Gatchina

Gatchina, city, Leningrad oblast (province), northwestern Russia, lying about 28 miles (45 km) southwest of St. Petersburg. The first mention of Khotchino dates from 1499, when it was a possession of Novgorod. Later it belonged to Livonia and Sweden. After 1721 it was returned to Russia and in the 1720s belonged to the sister of Peter I the Great, Natalia. The town grew only after the building, between 1766 and 1772, of a summer palace there for Catherine II’s favourite, Count Orlov. The palace was designed by the Italian architect Antonio Rinaldi; it had about 600 rooms, a theatre, and many works of art and was surrounded by a fine park. Upon Orlov’s disgrace the palace passed to Catherine’s son, Paul I, who transformed it into a combination of palace, fortress, and barracks. Although badly damaged during World War II, the palace was restored and is now a museum. The modern city is a railway junction, with machine building, metalworking, and light industries. Pop. (2006 est.) 88,842.