Elagin Palace is located on the Elagin Island, which is washed by the waters of the Middle Nevka and Big Nevka rivers. Nowadays, the entire territory of the island is occupied by Kirovsky Park. There are many attractions, ponds, walking alleys, restaurants and cafes. The eastern part of Elagin Island is occupied by a beautiful palace park.
The island at the mouth of the Neva River was formerly called Bear Island. This name appeared after the soldiers of Peter I combed the island in 1703 in search of the Swedes, but came across a big bear. In the 18th century, the city was located on the left bank of the Neva River and only on Vasilyevsky Island appeared Menshikov Palace and houses around it. Bear Island could not even be called a suburb, it was far outside the city.
Despite its remote location, Bear Island has been privately owned since the time of Peter the Great. In the time of Catherine II, Prince Potemkin owned it. Later he sold it to Ivan Elagin, director of the Imperial Theater. Elagin was a very influential senator of the Russian Empire and Grand Master of the Masonic Lodge of St. Petersburg. He decided to build a Palladian-style palace on the island. The project of the palace was prepared by architect Giacomo Quarenghi. So Egalin Palace appeared on the shore of the island. The island was also named Elagin. Later, both the palace and the island changed owners more than once, but the name "Elagin" remained forever.
After the death of Ivan Elagin, Count Orlov, the nephew of Catherine II`s favorite Grigory Orlov, bought the island. In 1817, Emperor Alexander I bought the Elagin Palace and the island from Orlov. His mother Maria Feodorovna was ill and could not go to Tsarskoye Selo. She needed a palace outside the city, but close enough. From the Winter Palace, she could sail to the Elagin Palace by boat.
Alexander I ordered the reconstruction of the Elagin Palace by architect Karl Rossi. Only the walls and the general layout in the Paladian style have been preserved from the old Elagin Palace. The new Elagin Palace met all the comfort requirements of those years. It became the imperial palace. Especially the visitors of the palace noted its doors. All of them are made according to sketches by Karl Rossi and have not been repeated. After the death of Maria Feodorovna, the Elagin Palace was handed over to the prime ministers of Russia for recreation.
In 2021, the Elagin Palace was opened after a long restoration and now it houses a museum. Here you can see the palace interiors and famous doors. In front of the palace, the sculptures of lions, traditional for St. Petersburg, have been preserved. The pavilions built by Karl Rossi have also been preserved in the palace park.
The exposition of the Museum of Art Glass is located in the Kitchen Building. There are exhibition halls in the Stable Building. A hall for chamber concerts has been opened in the Ladies-in-waiting Building. A "Creative villa" has been created in the Cavalier Corps. Children and adults are engaged there in creativity in various interest groups.
