On February 17, all parks of the Peterhof Museum-Reserve are closed to the public due to bad weather conditions. Some museums are open

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1831-1834, atchitects: K.F. Schinkel, A. Menelaws, J. I. Charlemagne

One of the paths on the west from the Cottage palace, across the Ruin bridge past the Farm palace, is leading to an elegant building - the home church of the family of Nicholas I. Its place was chosen by the emperor himself. In 1834, the church was consecrated in the name of Holy Blessed Grand Duke Alexander Nevsky. Created in the medieval Gothic style, it received the name of the Gothic Chapel (one of the meanings of the word "chapel", is a small home church for one family prayers). The project was ordered to an outstanding German architect, K.F. Schinkel. The construction was initially under the supervision of A. Menelaws, and was finished by J.I. Charlemagne.

Reminiscent of a medieval Gothic cathedral in miniature, the Chapel serves as a spectacular romantic scenery of the park. The northern, western and southern facades of the church, have been formalized identically. In the center - the arched portals, over them - the round rose windows with a stained glass. The eastern facade is adjoined with a trihedral ledge - the apse. The belfry is placed over its side walls - the crossbeams with three tollers on each side. The eight steeples are crowned with gilded orthodox crosses. The building is richly decorated, with lacy iron casting and sculpture. The forty three statues, created from copper sheeting, following the models by the sculptor V. I. Demuth-Malinovsky, depict angels, holy apostles, go-spellers and Our Lady with the child.

The massive oak doors lead straight inside the church hall. Inside, just like outside, the church is decorated in neo-Gothic style: the arches, the soaring vaulting and round windows with the stained glass. But by its arrangement, it is an orthodox church. The alter is on the western side, separated from the church hall by the iconostasis. All the icons were executed by the court painter, Timofey Neff.

Since the time of its consecration, the Gothic Chapel served as a home church for the four generations of the Russian emperors - Nicholas I, Alexander II, Alexander III and Nicholas II. The regular church worships were held here, in summer time. The visits by the imperial family to the Gothic Chapel were called, "Small visits". In the days of special celebrations, they made "Big visits" to the church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, at the Grand Peterhof Palace.

During the years of the Second World War, the building survived, the iron casting on the facades and a large part of the sculptures preserved, however, the finish was damaged.

In the autumn of 2006, after the completion of the restoration, the Gothic Chapel was consecrated anew, having timed the occasion with the ceremony of reburial of the relics of the Russian empress, Maria Feodorvna, the spouse of the emperor Alexander III. Her ashes repeated the same way, from Denmark to Saint-Petersburg, via Kronstadt and Peterhof, that the future empress made, when she first arrived in Russia. The service was held in the Gothic Chapel, in presence of the members of the House of Denmark and the descendants of the imperial Romanov family.

Gothic Chapel in the Alexandria Park