- Gruzino
The Gruzino estate near
Chudovo ,Russia , was constructed by a team of Neoclassicalarchitect s underVasily Petrovich Stasov for CountAlexey Arakcheyev in the 1810s.Count Arakcheyev chose Gruzino as an imperial gift from Emperor Paul when Arakcheyev was appointed Commandant of St. Petersburg, though the area was in disrepair. He was given the land despite prior claim to it by the governor of the Novgorod and
Tver provinces. Using serf labor, Arakcheyev built Gruzino to one of the most up-to-date estates in Russia at the time. The celebrated sculptorIvan Martos contributed a statue ofEmperor Paul . Two months after Arakcheyev's death, Emperor Nicholas gave the estate to theNovgorod Cadet Corps .Although it is stated officially that the manor was destroyed by the Nazis during the
World War II , [http://web.archive.org/web/20041120032433/http://www.sptimes.ru/archive/times/490/features/bell.htm other sources] maintain that the estate was wiped out in the 1930s, duringStalin 'sindustrialisation process. The statues of lions formerly adorning the porch are all that remains from this Neoclassical ensemble: these were transported and mounted for display in theNovgorod kremlin.External links
* [http://novgorod.forest.ru/les/park/grusino.htm Article in Russian]
* [http://www.hermitagemuseum.org/html_En/13/hm13_3_019.html Restoration of timepiece from Gruzino estate]References
*Jenkins, Michael. (1969) "Arakcheev: Grand Vizier of the Russian Empire".
The Dial Press , Inc. ISBN 0-571-08222-X
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