Gatchina

Gatchina, a town in the government of St. Petersburg in the district of Tsarskoselo, Russia. It is 29 miles W. of the capital, in a wooded and marshy flat near the White and Black Lakes, and is approached by the Warsaw line of railway. Here, in 1770. a palace was founded by Prince Orloff, the designs being supplied by Rinaldi. The present Tsar has resided therein during the greater portion of his reign, surrounded by a cordon of troops, and a cloud of police spies. The town also contains four Greek churches, a Protestant chapel, a foundling asylum, a military orphanage, a hospital, and a porcelain factory. In one of the churches are relics brought from Rhodes to Malta by L'Isle Adam, Grand-Master of the Knights Templar.