Ramon Palace, also known as Princess Oldenburg's Palace, is a red-brick

neo-Gothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half of the 19th century ...

palace in

Ramon, Russia Ramon () is an urban locality (an urban-type settlement) and the administrative center of Ramonsky District of Voronezh Oblast, Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the lis ...

. It was built in 1883–87 for Princess Eugenia Maximilianovna of Leuchtenberg and her husband

Duke Alexander Petrovich of Oldenburg Duke Alexander Frederick Constantin of Oldenburg (; , Alexander Petrovich Oldenburgsky; – 6 September 1932) was the second son of Duke Peter of Oldenburg and Princess Therese of Nassau-Weilburg. Though he had a German title and ancestry, Alexa ...

. It is registered as an object of Russian cultural heritage. In 1879 Tsar Alexander II gave the estate of Ramon to his niece Princess Eugenia and the Duke of Oldenburg as a wedding gift. In 1883 they commissioned construction of the palace, in red brick, in the style of an English Gothic castle with gatehouse. The architect is usually said to have been Christopher Neysler,"The Oldenburg Estate at Ramon"
, ''Royal Russia News'', retrieved 2016-02-21. but some sources attribute the design to Nicholas Benois.
, ''Парадный квартал'', 2013-10-03 (Russian with English translation). The building used "foot bricks" manufactured according to a traditional process involving peasants treading the clay into wood frames for firing. The building is decorated with

wrought iron Wrought iron is an iron alloy with a very low carbon content (less than 0.05%) in contrast to that of cast iron (2.1% to 4.5%), or 0.25 for low carbon "mild" steel. Wrought iron is manufactured by heating and melting high carbon cast iron in an ...

and the grounds originally had fountains and a menagerie, including bears who were housed in the cellars in winter. The grand staircase leading to the first floor, where there was originally a ballroom, has shallow steps to accommodate the tight skirts then in vogue; Princess Eugenia is thought to have had input into this and other aspects of the interior design. There appears to have been a central heating system of air ducts in the walls, and the Duke's bath was lowered into the cellar through a trapdoor to be filled with hot water. The palace was completed in 1887. After the marriage of

Duke Peter Alexandrovich of Oldenburg Duke Peter Alexandrovich of Oldenburg (21 November 1868 – 11 March 1924) was the first husband of Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna of Russia, the youngest sister of Tsar Nicholas II. Early life He was born in Saint Petersburg in the Oldenburg ...

, the couple's only son, to Grand Duchess Olga Alexandrovna, the young couple lived at the palace and then built their own home, Olgino, next to it. In 1902 the palace was damaged by arson in connection with workers' protests. The Oldenburg family went into exile to avoid the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

; the estate properties were confiscated by the Bolshevik government in 1917 and the palace was subsequently used as barracks, a school, a hospital, and housing for managers of the nearby factories which had been established by Princess Eugenia.The palace was closed for restoration in the late 1970s but instead fell into disrepair. Some stabilisation took place in 1999–2005, including reinforcement of the main stairway and installation of a snow melting system on the roof, and there were plans to lease it on condition the architecture was preserved, but instead in 2009 a consortium of German architects proposed plans for renovating it, and in 2010 under the sponsorship of Duchess Bibiane of Oldenburg, Mrs. Dorner, a

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists of a stylized letter E (or epsilon), crossed by t ...

40 million project financed by German investors was launched to preserve the palace and associated buildings as a museum and build a hotel. During the restoration, a stone was found in the grounds with an inscription confirming that the estate was a royal gift.ГТРК "Воронеж"
"Дарственный камень "Бомарзунд" через 30 лет вновь увидел свет"

Russia-24 Russia-24 () is a state-owned Russian-language news channel from Russia. It covers major national and international events and focuses on domestic issues. It is owned by VGTRK. History The broadcast began July 1, 2006 in Russia, February 7, 20 ...

, 2011-09-27 The restored grounds reopened in 2013.

References

External links

*
Official website

Дворец принцессы Ольденбургской

Russian cultural heritage register The national cultural heritage register of Russia () is a registry of historically or culturally significant man-made immovable properties – landmark buildings, industrial facilities, memorial homes of notable people of the past, monuments, cem ...

{{Coord, 51, 54, 29.3, N, 39, 20, 25.6, E, display=title Houses completed in 1887 Palaces in Russia Buildings and structures in Voronezh Oblast Gothic Revival architecture in Russia Cultural heritage monuments in Voronezh Oblast Objects of cultural heritage of Russia of regional significance