Semenovskoe-Otrada

2006 World Monuments Watch

A fine example of eighteenth-century Russian Classicism, the Semenovskoe-Otrada Palace is one of the largest non-royal residences in Russia and the largest in the Moscow region. The estate was founded by the brother of Count Grigory Grigorievich Orlov (1734–1783), the famous co-conspirator of Catherine the Great who helped her seize the throne. The palace interior was painted in the 1830s by renowned Russian artist Karl Brullov. Édouard André, one of the best-known French landscape architects of the late-nineteenth century, designed the palace park. Although the estate was restored at the time of the collapse of the Soviet Union. it has since fallen into dereliction and is continually attacked by vandals and looters. If the building deteriorates further, its protected status could be removed, clearing the path for its demolition.