The Giant Bath Tub for the Tsar Alexander I; in Babolovsky Palace, St. Petersburg, Russia.

Babolovo (Babolovka) Palace, a historical building located located in town of Tsarskoye Selo (Tsar’s Village), about 24km south of St. Petersburg, Russia. This palace was built in towards the end of 18th Century AD, during reign of Catherine II of Russia (Catherine the Great). Palace is situated close to Catherine Palace and Alexander Palace, both of which are renowned imperial residences from time of Russian Empire. In 1780 AD, grounds adjoining that of Catherine Palace were presented by Catherine the Great to Grigory Potemkin, a Russian nobleman who was also the empress’ favourite at that time.

Initially, a temporary wooden palace was built, which, according to one source, served as a rendezvous point for lovers. Between 1782-1785 AD, building was replaced by a stone one, which was designed by Ilya Neyelov (who also designed the bath pavilions in neighbouring Catherine Park). This new structure was built in Gothic Revival style, and served essentially as a summerhouse. Neyelov’s creation was a single-storey building with seven rooms, each of which gave access to park surrounding the palace and an octagonal tower.

Babolovo Palace was not used for a very long time, as it was abandoned in 1791 AD. One factor contributing to palace’s demise is its remoteness, which meant that it was very seldom visited. It was only several decades later, during 1820s, that there was a revival in Babolovo Palace.  

It was during this decade that Babolovo Palace was renovated, under auspices of Tsar Alexander I, grandson of Catherine the Great. The tsar is said to have liked the palace very much, and it has been rumoured that it was there that he used Babolovo Palace for his trysts with Sophia Velho, daughter of a court banker. The most significant change that was made to the palace is perhaps the addition of a colossal bath tub, known also as ‘Tsar Bath’.

One of the most curious objects to be found in this palace is a giant bath made of granite, known as ‘Tsar Bath’, which was added to building some decades after its construction. Today, palace, which is part of Babolovo Park, is in ruins. Nevertheless, there have been plans to preserve palace from further destruction, as well as to develop park surrounding it.

According to one source, the bath tub was originally a chunk of granite from one of the Finnish islands. This piece of granite weighed over 160 tonnes, and a team of masons, led by Vasily Sukhanov, was given the task of turning the rock into a bathtub. It took Sukhanov 10 years to get the job done, and the resulting piece of work is a true masterpiece. The Tsar Bath has a height of 1.96m, a depth of 1.52m, and a width of 5.33m. The walls of tub are 45cm thick, and its weight was reduced from the original 160 tonnes to 48 tonnes. 8000 buckets of water (about 12 tonnes) could be contained in this bath. Given the immensity of the bath, the workers renovating the palace had to first place the tub into its designated room before having the walls and roof constructed.

During WWII, Babolovo Palace was badly damaged. Tsar Bath, however, survived and invading Nazis even attempted to have the bath tub transported back to Germany. They were, however, unsuccessful and extraordinary object was left where it was. Babolovo Palace has remained in ruins ever since, although plans have been announced recently for conserving the remains of this structure and to develop the surrounding park.

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