Prince Golitsyn began his military career under the command of A.V. Suvorov. He was involved in the suppression of the Polish uprising of 1794, and fought in the battles of Golomin, Preussisch-Eylau and others during the Russo-Austro-French campaign of 1806-1807.
In 1812, Golitsyn fought courageously at Borodino, Tarutino, Maly Yaroslavets and during the foreign campaigns of the Russian army in 1813-1814.
He was awarded the highest Russian and foreign military decorations. The Golitsyn period in the history of Moscow was marked by major changes in the architectural panorama, of the city. In 1821-1823, Voskresensky Gardens with an arch-grotto designed by the architect O.I. Bove were laid out over the old bed of the river Neglinnaya, and in 1821 a boulevard was built along the Kremlin Embankment. By 1830 the reconstruction of the city following the fire of 1812 had been completed, and work began on a radically new programme of city planning, the result of close co-operation between the governor-general and the architects M.D. Bykovsky and K.A. Ton.
In 1839 a solemn ceremony was held to mark the laying of the foundation stone of the Church of Christ the Saviour to commemorate those who fell in the Napoleonic war. The boundaries of the city centre and adjoining streets were modified and extended, and the architectural monuments of the Kremlin were renovated. The city's water supply was improved by the construction of the Alexeyevsky water elevator, begun in 1828. In 1824 repair work was carried out on bridges damaged by the floods in November 1823, and in 1829, the permanent Moskvoretsky Bridge was erected on "stone piers and foundations". The erection of the Triumphal Gates in 1829-1831 added another architectural adornment to the city.
On Golitsyn's instructions, money was made available to construct a road from Krymsky Bridge to Kaluzhskaya Square, to landscape Chistye Prudy, to construct a wooden aqueduct from Tverskaya Square along Sto-lyeshnikov Lane, to pave streets, etc.
One of the features of Moscow city planning was the erection of a new type of trade building: the Merchant Stock Exchange on Ilyinka and the shopping arcade between the Bolshoi Theatre and Kuznetsky Bridge, the first of its kind in Russia.
Charitable work also benefitted from the attention and concern of the governor-general. Children's Hospital No. 1, the Nabilkovskaya and Maroseika Almshouses, the City Orphanage, the Meshchansky Institute, the Committee for the Investigation and Care of Beggars, the 1837 Charitable Organisation, Industry House, the Eye Hospital, City Hospital No. 1 and the Novo-Yekaterininskaya Hospital, and also the Alexandrovsky and Nikolayevsky Boarding Schools for Orphans were all opened during Golitsyn's governorship.
In December 1820, Golitsyn founded the Moscow Agricultural Society, and also did a great deal to help set up the Moscow Gubernia Archives, founded in 1823. At the end of 1824, the Maly Theatre opened its doors. In 1821-1824, the Bolshoi Theatre was built to a design by the architects O.I. Bove and A.A. Mikhailov.
Golitsyn began the organisation of exhibitions of goods produced by manufacture and crafts, the first of which was held in June 1831 in the halls of the Noble Assembly.
The city administration was severely tested by a cholera epidemic which broke out in Russia in 1830-1831. The city handled the crisis successfully, however, and a major role in this was played by the Moscow police service. Nonetheless, the limited number of staff in this department made it impossible to meet all the demands of an emergency, or even of more ordinary situations. Therefore, in 1841, Prince Golitsyn petitioned the Emperor to review the staff list of 1822, and to set up a committee to compile new statutes and a new staff list for the Moscow police-force. This committee began its work with Golitsyn as chairman.
Prince Golitsyn received imperial recommendations for his tireless work in so many diverse spheres, together with expressions of "especial and wholehearted gratitude for his excellent service and zealous concern for the welfare of the capital city entrusted to his care".
On 6 June 1843, Golitsyn was relieved of his duties on his request for leave to undertake medical treatment. He died in Paris and was buried at the Donskoi Monastery.
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