Gatchina State Museum-Reserve

About museum

Gatchina Museum-Reserve is one of the most beautiful palace-and-park ensembles in the vicinity of St. Petersburg. Its heart is Gatchina Palace, which until 1917 served as the residence of the Russian emperors. Under Paul I the Gatchina landscape park was laid out, along with the regular 'Sylvia' park in a woodland style with the Palace Farm, the 'Zverinets' park for horseback rides and hunting, and the Priory landscape park.

In 1799 the Priory Palace was erected on the shore of the Black Lake to a design by the architect Nikolay Lvov, using a unique rammed-earth technology. It was intended for the prior of the Order of Malta, Louis Joseph de Bourbon, Prince of Condé, but ultimately became a pavilion for the imperial family's recreation during walks in the Priory Park or hunts.

Today the museum-reserve includes the Gatchina and Priory Palaces, the unified Palace Park complex (Gatchina Park and 'Sylvia' Park), 'Zverinets' Park and the section of the Priory Park adjacent to the Priory Palace. The total area of the museum-reserve exceeds 550 hectares.