Tsarskoe Selo showcases more than thirty eighteenth-century artefacts in Roads of Russian Enlightenment, an exhibition in the old Russian town of Kargopol on both sides of the Onega River in the Russian northern region of Arkhangelsk.
Dedicated to Catherine the Great's extensive educational plans and dreams of 'smartly-planned' cities in Russia, the exhibition is open at the History, Architecture and Art Museum of Kargopol until 25 February 2025.
Besides Catherine's patroness (honorary commander) uniform of the Life-Guards Semyonovsky Regiment and two of her portraits, our museum's collection is represented by some rare eighteenth-century objects, such as an exquisite Chinese enamel tea set, a delicate French hand fan, and two painted wheels of a state coach.
Catherine played a great role in the urban development of the Russian North. The empress planned but didn't make a trip to Kargopol, which, on the occasion, was renovated based on the plans of Sofia Town near Tsarskoe Selo.
The exhibition is part and the highlight of a large-scale educational project on urban cultural traditions and developments in the Russian North, initiated by the 'Lomonosov Roads' Russian North Preservation Foundation and launched in February 2024.
Photos by Roads of Russian Enlightenment Project
