The Maltese Chapel is part of the Vorontsov Palace architectural complex, which was built by the outstanding architect F.-B. Rastrelli in the mid-18th century. for Chancellor Count M.I. Vorontsov.
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After the sale of the palace to Catherine II, at different times it was occupied by Prince Henry of Prussia, brother of Frederick II, then Prince Nassau-Siegen, who served in the Russian fleet as an admiral, lived in it, then Count I.A.
Osterman. And finally, Paul I, with the adoption of the title of Protector (patron) of the Order of Malta, and then Grand Master after the capture of General Bonaparte by the troops of Fr. Malta (June 1798) provides the Vorontsov Palace to the Knights of Malta. Vorontsov Palace
In 1798-1800.
court architect Giacomo Quarenghi (1744 - 1817), under the influence of the high Renaissance and thanks to his excellent knowledge of Roman architecture, built the Maltese Chapel, masterfully fitting it into the ensemble of the Vorontsov Palace by architect F.B. Rastrelli. The Catholic church has the shape of a rectangle with a barrel vault.
Two rows of artificial marble columns divide the interior of the chapel into three naves. The choirs are located above the side naves. In the choir on the right is the Walker organ, which has been in the chapel since 1909 and returned to its historical place after restoration. The altar part is an apse with columns located close to the walls. In the center there is a marble altar, and behind it there was an altarpiece by the artist A.I. Charlemagne "John the Baptist". To the right of the altar, under a canopy, stood the crimson velvet chair of the grand master of the order. On the left, under a marble plaque with an inscription about the founding and solemn consecration of the church, there is a bishop’s chair and several stools. Here, in front of the altar barrier, there were embassy benches with velvet cushions. In the middle part of the hall there were 14 wooden benches with cushions, covered with red cloth. The walls were enriched with decorative arches, sculptures of angels, Maltese crosses and plaster garlands. The ceiling of the church consists of semi-circular box vaults, covered with paintings consisting of floral ornaments, rosettes, and plaster garlands. On June 17, 1800, Archbishop Sestrentsevich of Mogilev consecrated the church. After the death of Paul I, his successor Alexander I renounced the title of Grand Master of the Order, but retained the title of its protector.
The Maltese cross was removed from the Russian state emblem. In 1803, Alexander I resigned from his title of protector, and in 1817 it was declared by the highest authorities that “the order no longer exists in the Russian Empire.” With the cessation of the existence of the Russian branch of the sovereign Order of St. John of Jerusalem and the awarding of the Order of Malta ceased. In 1853-56. in the altar part of the church a chapel was added, under which a crypt was built for the former trustee of the church (1844 -1852), Duke Maximilian of Leuchtenberg. In the new chapel, or chapel, the interior of the former Catholic prayer house of the Duke, located in the Mariinsky Palace, was recreated at the will of the Duke's wife, Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaevna. In 1928, the building of the Maltese Chapel was transferred to the club of the Infantry School named after. Sklyansky, then the Leningrad Twice Red Banner Military School named after. CM. Kirov, and from 1955 to the St. Petersburg Suvorov Military School. Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries. Repair and restoration work was repeatedly carried out in the Maltese Chapel. The latest restoration of the church was carried out under the leadership of architect S.V.
Samusenko in 1986-1998. The modern concept of using the Maltese Chapel and adjacent premises of the Vorontsov Palace involves the creation of a Museum of the History of Cadet Corps and a concert hall, in which organ music is regularly heard today. Knights of Malta The Spiritual Knightly Order of St.
John of Jerusalem arose in the middle of the 11th century. in Palestine under the name of the Order of St. John, or Hospitallers. At first, the Order was engaged in providing shelter and treatment to sick or wounded pilgrims who came from Europe to venerate the Holy Sepulcher. Gradually, the Johannites acquired land holdings, castles and fortresses in various European countries. At the beginning of the 12th century. The Hospitallers fell under the jurisdiction of the Roman Curia. The brethren were obliged to take a vow of poverty, chastity and obedience. Soon the obligation to fight infidels was added to the monastic vows, and thus the order turned into a spiritual order of knighthood. The Hospitallers received a special order attire: for peacetime, a black cloak with a white linen eight-pointed cross (symbol of 8 knightly virtues) on the left side, and for war (from the 13th century) - a red cloak. The Johannites played a prominent role in the Crusades.
After the Crusaders were driven out of the East, the Order of St. John of Jerusalem moved his residence to Fr. Cyprus (1291), then in 1306-1308. - on o. Rhodes, and in 1530 - on the island. Malta. From that time on, the order also began to be called the Order of Malta. At the head of the order was the Grand Master, elected by the knights for life. All other members of the order were divided into 8 nations (languages): Provence, Auvergne, France, Italy, Arragonia, Castile with Portugal, Germany and England. All nations were divided into great priories, priories, commanderies and balii. In 1797, a grand priory of the order (Russian-Catholic) was established in Russia with 13 commanderies on lands that previously belonged to Poland and went to Russia after the second partition of Poland. At the suggestion of the chapter of the Order of Malta, Paul I accepted the title of protector (patron) of the order, and after the capture of General Bonaparte by the troops, Fr. Malta (June 1798) - title of Grand Master. In 1798, Paul I declared with a manifesto the establishment “in favor of the Russian nobility of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem,” which was divided into two priories (Russian-Catholic and Russian-Orthodox) and included 98 commanderies. At the same time, the Maltese cross appeared in the state emblem and on the guards banners, and to reward the Russian nobility for military and civil service, the Order of St. John of Jerusalem. Altarpiece
The altarpiece “John the Baptist” was painted by the artist Adolphe Iosifovich Charlemagne (1826-1901) in 1862 specifically for the Maltese Chapel of the Vorontsov Palace. The Holy Prophet and Forerunner of the Lord Jesus Christ, John the Baptist, is the heavenly intercessor and patron of the Order of Malta (Order of St. John of Jerusalem), which found shelter in Russia after the capture of Fr. Malta by the troops of General Napoleon Bonaparte in 1798. The son of the priest Zechariah and the righteous Elizabeth, John the Baptist was born 6 months earlier than Jesus Christ, and escaped death when King Herod ordered the killing of all babies in Bethlehem. He grew up in the desert, wore rough clothes, belted with a leather belt, prayed and fasted, and ate wild honey and locusts. When John was thirty years old, the Lord commanded him to go to the Jordan Valley and announce to all people about the imminent appearance of the Savior in the world and that everyone should prepare for His meeting through repentance and baptism. John the Baptist baptized Jesus Christ in the waters of the Jordan (hence the name Baptist), exposed the vices of both ordinary people and the powerful of this world, for which King Herod Antipas (the son of King Herod the Great) was put in prison. During the royal feast, Salome, the daughter of Herodias, pleased Herod with a dance and asked for the truncated head of the prophet as a reward. The head, brought on a platter, was thrown into an unclean place. The body of John the Baptist was buried by his disciples in the city of Sebaste. According to legend, the Evangelist Luke transferred a particle of the relics of John the Baptist - his right hand - from Sebastia to Antioch. The right hand of John the Baptist became one of the shrines of the Order of St. John, which he kept for many centuries. In 959, the Muslims captured Antioch. The Hand of John was transferred from Antioch to Chalcedon, and then to Constantinople, where it was kept until the conquest of the city by the Turks. Since the reign of Emperor Paul I, who accepted the title of Grand Master of the Order of Malta, the right hand of John the Baptist has been in the Church of the Savior Not Made by Hands in the Winter Palace in St. Petersburg; it is now kept in Montenegro in the monastery of St. Peter Cetinsky. Academician of painting A.I. Charlemagne began work on the altar image of John the Baptist in 1861 upon his return from Paris. The image was in the Maltese Chapel until 1928. After the building of the Maltese Chapel was transferred as a club to the Infantry School. E.M. Sklyansky, “John the Baptist” ended up in the Leningrad State Anti-Religious Museum of the Excursion and Lecture Center of the Department of Public Education, located in St. Isaac’s Cathedral, and from there in 1932 - in the State Russian Museum. For more than 70 years, the canvas was kept in the collections of the Russian Museum without a stretcher or frame, wound on a drum, had numerous tears, screes of the paint layer, craquelure and even bullet holes from a 6.5 mm Arisaka rifle. In February 2006, the leadership of the Russian Museum decided to transfer the altarpiece to the Maltese Chapel for temporary storage. For a year and a half, restoration of the canvas was carried out in the restoration workshops of the Military Historical Museum of Artillery, Engineering Troops and Signal Corps by restoration artists E.V. Smolenchuk and A.A. Yashkina under the leadership of the vice-rector of the St. Petersburg State Academic Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture named after I.E. Repin, professor, art restorer of the highest category A.G. Bobrova. Work on the manufacture and installation of the frame was carried out under the guidance of V.I. Elizarov by craftsmen from the restoration organizations Kapitel LLC (General Director M.A. Dobrodumov) and Amarant LLC (General Director M.A. Arkhipov). The wooden frame was made by M. Arkhipov, the stucco work was done by the modeler E. Harv, the gilding work was done by L.V. Samorodova., S.B. Kryukova and E.A. Tushina. The entire complex of work on recreating the frame and restoring the canvas was carried out with funds allocated by the Committee for State Control, Use and Protection of Historical and Cultural Monuments, JSC Eurosib (General Director D.N. Nikitin), Honorary Consul of the Republic of Malta I.V. . Onokov. Thanks to their participation in the project, in September 2007 the image was returned to its historical place.
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