Gatchina

Gatchina

GATCHINA – a town in Leningrad Oblast (St.Petersburg region) located on a highway to Kiev, 30 kilometers from St.Petersburg.

Gatchina’s population is 80.000, land area – 29 km².

Gatchina is one of the most beautiful towns in the Russian Federation and of St.Petersburg suburbs, an official residence of the Russian Royal family, along with Pavlovsk, Pushkin and Petershoff.

The town is a cultural and architectural reserve of the past centuries with  conservation zones and public reserves protected by the state.  There are numerous  listed architectural buildings, erected in XVIII-XIX centuries, many of them preserved since XIX century.

In surrounding area of Gatchina there are also many mansions of XVIII-XIX centuries, unique constructions, created by famous architects, especially of wooden architecture. These places are famous for the names of Alexander Pushkin, his ancestors – Gannibals, as well as Ryleyev, Kramskoy, Shishkin, Vladimir Nabokov, and others.

 

In recent years the town’s infrastructure is developing actively. Gatchina hosted various cultural and sports events, the most famous ones are:

-Film Festival “Literature and Cinema”,

-“The Night of Lights”, The Day of the City,

-“Music Night in Gatchina”,

-European Cup on Badminton “White Nights”, and many others.