GATCHINA, a town of Russia, in the government of St Petersburg and district of Tsarskoselo, 29 miles W. of St Petersburg, in 59° 34' N. lat. and 30° 6' E. long. It is situated in a flat, well-wooded, and partly marshy district, and on the south side of the town are two lakes, distinguished as the White and the Black. Among its more important builings are the imperial palace, which was founded in 1770 by Prince Orloff, and executed according to the plans of the Italian architect Rinaldi, the four Greek churches, the Protestant church, a foundling asylum, a military orphanage founded in 1803 by Maria Feodorina, a school for horticulture, a public hospital for 1500 patients, founded by Paul I., an asylum for the families of twenty blind men, and another for fifty poor peasants. In one of the Greek churches are preserved several relics originally brought from Rhodes to Malta by the grand-master Lille Adam ; and the so-called priory is shown where the knights of Malta assembled under the mastership of the emperor Paul I. Gatchina is a junction on the railway between St Petersburg and Warsaw, but its trade is of no great development. Among the few industrial establishments is a porcelain factory. The inhabitants in 1860 numbered 9184, of whom 2255 were members of the National Church, 1431 Protestants, 182 Catholics, and 50 Jews. By 1867 the total had sunk to 8337 ; but according to the St Petersburg Calendar for 1878 it has again risen to 8890.