ARMOURY PAVILION
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The Arsenal is the main pavilion of the Alexandre Park. It was originally the site of the Monbijou hunting lodge, built in 1747-1754 on the designs of Savva Chevakinsky and Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli in the Russian Baroque style. Nearly a century later, Monbijou had aged badly, so Nicholas I decided to rebuild it and commissioned the Scottish architect Adam Menelas to carry out the project in 1834. The Arsenal's collection has gathered more than 5,000 items. However, in 1885, Nicholas I's grandson, Emperor Alexander III, decided to transfer the collection to the Hermitage. Today these items are on display in the famous Knights' Hall.
Devastated during the siege of Leningrad and the occupation of Tsarskoye Selo by the Wehrmacht, this monument of 19th century Russian neo-Gothic architecture has been in a state of advanced decay for the last 70 years. Fully restored over the course of 2010, it has risen from its ashes and was reopened to the public in August 2016. Today, it houses the permanent collection of imperial weapons, assembled in cooperation with the Hermitage Museum (which lends rare pieces from its collection). It consists of firearms from the 18th-19th centuries, cold steel from the East, as well as the Knights' Hall (octagonal room on the second floor of the building). In total, there are more than 400 items on display, and the collection is gradually being expanded.
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