Gatchina. The Imperial Residence of Paul I
Description:
When my guests choose an excursion to Gatchina, I understand that I have people with delicate taste. This is not the most popular direction among the suburbs of St. Petersburg, and the more valuable it is. Gatchina is not about parade and gilding. It is about mystery, power and silence with a stone face.
I meet guests at the hotel and we head south. Forty minutes - and the city dissolves, there are only spruce forests, swamps, paths leading as if to another Russia. More strict. More real.
Gatchina Palace does not meet with a smile. He's looking seriously. Gray stone, high refectory tower, almost a fortress. It was built as a hunting castle for Orlov, then rebuilt for Paul I - and he left his mark here especially brightly. Here everything is imbued with his spirit: restrained, military, a little anxious.
I lead guests through rooms that don't have much gold, but a lot of meaning. Here they did not play the imperial fairy tale – they lived, loved, feared, hid. We walk through the long galleries, go down into the underground passage (it's real!), stand by the window from where Paul was watching his garrison.
And then the park. It is impossible to describe - it is huge, and at the same time cozy. I show hidden trails, bridges, islands and the famous Black Pond. There is no longer a palace rigour, but a real northern romance. Forest, water, reflections. Sometimes it's a light fog, and it's like a shot from an old movie.
Back in St. Petersburg, my tourists often say that they did not expect this. That Gatchina seemed to have discovered another Russia for them – harsh, honest and beautiful in its own way.
The price includes:
# excursion on my Hyundai Creta car for a group of 1-3 people costs 14000 rubles
# excursion by car "minivan" (driver + guide) for a group of 1-6 people costs 25000 rubles
# excursion by car "microbus" (driver + guide) for a group of 7-12 people costs 32000 rubles
# excursion by car "microbus" (driver + guide) for a group of 13-16 people costs 38000 rubles
# excursion for a group of more than 16 people by agreement
Entrance tickets to the park and the palace are paid separately.
Photographs (8)
