The Priory Palace in Gatchina is one of the main attractions of the city. It was built by Emperor Paul I in 1799 for the Prior (master) of the Knights Order of Malta. The palace is also known that the architect Nikolay Lvov built it using earth-breaking technology. The walls of the palace and all supporting structures were erected using the technology of pressing earthen soil.
The history of the Order of Malta and its appearance in Russia
The Order of Malta was founded in 1080. Then it was called the Order of the Hospitallers of St. John of Jerusalem. The main task of the knights was to support and treat pilgrims in the Holy Land. After the Crusaders occupied Jerusalem in 1099, the order became a rich and very powerful religious and military organization. Over time, the order acquired the structure of an independent state.
In 1187 Sultan Salahaddin conquered Jerusalem. Hospitallers from the Holy Land moved to Cyprus, and later to the island of Rhodes. To this day, the Palace of the Grand Masters has been preserved in Rhodes. In 1522, the hospitallers were ousted from Rhodes by the army of the Turkish Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent. Knights Hospitallers moved to Malta and then the name "Order of Malta" appeared.
For 250 years, the fleet of the Knights of the Order of Malta has been a very powerful military force in the Mediterranean. In 1789, the Great French Revolution took place. The Order of Malta and other states began to struggle with the consequences of spreading the ideas of the French Revolution.
Russian Tsar Paul I was closely associated with the Masonic lodges of St. Petersburg when he was heir to the throne. Having ascended the throne in 1796, he signed a Convention with the Order of Malta on the establishment of the Order of Malta in Russia. In 1798, during his campaign in Egypt, Napoleon stopped in Malta to replenish supplies, but the Order of Malta refused him this because of its negative attitude to the French. After that, Napoleon`s French expeditionary force occupied Malta and expelled the knights from there.
Most of the Knights of the Order of Malta found refuge in St. Petersburg in 1798. They deposed the Grand Master for surrendering Malta to Napoleon and declared Paul I the new Grand Master of the Order of Malta. Paul I presented the Knights of Malta with the Vorontsov Palace in St. Petersburg and ordered the construction of the summer Priory Palace in Gatchina to begin.
Priory Palace in Gatchina
In 1799, the construction of the Priory Palace in Gatchina began, which Paul planned to transfer to the Knights of Malta. Nikolay Lvov proposed to Pavel the construction of a palace using earth-building technology, which was very widely used in the ancient world (Persia, Ancient Rome, Africa). Later, this technology was replaced by the construction of stone or brick bonded with cement.
The Priory Palace was built on the shore of the Black Lake, a kilometer from the Great Gatchina Palace, the favorite residence of Paul I. The architect Lvov erected it within one year. He abandoned the symmetry of the facades, so the Priory Palace in Gatchina resembles a medieval castle or monastery. The architectural style of the palace has features of Gothic and classicism. The interior of the Priory Palace is made in an ascetic style. Next to the palace is the Priory Park.
In 1797, Paul I began the construction of the Mikhailovsky Castle in St. Petersburg. He also wanted to give it to the Order of Malta. However, the assassination of Paul I in 1801 interrupted these plans. The Knights of Malta were forced to leave Russia, as the new emperor Alexander I did not maintain his father`s ties with the Freemasons.
Nowadays the Priory Palace in Gatchina is a museum. In it, you can get acquainted with that short stage in the history of the Order of Malta, when Russia became their place of refuge. In 2015, the Grand Master of the Order of Malta Matthew Festing visited the Priory Palace in Gatchina after a 200-year break.
