Gruzino
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[[Image:Gruzino.jpg|thumb|250px|Chinese Pavilion in Gruzino, 1822]]
The '''Gruzino''' estate near [[Chudovo]], [[Russia]], was constructed by a team of [[Neoclassical architecture|Neoclassical]] [[architect]]s under [[Vasily Petrovich Stasov]] for Count [[Alexey Arakcheyev]] in the 1810s.
Count Arakcheyev chose Gruzino as an imperial gift from Emperor Paul when Arakcheyev was appointed Commandant of St. Petersburg, though the area was in disrepair. He was given the land despite prior claim to it by the governor of the Novgorod and [[Tver]] provinces. Using serf labor, Arakcheyev built Gruzino to one of the most up-to-date estates in Russia at the time. The celebrated sculptor [[Ivan Martos]] contributed a statue of [[Emperor Paul]]. Two months after Arakcheyev's death, [[Nicholas I of Russia|Emperor Nicholas]] gave the estate to the [[Novgorod Cadet Corps]].
Although it is stated officially that the manor was destroyed by the [[Nazism|Nazis]] during the [[World War II]], [http://web.archive.org/web/20041120032433/http://www.sptimes.ru/archive/times/490/features/bell.htm other sources] maintain that the estate was wiped out in the 1930s, during [[Stalin]]'s [[industrialisation]] process. The statues of lions formerly adorning the porch are all that remains from this Neoclassical ensemble: these were transported and mounted for display in the [[Novgorod]] kremlin.
==External links==
* [http://novgorod.forest.ru/les/park/grusino.htm Article in Russian]
* [http://www.hermitagemuseum.org/html_En/13/hm13_3_019.html Restoration of timepiece from Gruzino estate]
==References==
*Jenkins, Michael. (1969) ''Arakcheev: Grand Vizier of the Russian Empire''. [[The Dial Press]], Inc. ISBN 0-571-08222-X
[[Category:Novgorod Oblast]]
[[Category:Neoclassical architecture]]
{{Northwest-Russia-geo-stub}}
[[ru:Грузино (Чудовский район)]]