Author Topic: Catherine the Great's palace in Tver  (Read 8757 times)

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helenazar

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Catherine the Great's palace in Tver
« on: January 02, 2005, 02:57:39 PM »
Catherine the Great built this palace as a place to stay during her trip from Moscow to St Petersburg. If I remember correctly, she later gave it to one of her lovers but I can't remember which one. This palace is now abandoned but they plan to turn it into a museum as soon as finances allow.


Offline Mike

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Re: Catherine the Great's palace in Tver
« Reply #1 on: January 04, 2005, 08:42:06 AM »
The Travel Palace in Tver was always owned by the crown and used as a residence by various members of the imperial family and by Tver's governor-generals. After all, who of Catherine's favorites would wish such a gift halfway between Petersburg and Moscow :)?

The palace is indeed neglected but not abandoned: it houses a local gallery and several offices. Recently funds were allocated for its reconstruction. Hopefully they will start by demolishing the statue of Kalinin, one of Stalin's henchmen.

helenazar

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Re: Catherine the Great's palace in Tver
« Reply #2 on: January 04, 2005, 10:39:38 AM »
Thanks for the info, Mike. The guide was the one who told us that the palace was eventually given to one of Catherine's favorites, but she gave us a lot of wrong info, so I am sure you are right! The place looked pretty abandoned though, when you got closer to it you could see broken windows, etc. I can't imagine anything is still stored in there!

I was wondering who the guy in the statue was, thanks! Wasn't the city of Tver renamed after Kalinin and then renamed back to Tver? Is Kalinin from Tver originally?
« Last Edit: December 31, 1969, 06:00:00 PM by helenazar »

Offline Mike

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Re: Catherine the Great's palace in Tver
« Reply #3 on: January 04, 2005, 11:31:39 AM »
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Wasn't the city of Tver renamed after Kalinin and then renamed back to Tver? Is Kalinin from Tver originally?

Kalinin was born in a village near Tver. The city was renamed after him in 1931, and the decree was signed by - you guess it! - Kalinin himself, who was a titular head of the Soviet state. In this capacity he was Stalin's obedient puppet, dressed like a lower-class factory worker but enjoying all the perks of the Soviet elite.

divine_grace

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Re: Catherine the Great's palace in Tver
« Reply #4 on: March 13, 2006, 03:19:22 PM »
Did Nicholas II ever used this palace?

Offline Mike

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Re: Catherine the Great's palace in Tver
« Reply #5 on: March 17, 2006, 01:56:01 PM »
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Did Nicholas II ever used this palace?

Very unlikely. In 1898 the palace was handed over to the Ministry of the Interior and became the Tver governor's residence. One of the palace's wings was used for a public museum.

I wonder if Nicholas II ever visited Tver - located on the main rail line from Petersburg to Moscow - for more than a few hours before 1915. During his 1915 inspection visit, he stayed in his train as was customary for such trips.