The Hall on the Island

The Hall on the Island pavilion is, as the name suggests, located on an island in the Great Pond in the Landscape Park (the Catherine Park). It was constructed in the 1740s at the time of Elizabeth to a design by Savva Chevakinsky and decorated from drawings by Rastrelli. In 1794 it was reconstructed by Giacomo Quarenghi, but a couple of decades later, in 1817–20, more work was carried out in the hall by Vasily Stasov. In the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries this pavilion, intended as a concert hall and resting place for boaters, was occasionally used for court lunches as well. The small kitchen built alongside it for this purpose was removed in the early twentieth century. According to different people’s memoirs, in the nineteenth century the Hall on the Island is where devices were kept for skaters using the rink that functioned on the lake to warm themselves with. In 1911, in connection with the 200th anniversary exhibition organized in Tsarskoye Selo, a restaurant was opened in the hall and the island was connected to the shore by a pontoon bridge.               See on Map

From 1912 to 1941 the hall remained closed. In winter boats were kept there. In 1996 the historical ferry crossing, linking the island with the Catherine Park, was re-established. At present restoration work has been carried out in the pavilion, after which the Hall on the Island is now used for temporary exhibitions and concerts.     Visiting information