A delegation of the Government of the Russian Federation led by Dmitry Chernyshenko, Deputy Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, today paid a visit to the Tsarskoe Selo State Museum Preserve. Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Gazprom Management Committee, took part in the event.
Alexey Miller acquainted the delegation with the main charity projects implemented by Gazprom in St. Petersburg. Particular attention was paid to the restoration of the historical appearance of the Catherine Palace at the Tsarskoe Selo Museum, the conservation of the Chinese Palace in Oranienbaum, the full-scale recreation of the Poltava ship of the line, and the urban improvement program for the historical center of St. Petersburg.
The event participants took a tour of the interiors of the Catherine Palace, including the newly-conserved Palace Chapel of the Resurrection and the restored Lyons Hall. The delegation also visited the Zubov Wing, which has been under restoration since 2019. Owing to Gazprom’s support, these projects help reinstate the unique interiors lost during the Great Patriotic War into the palace’s exhibition spaces.
In addition, the delegation had a chance to see a master class for young conservation experts organized under Gazprom’s educational program entitled Friends of St. Petersburg. Talking to the participants in the master class, Dmitry Chernyshenko stressed the importance of preserving and supporting St. Petersburg’s conservation traditions, which encompass expertise, knowledge and technology that should be shared, as well as the need to scale this program up to the federal level in order to give young architects and conservation professionals from across the country an opportunity to get valuable training together.
Dmitry Chernyshenko highly praised the contribution made by the Company to preserving the historical and cultural legacy of St. Petersburg, as well as fostering its further development.
“Today, we saw the unique interiors of the Catherine Palace – a crown jewel of Russian and world architecture – being rebuilt virtually from the ruins. Here at Tsarskoe Selo, the goal set by the President becomes especially clear: to provide for spiritual and moral education of our population based on historical and cultural values. The tradition of philanthropy, which is maintained by Gazprom, is reflected here in the preservation of unique treasures of our country. The Company has been investing in St. Petersburg for many years, providing extensive assistance to the comprehensive development of the city, and this serves as an example of taking a responsible attitude to an area of operation. Thanks to projects like these, access to unique places becomes available to as many Russian citizens as possible, and it is particularly essential to save and conserve these properties for future generations,” said Dmitry Chernyshenko.
“Preserving the unique appearance of St. Petersburg while supporting its development as a modern and comfortable city is a vital and very important challenge. And Gazprom has been implementing projects for restoring and preserving cultural and historical legacy for many years now. The work we are doing with the Tsarskoe Selo and Peterhof Museums can be considered undoubtedly unique from a conservation point of view. Also notable is our most ambitious program, which has been underway since 2007, namely the reconstruction and urban improvement efforts in the historical center of St. Petersburg. As of today, the program has covered more than 70 streets, small parks, squares, embankments, and historical architectural ensembles,” said Alexey Miller.
Background
The Tsarskoe Selo Museum Preserve (Pushkin, St. Petersburg) is a magnificent monument of world architecture and landscape design of the 18th to early 20th centuries. The Great Palace of Tsarskoe Selo (the Catherine Palace), the centerpiece of the palace and garden complex, is an example of the Russian Baroque style.
With support from Gazprom, a large-scale restoration was performed at the Palace Chapel of the Resurrection and at the Lyons Hall. During the Great Patriotic War, the chapel was significantly damaged, and the interiors of the Lyons Hall were completely lost. As of this date, the main part of the restoration work is finished.
In 2019, Gazprom launched a new ambitious project entitled “Catherine II. Personal Space.” The purpose of the project is to restore the interiors of eight personal rooms in the Catherine Palace’s Zubov Wing that belonged to Catherine the Great and were later completely lost. It is planned to finish the project in 2023.
Gazprom is also a partner of the Peterhof State Museum Reserve in the project for the restoration of the Chinese Palace in Oranienbaum. With support from the Company, the building’s facade and the interiors of eleven halls have been restored; it is planned to complete the restoration of another six halls by the end of 2024.
Also with support from Gazprom, the Poltava vessel was restored in full scale in St. Petersburg. Poltava was a fourth-rate 54-gun ship of the line, the first ship of the line to have been built at the St. Petersburg Admiralty Shipyards. The ship will become the centerpiece of the Poltava Sailboat cultural and historical center dedicated to the Russian fleet. The vessel was launched in 2018. It has since taken part in two naval parades celebrating Russian Navy Day.
The Company is implementing a large-scale urban improvement program in St. Petersburg. As part of the program, more than 70 streets, small parks, squares and embankments have had their pavements repaired, street lighting renovated, and buildings of historical and cultural value provided with architectural lighting. Works are currently in progress on Tchaikovskogo St., Gagarinskaya St., Gangutskaya St., Oruzheinika Fyodorova St., and Solyany Pereulok.
In 2020, Gazprom launched a new social project named Friends of St. Petersburg. The project aims to provide training for a new generation of professionals in the field of conservation and museum studies. To that end, facilities supported by the Company will host open educational sessions for students of educational institutions specializing in arts, architecture and conservation. There will also be discussions featuring world experts, who will share their experience in protecting and restoring World Heritage properties. The project is supported by the Administration of St. Petersburg.
