Forest Orangery

In the summertime, the paths and flower beds of the Palace Park were decorated with exotic flowers and plants grown in tubs and pots. For the winter period, the plants were removed to a specially constructed building - the Forest Greenhouse. In the far corner of the park, the ruins of this unusual building have survived to this day. In 1783, Antonio Rinaldi began construction of a stone greenhouse, based on the Richard Wood pavilion, erected in England in the middle of the century. Starts but does not end. Vincenzo Brenna created his own project, but, for some unknown reason, it was not accepted, and the architect had to finish building the greenhouse according to the English model. In 1794, an agreement was signed with the famous stonecutter Kiryan Plastinin. The construction was delayed, and the building was finally completed only by the end of 1796. The forest greenhouse had an exquisite and picturesque look. The rectangular building made of red brick was faced from the outside with smooth slabs of Pudost limestone. The side projections protruded slightly beyond the facade of the central part and were decorated with rustic woods from the ends. Five high windows with semicircular arches turned south. Thanks to this exotic plants, there was enough sunlight. The four-pitched roof was equipped with dormers over the central part and large glazed ones over the risolites. The height of the building together with the ridge of the roof was about ten meters, and the total length was almost forty. In 1798, under the direction of the garden architect James Hackett, an oval pond, called the Orangery, appeared in front of the main facade of the building. In its slopes, there are steps for descent, and around there are paths. In addition to decorating the greenhouse park, the reservoir had a purely practical purpose: water was taken from it for irrigation of numerous flowers and plants. In 1848, the Forest Greenhouse was reconstructed: wooden living quarters for the staff were added to it. The construction was supervised by the architect Alexei Baikov. During the retreat, the fascist invaders set fire to the greenhouse. Wall cladding was damaged, wooden structures and outbuildings burned down. The building has not yet been restored, is in ruins and continues to collapse. In 2013, access to the greenhouse was restricted by a metal fence.

The restoration did not reach the Orangery even in the form of conservation and it continues to decay ...

A historical place, it is a pity that it has not been restored.

It is what it is!

Very beautiful, clean. There are benches to relax. Near the Gatchina Palace. I would like all the reservoirs of the park to be cleaned and forgotten stone bridges restored.