Elizabethan Palace in Tsarskoye Selo. Attachments for the Great Catherine Palace

May 7th, 2015 09:00 am

In 1704, to protect the sea borders of Russia, Kotlin Island was laid down.
A year earlier, in 1703, at the mouth of the Neva onOn Hare Island, the construction of the first stone building in St. Petersburg, the Peter and Paul Fortress, began.
The future northern capital of Russia was built up, grew in
In 1717, in the town of Saarskaya manor (later Tsarskoye Selo), the construction of the first stone royal house for the mistress of the land began - Catherine I.

In August 1724, construction was completed, and a small two-story building, typical of Russian architecture of the early 18th century, received the proud name KStone Chambers of Catherine I.
Today we will visit the Catherine Palace (until 1910 the Great Tsarskoye Selo) Palace, which, as a result of several restructurings, turned into the Stone Chambers of Catherine I.

So, built in the 20s of the XVII centuryfirst stone palaceCatherine I stood unchanged until 1740. And after the accession to the Russian throne of the daughter of PeterI Elizabeth began a major restructuring of her mother's palace.
In 1744Rastrelli received an order from Empress Elizabeth Petrovna for a complete restructuring
Stone chambers. In 1756, the work was completed and Rastrelli revealed to the world- Grand Palace of Tsarskoye Selo.

During the time of Catherine II, the figures and stucco of the facade were gilded with real gold, and foreign guests wrote that if you look at it in sunny weather, it blinded in the literal sense of the word. Now the sculptures are more like terracotta (I don’t know whether they are completely or simply prepared for restoration).
Now gilding is only on forged openwork lattices of balconies and gates.

No story, no photographs can convey the true splendor of the Catherine Palace. There is a lot of information on it and it is difficult to reduce it, but I will try.

Catherine Palace primping after a long winter.

Entrance to the halls of the palace is paid and carried out strictly on time.
And acquaintance with the interior of the palace begins with the Main Staircase. We will climb it and begin our acquaintance with the halls, rooms and living rooms of the palace.

The main staircase consists of two three-flight stairs with an intermediate platform.
White marble steps rise from both sides to the middle platform, from which four flights lead to the second floor, to the main halls.

The walls are decorated with stucco ornaments, decorative vases and dishes of Chinese and Japanese porcelain of the 18th-19th centuries are placed on them. This was done in memory of the Chinese Hall located here in the middle of the 18th century.

Restored marble sculptures are installed on the landings of the stairs. 1860 Sleeping Cupid and Waking Cupid.
This sleeping one, and waking up, I somehow lost sight of.)))

The electronic guide leads past the Cavalier's dining room immediately to the main and largest hall of the Catherine Palace -Great Hall (Great Gallery, Light Gallery or Throne Room).

The elegant hall with an area of ​​more than 800 square meters was intended for official receptions and celebrations, ceremonial dinners, balls and masquerades. The painting of the ceiling lamp is made with a perspective distortion, which creates the impression of infinitely high walls.

Decor Great Hall strikes the imagination!

The Grand Palace of Tsarskoye Selo Shot for the first time in Russia he used the enfilade arrangement of premises. For the abundance of gilded carvings, the enfilade of the Catherine Palace was named "Gold enfilade".
Rastrelli created an enfilade from a chain of halls from front stairs before Church building with a total length of 300 meters. True, the front staircase was then not in the center of the Palace, but in its southern wing next to the Zubovsky wing.
Do not wait and do not hope to see the Golden Enfilade empty.

One of the rooms of the Golden Enfilade is the Cavalier's Dining Room. Small in size room Rastrelli visually enlarged due to the mirrors, designed in the form of glazed doors.
The dining room was heated by a multi-tiered tiled stovewith cobalt painting.

Ribbons in the decoration of the tables echoed the sets, which were called "Order".
Services weredecorated with signs and ribbons of Russian orders:St. Andrew the First-Called, St. George, St. Alexander Nevsky and St. Vladimir anddecorated the tables on the days of solemn holidays dedicated to the patrons of these most honorable domestic awards.

The white front dining room is another room in the enfilade. She was intended for ceremonial dinners and "evening meals" of the empress in a narrow circle of close associates.

In glass showcases on consoles between the windows aredecorative fragrant vases called "boule-da-nezh". Theymade at the Meissen factory in the second half of the 18th century. This, of course, is far from the only decoration of the White Front Dining Room.

Rastrelli, striving to give the decor of the Catherine Palace the maximum variety,used in these rooms original materials for that time.The walls of the rooms were covered with white damask, and on top of the damask were arranged pilasters of transparent glass with colored (crimson and green) foil placed under the glass. These pilasters-columns (pillars) gave the name to the Pillar Rooms.

Delightful German Work Bureauadorns the Green Pillar.

very fashionable in18th century depictions of Arap boys holding baskets of fruit or flowers on their heads.

And here, too, a tiled stove. All stoves were an integral part of the halls of the Front Enfilade and were created according to Rastrelli's sketches.

And this is the Picture Hall of the Catherine Palace.

With all the value of paintings placed on the walls according to the principle of trellis hanging, they are just wall decor! The architect hung them solely guided by the size of the canvases and the principle of matching the color scheme.

The true adornment not only of this room, but of the entire Front Enfilade are the doors of the Picture Hall, or rather, the gilded carvings decorating them.

The next in the Front Enfilade is the Small White Dining Room.
It was from this room that the private quarters of Elizabeth Petrovna, and then Catherine II, began.

The carved gilded armchairs and the bureau of typesetting wood in this room are most likely made by the personal order of Catherine II. Pictures, armchairs and bureaus were evacuated from the palace and, therefore, practically did not suffer.

Alexander's Chinese Living RoomI - stands out from all the rooms and halls of the enfilade with walls upholstered in Chinese silk hand-painted with watercolors. During the last restoration, these silk wallpapers were restored according to the surviving silk pattern.
And here there is a stove lined with tiles. Portraits of members of the Romanov family are hung on the walls.

And the last room I would like to say a few words about is the Green Dining Room. If until now we have considered the interiors of Rastrelli, then the interiors made by Cameron begin from here. The Green Dining Room, followed by the Waiter's Room, the Front Blue Room, etc., were rebuilt according to his design in 1779 as the private quarters of Emperor Paul I and Grand Duchess Maria Feodorovna.
It is from this dining room in 1957 restoration of the Catherine Palace began.

Then a very strange thing happened, which I simply cannot tell about. The audio guide ended here and the whole group, having not looked at almost a quarter of the premises, including the Palace Church, turned onto the Church (Stasovskaya) stairs and was taken out of the palace. So be careful. And I will have to visit Tsarskoye Selo again.

Well, what else would you like to mention...

During the Great Patriotic War, the palace was badly damaged. The restorers did a tremendous job of restoring the historic interiors. Now 35 of the 58 halls of the Catherine Palace have been recreated. In addition, all its facades have been completely restored and restored.

And, of course, in the story about the Catherine Palace, one cannot fail to mention its true pearl - the Amber Room. In addition, this is perhaps the only room in the palace overgrown with so many legends, myths and strange incidents. And this is the only room in the palace where photography is prohibited. Absolutely forbidden! Even on mobile phones!
Disappeared without a trace in 1945, the Amber Room has not been found to this day. Her premises were restored, or rather restored, for 23 years.
The opening of the restored Amber Room took place in the spring of 2003.
Few numbers:
- Height of the Amber Room7.8 meters
- Floor area
100 sq. meters,
- Facing three walls with amber
86 sq. meters.
- Of the 6 tons of amber used for restoration, 80% went to waste.
- D
to restore the Amber Room, amber from the Kaliningrad
field, which accounts for almost 95% of the world's reserves.
- WITH
the largest nugget used in the work,bought from a Moscow collector for
a thousand dollars. Nugget
weighed 1 kg.
- Restoration spent: 11.35 million dollars.From the Russian budget -7.85 million and
3.5 million from the funds of the German company RuhrgasAG.

Who cares - the official website of the State Museum-Reserve "Tsarskoye Selo".

And a musician is playing in the park next to the palace!

Right there, in Catherine Park, we will go next time, but that's all for today.

The Grand Palace of Tsarskoye Selo is a baroque masterpiece created by Bartolomeo Francesco Rastrelli for Elizabeth Petrovna. During the Great Patriotic War, the palace was destroyed, to today 32 out of 58 halls were restored, including the Amber Room. Perhaps this is the most impressive Russian "remake".

// Part 27


1. At the heart of the central part of the palace are two-story "stone chambers" built in 1717-1724 by the architect Braunstein for Catherine I.

2. modern palace erected in 1748-1756 by the chief architect of the imperial court F.-B. Rastrelli.

3. Now there is a monument to the famous architect on the side of the building.

4. The facade of the palace is presented in the form of a wide azure ribbon with snow-white columns and gilded ornaments, which give the building a special chic.

5. The Palace Resurrection Church is located in the northeastern part of the building.

6. There is a building nearby, connected to the palace by an arch.

7. The front yard of the residence is limited by two circumferences, there is a parade ground in it. Along the edges are two yellow service (kitchen) buildings.

8. In order to get inside the palace in the summer, you need to stand in a forty-minute queue in the heat.

9. Waiting to look at the details of the building.

10. The last large-scale restoration of the building was more than ten years ago, now the facades are in need of cosmetic repairs.

11. Blue and "gold" colors faded.

12. The columns of the palace support the sculptures of the Atlanteans, their faces can only be seen when coming close to the building.

13. First of all, we get to front staircase, decorated with the sculpture "Awakening Cupid" of 1860.

14. The staircase was created under Catherine II by Charles Cameron on the spot Chinese Hall. In memory of this, the interior is decorated with vases and Chinese porcelain dishes.

15. The ceiling of the hall is decorated with paintings "Aeneas and Venus", "Jupiter and Callisto" and "The Judgment of Paris". They replaced canvases that died under collapsed ceilings during the war.

16. The stucco decoration of the walls and the caryatids framing the doorways were restored according to the discovered details and pre-war images.

17. A large clock has also been recreated.

18. Green dining room- part of the private quarters of Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich and his first wife Natalia Alekseevna, built under Catherine II on the site of an open terrace - a "hanging" garden.

19. Interior waiter's decorated with mahogany chairs, a Swedish chest of drawers of the second half of the 18th century and a sculpture by M.-A. Collot "Girl's Head" 1769.

20. Small White Dining Room in the private chambers of Elizabeth, Catherine II and Alexander I. Its interior was formed after a fire in 1820.

21. A copy of the painting "The Bathing of Venus" by K. Vanloo is installed in the ceiling plafond.

22. Located next door Chinese drawing room of Alexander I.

23. Its interior is distinguished by silk upholstery walls painted with watercolors in the Chinese style.

24. On the walls are portraits, including those of Emperor Peter II by I.-P. Luden.

25. Next - buffet, until 1761 it was part of the Lavatory on the half of Elizabeth Petrovna.

26. For the plafond, a painting by the 17th-century Italian artist P. da Cortona "Coral Fishing", transferred from the Hermitage funds, was used.

27. Cavalier dining room- a small hall, visually enlarged with mirrors and false mirrored windows.

28. On the tables are items of the famous "Order" sets, decorated with signs and ribbons of Russian orders.

29. The picturesque plafond in the center of the ceiling is decorated with a painting by an unknown Russian master of the middle of the 18th century on the plot ancient myth about the sun god Helios and the goddess dawn Eos obtained from the funds of the Russian Museum.

30. White Front Dining Room was intended for ceremonial dinners and "evening meals" of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna in a narrow circle of close associates.

31. Green Stolbovaya under Catherine II, it served as a pantry, in which silverware and porcelain were stored. One of the multi-tiered tiled stoves with cobalt painting, columns and niches is located here. Similar stoves, created according to Rastrelli's sketches, were an integral part of all the halls of the front suite of the palace.

32.

33. In portrait hall ceremonial images of royalty were displayed. Today, in addition to portraits, you can see one of the dresses of the Empress.

34. The ceiling of the hall is decorated with a painted ceiling "Mercury and Glory" transferred from the ceiling.

35. The first in a series of the most impressive halls of the Tsarskoye Selo Palace - picture room area of ​​180 m².

36. Picturesque canvases are placed in it according to the principle of trellis hanging. Placing works on the wall, Rastrelli took into account, first of all, their size and color scheme: separated from each other by a narrow gilded baguette, the paintings merge into a single colorful “carpet”.

37. The plafond "Olympus" is in harmony with the general color of the walls - a copy of the plafond of the Jordan Stairs of the Winter Palace.

38. Big hall, or Light Gallery - the most significant front room of the palace, designed by the architect F.-B. Rastrelli in 1752-1756.

39. Its area is more than 800 m².

40. The alternation of large windows with mirrors visually expands the boundaries of the hall.

41. Sculptural and ornamental carving, covering the planes of the walls with a continuous pattern, was made according to the sketches of Rastrelli and the models of the sculptor-decorator Dunker by 130 Russian carvers.

42. The original ceiling painting was painted in 1752-1754 according to a sketch by the Venetian artist D. Valeriani. It consisted of three independent compositions depicting the Allegory of Russia, the Allegory of Peace and the Allegory of Victory.

43. In the 1790s, due to the deformation of the ceilings, the ceiling of Valeriani was removed to the palace storerooms, and in 1856-1858 the artists F. Wunderlich and E. Franchuoli created a new composition "Allegorical depiction of Science, Art and Diligence." This ceiling was lost during the war.

44. In the 1950s, during the restoration, the side parts of the old ceiling, the Allegory of Peace and the Allegory of Victory, were discovered, which were considered lost. It was decided to recreate the ceiling of Valeriani, returning the surviving compositions to Tsarskoye Selo. The central part was restored from sketches and descriptions made by Valeriani himself, as well as from a drawing by Stackenschneider in 1857.

45. amber room rightfully called one of the wonders of the world. Initially, this interior was created for the Prussian Queen Miria-Charlotte, but in 1716 Frederick-Wilhelm I presented it to Peter the Great, but only under Elizabeth did he find a place in the old winter palace. With her, the precious panels on the hands (!) were transferred to Tsarskoye Selo. Rastrelli installed them in the middle tier of the walls, separated by pilasters with mirrors and decorated the room with gilded carvings. Where there was not enough amber, fragments of the walls were covered with canvas and painted “under amber” by the artist Belsky. After the capture of Pushkin by German troops, the panels were taken out by the Kunstkommission team and until 1944 were exhibited in the Königsberg Castle. During the retreat of the Germans, the panels were again dismantled, packed in boxes and taken out in an unknown direction.

46. ​​The restoration of the room began in 1979. In 2000, the Russian-made chest of drawers of the late 18th century and the Florentine mosaic "Touch and Smell", which were part of the original decoration of the room, were returned to the museum, discovered in Germany. By 2003, the decoration of the hall was completely restored.

47. In an inconspicuous corridor of the palace there is a picture depicting the palace in a horrific state in 1944. It reminds us of the enormous damage that military action can do to history and culture.

    Attraction Great Peterhof Palace ... Wikipedia

    Attraction Grand Tsaritsyno Palace ... Wikipedia

    This term has other meanings, see Gatchina Palace (Faberge egg). Palace Castle Great Gatchina Palace ... Wikipedia

    Coordinates: 55°45′00.58″ s. sh. 37°36′56.74″ E  /  ... Wikipedia

    Palace Catherine Palace Golovinsky Palace ... Wikipedia

    Palace Great Catherine's Front facade Country Russia ... Wikipedia

    The House of Rear Admiral Mekenzie, or the Catherine Palace, is one of the first stone buildings built in Sevastopol. It was located on Ekaterininskaya Square (now Nakhimov Square). June 1, 1783, the first head of the Black Sea Fleet, Rear Admiral ... ... Wikipedia

    What is the Grand Kremlin Palace- In Russia, Dmitry Medvedev, who was elected President of Russia on March 2, will take office on Wednesday. The Grand Kremlin Palace (BKD) serves as the grand residence of the head of state. It hosts the inauguration ceremonies of the President, ... ... Encyclopedia of newsmakers

    Palace Palace of Grand Duke Alexei Alexandrovich ... Wikipedia

    Catherine Park in Tsarskoye Selo is one of the five parks in the city of Pushkin. The Catherine Park directly surrounds the Great Catherine Palace, constituting with it a palace complex. park ensemble. Consists of a regular Old Garden and landscape ... ... Wikipedia

Books

  • Grand Kremlin Palace
  • Grand Kremlin Palace , . The Grand Kremlin Palace, built in the middle of the 19th century according to the design of the famous Russian architect K. A. Ton, is one of interesting monuments Moscow Kremlin. The front rooms are…

To our great joy, photography and video filming is allowed in the Great Catherine Palace, perhaps it will soon be forbidden to take pictures here, as it already happened in the palace, but, taking the opportunity, we took a few photos of this stunning palace with its interiors. We will try to convey the whole atmosphere that reigns in the chambers and bedchambers of Russian rulers.

Great Catherine Palace, a bit of history

The Great Catherine Palace, unfortunately, was almost completely destroyed during the Great Patriotic War, but now, thanks to the excellent work of restorers, 32 out of 58 rooms have been restored. Most of them are still closed to the public, so this article contains photos of only those rooms The Great Catherine Palace, which we were shown. I don’t want to write naked in the article historical facts, let's go through the main ones so that you have a general impression of the Great Catherine Palace.

The Great Catherine Palace is almost 300 years old, it was founded in 1717. But the original palace was a small two-story building, and a little later, in 1751, it was rebuilt, and a chic palace with a large number of service buildings and a palace church was erected in its place. In the design, both outside and inside, a lot of gold was used, and the figures of the Atlanteans on the front facade of the palace were also originally covered with gold, but during the restoration they decided not to spend money on gilding.

The Catherine Palace is huge, its stunning appearance is in no way inferior to the beautifully decorated halls inside, which we now offer to look into.

Walk through the halls of the palace

Going inside the Catherine Palace, you don’t immediately realize all the greatness: perhaps because there were a lot of visitors during our visit to the palace, perhaps because you are immediately quickly and quickly equipped with an earpiece and shoe covers, and in a minute a formed new group of tourists is already heading to sightseeing trip in the Great Catherine Palace. The feeling of a conveyor approach still spoiled the first impression a little, but after a couple of minutes we forgot about it. Now I will explain why.

After the formation of the group, we were led through the halls, at the same time telling the story of the Great Catherine Palace. And acquaintance with the palace began from the main staircase, along which everyone climbed to the halls of the palace. Due to the dense burgundy curtains and the almost completely absent lighting, the room of the main staircase has some kind of intimacy.

Apparently to heighten the effect, the first hall of the Catherine Palace, into which we were led and which did not leave any visitor indifferent, was the Great Hall of the palace. It is also called the Light Gallery, and, indeed, there is plenty of light in this hall, and the abundance of gilding and luxury simply never ceases to amaze.

The Great Hall of the Catherine Palace - the largest room in it, with an area of ​​​​more than 800 square meters, was used at one time for balls and all kinds of celebrations and receptions. Huge seven-meter ceilings, thanks to which you feel like a very small person, as well as large two-story windows that fill the Great Hall with light, create the feeling that the room has no end.

And now let's go through the rest of the halls of the Catherine Palace. From the Great Hall we head to the Cavalier's Dining Room with a beautifully set table. A multi-tiered tiled stove immediately catches your eye - these will be found in almost all halls of the palace. Next is the White Front Dining Room. Starting from this room, we are already approaching the chambers of the Empress. Here "evening meals" were held in a very narrow circle of close associates.

Then one after another go Raspberry and Green Pillars. Pillar rooms are named because on the walls there are very beautiful glass inserts, with the appropriate shade, in the form of pillars.

Having skipped the Amber Room, which we will dwell on in more detail, we head to the Picture Hall, which at one time served as the main dining room. The walls of the hall are decorated with paintings by Western European masters. How royal it is to use paintings that have their own artistic value, solely for decorative purposes, because, as we learned from the guide, the architect, when placing paintings, first of all took into account their size.

The Small White Dining Room adjoins the Picture Hall, from which the private chambers of the Empress began. Here are various gilded chairs, as well as an old wooden bureau. This is followed by the Chinese drawing room of Alexander I, which seemed to me one of the most beautiful in the entire palace. The walls of this hall are decorated with silk upholstery painted with watercolors in the Chinese style.

There are still a few halls left for us to visit in the Great Catherine Palace, and the Green Dining Room is one of them. From this dining room, the private chambers of the Empress begin with pale green walls, which are covered with very interesting stucco ornaments on various antique motifs.

We complete our walk through the halls of the Great Catherine Palace in the Waiter's Room. It is made in a simple style and is decorated with mahogany card tables and chairs, and on the walls there are paintings of mountain landscapes and ruins.

The Amber Room in the Grand Catherine Palace is the only one in which photography and video shooting is prohibited, so in order to capture at least a particle of this unique work of art, one had to take pictures from neighboring rooms. There is a lot of information on the Internet about the mysterious disappearance and amazing find of the Amber Room during the war, but the fact that this masterpiece has now been restored and everyone can see it is worth a lot. It is difficult to convey in words the sensations and feelings that appear when you are in the Amber Room.

Many call the Amber Room one of the wonders of the world, I would like to agree with this.

The Catherine Palace in Tsarskoye Selo can be reached as follows:

From Vitebsky railway station in St. Petersburg:

Electric train to the Tsarskoe Selo station (Pushkin) and then bus No. 371, 382 or fixed-route taxi No. 371, 377, 382 to the Tsarskoye Selo State Museum-Reserve.

From the metro station "Moskovskaya" in St. Petersburg:

Shuttle taxi No. 342, 545 to the State Museum-Reserve "Tsarskoye Selo";
or bus No. 187 or fixed-route taxi No. 286, 287, 347 to the Pushkin railway station and then bus No. 371, 382 or fixed-route taxi No. 371, 377, 382 to the Tsarskoye Selo State Museum-Reserve.

From the metro stations "Zvezdnaya" or "Kupchino" in St. Petersburg:

On minibuses K-545a, K-286, K-287, and K-347a.

With an excursion to Tsarskoye Selo from St. Petersburg:

By ordering excursions to Tsarskoye Selo from St. Petersburg, you not only save time on organizing a trip, but also get the opportunity to learn interesting, historical details about the sights and memorable places. Prices for excursions start from 600 rubles. For more information about tour offers, please click on the photo below.

Visiting Information

Catherine Palace - opening hours:

From 10:00 to 18:00; cash desks and entrance of visitors until 16:45.
Mondays: from 10:00 to 21:00; cash desks and entrance of visitors until 19:45.
Days off: Tuesday and last Monday of the month.

Catherine Palace - ticket prices:

Adults - 400 rubles.
Pensioners of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus, cadets, conscripts, members of the unions of artists, architects, designers of Russia - 200 rubles.
Students - 200 rubles.
Visitors under 18 years old - free of charge (from 1.01.2015)

Accommodation in Tsarkoye Selo - where to stay for the night

Usually they go to Tsarskoye Selo for one day, as part of a trip to St. Petersburg. But, if you plan to see in more detail all the sights of Tsarskoye Selo, then we recommend renting a hotel or apartment there. Here are some proven options. Inexpensive hotel Aksinya, costing from $ 9 and guest house Granda, costing from $30.

The famous magnificent large Catherine Palace in St. Petersburg, which is the central part of the huge architectural ensemble, is located on the territory of Tsarskoye Selo. Every day its halls are visited by several thousand tourists from all over the world. The building is imperial palace, which was previously a residence for Elizabeth Petrovna, as well as Catherine I and Catherine II for the summer. This attraction is listed as a Heritage Site. world heritage UNESCO. The residence was named after Catherine I, on whose orders it was built. Construction began in 1717. Since then, the building has been rebuilt several times. this moment time, it is a vivid example of the late Baroque.

After the tourist finds out the address of the Catherine Palace, he, as a rule, tries to find out exactly when it is best to visit it. There is simply no single answer to this question. In summer, you can fully enjoy the facades of the palace, as well as views of a huge park, wide green alleys, take a walk big lake. Horseback riding or electric car rides are also very popular. On the lake you can swim on the gondola. The only drawback of the summer period is a huge influx of guests, so in order to get inside the palace, a tourist will have to stand in line for a lot of time. Experienced travelers say that the park is best visited in spring or summer, but you can get inside the palace in winter.

The literature often mentions the Catherine Palace in autumn. Indian summer seemed to be a particularly beautiful period for the poets. The imagination is amazed by the riot of colors, the foliage on the trees of the most unusual colors merges into a single composition.

Indeed, autumn for these territorial regions is considered a prosperous season for travel planning. Thus, the Catherine Palace in St. Petersburg can be visited in the middle - the end of September, when the rainy season has not yet begun, but the sun is no longer so scorching. The autumn decoration of the garden looks just as great as its spring version, but from March to early May, the weather in St. Petersburg is rainy.

History of the Catherine Palace

It is worth noting that the palace has survived several eras, which is why its architecture is reflected in each of them. In addition, the personal taste preferences of each of the rulers of those times for whom the building was a residence also had their influence. The year 1717 is considered the year of the beginning of the construction of the palace, which was carried out under the strict guidance of the architect Johann Braustein from Germany. The building was planned from the very beginning as the residence of Catherine I. The completion of construction dates back to 1724. According to the first design plan, the building was a two-story building of small size, made in the Dutch style. If you browse photo of the Catherine Palace in St. Petersburg at the time of different rulers, one can notice a certain dynamic. For example, after Elizabeth Petrovna ascended the throne, she instructed famous Russian architects not only to increase the area of ​​the building, but also to improve it.

As the story goes modern tourists they see the Catherine Palace exactly as it became during the reign of Elizabeth Petrovna.

1752 was also a period of change. It seemed to the empress that the residence was too cramped and old-fashioned, so she entrusted its restoration to the architect, known as Bartolomeo Rastrelli. Perestroika work lasted four years. The changes were grandiose, it was after this period that the building received the Russian Baroque style, in which it has survived to this day. For the gilding of the facade decoration, one hundred kilograms of gold was used, which also adorned the statues located along the perimeter of the roof. The park area, which was presented together with the palace in 1756, is also distinguished by its special elegance. At that time, the Catherine Palace in St. Petersburg made an indelible impression on foreign ambassadors and Russian nobles.

ceremonial halls

Meets the tourist The main staircase, for the manufacture of which was used white marble. An architect named I. A. Monighetti worked on its creation. This unsurpassed architectural creation occupies part of the Chinese Hall, which is distinguished by special themed decorations, including porcelain dishes and vases. Particular attention should also be paid to such interior details as a large wall barometer and a clock. The staircase is decorated with two Cupids, one of which is still fast asleep, and the other has just begun to wake up. Carved moldings of unsurpassed quality were used to decorate the ceilings and walls. The ceiling space is occupied by the famous painting "Aeneas and Venus", "The Judgment of Paris", as well as "Jupiter and Callisto". The staircase leads its guests to the halls of the Catherine Palace in Pushkin, a photo of which can be viewed online:


In addition, there is enough information not only about the outstanding merits of the attraction, but also about how to get to the Catherine Palace in order to save your time. The most convenient way to get to your destination is from Vitebsk railway station, from where the train leaves, following to the platform called "Tsarskoye Selo". From the station you can get directly to the museum by bus number 371 or fixed-route taxi № 377.

It is noteworthy that each individual room is a unique, fully completed composition, which is characterized by moderate luxury. After the tourist understands where the Catherine Palace is located, he needs to understand that it is best to choose the time before lunch for the tour, since it lasts quite a long time. In any case, it is better to visit the building itself and the park surrounding it in two approaches, so as not to miss a single detail.

Audio guide, tickets 700 rubles, payment by card.
St. Petersburg, Pushkin city, Sadovaya street, 7
+7 812 415‑76-67, +7 812 415‑76-68