Battle of the palaces - AbsoluteAstronomy.com


Catherine Catherine II of Russia Catherine II, also known as Catherine the Great , Empress of Russia, was born in Stettin, Pomerania, Prussia on as Sophie Friederike Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst-Dornburg...	Paul Paul I of Russia Paul I was the Emperor of Russia between 1796 and 1801. He also was the 72nd Prince and Grand Master of the Order of Malta .-Childhood:...

The "battle of the palaces" occurred in the Russian Empire

Russian Empire

The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...

in the last decade of the reign of Catherine II

Catherine II of Russia

Catherine II, also known as Catherine the Great , Empress of Russia, was born in Stettin, Pomerania, Prussia on as Sophie Friederike Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst-Dornburg...

(1784–1796) and the reign of Paul I

Paul I of Russia

Paul I was the Emperor of Russia between 1796 and 1801. He also was the 72nd Prince and Grand Master of the Order of Malta .-Childhood:...

(1796–1801), with ripple effects extending into the beginning of the reign of Alexander I

Alexander I of Russia

Alexander I of Russia , served as Emperor of Russia from 23 March 1801 to 1 December 1825 and the first Russian King of Poland from 1815 to 1825. He was also the first Russian Grand Duke of Finland and Lithuania....

. A bitter standoff between Catherine and Paul, her only legitimate son and heir, manifested itself in transient political and ideological

Ideology

An ideology is a set of ideas that constitutes one's goals, expectations, and actions. An ideology can be thought of as a comprehensive vision, as a way of looking at things , as in common sense and several philosophical tendencies , or a set of ideas proposed by the dominant class of a society to...

conflicts, but also had a lasting, tangible impact on Russian architecture

Russian architecture

Russian architecture follows a tradition whose roots were established in the Eastern Slavic state of Kievan Rus'. After the fall of Kiev, Russian architectural history continued in the principalities of Vladimir-Suzdal, Novgorod, the succeeding states of the Tsardom of Russia, the Russian Empire,...

. Both parties materialized their political statements and their understanding of sovereign power

Sovereignty

Sovereignty is the quality of having supreme, independent authority over a geographic area, such as a territory. It can be found in a power to rule and make law that rests on a political fact for which no purely legal explanation can be provided...

in expensive construction projects involving the most illustrious architects of the period – Vasily Bazhenov, Vincenzo Brenna

Vincenzo Brenna

Vincenzo Brenna was an Italian architect and painter who was the house architect of Paul I of Russia. Brenna was hired by Paul and his spouse Maria Fyodorovna as interior decorator in 1781 and by the end of 1780s became the couple's leading architect...

, Charles Cameron

Charles Cameron (architect)

Charles Cameron was a Scottish architect who made an illustrious career at the court of Catherine II of Russia. Cameron, practitioner of early neoclassical architecture, was the chief architect of Tsarskoye Selo and Pavlovsk palaces and the adjacent new town of Sophia from his arrival in Russia in...

, Matvey Kazakov

Matvey Kazakov

Matvey Fyodorovich Kazakov was a Russian Neoclassical architect. Kazakov was one of the most influential Muscovite architects during the reign of Catherine II, completing numerous private residences, two royal palaces, two hospitals, Moscow University, and the Kremlin Senate...

, Giacomo Quarenghi

Giacomo Quarenghi

Giacomo Quarenghi was the foremost and most prolific practitioner of Palladian architecture in Imperial Russia, particularly in Saint Petersburg.- Career in Italy :...

, Ivan Starov

Ivan Starov

Ivan Yegorovich Starov was a Russian architect from St. Petersburg who devised the master plans for Yaroslavl, Voronezh, Pskov, Dnipropetrovsk, Mykolaiv, and many other towns in Russia and Ukraine...

. Catherine's palace projects followed the neoclassical canon

Neoclassicism

Neoclassicism is the name given to Western movements in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that draw inspiration from the "classical" art and culture of Ancient Greece or Ancient Rome...

of the Age of Enlightenment

Russian Enlightenment

The Russian Age of Enlightenment was a period in the eighteenth century in which the government began to actively encourage the proliferation of arts and sciences. This time gave birth to the first Russian university, library, theatre, public museum, and relatively independent press...

, while Paul deliberately leaned to emerging Romanticism

Romanticism

Romanticism was an artistic, literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Europe, and gained strength in reaction to the Industrial Revolution...

. Buildings that stylistically fell apart from these programs were demolished or rebuilt without hesitation. The "battle" began in 1785 with demolition of main palace in Tsaritsyno and culminated in 1796 with demolition of Pella

Pella Palace

Pella Palace was a former summer residence built in the reigh of Catherine II of Russia for her grandson, future emperor Alexander. It was situated on the left bank of the Neva River, 30 km east of Saint Petersburg, where the town of Otradnoye now stands. If completed, it would have been Russia's...

, the largest imperial palace in Saint Petersburg

Saint Petersburg

Saint Petersburg is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea...

area.

Background

Until 1722, the order of succession

Order of succession

An order of succession is a formula or algorithm that determines who inherits an office upon the death, resignation, or removal of its current occupant.-Monarchies and nobility:...

in Russia was based on primogeniture

Primogeniture

Primogeniture is the right, by law or custom, of the firstborn to inherit the entire estate, to the exclusion of younger siblings . Historically, the term implied male primogeniture, to the exclusion of females...

. In 1722 Peter I

Peter I of Russia

Peter the Great, Peter I or Pyotr Alexeyevich Romanov Dates indicated by the letters "O.S." are Old Style. All other dates in this article are New Style. ruled the Tsardom of Russia and later the Russian Empire from until his death, jointly ruling before 1696 with his half-brother, Ivan V...

parted with tradition and enacted the monarch's right (and, in fact, obligation) to name his or her successor at will. The change was followed with a series of palace coups

Coup d'état

A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...

; for most of the remaining 18th century the throne was occupied by women: Catherine I

Catherine I of Russia

Catherine I , the second wife of Peter the Great, reigned as Empress of Russia from 1725 until her death.-Life as a peasant woman:The life of Catherine I was said by Voltaire to be nearly as extraordinary as that of Peter the Great himself. There are no documents that confirm her origins. Born on...

, Anna

Anna of Russia

Anna of Russia or Anna Ivanovna reigned as Duchess of Courland from 1711 to 1730 and as Empress of Russia from 1730 to 1740.-Accession to the throne:Anna was the daughter of Ivan V of Russia, as well as the niece of Peter the Great...

, Elisabeth, Catherine II. Catherine II ascended to the throne through the murder of her husband, Peter III

Peter III of Russia

Peter III was Emperor of Russia for six months in 1762. He was very pro-Prussian, which made him an unpopular leader. He was supposedly assassinated as a result of a conspiracy led by his wife, who succeeded him to the throne as Catherine II.-Early life and character:Peter was born in Kiel, in...

when their only legitimate son, Paul, was seven years old. Paul retained affection to his late father throughout his life; with age, the feeling mutated into hatred for the mother.

In the beginning of Catherine's reign Paul was vital to her survival, being the living symbol of dynastic continuity. By 1772, as Paul was coming of age

Coming of age

Coming of age is a young person's transition from childhood to adulthood. The age at which this transition takes place varies in society, as does the nature of the transition. It can be a simple legal convention or can be part of a ritual, as practiced by many societies...

, he displayed desire to participate in the government, and thus became a contender for his mother's absolute power. Catherine devised a plan to remove Paul from any involvement in politics: Paul had to marry, retire to quiet family life and produce a son that might become a better candidate for succession. This son, future emperor Alexander I

Alexander I of Russia

, was born in 1777, and Catherine eagerly prepared him for an illustrious future although she never elevated her choice to a level of monarch's written will. Paul, in his turn, grew more and more suspicious of anything done by his mother, and even almost boycotted Alexander's 1793 wedding ceremony. The political struggle between Catherine and Paul that initially "had secret significance hidden from the uninitiated but known to the court" became public and was well known in Saint Petersburg as well as in foreign courts.

Catherine began changing architecture of Russia upon her ascension to throne. She embraced two concepts, architecture as allegory of her political ideas, and architecture as policy of implementing these ideas. Her tastes developed in stages, from French Rococo

Rococo

Rococo , also referred to as "Late Baroque", is an 18th-century style which developed as Baroque artists gave up their symmetry and became increasingly ornate, florid, and playful...

to Gothic Revival

Gothic Revival architecture

The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...

, until finally settling on Palladianism

Palladian architecture

Palladian architecture is a European style of architecture derived from the designs of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio . The term "Palladian" normally refers to buildings in a style inspired by Palladio's own work; that which is recognised as Palladian architecture today is an evolution of...

in the 1780s. Catherinian neoclassicism was based on French models leaning to ancient Roman forms. The choice also reflected Catherine's lifelong Greek project, the drive to take over Black Sea Straits

Turkish Straits

The term Turkish Straits refers to the two narrow straits in northwestern Turkey, the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles, that connect the Sea of Marmara with the Black Sea on one side and the Aegean arm of the Mediterranean Sea on the other. They are conventionally considered the boundary between the...

from the Ottomans

Ottoman Empire

The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...

and re-establish the Byzantine Empire

Byzantine Empire

The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...

with her grandson Constantine

Grand Duke Constantine Pavlovich of Russia

Constantine Pavlovich was a grand duke of Russia and the second son of Emperor Paul I. He was the Tsesarevich of Russia throughout the reign of his elder brother Alexander I, but had secretly renounced his claim to the throne in 1823...

as emperor.

Paul, who detested Catherinian Enlightenment

Russian Enlightenment

, considered classic architecture a dry, emotionally inadequate reproduction of antiques. Dmitry Shvidkovsky

Dmitry Shvidkovsky

Dmitry Shvidkovsky is a Russian educator and historian of architecture of Russia and the United Kingdom during the Age of Enlightenment. A 1982 alumnus and long-term professor of Moscow Architectural Institute, Shvidkovsky was appointed its rector in 2007....

pointed to a 1782 meeting between Paul and French artist and antiquary Charles-Louis Clérisseau

Charles-Louis Clérisseau

Charles-Louis Clérisseau was a French architectural draughtsman, antiquary and artist. He had a role in the genesis of neoclassical architecture during the second half of the 18th century....

at Château de Chantilly

Château de Chantilly

The Château de Chantilly is a historic château located in the town of Chantilly, France. It comprises two attached buildings; the Grand Château, destroyed during the French Revolution and rebuilt in the 1870s, and the Petit Château which was built around 1560 for Anne de Montmorency...

as the event that could have shaped Paul's architectural tastes. Clerisseau, who knew he was admired by the empress, reprimanded the Russian heir-apparent for not paying him attention before and promised to report Paul's "disrespect" to Catherine; little else could hurt Paul's feelings more. The bitter exchange sealed Paul's tastes in favor of emerging Romanticism

Romanticism

Romanticism was an artistic, literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Europe, and gained strength in reaction to the Industrial Revolution...

and, at the same time, French Baroque

French Baroque architecture

French Baroque is a form of Baroque architecture that evolved in France during the reigns of Louis XIII , Louis XIV and Louis XV...

, and sowed the seed for the "Battle of the Palaces".

First strike

In 1775 Catherine approved Vasily Bazhenov

Vasili Bazhenov

Vasily Ivanovich Bazhenov was a Russian neoclassical architect, graphic artist, architectural theorist and educator...

's drafts of Tsaritsino Palace, but upon actually seeing the nearly complete structure on , she found it highly displeasing, scorned Bazhenov and ordered immediate demolition. In her letter to Paul she only mentioned that "Kremlin Senate

Kremlin Senate

The Kremlin Senate is a building within the grounds of the Moscow Kremlin in Russia. Initially constructed from 1776-1787, it originally housed the Moscow branch of the Governing Senate, the highest judiciary and legislative office of Imperial Russia. Currently, it houses the Russian presidential...

and Tsaritsyno are not ready yet". The mechanism of destruction was already underway, although at a slow pace. Catherine signed a formal decree to raze Bazhenov's palaces and authorized Matvey Kazakov

Matvey Kazakov

's drafts on .

Neither Bazhenov's affiliation with free masons

Freemasonry

Freemasonry is a fraternal organisation that arose from obscure origins in the late 16th to early 17th century. Freemasonry now exists in various forms all over the world, with a membership estimated at around six million, including approximately 150,000 under the jurisdictions of the Grand Lodge...

, nor his Gothic Revival architecture

Gothic Revival architecture

The Gothic Revival is an architectural movement that began in the 1740s in England...

were at fault. Bazhenov, however, made a mistake by sticking to the 1775 plans that provided for two identical palaces for Catherine and Paul centered around the public core building. In 1775 the equality of mother and son was in line with Catherine's policy, but by 1785 their relations were irreversibly strained. Catherine dismissed Bazhenov and invited Kazakov to rebuild the palace with only one main building – her own. It was structurally completed in 1790s but abandoned after Catherine's death. It stood in ruins for over two centuries and was rebuilt into a modern convention center in 2005–2007.

Pavlovsk

Pavlovsk, Paul's (and later Maria Feodorovna's) estate since 1777, was designed and built by Scottish-born Palladian neoclassicist

Palladian architecture

Charles Cameron

Charles Cameron (architect)

. Paul disliked Cameron simply because he was his mother's protégé. Cameron's Pavlovsk was far from Paul's vision of what an imperial residence should be: it lacked moats, forts and all other military paraphernalia so dear to Paul; "Cameron created a markedly private world for the Grand Duke. The palace could have belonged to anyone... not to the tsar of Russia in waiting." In 1786, while demolition crews in Tsaritsino were razing Bazhenov's towers, Paul dismissed Cameron and replaced him with Vincenzo Brenna

Vincenzo Brenna

.

Paul personally hired Brenna, then employed by Stanisław Kostka Potocki, in 1782, and used him in 1783–1785 to visualize his architectural fantasies; the heir and the architect developed a particular spiritual bond, sharing the same philosophy of art

Aesthetics

Aesthetics is a branch of philosophy dealing with the nature of beauty, art, and taste, and with the creation and appreciation of beauty. It is more scientifically defined as the study of sensory or sensori-emotional values, sometimes called judgments of sentiment and taste...

: "Paul was the first emperor of the Romantic era

Romanticism

Romanticism was an artistic, literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Europe, and gained strength in reaction to the Industrial Revolution...

, Brenna was the precursor of Romantic Neoclassicism." Brenna left Cameron's palace core intact, extending it with side wings; although he remodeled the interiors, they bear traces of Cameron's style to date. However, Maria's private suite and the militaria

Militaria

Militaria are artifacts or replicas of military, police, etc., collected for their historical significance. Such antiques include firearms, swords, knives, and other weapons such as; uniforms, helmets, other military headgear, and armour; military orders and decorations; challenge coins and...

displayed in public halls are attributed to Brenna alone. More important, Brenna "militarized" the setting by building a Gothic folly

Folly

In architecture, a folly is a building constructed primarily for decoration, but either suggesting by its appearance some other purpose, or merely so extravagant that it transcends the normal range of garden ornaments or other class of building to which it belongs...

, Bip fortress, on the ruins of actual Swedish forts of the Great Northern War

Great Northern War

The Great Northern War was a conflict in which a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in northern Central Europe and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the anti-Swedish alliance were Peter I the Great of Russia, Frederick IV of...

. Paul was so fascinated with Bip that he listed the folly on the Army register of real fortresses.

After the death of Catherine, Paul and Brenna expanded the Pavlovsk estate with real military barracks, officers' quarters and a hospital. Paul instructed Brenna to scavenge Catherine's most recent, incomplete, buildings for materials; Cameron's Rose Field Pavilion , New Gallery and Temple of Memory in Sophia park disappeared without trace, while the Chinese Village

Chinese Village (Tsarskoe Selo)

The Chinese Village in the Alexander Park of Tsarskoye Selo, Russia was Catherine the Great's attempt to follow the 18th-century fashion for the Chinoiserie....

in Tsarskoye Selo

Tsarskoye Selo

Tsarskoye Selo is the town containing a former Russian residence of the imperial family and visiting nobility, located south from the center of St. Petersburg. It is now part of the town of Pushkin and of the World Heritage Site Saint Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments.-History:In...

lost its elaborate exterior finishes.

Pella

In 1784 Catherine ordered construction of a country residence for her grandson, Alexander

Alexander I of Russia

. The name, Pella Palace

Pella Palace

, invoked the memories of Alexander the Great and Pella

Pella

Pella , an ancient Greek city located in Pella Prefecture of Macedonia in Greece, was the capital of the ancient kingdom of Macedonia.-Etymology:...

, the capital of ancient Macedon

Macedon

Macedonia or Macedon was an ancient kingdom, centered in the northeastern part of the Greek peninsula, bordered by Epirus to the west, Paeonia to the north, the region of Thrace to the east and Thessaly to the south....

. The message was clear: Alexander, then seven years old, was the new ruler, although legally Paul remained first in line for succession. Pella, designed by Ivan Starov

Ivan Starov

Ivan Yegorovich Starov was a Russian architect from St. Petersburg who devised the master plans for Yaroslavl, Voronezh, Pskov, Dnipropetrovsk, Mykolaiv, and many other towns in Russia and Ukraine...

, was the largest Russian imperial palace of the period, and more complex in composition than anything in Russia. The core palace was encircled with twenty four smaller buildings in Palladian style

Palladian architecture

connected with double-colonnaded galleries. Catherine called Pella "rising phoenix

Phoenix (mythology)

The phoenix or phenix is a mythical sacred firebird that can be found in the mythologies of the Arabian, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, Chinese, Indian and Phoenicians....

", alluding to Alexander's ascension to power after her own death.

After Pella, Catherine commissioned two more palaces for Alexander. The first, a diminutive Alexander Dacha

Dacha

Dacha is a Russian word for seasonal or year-round second homes often located in the exurbs of Soviet and post-Soviet cities. Cottages or shacks serving as family's main or only home are not considered dachas, although many purpose-built dachas are recently being converted for year-round residence...

near Pavlovsk, was designed by either Nikolay Lvov

Nikolay Lvov

Nikolay Aleksandrovich Lvov was a Russian artist of the Age of Enlightenment. Lvov, an amateur of Rurikid lineage, was a polymath who contributed to geology, history, graphic arts and poetry, but is known primarily as an architect and ethnographer, compiler of the first significant collection of...

or Charles Cameron. It was completed in 1789; unusually for Catherinian architecture, it combined a neoclassical ground floor and an Oriental tented belvedere

Belvedere (structure)

Belvedere is an architectural term adopted from Italian , which refers to any architectural structure sited to take advantage of such a view. A belvedere may be built in the upper part of a building so as to command a fine view...

with a gilded dome. The dacha, once described as a "temple of the rosebush with no thorns", was later abandoned, sold to private owners and demolished in 1851. The second, extant Alexander Palace

Alexander Palace

The Alexander Palace is a former imperial residence at Tsarskoye Selo, on a plateau around 30 minutes by train from St Petersburg. It is known as the favourite residence of the last Russian Emperor, Nicholas II, and his family and their initial place of imprisonment after the revolution that...

in Tsarskoye Selo

Tsarskoye Selo

, was built in 1792-1796 by Giacomo Quarenghi

Giacomo Quarenghi

Giacomo Quarenghi was the foremost and most prolific practitioner of Palladian architecture in Imperial Russia, particularly in Saint Petersburg.- Career in Italy :...

as a wedding gift to Alexander and Elisabeth (Louise of Baden). The palace survived Paul's reign and passed to Alexander's brother, future tsar Nicholas

Nicholas I of Russia

Nicholas I , was the Emperor of Russia from 1825 until 1855, known as one of the most reactionary of the Russian monarchs. On the eve of his death, the Russian Empire reached its historical zenith spanning over 20 million square kilometers...

.

Immediately after Catherine's death, Paul ordered Pella razed to the ground; the order was executed perfectly, leaving no trace of the vast palace compound. Not only the buildings were demolished, but virtually all images of it also vanished.

Saint Michael's Castle

Paul's dreams, visualized by Brenna in 1780s, materialized in Saint Michael's Castle

Saint Michael's Castle

St. Michael's Castle , also called the Mikhailovsky Castle or the Engineers Castle , is a former royal residence in the historic centre of Saint Petersburg, Russia. St. Michael's Castle was built as a residence for Emperor Paul I by architects Vincenzo Brenna and Vasili Bazhenov in 1797-1801...

– the emperor's principal Saint Petersburg residence intended to replace the Winter Palace

Winter Palace

The Winter Palace in Saint Petersburg, Russia, was, from 1732 to 1917, the official residence of the Russian monarchs. Situated between the Palace Embankment and the Palace Square, adjacent to the site of Peter the Great's original Winter Palace, the present and fourth Winter Palace was built and...

associated with Catherine's reign. The site chosen for the castle was highly significant to Paul: it housed the wooden Summer Palace of empress Elisabeth, it was Paul's birthplace, but also a place where his dreaded mother was proclaimed empress by the same people who killed his father. Paul said that he had a vision of Archangel Michael who instructed him to erect a church on his birthplace, and indeed the castle designed by Brenna had a prominent church integrated in its western facade. Authorized immediately after Catherine's death, the castle was completed by Brenna in four years and occupied by the royal family shortly before Paul's own death. It had a strong Baroque

Baroque

The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...

styling clearly contrary to Catherinian palladianism.

Paul I was killed in Saint Michael's Castle . Brenna, Carlo Rossi

Carlo Rossi (architect)

Carlo di Giovanni Rossi, was an Italian architect, who worked the major portion of his life in Russia. He was the author of many classical buildings and architectural ensembles in Saint Petersburg and its environments...

and many other Italian artists employed by the late emperor left Russia. Alexander and his court relocated to Winter Palace

Winter Palace

, his Office of the Court converted the redundant castle into offices and living quarters. Soon the former palace housed nearly 900 residents, including future field marshal

Field Marshal

Field Marshal is a military rank. Traditionally, it is the highest military rank in an army.-Etymology:The origin of the rank of field marshal dates to the early Middle Ages, originally meaning the keeper of the king's horses , from the time of the early Frankish kings.-Usage and hierarchical...

von Diebitsch

Hans Karl von Diebitsch

Count Hans Karl Friedrich Anton von Diebitsch und Narden was a German-born soldier serving as Russian Field Marshal....

and, ironically, retired Charles Cameron and his wife. In 1819 the building was converted into a military college; palace park, forts and moats eventually disappeared.

Aftermath

During the decade that separated Paul's death in 1801 and the French invasion of Russia

French invasion of Russia

The French invasion of Russia of 1812 was a turning point in the Napoleonic Wars. It reduced the French and allied invasion forces to a tiny fraction of their initial strength and triggered a major shift in European politics as it dramatically weakened French hegemony in Europe...

in 1812, the Saint Petersburg court and its architects refined and modified Catherinian neoclassicism into the Russian version of Empire style. Alexander I has not actively engaged with architecture until post-war reconstruction, although he clearly preferred the art of Quarenghi, Thomas de Thomon and Andrey Voronikhin

Andrey Voronikhin

Andrey Nikiforovich Voronikhin was a Russian architect and painter. As a representative of classicism he was also one of the founders of the monumental Russian Empire style...

; construction of Voronikhin's Kazan Cathedral was launched just weeks after Paul's death. Outside Saint Petersburg, various Romantic styles based on Neo-Gothic architecture coexisted with prevailing official art. The aging architects involved in the "battle of the palaces" retired, making way to a new generation:

Ivan Starov, architect of Pella Palace, retired before Paul's ascension and died in 1808. His last significant work, a cathedral in Kazan
Kazan
Kazan is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Tatarstan, Russia. With a population of 1,143,546 , it is the eighth most populous city in Russia. Kazan lies at the confluence of the Volga and Kazanka Rivers in European Russia. In April 2009, the Russian Patent Office granted Kazan the...

, was completed in 1796.
Charles Cameron returned to active service in 1803 as chief architect of the Russian Admiralty
Russian Admiralty
Admiralty Board was a supreme body for the administration of the Imperial Russian Navy in the Russian Empire, established by Peter the Great on December 12, 1718, and headquartered in the Admiralty building, Saint Petersburg....

; in two years he completed the Navy Hospital in Oranienbaum
Oranienbaum
Oranienbaum may refer to:Germany:* Oranienbaum, Germany, a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany* Oranienbaum-WörlitzRussia:* Oranienbaum, Russia , a Russian royal residence* Lomonosov , the former name of the adjacent town...

and prepared drafts for the Naval Cathedral in Kronstadt
Naval Cathedral in Kronstadt
The Naval cathedral of Saint Nicholas in Kronstadt is a Russian Orthodox cathedral built in 1903–1913 as the main temple of the Baltic Fleet and dedicated to all fallen seamen. The cathedral was closed in 1929, and was converted to a cinema, a House of Officers and a museum of the Navy...

. He retired with honors in 1805 and lived in Saint Michael's Castle until his death in 1812.
Matvey Kazakov completed scores of private and public neoclassical buildings and a Neo-Gothic cathedral
Conception Convent
Conception monastery is an operating Russian Orthodox convent in Khamovniki District of Moscow, Russia. The Convent, closed in 1918, reopened in 1995 and has now been restored.-History:...

in Moscow. In 1806 he was accused of mismanaging public money; no criminal charges were made but he was fired from all government contracts. Kazakov died in 1812, shortly after hearing the news that most of his works perished in the Great Moscow Fire of 1812
Fire of Moscow (1812)
The 1812 Fire of Moscow broke out on September 14, 1812 in Moscow on the day when Russian troops and most residents abandoned the city and Napoleon's vanguard troops entered the city following the Battle of Borodino...

.
Giacomo Quarenghi enjoyed a revival of his career in 1803–1808 when he created Smolny Institute, the Catherinian Institute, the Imperial Cabinet of Anichkov Palace
Anichkov Palace
Anichkov Palace is a former imperial palace in Saint Petersburg, at the intersection of Nevsky Avenue and the Fontanka.-History:The palace, situated on the plot formerly owned by Antonio de Vieira, takes its name from the nearby Anichkov Bridge across the Fontanka...

and other Saint Petersburg landmarks. He was raised to the hereditary nobility
Russian nobility
The Russian nobility arose in the 14th century and essentially governed Russia until the October Revolution of 1917.The Russian word for nobility, Dvoryanstvo , derives from the Russian word dvor , meaning the Court of a prince or duke and later, of the tsar. A nobleman is called dvoryanin...

in 1814 and died in 1817.
Vincenzo Brenna settled in Dresden
Dresden
Dresden is the capital city of the Free State of Saxony in Germany. It is situated in a valley on the River Elbe, near the Czech border. The Dresden conurbation is part of the Saxon Triangle metropolitan area....

, Saxony
Saxony
The Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....

and did not practice architecture ever after; he died in 1820. Carlo Rossi returned to Saint Petersburg, assuming the de facto role of city architect in 1814. His career in architecture extended into the 1830s.

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