The Catherine Palace

Address: Pushkin, 7, Sadovaya Street

Open: 10.00 am – 5.00 pm

Closed: Tuesdays, and last Monday of the month

The Catherine Palace was named after its creator, Empress Catherine, the second wife of Peter the Great, the original palace was built between 1717 and 1723 by the architect Braunstein. The palace was expanded later in the century and given a new, richly decorated Baroque facade by the architect Francesco Bartolommeo Rastrelli.

The palace was quite impressive with its size, powerful spatial dynamics and picturesque decoration in the style of the Russian Baroque. The wide, light blue ribbon of the palace with its snow-white columns and gilt ornament looked quite festive. The northern wing was topped by the five golden domes of the Palace Chapel, and the southern wing, which contained the formal, state rooms, was topped off by a golden dome with a star on the spire. Approximately 100 kilograms of gold were used to gild the exterior and interior ornaments. At this time the formal yard was also designed, surrounded by the palace's service buildings placed in a semi-circle around the "circumference" of the yard. The galleries of the palace's facade consisted of windows and columns, each of which bore a wooden, gold-leafed statue or vase.

The Palace houses some beautiful Baroque interiors, including the luxurious Grand Hall, a long, gold, mirrored ballroom. The Palace also boasts a unique Amber Room, whose priceless amber panels were stolen by Nazi troops during World War II, but which are now being painstakingly recreated by Russian craftsmen.

On June 9, 1918, the Catherine Palace was opened as a museum. The Tzarskoje Selo and the Orient exposition, located in the former personal quarters not yet restored, continues to be featured at the Catherine Palace Museum. Like the honoured guests of the Russian tsars, the nowadays visitors can also admire the full splendour of the palace interiors. Many restored rooms are open for public and contain objects of applied art, fine furniture, Russian and European paintings, unique collections of porcelain, amber, weaponry, artistic bronze and sculpture.