Destruction
Palace shell, with a riverside frontage stretching for 500 meters, remained in place until December 1796, when Catherine's successor Paul, eager to obliterate the memory of his mother's undertakings, ordered the palace to be demolished and materials to be reused for construction of St. Michael's Castle in St. Petersburg. Demolition, authorized by Paul on December 7, 1796 actually commenced in May 1797, starting with connecting galleries. By January 1801 six of nine building were completely demolished, three other were razed during Alexander's reign.
The surviving post office building that was built by Starov in 1780s, was not part of the palace proper. It was designed to mirror Pella layout in a smaller scale, with curvilinear galleries and service building flanking the main rotunda hall. In the 19th century most of these galleries were demolished; the main hall was deformed by installing new chimneys and new window openings.
Read more about this topic: Pella Palace
Famous quotes containing the word destruction:
“When one of us dies of cancer, loses her mind, or commits suicide, we must not blame her for her inability to survive an ongoing political mechanism bent on the destruction of that human being. Sanity remains defined simply by the ability to cope with insane conditions.”
—Ana Castillo (b. 1953)
“He will deliver you from six troubles; in seven no harm shall touch you. In famine he will redeem you from death, and in war from the power of the sword. You shall be hidden from the scourge of the tongue, and shall not fear destruction when it comes. At destruction and famine you shall laugh, and shall not fear the wild animals of the earth. For you shall be in league with the stones of the field, and the wild animals shall be at peace with you.”
—Bible: Hebrew, Job 5:19-23.
“If only nature is real and if, in nature, only desire and destruction are legitimate, then, in that all humanity does not suffice to assuage the thirst for blood, the path of destruction must lead to universal annihilation.”
—Albert Camus (1913–1960)