Abandoned manor houses and churches in Saint-Petersburg region

upd 22 January 2024

Map

A lot of manor houses and churches in Saint-Petersburg region have been destructed and abandoned. There was a time when they were a great point of interest and now they all seem forgotten.

In this post, we will see why it happened. Of course, this list of monuments is not full – here is what we managed to visit and see by ourselves.

1. Church in Dylitsy (1766) was constructed upon the project of Savva Chevakinskiy in classicism style. The church was closed in the 1930s, has been seriously damaged during the war and abandoned since then.

2. Church in Gatchina (1906-1911). This roman-catholic church was opened in 1911. The curacy at this time was around 2500 people. In 1922 the church treasures were withdrawn during the anti-church campaign and the church was finally closed in 1939. It has been seriously damaged during the war and now is still ruined.

3. Lutheran church in Shpankovo was built in 1833. In 1835 the curacy of this church was 3500 people.

Around this time the senior priest of a church was a father of a famous Finnish architect Eliel Saarinen. In 1937 the church was closed and its pastor was executed. The church has not been damaged during the war (though have been occupied by Germans) but was slowly ruining since then.

4. The manor house of Vrangel (1870) is situated in Torosovo. This house was built for M.G. Vrangel. His son had owned and lived there when the manor was nationalized. In 1918 he was shot by the revolutionary sailors who came in the manor. For a long time a public school was situated in this house but after it moved away the manor was decaying.

5. Gostilitsy palace was built in 1845 upon the project of A.I. Stackenschneider for Potemkin family. After that, the palace belonged to Baron Vrangel and then C. von Siemens. It has been severely damaged during the war and abandoned since then.

6. A manor house in Kummolovo was built in the 20s of the XIX century in classicism style. The garden and the trout pond was set up on the territory around the house, there were a lot of service buildings. The owner of the house has been able to escape during the revolution. The house was nationalized and was used by the commune. Nowadays the house is abandoned and ruined, service buildings are destroyed. And even the village Kummolovo is now abandoned.

7. A manor house in Kotly was given to Albrecht by Anna Ioannovna in consideration of help with a take-over. The house was later rebuilt in 1836 in classicism style, the garden, park and the barns were set up. After the revolution, the garden and park were abandoned and the house was given to sovkhoz. The school was in the building until 1989 and after that, it was ruining.

8. A manor Uteshenie (translated as Consolation). It was too owned by Albrecht and supposed to be a calm peaceful place – unlike the house in Kotly. After the revolution, the hospital was in the building and now the status of the manor is unclear.

9. Lopuhinka. The manor house in Lopuhinka was built in 1780. By 1841 this location became a popular resort thanks to radon lakes and was even called “a Russian Switzerland”. However, the resort has decayed by the end of the XIX century. Nowadays the house is abandoned and the lakes are not used by anyone.

10. Ropshinskiy palace in Ropsha was built in 1748-1750 upon the Rastrelli project. The palace had been given to Peter III who soon was killed there. In 1801 it was given to Paul I who also soon was killed after that. All the emperors of Russia including the Nicolas II visited the palace from time to time. After the revolution, the palace was nationalized and all the belongings were sold off. Ropsha has been occupied during the war and was seriously damaged. After that several fires occurred. Nowadays the palace is under restoration.

Take your chance to visit this abandoned buildings by yourself while you still can because most of them will disappear in a few years. Here you can see a map with the exact coordinates of each place described in the post.

All the photos are shot by me, except for historic ones – they are from the internet.