Excursion to the Mariinsky Palace in Kyiv
All Kievans and guests of our city are always happy to walk in the Mariinsky Park on the Pechersky Hills of Kyiv. It is in this park that the most beautiful royal palace is located, the entrance to which was closed until recently.
But times are changing, and the Mariinsky Palace has opened its doors to those who wish to admire its renovated interiors.
The history of the palace begins in the middle of the 18th century and falls on the reign of the Russian Empress Elizaveta Petrovna.
Empress Elizaveta Petrovna
In 1744, Elizabeth went on a pilgrimage to the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, where she spent two weeks. For subsequent visits to Little Russia, she ordered the construction of the royal palace, now called the Mariinsky, to begin in Kyiv, and with her own hands laid the first stone in the foundation of St. Andrew's Church.
Among contemporaries, it was widely believed that Elizabeth was in a secret church marriage with Alexei Razumovsky, the brother of the last hetman of Ukraine, Kirill Razumovsky. No documents on this subject have been preserved.
Aleksey Razumovsky
(We visited the Razumovsky Palace in Baturyn as part of a one-day excursion from Kyiv - "Kozelets-Baturin »). There were rumors in St. Petersburg society at the end of the 18th century that Elizabeth had a son from Alexei Razumovsky and a daughter from Ivan Shuvalov. In this regard, after the death of Elizabeth Petrovna, many impostors appeared who called themselves her children from marriage with Razumovsky; the most famous among them is the so-called Princess Tarakanova.
The reign of Elizabeth Petrovna is marked by the revival of the traditions and ideals of the Petrine period, the restoration of the Governing Senate, the establishment of Moscow University, the construction of grandiose palaces and luxury.
During her reign, huge funds were allocated from the treasury for the arrangement of royal residences. The court architect Bartolomeo Rastrelli built the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg, which has since served as the main residence of Russian monarchs, and the Catherine Palace in Tsarskoe Selo. The Peterhof residences on the shores of the Gulf of Finland - Strelna and Peterhof - were thoroughly rebuilt.
Construction of such magnitude not only attracted craftsmen from abroad to Russia. The magnificent, major style of Rastrelli's buildings received the name of the Elizabethan Baroque in the history of architecture.
Thanks to Alexei Razumovsky, there was a "fashion" for everything Ukrainian at the court of the Empress.
The project of the Kiev royal palace was also developed by Rastrelli.
General view of the Mariinsky Palace
It is believed that the palace of Alexei Razumovsky in Perovo near Moscow became a model for the Kiev royal palace.
The main two-story building of the palace is connected on both sides with one-story outbuildings. Initially, the first floor was stone, and the second wooden. Typical for the Baroque and colors - blue walls, white trim, stucco and gold. The palace is magnificently decorated both inside and outside: mascarons and columns, stairs and cornices.
The ceiling in the meeting room
All this gives the palace an extra glamor.
The opening of the palace took place in 1752. Simultaneously with the construction of the royal palace in Kyiv, according to the project of Rastrelli, St. Andrew's Church was also built, which has survived to this day almost in its original form.
St. Andrew's Church in Kyiv
The customer did not have time to visit the palace. After 25 years, the first royal person who stopped at the Mariinsky Palace was Catherine II, who visited Kyiv in 1787.
Since the end of the 18th century, Kiev governor-generals have lived here.
Fireplace in the meeting room
In 1819, a great fire completely destroyed the second wooden floor of the palace, and the first was also damaged. Barracks were built in the partially renovated building.
In 1835, the premises of the palace were rented by the Society of Artificial Mineral Waters, which intensively produced medicinal waters and set up a sanatorium with a spa hall in the palace. Over the entire period of its existence, the society has been able to treat more than 3 thousand people. The business turned out to be profitable, the society was able to invest heavily in the restoration of the palace.
The palace acquired its current appearance in 1870, when the Russian architect Karl Mayevsky, referring to the old plans of the palace, completed the second stone floor and a terrace with steps to the garden.
Second faç ade
And also a new park was laid out near the palace. It was from that time that the palace began to be called the Mariinsky - in honor of Empress Maria Alexandrovna. Since then, a monogram with intertwined letters M and A began to appear on the wrought-iron gratings of the fence, as well as on curtains and interior items.
Forged gratings
During the First World War, the mother of Emperor Nicholas II, Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna, moved to the Mariinsky Palace, who oversees the dispatch of ambulance trains and the treatment of the wounded. She spends two years there until the abdication of her son Emperor Nicholas II, which she learns about in the palace. The Empress Dowager went to Mogilev to see "dear Niki", and then moved to the Crimea. In April 1919, she was evacuated to Great Britain aboard a British battleship, from where she soon moved to her native Denmark.
After the revolution, the palace housed various councils, military command, headquarters and the infamous Cheka. The palace became a prison, the Chekists administered their justice here. The park next to the palace became a place of executions and burials.
In 1934, the capital returned from Kharkov to Kyiv, and it was decided to use the palace building for meetings of the Verkhovna Rada. However, the building clearly did not meet this purpose, and in 1939 it was decided to build the building of the Verkhovna Rada nearby.
During the years of German occupation, during the bombardment by Soviet aircraft, one of the bombs hit the palace. Only in 1949, after the completion of repair and restoration work, the building was placed at the disposal of the Verkhovna Rada.
Since 1991, after the restoration of Ukraine's independence, the palace has become the official residence of the President of Ukraine. Summits, official receptions at the highest level, ceremonies of presenting credentials by ambassadors of foreign states, awards, and summits are held here. At different times, US Presidents Richard Nixon, George W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and other well-known politicians have visited the palace.
From 2003 to 2018, the palace was under reconstruction, after which it was inaugurated.
And since September 2020, all citizens of Ukraine, by appointment, can get there for a 45-minute tour.
Record here: m-palace. com. ua.
When registering for a tour, you must indicate your passport data, and when visiting, be sure to present your passport. The cost for an adult is 150 hryvnia, for students and pensioners - 75 hryvnia. Tours are held on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
The tour starts in the right wing of the palace, passes through beautiful corridors. . .
. . . and semicircular galleries. . .
One of the corridors of the palace
. . . from which we can see the patios.
Patio
Memorial gifts to the President of Ukraine are now exhibited in the galleries.
Next we go up the front stairs. . .
Front staircase
. . . and we get to the Meeting Hall of official delegations.
Hall for the meeting of official delegations
As the guide told us, the parquet in this hall is made of 11 precious woods.
From this hall we go to the negotiation room.
Negotiation room
It must be said that the paintings in the Mariinsky Palace are exclusively the work of Ukrainian artists.
Pictures in the meeting room
After the Negotiation Hall, we inspect several lounges. . .
Recreation room
. . . and smoothly move to the dining room.
Dining room
The tour ends here.
I don't know how much the interiors have been changed since the reconstruction.
Hall on the first floor of the palace
This is a question for the experts. But it is still interesting to see the Mariinsky Palace.
P. S. In the spring, they promise to expand the route around the palace. They will also add an exit to the palace garden.
