1782 – 1796. Architect: Charles Cameron.
The Pavlovsk Palace was built by the court architect of Catherine II, Charles Cameron, for Catherine’s son Paul. Catherine gave the lands along the Slavianka River, a mere three miles from her palace in Tsarskoe Selo, to her son Paul and his wife Maria Fedorovna upon the birth of their first son, the future Emperor Alexander I. The palace was designed with Palladian simplicity. The Palladian style received its name from the sixteenth century Venetian architect Andrea Palladio whose work had a lasting impact on the European architecture of the three subsequent centuries. The Palladian style emulated the geometric proportions and symmetry of ancient Greek and Roman temples, particularly the Pantheon in Rome. The characteristic Palladian feature is a classical portico with columns and pediment.
In the large Pavlovsk Park, Cameron built several rustic structures, including a Swiss chalet and a dairy farm that served to remind Maria Fedorovna of her native land in the Duchy of Württemberg near Basel, Switzerland. After Paul’s death, the Pavlovsk Palace became the permanent residence of the Dowager Empress Maria Fedorovna.
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