MORE about a restoration
which should create a fake...

excerpt ot the websitehttp://www.maps-moscow.com/index.php?chapter_id=151&data_id=60&do=view_single
Scandals at Tsaritsyno
Tsaritsyno, one of Moscow’s most romantic attractions, a ruined, unfinished eighteenth century palace, is being illegally ‘finished’ by Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov who has declared that he wants the building to be completed and transformed into Moscow’s equivalent of the Hermitage museum. Despite having no official permissions to carry out the construction work that will give the palace a roof, windows, partitions and an interior, Mr Luzhkov is continuing work apace.
Tsaritsyno has stood unused and unfinished since 1785 when Catherine the Great decided that she didn’t like the work of architects Vassily Bazhenov and Matvei Kazakov who had created a palace in a fantastic hybrid of Gothic and Classical styles in the midst of a landscaped park. It has since become beloved of Muscovites as a picturesque ruin and a memorial to imperial whims.
Vassili
Work commenced in December without an approved plan. Preservationist experts were horrified to see that despite this a metal roof support has already been erected. Two projects exist for the roof, one of them far more elaborate than the other. It is as yet unknown which will be constructed.
The elegant ‘Bread House’ beside the main palace building, is almost restored, and yet its courtyard is to be covered by a high glass dome that will compete with the palace’s roof in height. Visitors will enter the palace through an underground entrance in a glass pavilion, to be built in the style of the palace, much to the concern of specialists. Restoration of the existing walls is also underway; concrete and metal are being used in the restoration process, which is being undertaken with great haste in order for the building to be ready for Moscow’s City Day in summer 2007. Alexei Komech, Director of Moscow’s Art History Institute noted, “throughout the country we are losing thousands of wonderful buildings through lack of funds. But in the case of the Tsaritsyno ensemble, a masterpiece is being deformed because there is too much money in the Moscow building market.”