Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
SIGHTS
PAALACCE
CATHERINE PALACE
R320/160; 10am-5pm Wed-Mon, individuals noon-2pm & 4-5pm, closed last Mon of month)
The centrepiece of Tsarskoe Selo, created under Empresses Elizabeth and Catherine
the Great between 1744 and 1796, is the vast baroque Catherine Palace, designed by
Rastrelli and named after Elizabeth's mother, Peter the Great's second wife. As at the
Winter Palace, Catherine the Great had many of Rastrelli's original interiors remod-
elled in classical style. Most of the gaudy exterior and 20-odd rooms of the palace
have been beautifully restored - compare them to the photographs of the devastation
left by the Germans.
While the palace opens for individual visitors (as opposed to groups) only at noon,
it is usually necessary to queue up well in advance. All visitors are ushered into
groups led by a tour guide; arrangements can sometimes be made for tours in English,
but don't count on it. Everyone has to go on a guided tour here but it's easy to slip
away once you're inside the palace and go around at your own pace.
Tours start with the white
State Staircase
(1860). South of here, only three
rooms have been restored: the
Gentlemen-in-Waiting's Dining Room
, the
dazzling
Great Hall
, the largest in the palace, and an
antechamber
with some
huge blue-and-white Dutch ovens.
North of the State Staircase, you will pass through the
State Dining Room
, the
Crimson
and
Green Pilaster Rooms
and the
Picture Gallery
. The
reception
room of Alexander I
contains portraits of his esteemed predecessors.
The highlight is Rastrelli's amazing
Amber Room
, completely covered with gil-
Most of the palace's north end is the early classical work of architect Charles
Cameron, including the elegant
Green Dining Room
, the
Blue Drawing Room
,
