page_title: Gatchina Palace
section_title: Russian Civil War
hierarchical_section_title: Gatchina Palace / History / Russian Civil War
caption_attribution_description: English: Gatchina. Aerial view of the Gatchina Palace Русский: Гатчина. Вид на Большой Гатчинский дворец с высоты птичьего полёта
context_page_description: The Great Gatchina Palace is a palace in Gatchina, Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It was built from 1766 to 1781 by Antonio Rinaldi for Count Grigori Grigoryevich Orlov, who was a favourite of Catherine the Great, in Gatchina, a suburb of the royal capital Saint Petersburg. The Gatchina Palace combines classical architecture and themes of a medieval castle with ornate interiors typical of Russian classicism, located on a hill in central Gatchina next to Lake Serebryany. The Gatchina Palace became one of the favourite residences of the Russian Imperial Family, and during the 19th century was an important site of Russian politics. Since the February Revolution in 1917 it has been a museum and public park, and received UNESCO World Heritage Site status in 1990.
context_section_description: In the early 20th century, increasing instability in Russia led to the February Revolution of 1917, resulting in the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II and the establishment of the Provisional Government headed by Alexander Kerensky. The abdication meant Gatchina Palace ceased to belong to the royal family and became state property, and on the decision of the new government on 27 May 1917, commissions for the acceptance and inventory of palaces. The Gatchina commission was led by Valentin Platonovich Zubov, a prominent art critic and founder of the Russian Institute of Art History, who eventually converted the palace into a museum and became its first director. Following the October Revolution and the subsequent outbreak of the Russian Civil War, the Gatchina Palace served as a local headquarters for troops loyal to the White Movement. Alexander Kerensky visited the palace on 27 October 1917, when fighting broke out in Gatchina between Cossack units of General Pyotr Krasnov and detachments of the Red Guards, but avoided the palace. On 1 November, the victorious Reds held a rally outside the palace in the main square, where Pavel Yefimovich Dybenko persuaded the Cossack units stationed not to oppose the Red authorities in Petrograd (Saint Petersburg) and to surrender. Kerensky left Gatchina Palace that night, which was occupied by Red troops the following day, and the museum was later opened on 19 May 1918. Gatchina Palace was the site of fighting in 1919, when White Army troops led by Nikolai Yudenich entered Gatchina in an attempt to take the town from the Red Army. The White forces were defeated, and Red soldiers who died in the battle were buried in the parade grounds.
caption: Early aerial photograph of Gatchina Palace
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