The author of the original architectural idea and the customer of the Kochubey dacha project was Alexander I. Work on the project began in 1816 with a sketch developed by the emperor himself with the help of architect. P.V. Neyolova, V.P. Stasov made the final decision. Particularly successful was the design of the monarch-architect for a semicircular terrace with columns and a spherical dome, oriented towards the gates of the Catherine Park “To my dear colleagues”, which developed the architectural motifs of the Alexander Palace and the D. Quarenghi Concert Hall pavilion. The ownership deed was registered in April 1817 in the name of Princess M.V. Kochubey.
In 1817–1818 construction was carried out, the planning of the garden and construction work as a whole were completed by 1824. 
The Kochubey Palace in Tsarskoye Selo became the center of secular, cultural, and business life - as the summer residence of the minister, later of the state chancellor. Members of the royal family liked to stay here. From a letter from Empress Elizaveta Alekseevna dated July 7, 1820: “Finally, summer! On Sunday we had the opportunity to have dinner in Tsarskoe Selo with Count Kochubey in a large, beautiful house... The weather was favorable for this beautifully furnished evening...”
During the subsequent change of owners, the building retained largely its original appearance. On its axis in 1821, the gates of the Great Catherine Park “To my dear colleagues” were built, according to the royal will, initially installed at the entrance to Sofia, and then moved to their modern location. The layout of the garden and the construction work as a whole were completed in 1824. 
In 1835, Nicholas 1 ordered, in memory of the birth of Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich in Tsarskoe Selo, to buy out the dacha of the wife of the late State Chancellor, Prince Kochubey. The purchase with all the buildings and garden belonging to it, but without furniture, for the price announced by Princess Kochubey of three hundred thousand rubles, was made from the funds of the Appanage Department. Until His Imperial Highness came of age, the dacha remained under the jurisdiction of the Tsarskoye Selo palace administration. During the summer maneuvers, the headquarters of the Guards Corps and the adjutants of Grand Duke Mikhail Pavlovich were located at the dacha of Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich. Since 1839, it was allocated for the residence of Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna and her husband, the Prince of Leuchtenberg. 
For Nikolai Nikolaevich’s coming of age, designed by architect I. I. Charlemagne in 1856–1857. reconstruction was carried out, but after the work was completed, the Grand Duke refused the dacha. Charlemagne's project was highly praised and earned him the title of academician of architecture, but his architectural career was interrupted due to the pickiness of the owner. Charlemagne's work is reminiscent of the spectacular terrace with two staircases with sculptures of lions made of Italian marble on the eastern façade of the building. 
In 1859, Alexander II ordered to call the dacha the Tsarskoye Selo Reserve Palace.
In 1875, the Reserve Palace was given to Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich. 
The third son of Emperor Alexander II was born in 1847. Vladimir was educated and educated at home together with his older brother, Grand Duke Alexander Alexandrovich (future Emperor Alexander III). Warm and friendly relations have always been maintained between the brothers. “Dear Vladimir” or “Dear friend and brother” - this is how the emperor habitually addressed the Grand Duke since childhood.
Vladimir Alexandrovich began his military service in 1864 in the Life Guards Preobrazhensky Regiment. Ten years later, he is already a lieutenant general, head of the 1st Guards Infantry Division. Participant in the Russian-Turkish War of 1877-1878, distinguished himself in battles, awarded the Order of St. George, 3rd degree, a golden saber with the inscription “For bravery.” For almost a quarter of a century - from 1881 to October 1905 - commander of the troops of the Guard and the St. Petersburg Military District.
Grand Duke Vladimir was engaged in more than just military activities! A connoisseur and lover of art, from 1869 he became a companion of the president, and from February 1876, president of the Imperial Academy of Arts. He provided patronage to many artists, collected a wonderful collection of paintings, and headed the Committee for the construction of the Church of the Resurrection of Christ (“Savior on Spilled Blood”) in St. Petersburg.
As for the Palace, the Architect A.F. Vidov erected it here in 1876–1878. three cavalry houses for the grand ducal retinue, outbuildings for employees, and subsequently a number of service buildings supplemented the garage and the glacier. In 1882, Alexander III considered it necessary to document the transfer of the Reserve Palace to Vladimir Alexandrovich into ownership by right of primacy with special conditions. 
Vladimir Alexandrovich was also famous for his gourmetism. In Paris, he meticulously studied the menu and instilled fear in the head waiters, cooks and waiters. But when he left the restaurant after a hearty meal, the servants received incredibly generous tips. “The stern but graceful Grand Duke Vladimir<...>“possessed undoubted artistic talent,” testified Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich. - He drew, was interested in ballet and was the first to finance S. Diaghilev’s ballet tours abroad. He collected ancient icons, visited Paris twice a year and loved to give complex receptions in his amazing palace in Tsarskoe Selo.”
“In her palaces in St. Petersburg and Tsarskoe Selo, Her Imperial Highness had her own large courtyard.
To put it in secular terms, he was a miniature copy of the royal court... “Grande dame” in the best sense of this breakdown, but too demanding in matters of court etiquette, the Grand Duchess is magnificent in the role of the hostess leading a court reception,” recalled British Ambassador J. Buchanan.
According to Grand Duke Alexander Mikhailovich, Maria Pavlovna, the wife of the Grand Duke, “was a charming hostess, and her receptions fully deserved the reputation for brilliance that they enjoyed at European courts. 
Alexander III did not like her because she did not convert to Orthodoxy, which gave rise to the legend about her “German sympathies” (Maria Pavlovna converted to Orthodoxy in 1908). “I must admit,” wrote A. A. Mosolov, “the Grand Duchess knew her “craft” to perfection. Her court excelled in St. Petersburg.
With the accession of Nicholas II to the throne in 1894, the position of Vladimir Alexandrovich and his family changed significantly. In the first years of the new reign, the emperor's eldest uncle had a great influence on his nephew. According to L.A. Mosolov, “Nicholas II experienced a feeling of exceptional timidity, bordering on fear, in front of Vladimir Alexandrovich. The Grand Duke, probably noticing the impression he made on the emperor, “began to stay away from state issues.” 
The grand ducal couple had four sons:
-Alexander (1875-1877), died in infancy
-Kirill (1876-1938),
-Boris (1877-1943), there was already a story about him
-Andrey (1879-1956), I will tell you about him separately, because his fate and life was connected with Matilda Kshesinskaya.
and daughter, Grand Duchess Elena (1882-1957). 
Due to the fact that Nicholas II, for marrying without permission, deprived his cousin (Kirill Vladimirovich) of the title of aide-de-camp and grand-ducal salary, expelled him from military service and expelled him from Russia, Vladimir Alexandrovich, outraged by such a severe punishment, equating his son to state criminals, resigned. On October 25, 1905, the Tsar signed a decree announcing that Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich “was dismissed, at his request, due to poor health, from the post of Commander-in-Chief of the Guard and the St. Petersburg Military District...”.
The health of the Grand Duke by this time was truly undermined. A.A. Polovtsev, who visited him a few days after the resignation, wrote in his diary: “November 4. I’m going to Tsarskoye Selo... I find Vladimir Alexandrovich 10 years older.” Having retired from business, he died on February 4, 1909 in St. Petersburg at the 62nd year of his life. 
The widowed Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna became the heir to many affairs that were headed by her husband. On February 23, 1909, she was appointed President of the Imperial Academy of Arts. The Grand Duchess was actively involved in the organization of Russian departments at the International Exhibitions in Munich, Venice and Rome.
In 1910, the Highest permission followed to rename the palace Vladimirsky.
The life of Maria Pavlovna is also worth a separate story, because many of her actions and actions were of great importance for the Russian Empire.
Back in May 1917, the abandoned Tsarskoye Selo Vladimir Palace was destroyed, and by order of A.F. Kerensky it was transferred to the local Council for “cultural and educational purposes.” 
1941-1944 the palace burned and was destroyed. The roof, ceilings, and interior decoration were destroyed. At the end of the war, attempts were made to restore and reconstruct the palace into a dormitory for a party education school for 160 people. However, this did not happen and there was no hostel in the Palace. 
Restoration work was carried out in 1955-1958. for use as the Palace of Pioneers. The facades were restored to their original historical appearance: the intercolumnae of the porticos were opened, the smooth plaster was returned, the arched staircases on the sides of the semi-rotunda were restored, and the late Charlemagne-style entrance and terrace were dismantled. Inside, the building was redesigned with an auditorium, and a stage box was installed above the roof.
After 1976, the theater studio of the State Historical Museum "Tsarskoe Selo", "Interstudio" was located in the palace.
For the 300th anniversary of Tsarskoye Selo, the Vladimir Palace was restored, and on June 24, 2010, the grand opening of the Tsarskoye Selo Wedding Palace took place there. 
And finally: This is the only major creation of Adam Menelas () in the classical style and, due to some frivolity, the toy-like nature of the Gothic buildings, in the creation of which - here and in Peterhof - he succeeded, one might say, his most outstanding work. Here he appears as the direct heir of Charles Cameron, and through him of English Palladianism. The eastern façade is truly reminiscent of the works of Andrea Palladio, especially the Villa Foscari ("Malcontenta"). The opposite one, facing the park, refers to a monument of French architecture - an estate in the vicinity of Bordeaux, known as the “Square House”. A variation of this villa has become the residence of American presidents, the White House, the semi-rotunda of which can always be seen on TV. But the American center of power is the same age as the Vladimir Palace. 
Information taken in part from
website of the project "Encyclopedia of Tsarskoe Selo"
The Reserve Palace is an architectural monument of the first half of the 19th century. in the city of Pushkin (Tsarskoye Selo).
Built between 1817 and 1824. designed by architect Adam Adamovich Menelas A. Later, Vasily Petrovich Stasov also participated in the design. Architectural style - classicism. Initially, the palace belonged (donated personally by Emperor Alexander I) to the noble Kochubey couple, statesman, Count Viktor Pavlovich Kochubey and his wife, state lady Maria Vasilievna.
After the count's death in 1835, the palace building was purchased by the Department of Appanages. After which the palace became the residence of Grand Duke Nikolai Nikolaevich (3rd son of Emperor Nicholas I), and was called Nikolaevsky. After his marriage, the Grand Duke sold the palace back to the state administration of the Court. And in 1859 the palace received its modern name - Tsarskoye Selo Reserve.
In 1875, the palace was transferred to Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich (3rd son of Emperor Alexander II), after which the palace was called Vladimirsky.
During the revolution of 1917, the palace was occupied by revolutionary structures. The building was seriously damaged during the Great Patriotic War, and was actually rebuilt in the 1950s. After which the city House of Pioneers was opened there. Further, in different periods of the Soviet era, there were: a local history museum, a branch of the theater academy, and the FSB cadet corps. Currently, it houses the wedding palace No. 3.
History of the palace
Wedding Palace No. 3 is located in the former building of the Reserve Palace. The history of this place began with a drinking establishment, which opened during the formation of Tsarskoe Selo; over time, a guard post was installed in its place, which was moved in the direction of Pavlovsk in 1816, and Alexander I gave the land to his comrade-in-arms Viktor Pavlovich Kochubey.
In 1817, construction of the palace began and continued for 8 years. The palace was designed first by P.V. Neelov, then by A.A. Menelas, and was eventually built according to the drawings of V.P. Stasov. The emperor personally participated in the design of the building; many of the drawings retained the marks of his hand. The building is made in the strict style of late classicism, typical of country palaces in Russia, and is an analogue of Italian villas of the Renaissance. A landscape park was laid out around the palace.
V.P. Kochubey used this palace as a country residence. After his death in 1834, his widow sold the dacha to the Department of Appanages for the third son of Emperor Nikolai Ivanovich. The palace began to be called Nikolaevsky, and service wings appeared near it.
- Since 1859, the palace officially began to be called the Tsarskoye Selo Reserve Palace.
- Afterwards, the palace was used by less eminent persons; flower exhibitions at the Tsarskoye Selo greenhouse were held there.
- In 1875, the son of Emperor Alexander II, Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich, became the owner of the palace. Under him, the architect A.F. Vidov carried out restoration after the fire that happened in 1867. At the same time, service and utility buildings that still exist today were built: a carriage barn, outbuildings for the caretaker, and a cavalry house.
- In 1910, the palace was renamed Vladimirsky.
- From 1909 to 1917 it belonged to Grand Duchess Maria Pavlovna, the widow of the owner.
The fate of the palace at the beginning of the 20th century
During the First World War, representatives of the imperial family, dissatisfied with the policies of Nicholas II, gathered in the palace, and part of the palace was occupied by an officers' hospital. After the October Revolution of 1917, the Executive Committee of the United Council was located in the palace building, and since 1926 there has been a House of Party Education here.
During the Second World War, the building burned down and had to be practically rebuilt. In 1958, the restoration was completed, and Pushkin’s House of Pioneers was located in the palace, which existed here until 1976. After it, a local history exhibition was located here for some time, which then moved to a new building.
In the 1990s, the Reserve Palace became part of the Tsarskoe Selo museum-reserve. A branch of the Academy of Theater Arts, the Interstudio Theater, operated there. In 1996, the cavalry house and former outbuildings were given over to house the First Cadet Corps of the Border Troops.
Wedding Palace No. 3 in the building of the former Reserve Palace
The grand opening of the Wedding Palace No. 3 took place on June 24, 2010 (on the day of the 300th anniversary of the city of Pushkin). Many couples in love dream of getting married here. During the restoration of the palace and the restoration of the territory in front of it, parking for the newlyweds' cars and limousines was taken into account. You can get to the parking lot behind the wedding palace through Sovetsky Lane. Useful information for drivers: the Sofiysky Boulevard adjacent to the palace is a one-way street from Sadovaya Street to Sovetsky Lane. Embankment Street is also one-way in the direction from Sovetsky Lane to Sadovaya Street.
Editorial staff of the website Pushkin.ru
The place where the Russian Railways-MPS building is located today on Novaya Basmannaya Street, 2/1 is rich in its history, as is the high-rise building itself on the corner of 1, next to the Krasnye Vorota metro station.
The residential yard appeared here even before it entered the territorial boundaries of old Moscow, which ran along the line of Zemlyanoy Val. It was on the outer side of this fortification that the bridgehead was located, the area of which was allocated for the Zhitny Dvor.
In the miraculously preserved drawings dated 1742, you can see that “... The residential yard was located along the passage of Zemlyanoy Gorod and was a series of stone chambers with an entrance hall, a passage gate and two stone round towers on the sides...”.
In the period from 1753 to 1759, the former courtyard was rebuilt and received the name Reserve. His responsibility included the procurement and storage of various types of food for delivery to the royal court. The Palace Office, which managed the property of the entire royal family, was also located here.
During the construction of the Reserve Yard, they did not forget about religious buildings. So, in the main building, on the second floor, two churches were built, consecrated in the name of the martyr Sebastian and the holy martyr Iannuarius.
The new reconstruction can already be seen on the site plan dating back to the end of the eighteenth century. The newly built structure was made in the form of a square and consisted of a number of two-story buildings. The interior space was occupied by an impressively sized courtyard.
The three sides of this unique square were a single structure, but the main building, located on the north side, along modern Novaya Basmannaya Street, 2, stood separately and was connected to the ends of the other buildings by two travel gates.
The facade of the building was decorated on a palace scale in the Baroque style. The central part was crowned by a dome built over the inner church, and it itself was decorated with pilasters, as well as continuous relief of various platbands and panels. On the façade, to emphasize that the building belongs to a government institution, a bas-relief of a double-headed eagle was installed.
Due to the beauty of the structure, the Reserve Yard began to be called the Reserve Palace.
In 1802, the façade of the Reserve Palace, which faced Sadovaya-Chernogryazskaya and Novaya Basmannaya streets, was decorated in classicist decor.
The fire of 1812 spared the architectural ensemble. Throughout the nineteenth century, the complex was the dominant feature of the Sennaya (now Lermontov Square) and Krasnovorotskaya (now Red Gate Square) areas, along with the architecturally unique Red Gate, which, unfortunately, was demolished during the years of Soviet power.
In 1890, the Institute of Noble Maidens, named after Empress Catherine II, was located in the premises of the Reserve Palace.
In the period from 1902 to 1906, another reconstruction of the palace took place. At this time, the buildings on the eastern, western, and northern sides were built with an additional third floor. The main building on the side of Novaya Basmannaya, 2 was expanded and a double-height main hall was added to the interior space.
At the same time, a passage arch was built on the side of Sadovaya-Chernogryazskaya Street, 1.
The general decor was also made in the style of classicism, but in the so-called “new edition” inherent in this architectural style at the beginning of the 20th century. Then Corinthian porticos and blades appeared on the facades, and the surface was decorated with rustication.
After the Bolsheviks came to power, some time later, the former Reserve Palace was given over to house the People's Commissariat of Railways.
In 1923, the 3rd floor was built above the southern building. Six years later - in 1929 - the 4th and 5th floors appeared on the building from the side of Novaya Basmannaya Street, 2, designed
In the 18th century, there was a tavern in this place, on the bank of the Vangazya stream. By the end of the century, the area began to be improved, and already at the beginning of the nineteenth century (in 1816), Emperor Alexander I donated a plot of land for the construction of a palace to his former very close friend Count (later Prince) Viktor Pavlovich Kochubey. Kochubey, experiencing the death of his little son, intended to go abroad and subsequently completely withdraw from state affairs, while Alexander hoped to keep the prince near him with a luxurious gift.
August Architect
Alexander I, who acted as the official customer, developed the first design of the palace, wanting it to please the Kochubeys and thereby console them at least a little. The emperor in general had a great penchant for architectural studies, apparently inherited from his august father and grandmother: all buildings erected in the capital had to undergo the highest “approbation”, and we have already written about his participation in the creation and implementation.
In addition to the emperor, the architects Neyolov, Menelas and Stasov contributed pencils to the architectural appearance of the palace. As a result of such creative collaboration, a luxurious building arose in the immediate vicinity of the Imperial Catherine Palace, its forms subtly reminiscent of Italian villas inspired by the great Palladio. In the summer of 1818, Viktor Pavlovich Kochubey returned to Tsarskoye and to the sovereign’s service, becoming Minister of Internal Affairs. All the emperor's plans came true.
Home of the Queen of Spades
The count's wife, Maria Vasilievna Kochubey, was a remarkable lady in many respects. Her usual intimate guests were emperors and members of their families, and she became known in the world from infancy. It was like this: her aunt, the rich and wayward Natalya Kirillovna Zagryazhskaya, daughter of the famous hetman of Ukraine Kirill Razumovsky, immediately after her birth took her from Moscow to St. Petersburg, and, as contemporaries wrote, “All the parents’ demands for the return of their daughter were in vain. Zagryazhskaya arranged it so that the young Vasilchikova remained behind her...”. In her old age, Zagryazhskaya lived in the house of her pupil, including in the palace in Tsarskoye. It is believed that it was she who served as one of the prototypes for the countess in “The Queen of Spades”: Zagryazhskaya, by marriage, was the great-aunt of Natalya Nikolaevna Goncharova, and Pushkin often visited her. Until her old age, Zagryazhskaya (and she died in her 90th year, having outlived the poet by more than a month, by the way) was the center of social life: people went to her to play cards (Zagryazhskaya passionately loved Boston, although she played badly), to meet with friends and the right people and listen to her conversations, full of bright and poignant historical anecdotes. Pushkin included some of them in his collection “Table-talk”.
Party at the prince's house
In 1821, the gates of the Catherine Park “To my dear colleagues” were installed on the main compositional axis, ordered by Alexander I in gratitude to the military of the empire, who defeated Napoleon with him. This finally confirmed the “ideological” connection of the palace with the imperial family. And in 1835, this family completely bought it from the wife of the late State Chancellor, Prince Kochubey, and since then the palace entered the department of the Ministry of the Court and was used either by various grand dukes or for the apartments of their entourage. Tsarskoye Selo gardeners organized flower exhibitions here from the greenhouses adjacent to the palace.
In 1875, Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich and his family settled here. The golden times of the palace, which received the name of Vladimirsky, began: the prince’s family loved the palace very much and usually spent eight months a year here, three of Vladimir Alexandrovich’s five children were born here. Children's birthdays were celebrated with fireworks, which especially delighted aristocratic offspring - modest, but grand ducal. In the archives of the Ministry of the Court there is the following entry: must be brought to the Reserve Palace “by the 30th of this September, i.e. by the birthday of Vel. book Kirill Vladimirovich, inexpensive fireworks... following the example of last year" And “50 pieces each of hand cups and other hand-held firework preparations.”
The holidays of the parents of these children were much more magnificent. Flowers to decorate the balls were brought from the imperial greenhouse, and from the neighboring imperial palace down the street, employees carried silverware. In order for the “statistics of girls and boys” to converge, special lists were compiled of “dancing officers” of the Life Guards of the Hussar, Horse, and Cavalry Guard regiments. There was, of course, a special “dress code”. So, on November 6, 1878, it was ordered to arrive “ladies in cut-out dresses... officers in festive uniforms, civilians in uniforms, tailcoats and ribbons”. Instead of Cinderella's carriage, an emergency train followed for the guests of Vladimir Alexandrovich and his wife Maria Pavlovna from St. Petersburg to Tsarskoe Selo; those who wanted to were taken back an hour after the end of the ball. These balls were all-inclusive; you could even ask for an apartment for changing clothes or spending the night.
Cupid's Palace after the tractor and the pioneers
After the revolution, the executive committee of the new authorities was located in the palace for a short time, then it was occupied by various agricultural organizations; until the late 1990s, there was a vintage Fordson tractor near the coach house. In the second half of the 1950s, the building again became a palace - the Palace of Pioneers, then the theater studio of the Tsarskoe Selo State Historical Museum settled in it.
For the 300th anniversary of the city of muses, a large-scale restoration was carried out in the palace, clearing it of historical deposits, and the building again changed its status. Again, to the palace. On June 24, 2010, the Reserve (Vladimir Palace) became the home of Cupid: the Wedding Palace No. 3 was opened there, which in terms of popularity successfully competes with the aristocratic-august Embankment of England.
Address: Tsarskoe Selo, Sadovaya street, building 22.
