Pushkin (town)

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For other uses, see Pushkin.

Pushkin (English) Пушкин (Russian)

Location of Pushkin on the map of Russia

Coordinates 59°44′N 30°23′E / 59.733, 30.383Coordinates: 59°44′N 30°23′E / 59.733, 30.383
Coat of Arms

City Day: June 24
Administrative status
Federal subject In jurisdiction of Administrative center of	Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg n/a
Local self-government (as of September 18, 2008)
Charter	Regulation of municipality of Pushkin town (April 27, 2006)
Municipal status	n/a
Chairman of Urban Council	Nikolay Yakovlevich Grebnev
Legislative body	Urban Council
Area
Area	201 km² (77.6 sq mi)
Population (as of the 2002 Census)
Population - Rank - Density	109.000 inhabitants n/a 0.5/km² (1.3/sq mi)
Events
Founded	1710 (1808)
Peter the Great decided to hand over the part of the Menshikov's ownership Sarskaja Myza to Ekaterina Alexeevna	1710
Sarskaja Myza officially became the Tsar's village Sarskoye Selo	1724
Sarskoye Selo became Tsarskoye Selo	1780
The integration of village Tsarskoye Selo and town Sofia	1808
Tsarskoye Selo became Soldatskoye Selo (Soldier's Village)	1917
Soldatskoye Selo became Detskoye Selo (Children's Village)	1918
The town got the name Pushkin'	1937
Other information
Postal code	196600
Dialing code	+7 812
Official website
http://www.pushkin-town.net/.pushkin/eng/index.htm

Pushkin (Russian: Пу́шкин) is a town under jurisdiction of St. Petersburg, Russia, that is located 24 kilometers (15 mi) south from the center of St. Petersburg. Population: 84,628 (2002 Census);^[1] 95,415 (1989 Census).^[2]

1 Imperial residence
2 Other sights
3 Sister cities
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Imperial residence

Main article: Tsarskoye Selo

The town was founded in the 18th century as the summer residence of the Russian tsars under the name "Tsarskoye Selo" (Royal Village). Nicholas II of Russia and his family lived in the Alexander Palace until they were moved to Tobolsk on July 31, 1917.

After October Revolution the Catherine Palace became a museum, while some other mansions of the nobility were conveyed to various educational and sanitary institutions. On that account, the town was renamed "Detskoye Selo" (Children's Village) in 1918. In 1937, the name was changed to "Pushkin", to commemorate the centenary of the tragic death of the great Russian poet Alexander Pushkin who had studied in the Imperial Lyceum there.

[edit] Other sights

Alexander Palace was the favourite residence of the last tsar and his family.

Apart from the imperial residence, the town of Pushkin includes several other historic districts, notably Sophia, which was founded by Catherine the Great as an uezd town but lost its town status in 1808. The main monument in this part of the town is the Sophia Cathedral (1782-88).

Another part of the town is occupied by the half-ruined Fyodorovsky Townlet, built in the Russian Revival style to mark the tercentenary of the House of Romanov in 1913. The highlight of the townlet is the charming white-washed Royal Cathedral, dedicated to the Theotokos of St. Theodore and intended to serve as a domestic church of the reigning family.

In the garden close to the Tsarskoe Selo Lyceum stands the Church of the Sign, the oldest in the town, built in 1734-36 to a discreet Baroque design by Mikhail Zemtsov. The church was decorated in 1747 and slightly remodelled in 1865. The Soviets all but destroyed it; but the building was restored in 1961 and reverted to the Russian Orthodox Church in 1991.

The Egyptian Gate leading to the town from Saint Petersburg was designed by Adam Menelaws, a Scottish architect. This structure, erected in 1827-32 and intricately covered with hieroglyphics, bears testimony to the Egyptomania of the 1820s, triggered by Champollion's Précis du système hiéroglyphique (1824).