Ruin Tower
Encyclopedia
The Ruin Tower is an 18th century monument in Ekaterininsky park of Tsarskoye Selo
in Pushkin
, a town near St. Petersburg
, Russia
. It was designed and constructed in 1771-1773 by Russian architect
Yury Felten
, who chose to build it at a location near the Orlovsky gate.
The monument represents a fragment of the subdued Turkish fortress consisting of a huge tower and a part of a fortification with system of defensive devices.
This original decorative construction makes impression dilapidated construction time.
Now Ruin Tower is a part of landscape gardening ensemble of a museum.
Access to it is opened daily from 11.00 till 17.00 o'clock.
.
Civil work were conducted by architect
I. M. Sitnikov.
The powerful stone tower in the form of a column of Tuscan order
is topped by the round arbour
-pavilion
established on abacus
.
The arbour is dilapidated, with through Gothic lancet apertures
, from the top platform from height of 21 metres the magnificent kind on lake and parks opens.
In the summer of 1773 artist A. Belsky has painted external walls of Towers-ruins.
On the plastered surface the cracks simulating natural damages of a laying of walls have been cut.
From the Tower the huge stone arch as which continuation the artificial embankment
-ramp along the edges of which in 1784 trees have been planted serves is thrown.
The arch
serves as an input in a narrow corridor with a spiral flat ramp for lifting on a tower.
Massive impost
of arches it is located almost at ground level at the Tower basis
.
It even more strengthens impression that the Tower has left deeply in the earth.
On other party of an embankment-ramp pig-iron gate in Gothic style are established.
The embankment-ramp comes to an end with pig-iron collars in Gothic style.
After erection of a monument the tower was used as a specific platform, and the fortification with a front entrance in the form of an arch-entrance and an earthen embankment became a place for walks and pleasure drivings.
Gate on J.M.Felten's model have been cast in 1782 in Ekaterinburg at Demidovsky factories. This one of the architectural products first in Russia of pig-iron. Graceful it is thin the executed drawing - the certificate of a great skill of Russian founders.
On brick walls, the arches and Tower eaves there were fragmental hollows and cracks, travertin has received serious destructions.
The arbour on the top platform of the Tower has been half destroyed.
After the end of war the construction restoration elimination of the damages put by war and time became which main objective was necessary, thus it was necessary to keep initial colour of construction – the demolitions.
The planned target on restoration has been given in 1977, but the first works on inspection and monument clearing have begun in 1986.
Designing was carried out by experts of joint venture "Lenpolproekt" and institute "Lenproektrestavratsiya", since 1993 the Polish firm PKZ "Workshops on restoration of ancient monuments" was connected to works as the contractor
.
Restoration works have come to the end in 2006, and since August 2009 pavilion Ruin Tower has opened for tourists.
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...
in Pushkin
Pushkin (town)
Pushkin is a municipal town in Pushkinsky District of the federal city of St. Petersburg, Russia, located south from the center of St. Petersburg proper, and its train station, Detskoye Selo, is directly connected by railway to the Vitebsky Rail Terminal of the city...
, a town near St. 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...
, Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
. It was designed and constructed in 1771-1773 by Russian architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
Yury Felten
Yury Felten
Yury Matveyevich Felten was a court architect to Catherine the Great, Empress of Russia.Yuri Felten was born Georg Veldten, into a family of German immigrants in Russia. His father worked for the Russian Academy of Sciences...
, who chose to build it at a location near the Orlovsky gate.
The monument represents a fragment of the subdued Turkish fortress consisting of a huge tower and a part of a fortification with system of defensive devices.
This original decorative construction makes impression dilapidated construction time.
Now Ruin Tower is a part of landscape gardening ensemble of a museum.
Access to it is opened daily from 11.00 till 17.00 o'clock.
History
Tower it is erected in honour of heroic battles of Russo-Turkish War of 1768–1774 by request of Catherine IICatherine 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...
.
Civil work were conducted by architect
Architect
An architect is a person trained in the planning, design and oversight of the construction of buildings. To practice architecture means to offer or render services in connection with the design and construction of a building, or group of buildings and the space within the site surrounding the...
I. M. Sitnikov.
The powerful stone tower in the form of a column of Tuscan order
Tuscan order
Among canon of classical orders of classical architecture, the Tuscan order's place is due to the influence of the Italian Sebastiano Serlio, who meticulously described the five orders including a "Tuscan order", "the solidest and least ornate", in his fourth book of Regole generalii di...
is topped by the round arbour
Gazebo
A gazebo is a pavilion structure, sometimes octagonal, that may be built, in parks, gardens, and spacious public areas. Gazebos are freestanding or attached to a garden wall, roofed, and open on all sides; they provide shade, shelter, ornamental features in a landscape, and a place to rest...
-pavilion
Pavilion (structure)
In architecture a pavilion has two main meanings.-Free-standing structure:Pavilion may refer to a free-standing structure sited a short distance from a main residence, whose architecture makes it an object of pleasure. Large or small, there is usually a connection with relaxation and pleasure in...
established on abacus
Abacus (architecture)
In architecture, an abacus is a flat slab forming the uppermost member or division of the capital of a column, above the bell. Its chief function is to provide a large supporting surface to receive the weight of the arch or the architrave above...
.
The arbour is dilapidated, with through Gothic lancet apertures
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
, from the top platform from height of 21 metres the magnificent kind on lake and parks opens.
In the summer of 1773 artist A. Belsky has painted external walls of Towers-ruins.
On the plastered surface the cracks simulating natural damages of a laying of walls have been cut.
From the Tower the huge stone arch as which continuation the artificial embankment
Embankment (transportation)
To keep a road or railway line straight or flat, and where the comparative cost or practicality of alternate solutions is prohibitive, the land over which the road or rail line will travel is built up to form an embankment. An embankment is therefore in some sense the opposite of a cutting, and...
-ramp along the edges of which in 1784 trees have been planted serves is thrown.
The arch
Arch
An arch is a structure that spans a space and supports a load. Arches appeared as early as the 2nd millennium BC in Mesopotamian brick architecture and their systematic use started with the Ancient Romans who were the first to apply the technique to a wide range of structures.-Technical aspects:The...
serves as an input in a narrow corridor with a spiral flat ramp for lifting on a tower.
Massive impost
Impost
Impost may mean:*A type of extra tax*A handicap used in horse racing*Impost : a block or capital on which an arch rests*A tax levied on imports....
of arches it is located almost at ground level at the Tower basis
Basis
Basis may refer to* Cost basis, in income tax law, the original cost of property adjusted for factors such as depreciation.* Basis of futures, the value differential between a future and the spot price...
.
It even more strengthens impression that the Tower has left deeply in the earth.
On other party of an embankment-ramp pig-iron gate in Gothic style are established.
The embankment-ramp comes to an end with pig-iron collars in Gothic style.
After erection of a monument the tower was used as a specific platform, and the fortification with a front entrance in the form of an arch-entrance and an earthen embankment became a place for walks and pleasure drivings.
Gate on J.M.Felten's model have been cast in 1782 in Ekaterinburg at Demidovsky factories. This one of the architectural products first in Russia of pig-iron. Graceful it is thin the executed drawing - the certificate of a great skill of Russian founders.
Mural restoration after WWII
Last repair of a tower was in 1883, Ruin Tower has suffered from shellings in Second World War.On brick walls, the arches and Tower eaves there were fragmental hollows and cracks, travertin has received serious destructions.
The arbour on the top platform of the Tower has been half destroyed.
After the end of war the construction restoration elimination of the damages put by war and time became which main objective was necessary, thus it was necessary to keep initial colour of construction – the demolitions.
The planned target on restoration has been given in 1977, but the first works on inspection and monument clearing have begun in 1986.
Designing was carried out by experts of joint venture "Lenpolproekt" and institute "Lenproektrestavratsiya", since 1993 the Polish firm PKZ "Workshops on restoration of ancient monuments" was connected to works as the contractor
General contractor
A general contractor is responsible for the day-to-day oversight of a construction site, management of vendors and trades, and communication of information to involved parties throughout the course of a building project.-Description:...
.
Restoration works have come to the end in 2006, and since August 2009 pavilion Ruin Tower has opened for tourists.