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Less popular among tourists, but nonetheless just amazing as the rest!
Oranienbaum is suburb of St. Petersburg and the home to the Grand Menshikov Palace and surrounding park with several other smaller palaces, which, along with the city center of Lomonosov, are a UNESCO World Heritage Sites.
Oranienbaum isn't given much attention by tourists, as Puskin, Peterhof, Pavlovsk and even Gatchina often win out in the hearts of visiters. But that's not to say Oranienbaum isn't worth visit, I believe quite the contrary actually.
After a recent visit to the newly restored park and palace, I came away very impress with the complex, and would even venture to say that I enjoyed it more than Pavlovsk and Gatchina for sure, and maybe even Pushkin, although it's hard to compete with Catherine's Palace.
Peter the Great gave the land in 1907, only four years after he founded St. Petersburg, to his best friend Aleksandr Menshikov, who built his residence, the Grand Menshikov Palace, there from 1710-27. The Palace was designed by architects Giovanni Maria Fontana and Gottfried Schadel, who also designed Menshikov's St. Petersburg Palace. The Palace is connected by two galleries with domed Japanese and Church Pavilions, also consisting of an upper and lower gardens.
After Peter's death Menshikov was outsted and the palace became the summer residence of Grand Duke Peter Fedorovitch, heir of Empress Elizabeth and future Emperor Peter III. Elizabeth had the famous architect Bartolomeo Francesco Rastrelli reconstruct the Grand Palace in order to add beauty.
In addition to the Grand Menshikov Palace, the complex includes the Chinese Palace, a mixture of baroque and classicism, as well as the Katalnaya Gorka Pavilion, all beautiful buildings. The park has many wonderful features, ponds, hills, streams and the breathtaking scenery.
The park can be reached by taking bus 200 or Marshrutka 300 or 420, travel time is around 40 min. You could also take a train from the Baltiisky station bound for Oranienbaum, Kalishe or Krasnoflotsk.
23.11.2011