Tsaritsyno Palace and Park

Catherine II bought the estate in 1775 and commissioned Vasily Bazhenov to build a residence, which he did over ten years in an unusual manner - red brick with white stone detail, pointed arches and pinnacles, a Gothic-Russian hybrid unlike anything else of the period. When Catherine finally visited in 1785 she disliked it, reportedly finding it gloomy, and ordered the main palace pulled down and rebuilt by Matvei Kazakov. That second version was never finished either; Catherine died, the money stopped, and the shell stood roofless in the park for over two centuries, becoming a famous romantic ruin painted and photographed by generations. In 2005 to 2007 the city completed it - roofs, floors, interiors, all new - and opened it as a museum, which is contested: some regard it as a rescue, others as the destruction of an authentic ruin by a modern building with old walls.

What you actually see

• The Bazhenov buildings - the surviving red brick and white stone Gothic-Russian ensemble.
• The rejected palace - the residence Catherine ordered demolished after one visit.
• The 2007 completion - a modern interior inside two-century-old shell walls.
• The park - ponds, bridges and pavilions across a large landscaped estate.

When to go

May to September for the park; the fountain runs in the warm months. Two to four hours. The palace closes on Mondays.

Honest expectations

The palace interiors are entirely modern - visitors expecting eighteenth-century rooms find a 2007 building. The reconstruction remains locally controversial. The park is large and busy at weekends. Museums are ticketed separately from the free grounds.

Nearby

Kolomenskoye is west across the river; central Moscow is north.