This ensemble of gorgeous buildings and structures has an interesting history. Catherine II bought the property because she was enchanted by its appearance and renamed it Tsaritsyno (which means "tsar’s", the word is really a noun that used to be an adjective). She commissioned a famous architect Bazhenov to build a summer residence for her that would be like her St Peterburg palaces. He spent years designing and building the estate, the money stopped coming from the queen and he spent some of his own money to finish the complex. When Catherine saw the finished work, she didn’t like it and nobody really knows why, maybe the palaces were too small or maybe she didn’t like Bazhenov’s affiliation with free masons, but she ordered the buildings to be demolished and asked another famous architect Kazakov to build a new palace. Kazakov tried to use the same style, but by the time the new building was finished Catherine died, and the estate was abandoned.
In early 1980’s you would come to the park and you would see the walls of these gorgeous buildings covered with grafitti, trees and plants growing on them, people climbing the buildings for fun. There was nothing but the walls still standing. Then the Russian Academy of Arts started to restore the buildings and now there is an exhibit of art, musical performances take place here, and the buildings look the way they were designed to look 200 years ago. The palaces are made of red brick with white stone ornaments, large gothic style windows, a incorporation of Russian and Moorish styles into what was fashionable in the 18th century Europe architecture.
The palaces are surrounded by a large park with 200 year old trees, and several ponds. A lot of people come here to sunbathe and swim in the summer, you can also rent a canoe or a small boat and peddle along the pond. There is a metro station nearby of the same name, from which you can get here by bus. There is also a train station within a walking distance. You can drive here by car and there is plenty of parking space.