59°33′29″N 30°7′17″E / 59.55806°N 30.12139°E / 59.55806; 30.12139

Priory Palace

Priory Palace (Russian: Приоратский дворец) is an original palace in the formerly royal town of Gatchina, Leningrad oblast, Northwest Russia, a suburb of Saint Petersburg. It was built in 1799 by the architect Nikolay Lvov on the shore of the Black Lake (Chyornoye ozero / Чёрное озеро). Constructed for the Russian Grand Priory of the Order of St John, it was presented to the Order by a decree of Paul I of Russia dated August 23, 1799.

Features

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The Priory is the only surviving architectural monument in Russia built mainly by the technology of earthwork: layers of compacted loam are poured with lime mortar. The walls of the palace, the fence, and the court buildings were built using this technology.[1] The retaining wall is made of the famous Pudost stone, with which many of Gatchina's buildings were built.[2]

 
Priory Palace

The researchers note the precision of the layout of the Priory, the original composition, and the characteristic refusal of symmetry.[2][1]

References

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  1. ^ a b Ki︠u︡chariant︠s︡, D. A. (2001). Gatchina : khudozhestvennye pami︠a︡tniki. Abram Grigorʹevich Raskin. Sankt-Peterburg: Lenizdat. ISBN 5-289-02007-1. OCLC 50503644.
  2. ^ a b Makarov, V. K. (2005). Gatchina. A. N. Petrov (2-e izd., ispr. i dop ed.). Sankt-Peterburg: Izd-vo S. Khodova. ISBN 5-98456-018-6. OCLC 191258144.
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