of a wide network of children's art schools for boys from the class of artisans and the publication of postcards with reproductions of paintings from famous metropolitanmuseums. In addition, she, as they would say today, was engaged in business. She began to show her talents in this area after Alexander II presented her with the Ramon estate in 1879.
Palace of Princess of Oldenburg in Ramon
Moving to the Voronezh province, Evgenia Maximilianovna decided to transform her estate, make it exemplary and build a comfortable home for her family.
The project of the palace (modern address: Ramon, Shkolnaya st., 21) was commissioned by the architect Christopher Neisler, and in 1883 work began on its construction. It lasted 4 years, after which a solemn housewarming ceremony was held, which was attended by many important guests of the capital.
Description
The Palace of the Princess of Oldenburg of red brick was erected on the very edge of the cliff. It was built in the Neo-Gothic style, fashionable at that time, but unprecedented in the Voronezh province, with lancet towers and windows highlighted in white. The walls of the palace are quite massive and are one meter thick.
The entrance gate is decorated with a tower, on which a large clock was mounted, ordered from the famous British company Winter. The building itself has excellent acoustics, which at one time intensified the ringing of bells.
Decor
For the exquisite design of the building's exterior, blacksmiths were brought in to decorate the balconies with wrought-iron railings and twisted iron gates.
In addition, the thinnest tin wire was woven into the glass of the roof of the eastern verandain the form of a web, which was supposed to prevent glass from breaking due to the impact of random objects.
There was a small fountain in front of the castle. Even more interesting was the landscaping of the backyard. On it, stone flights of stairs led to an artificial picturesque grotto and to a copper statue of a fabulous fish spewing water jets.
Interior
The Palace of Oldenburg in Ramon once impressed with its interior decoration and comfort. In particular, he had the most perfect heating system at that time: special voids were created in the walls, through which heat from the only furnace located in the basement was transmitted throughout the castle.
An oak staircase led to the second floor in 2 turns. The height and depth of its steps were calculated in such a way that it was convenient for ladies in long dresses to climb it.
As well as outside, the palace of Oldenburg in Ramon was decorated from the inside with forged lanterns, coasters and chandeliers. Ceilings, walls and columns were finished with dark bog oak. The princess herself took an active part in decorating the library, on the ceiling of which there were drawings based on ancient Greek myths and heraldic symbols of the Oldenburg family made of hexagons.
Estate
Telling about the palace of the Princess of Oldenburg, one cannot fail to say a few words about what transformations were made by this amazing woman in its vicinity. In particular, to this day, local residents use the Grafskaya-Ramon railway line. The princess founded a confectionery factory, which used steam engines, installed water supply. Electricity appeared in public institutions and enterprises, etc. With the participation of Oldenburgskaya from Europe, 11 deer were imported to Russia and launched into a fenced forest area for the purpose of breeding. Subsequently, they became the ancestors of the herd of these animals living in the Voronezh State Biosphere Reserve.
Palace of the Princess of Oldenburg: history
It has long been noted that architectural structures have their own destiny. So the Oldenburg Palace in Ramon has seen a lot in its lifetime. After a short period of prosperity in 1917, the previous owners left it and emigrated to Canada. They entrusted their estate to the manager Koch, who did everything to fill his pockets and fled. Since the 1920s, the Oldenburg Palace has been used as a barracks, school, hospital, factory management, etc.
According to legend, the building was not damaged during the war, as the German command did not want to destroy the estate, which belonged to the offspring of a famous German aristocratic dynasty.
In the 1970s, projects for its restoration began to be considered for the first time. However, no effective steps have been taken in this direction.
The current state of the palace
In March 2014, the Government of the Voronezh Region approved the concept for the restoration of the Palace Complex, which provides for the restoration of the landscape and the placement of museum expositions inside the building. Whereinone of the buildings of the estate "House with risalits" is supposed to be provided to investors for the implementation of their projects.
Some work has already been done. In particular, tourists who recently visited the palace of the Princess of Oldenburg (the correct name without mentioning the title of the owner) usually note in their reviews that the landscape park has been put in order on the estate and the building itself looks very good. However, many are dissatisfied with its internal state, to which the hands of restorers never reached.
A. P. Oldenburgian
The husband of Evgenia Maksimilianovna (Alexander Petrovich) was in everything to match his wife. The list of his deeds for the benefit of the Fatherland will take more than one page. In 1890, he decided to start creating a resort area, as it was then customary to say - a climatic station, in Gagra. According to his idea, Abkhazia was to turn into a Russian Monte Carlo. Alexander Petrovich founded a telegraph there, installed electric lighting and plumbing, and created a subtropical technical school. On January 9, 1903, the official opening of the resort took place at the Gagripsh restaurant.
Palace in Gagary: construction
To be able to fully devote himself to the implementation of his project, Prince Alexander Petrovich decided to build a house in Abkhazia for himself and his family. The palace of the Prince of Oldenburg in Gagra (whose photo is presented in the article) began to be built on the wild rock of the Zhoekvara gorge, from where a gorgeous view of the Gagra Bay, hotels, a park, a pier, a highway fromsides of Adler and Bazaar. The creation of a project for the main building and outbuildings was entrusted to Grigory Ippolitovich Lutsedarsky. It is believed that the builders tried several times to lay the foundation for the palace, but each time it cracked. Finally, the prince was advised to turn to an Iranian contractor who had been living in Gagra for many years, named Yahya Abbas-ogly. He agreed to get down to business together with his team and successfully coped with all the tasks assigned to him.
Palace in Gagra: description
Initially, two buildings were built on the rock. First, an asymmetrical western part of the palace was built with a large round window, a tall chimney and a panoramic terrace, as well as a decorative element that depicts a vine curl. In parallel with this, a four-story part of the palace was being built. It looked like a small hotel with a gallery-like ground floor with stone chimneys and many living rooms with small identical balconies.
Above the palace, the upper wing with an observation tower, which was used for the residence of servants, has been preserved.
History of the Palace
The prince treated his Abkhaz dwelling with great love. As in Ramon, the Oldenburg Palace in Gagra was equipped with all the comfortable life support systems that existed at that time. Nicholas II and his family, the Grand Dukes Romanovs and relatives representing the German branch of the Oldenburg family repeatedly visited him.
Alexander Petrovich himselfspent a lot of time in the palace. Sometimes his son and his wife Olga, the younger sister of Nicholas II, came to visit him. However, the young spouses of Oldenburg did not particularly like the palace in Gagra. Therefore, most often Alexander Petrovich had to be content with the company of Evgenia Maximilianovna, who by that time was paralyzed and could not move independently. By the way, it was in his palace that the Prince of Oldenburg learned about the outbreak of the First World War in 1914. He immediately went to St. Petersburg and never returned to his beloved home.
Art Collection
Prince Alexander Petrovich has collected quite a large collection of paintings in his palace. This collection of canvases included paintings by Aivazovsky, Bryullov, Shchedrin, Levitan, and many copies of works by old masters of the Italian school. Her decoration was the painting "Annunciation" by Martini and "The Return of Joachim to the Shepherds" by Giotto. In addition, for the rooms of the guests of the palace, Oldenburgsky acquired landscapes of Gagra and its environs. Unfortunately, during the turbulent revolutionary times and during the Civil War, the collection disappeared, and its further fate is still unknown.
Petersburg Residence
The Palace of Oldenburg is another architectural structure, which is known as the Betsky House, as it was built in 1784, presumably by Vasily Bazhenov for a we althy Catherine nobleman. It is located on the Palace Embankment and near the Swan Canal. The house in plan formsregular quad with a spacious courtyard. It consists of several multi-storey buildings, decorated with turrets. In the old days there was a hanging garden. It was located at different levels and was picturesquely visible between the towers.
In 1830, the Betsky House was bought out to the treasury and presented to Prince P. G. Oldenburgsky, the father of Alexander Petrovich. He ordered to build a third floor above the southern building overlooking the Field of Mars. The Dance Hall was placed in it, as the Oldenburg spouses loved to give balls. The new owners did not like the Hanging Gardens, so they were removed. Only the façade overlooking the Neva remained unchanged. At the same time, part of the premises was replanned and finished according to the project of V. P. Stasov in the style of classicism. In addition, the same architect built a Protestant chapel inside the building in the name of Christ the Savior, because, despite the love for their new homeland, the Oldenburgs did not change the faith of their ancestors to Orthodoxy.
After his father's death in 1881, the mansion became the property of Prince Alexander. After he married Evgenia Maximilianovna, who converted to Orthodoxy, a small Orthodox church in the name of the Most Holy Theotokos also appeared in the palace.
Further history
In 1917, the Palace of Prince Oldenburgsky in St. Petersburg (Palace Embankment, 2/4) was sold by the owners to the Provisional Government, then transferred to the Ministry of Education. The rich collection of paintings in the building was transferred to the State Hermitage.
In later years in the palaceat first, various institutions were located, and then it was divided into communal apartments. Only in 1962 the Betsky House was transferred to the Leningrad Library Institute. At the moment, the building houses the St. Petersburg State University of Culture and Arts.
Now you know what is remarkable and where the Oldenburg Palace (Voronezh) is located, as well as the residences that once belonged to this family, which are located in Gagra and St. Petersburg.
