Mariinskyi park and palace history
A building adjacent to the Parliament is of completely different style and of different epoch. It is known as “Mariinskyi” palace facing the “Mariinskyi” park. Its history in its own way reflects the history of Ukraine within the last 250 years. In August 25- September 15, 1744, Kiev was visited by the Russian Empress Elizabeth (1709-1762), the daughter of Peter the Great, who came here to pray in Kiev cathedrals and monasteries, on her way to the city she made many stops and walked for long hours like a true pilgrim. She was impressed with the river, abundance of greenery, the churches and monasteries, but at the same time she noticed that the city that was known as “Russian Jerusalem” looked too “provincial”, it was even difficult to find a good place for her temporal stay in the city, so she lived in the Metropolitan’s residence in Lavra Monastery. During this visit it was decided to give Kiev a more “royal” outlook. The order of the Empress was immediately implemented and the changes began with the construction of the palace as a residence of Russian Tsars. At that time the famous Italian-Russian court architect Bartolomeo Rastrelli (1700-1771) who planned all main royal palaces in S-t. Petersburg was in favour and he was assigned to design the project. The construction took place in 1744-1752, the decoration of the interior took longer time that it had been expected and as a result it was not as gorgeous as the rooms in the palaces in Russian capital. The Empress never saw “her Palace”, and her successors stayed here only during their rare short visits to Kiev. The first who stayed here after the construction had been finished was Empress Catherine the Great (Catherine II, the daughter in law of Empress Elizabeth) in 1778. Here, on February 14, she had talks with Sebastian Francisco de Miranda-Rodrigues, leader of the independence movement of Spanish colonies in South America, the second President of Venezuela (1750-1816)
Fire of Mariinskyi palace
During the fire of 1819 the wooden second floor burned down completely. In 1870 due to the visit of the Emperor Alexander II and his wife Empress Maria the Palace was rebuilt according to the project of architect Mayevski, but the main architectural elements were preserved. In 1874 a park was laid out in front of the main entrance to the palace. In the late 18th – beginning of the 19th the Palace became the main residence of the Governors General. The turbulent history of Ukraine in the 20th century has partly changed and ruined the Palace. During the revolution in 1917 and the Civil war that lasted till 1920 it was used as military headquarters. After the war the Palace became an agricultural school, for some time it was a museum of the poet Taras Shevchenko. Unfortunately it was badly damaged during the Second World War and it was not until the end of the 1940’s that some restoration work was carried out. Since the 1960-ies it became a reception hall of Ukrainian Government. To-day the Palace is under restoration, its future when all renovations are finished is rather vague, will it be the place for official ceremonies, or will it be opened to the public as a museum, nobody can say anything definite to-day, but we all hope that this architectural monument will not be lost.
Great princes Maria Alexandrovna
Since 1870 the palace got a name “Mariinskyi” after the reigning Empress at that time, Maria Alexandrovna (Princess Maximiliane Withelmire Augusta Sophie Marie von Hessen und bei Phein, 1824-1880), the wife of Russian Tsar (Emperor) Alexander II. When she came to Russia from Germany she was Christianized in Russian Orthodoxy. She became a true Russian Empress, she was very interested in arts, music, literature and education, and she was the patron of many hospitals, asylums for the poor, charitable institutions and educational establishments. It was her idea to establish the Red Cross in Russia and some historians wrote that she greatly influenced her husband to abolish serfdom in the country in 1861. No wonder that her subjects respected and loved her. Her name was given to some towns and villages in Russia and theatre lovers know the famous Mariinskyi Theatre in St. Petersburg that was named after her. She died from tuberculosis, was buried in the cathedral of Peter and Paul in St. Petersburg, in a year her husband Alexander II was assassinated and was buried near his wife. Empress Maria had 8 children. Only 6 survived: her son Alexander III (1845-1894) inherited the throne, her only daughter Grand Duchess Maria (1853-1920) married the son of Queen Victoria, Prince Alfred Ernest Albert, her youngest son Paul was married to Alexandra, the daughter of the Greek King George I Glucksburg. The bronze bust of Empress Maria that was presented by the St. Petersburg’s officials was unveiled in San Remo (Italy) in 2010.
