The first buildings
The original estate in Gostilitsy was created at the beginning of the XVIII century by Count Burhard Christopher von Minich, to whom the lands were granted by Empress Anna Ioannovna. A wooden manor house, a mill and a dyeing plant were built under him. A funny fortress with earthen bastions was built not far from the estate.
After Minich's exile in 1743, the estate passed to Elizabeth Petrovna's favorite, Alexei Grigoryevich Razumovsky. Under his rule, the wooden house was rebuilt into a magnificent stone palace. The reconstruction was carried out by architect Bartolomeo Francesco Rastrelli. The palace was designed for receptions and celebrations, which Elizabeth Petrovna often arranged. Cavalry corps appeared next to him for the retinue and protection of the Empress.
Perestroika under the Potemkins
*** In 1824, the estate was bought by Alexander Mikhailovich Potemkin, a distant relative of Prince Grigory Potemkin-Tavrichesky. In 1845, a new building in the English Gothic style was built on the site of the old palace, designed by architect Andrei Ivanovich Stackenschneider. Stackenschneider is the author of the Mariinsky Palace, the Palace of the Princes Beloselsky-Belozersky, the Nikolaevsky Palace and the Belvedere Pavilion in Peterhof.
The new palace resembled a medieval castle thanks to the keep tower. The facades of the building were decorated with numerous volumes of towers and risalits, and the central part facing the river was highlighted by a semi-rotunda. The court grounds were landscaped: flower gardens and fountains appeared.
Future fate
After the Potemkins, the estate changed owners several times. At the end of the 19th century, it was acquired by Carl Heinrich von Siemens, who installed one of the first hydroelectric power plants in Russia to illuminate the palace.
During the Great Patriotic War, the palace was seriously damaged. He found himself in the line of direct multiple rocket fire during Operation January Thunder. The Red Army artillery shelled the building when Fascist machine gunners were holed up in it.
The palace was not restored after the war. In Soviet times, the Krasnaya Baltika state farm operated on the territory of the estate. In the 1990s, after the departure of the state farm, the buildings began to fall into disrepair.
Today, only ruins of the palace remain. The building is in a state of disrepair: the roof has collapsed, and trees are growing in the walls. The Trinity Church, built under the Razumovskys, and the priest's house were better preserved and restored.