🏛 Ropsha Palace Ruins

Ломоносовский р-н, пос. Ропша, Ропшинский парк

An abandoned 18th-century palace above a park with ponds — a former country residence of the imperial family.

The first wooden manor was built here around 1710–1713; the mineral springs were considered its main treasure.
Under Elizabeth Petrovna the manor was rebuilt by Rastrelli — the house was remodelled on the model of the Grand Peterhof Palace.
After the death of Peter III, Catherine II gave Ropsha to Grigory Orlov, but he never lived here, preferring Gatchina.
In 1785 the jeweller Ivan Lazarev bought Ropsha for 12,000 roubles, invested 300,000 and in 1801 sold it to Paul I for 400,000.
The ballroom was lit by a gilded chandelier with 36 branches, 20 sconces and 182 candles along the cornice.
Since 1990 the palace has been part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site "Historic Centre of Saint Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments".
In 1944 the palace was set on fire by retreating German troops, and in 2015 its portico collapsed — by one account from decay, by another it was pulled down with a crane.

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