Tsaritsyno Park + palace, Palace complex and park in Orekhovo-Borisovo Severnoye District, Moscow, Russia
Tsaritsyno is a palace and park ensemble covering more than 100 hectares on hilly terrain cut by ravines in southern Moscow, bounded by two deep ravines, the Tsaritsyno ponds and a greenhouse complex. Vasily Bazhenov began it in 1776 as a pseudo-Gothic summer residence, with separate pavilions arranged on geometric principles; Matvey Kazakov later added the single Grand Palace. The red brick and white stone Figured Gate, with its central pointed arch, side archways and double-headed eagle gates, is among the surviving structures.
Catherine the Great commissioned the construction starting in 1776 as a summer residence, but she later rejected the completed main building and never lived there. The complex remained unfinished for over two centuries until extensive work in the early 2000s restored the structures.
The name Tsaritsyno means "property of the tsarina", a reference to Catherine the Great, who bought the estate from Prince Cantemir in 1775. Bazhenov's stone carvings on the pavilions are often read as Masonic ciphers and emblems; he was initiated into a lodge in 1784.
The ensemble lies between two deep ravines, with the Tsaritsyno ponds on the west and the greenhouse complex on the east. The ground is hilly and cut by ravines, so allow time for slopes between the palace and the waterside. The park connects to Tsaritsyno, Orekhovo-Borisovo Severnoye and Biryulyovo Vostochnoye districts.
The main palace stood as a roofless ruin for over two hundred years until restorers in the early 2000s created an entirely new interior. Today it houses concert halls and exhibition rooms that were never part of the original plans.
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