The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-07.
Pushkin
(psh´kn, Rus. psh´kn) (KEY) , city (1989 pop. 95,000), NW European Russia, a residential and resort suburb of St. Petersburg. It produces road-building equipment and has an important botanical institute. Founded in 1708 under Peter I on the site of a Finnish village, it was first called Tsarskoye Selo [czars village] and was renamed Detskoye Selo [childrens village] after the Bolshevik Revolution. Pushkin served as a royal residence from 1725, with the huge baroque style summer palace of Catherine II (built 174862) and that of Alexander I (built 179296) in the classical mode. The vast park at Pushkin had innumerable rococo style grottoes, pavilions, canals, lakes, and bridges. The school where the poet Pushkin studied was opened is now a museum. In 1837 the city was joined with St. Petersburg by Russias first railroad. Heavily damaged during World War II, Pushkin and its palaces have since been restored.