What is the Amber Room famous for?

The Catherine Palace in the city of Pushkin is famous for its beauty and attracts tourists from all over the world. Its visit is included in the mandatory tourist program as part of exploring St. Petersburg and its surroundings. The Catherine Palace is considered one of the largest in the Leningrad region. And it is located just 26 kilometers from the center of St. Petersburg. The city of Pushkin was formerly called Tsarskoe Selo, hence the second name of the palace – Tsarskoe Selo. It is also known as the Great Tsarskoye Selo Palace, the Great Catherine Palace, the Great Palace and the Old Palace, in general, this is the former summer imperial residence of 3 Russian reigning empresses – Catherine I, Elizabeth Petrovna and Catherine II. Of course, the Catherine Palace is protected by the state, is an object of cultural heritage of the peoples of the Russian Federation, an outstanding monument and a striking example of the late Baroque. And as part of the “Palace and Park Ensemble of the City of Pushkin and its Historical Center” it is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. We will tell you about everything interesting about the palace in this publication.

“Stone Chambers of Catherine I”

The palace was founded in 1717, during the reign of Peter I. His wife, the future Russian Empress Catherine I, ordered the construction of a royal summer residence for herself not far from St. Petersburg, but in picturesque places. The palace that was built was named after its owner. Immediately after its foundation in 1717, construction of the palace began. It was led by the German architect Johann-Friedrich Braunstein. Upon completion of the construction of the summer residence of Empress Catherine I in August 1724, a celebration was held in it, at which Emperor Peter I was present and “they fired from 13 cannons three times.” The first palace was a small two-story building with “16 rooms.” The building was typical of Russian architecture of the early XNUMXth century, made in the Dutch style. The palace immediately acquired the name “Stone Chambers of Catherine I”

Catherine Palace of Elizabeth Petrovna

During the reign of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, they decided to expand and improve the palace. The reconstruction of the palace began in 1743 and lasted 13 years, during which architects replaced one another. The Empress entrusted this task to the Russian architect Mikhail Zemtsov. However, the death of the architect prevented the implementation of the queen’s plans. After Zemtsov, work in Tsarskoye Selo was carried out by Andrei Kvasov and his assistant Giuseppe Trezzini. But already in May 1745, Trezzini was replaced by the famous architect Savva Chevakinsky, who supervised construction in Tsarskoye Selo until the early 1750s. In 1748, Francesco Rastrelli took the position of chief architect of Tsarskoe Selo. The Empress commissioned Rastrelli to rebuild the palace. From the end of 1748 to 1756, the construction of the Tsarskoye Selo residence was headed by the chief architect of the imperial court, Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli. After a grandiose reconstruction, a modern palace appeared, made in the Russian Baroque style, now it is called Elizabethan Baroque. The architect allowed the use of color solutions that were quite daring for Russia at that time, actively using sky blue in combination with white and gold. The wide azure ribbon of the facade with snow-white columns and gilded ornaments looked festive. Thanks to the brilliant work of Rastrelli, the Catherine Palace became the first of its kind in Russia. The length of its enfilade was equal to the length of the entire building, which looked very interesting. When the grand opening of the 30-meter palace took place on July 1756, 325, Russian nobles and foreign guests were wildly delighted and pleasantly shocked. It was under Empress Elizabeth Petrovna that the palace acquired its modern appearance.

Catherine Palace under Catherine II

This palace in Pushkin is sometimes associated with the name of Catherine the Great. But now we know that the palace was named in honor of the wife of Peter I the Great – Catherine I. And since then it has not changed its name. And Catherine II called this palace “whipped cream” and considered it old-fashioned. Fulfilling the will of the late Empress Elizabeth, Catherine the Second first ordered the statues in Catherine Park to be gilded. After some of the sculptures had already been gilded, the queen learned about the cost of these works and she had to stop them. In her memoirs, Catherine II scolded Elizaveta Petrovna for wastefulness. During her reign, Catherine the Great constantly rebuilt the palace in a new way and her own taste, thereby creating more amenities and coziness for life in it, and making the royal residence more modest. The architect Charles Cameron created new interiors of the palace, which is how the Arabesque and Lyon drawing rooms, the Chinese Hall, the Domed Dining Room, the Silver Cabinet, the Blue Cabinet (Snuffbox) and the Bedchamber appeared. Unfortunately, during the Great Patriotic War, many halls were destroyed. Restorers began to revive them back in the USSR, and this process continues to this day. Already in our century, the restored Lyon Hall was opened – one of the most ceremonial interiors of the palace. It got its name thanks to the silk wall decoration made in Lyon.

Restoration of the Lyon Hall

The Lyon Hall in the Catherine Palace was last opened on June 22, 1941. During the Great Patriotic War, the wall decor and ceiling paintings of the Lyon Hall were destroyed. Only 25 pieces of furniture made using lapis lazuli have survived. Fortunately, the authentic wood parquet with mother-of-pearl inserts, taken by the Nazis to Germany, was returned in 1947. The reconstruction of the Lyon Hall was carried out on the basis of surviving palace inventories, archival documents and photographs of the hall. The silk fabric was made at the Lyon manufactory, the lapis lazuli finishing elements were recreated by specialists from the Tsarskoye Selo amber workshop. Almost 80 years later, on June 6, 2019, the Lyon Hall was reopened to visitors.

The Amber Room in the Catherine Palace

Many tourists, both from Russia and from all over the world, dream of seeing the Amber Room in Pushkin in the Catherine Palace. The Amber Room, or Amber Cabinet, is one of the most famous rooms of the Grand Catherine Palace. Almost all the decoration of the Amber Room was made at the beginning of the 1716th century in Prussia. Its king, Frederick William I, presented this beauty to Peter I in 1746. However, only in 1755 were the pieces of furniture installed in the Winter Palace, and in XNUMX moved to Tsarskoye Selo. During the Great Patriotic War, the decorations of the Amber Room were taken by the fascist occupiers to Königsberg. Alas, the fate of the Amber Room is still unknown. Since 1979, work has been underway in the city on the Neva to recreate the Amber Room. For the 300th anniversary of St. Petersburg in 2003, it was restored in full. This brilliant and heroic work belongs to domestic restorers.

Church in the Catherine Palace in Pushkin

The church was erected in the northern wing of the Catherine Palace in 1746 – 1756 under Elizabeth Petrovna. In 1820 and 1863 it burned in fires, and was constantly restored. Chevakinsky, Rastrelli, Stasov and other famous architects participated in the design of the church. The interior of the church was almost completely destroyed during the occupation of the city of Pushkin and, unfortunately, has not been restored to this day. Although prayer services have been held in the church since 1993, they are extremely rare.

Restoration of the palace halls

During the Great Patriotic War, the Catherine Palace was heavily damaged. Its restoration has been going on for many years and is not yet finished. The restoration is carried out on a strictly scientific basis. Thanks to the colossal work of scientists from the Leningrad School of Restorers, 58 of the 32 destroyed rooms of the palace have been restored.

What to visit in the Catherine Palace?

• The Amber Room,
• Big hall,
• Throne room,
• Waitress,
• bedchamber,
• Picture hall,
• Arabesque Hall,
• Lyon Hall,
• State blue and Chinese blue living rooms,
• Dining rooms: White Paradnaya, Raspberry, Green, Malaya White, Kavalerskaya (Silver).

A few more unique facts

The Catherine Palace is part of the Tsarskoye Selo State Museum-Reserve, which, with its outstanding architectural and park ensemble, serves as a symbol that shapes the modern image of the city of Pushkin.

• Rastrelli decorated the palace facades with figures of Atlanteans, caryatids, lion masks and other stucco decorations made according to models by the sculptor I.-F. Dunkera.
• About 100 kilograms of red gold were spent on gilding the external and internal decorations.
• The enfilade arrangement of halls, unknown in Russia until the mid-18th century, was introduced by Rastrelli in other palaces, but only in Tsarskoye Selo the length of the front rooms was equal to the length of the entire building – from the Main Staircase to the Palace Church.
• Empress Catherine II was fond of ancient art, so she entrusted the decoration of the halls in the palace to the Scottish architect, an expert in ancient architecture, Charles Cameron.
• The rooms of Emperor Paul I and his wife Maria Feodorovna, designed by Cameron and destroyed during the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1845, have now been recreated: the Green Dining Room, the Waiter’s Room, the State Blue Room, the Chinese Blue Room and the Bedchamber.
• By order of Emperor Alexander I, the son of Paul I and Maria Feodorovna, in 1817 the architect Vasily Stasov created the Main Office and several adjacent rooms. They are decorated in the same style – everything in these rooms is dedicated to the glorification of the brilliant victories won by the Russian army in the Patriotic War of 1812.
• The winning chord in the enfilade of the Catherine Palace was the Grand Staircase, which was created in 1860–1863 by the Russian architect Ippolit Monighetti in the “second Rococo” style.
• The most famous hall of the palace is the Amber Room; the best craftsmen from different countries worked on its creation for 5 years.
• The Picture Hall presents more than 100 paintings from the works of Western European masters of painting of the XNUMXth – early XNUMXth centuries of various national schools.
• The main facade of the Grand Catherine Palace faces the Alexander Park, the opposite one faces south and faces the Catherine Park.

The name of the palace is inextricably linked with the name of its first owner, Catherine I, which is still reminiscent of the monogram and cartouche with a crown on the main pediment of the palace.

Address and how to get there

• St. Petersburg, Pushkinsky district, Pushkin, st. Sadovaya, 7
• How to get to Pushkin from St. Petersburg

Other useful information

• All the details in the audio guide about the Catherine Palace in Pushkin
• Audio guide to interesting places in Pushkin
• Audio guide to the sights of Tsarskoe Selo

In November, I spent two full days in the west of our country.
At the beginning of last year, I was planning a trip to Kaliningrad and its surroundings, from there I wanted to go to Poland for two or three days: Gdansk, Sopot, Frombork, Elblag, Malbork. It didn’t work out).
The virus forced a change in plans.
But I still flew to Kaliningrad. True, not in the spring, as I originally wanted, because flights stopped, but in the fall, when they were already possible. Poland was no longer accessible.

The November weather is not summer, of course, but the biggest drawback was the pandemic virus.
Many museums and theaters were closed. But not all, thank God.

Kaliningrad wasn’t particularly impressive, but you can’t deny its originality.
Once on the street of Kaliningrad I got into a conversation with a woman walking her dog. She asked where I was from. Having heard that she was from St. Petersburg, she said: then it’s difficult to surprise you with anything.
In general, she turned out to be right, but St. Petersburg had nothing to do with it. Now, if I answered her that I am from Germany or from some other European country that does not border the sea, then yes. It would be difficult to surprise.
Petersburg is completely different.

I lived in a comfortable one-room apartment, which I booked almost in the city center. From the windows one could see the Pregolya River, the Cathedral and the synagogue. The main attractions are within walking distance. One day – 1000 rub. for the apartment. Everything is clean and thought out. Balcony, kitchen, bath – ideal.

In principle, not bad. But now I would choose to live in the area of ​​the South Station, where buses and express trains from the airport arrive and from which early in the morning you can leave for regional cities to take a walk there too.

The weather was cloudy and foggy all days. It rained only once on the way back from Zelenogradsk.
The weather did not allow us to take bright photographs, alas). It got dark early, and the lighting in the city was not the best, even in the center.

Kaliningrad is the westernmost big city in Russia (the very-most is Baltiysk, to be more precise, but it is much smaller).
The Kaliningrad region has no borders with Russia and is surrounded on all sides by other countries: the Republic of Belarus, Poland and Lithuania.
Time in Kaliningrad is European – 1 hour less than in Moscow.

Until 1945, these lands belonged to Prussia, and Kaliningrad, which at that time was called Königsberg, was the capital of East Prussia.
The city’s German past is reminiscent of old residential buildings in the Amalienau area, Catholic churches, former city gates and forts.

This is the Fish Village quarter, all new. Previously, in this place, on the Pregolya River, there was a fishermen’s settlement. They fished, and along the river there were many fish markets where the townspeople could buy fresh fish.

Royal Gate. About them separately, there is a museum there, open until 21.00, which is very nice.

Sackheim Gate. Inside there is an art gallery and a cafe. Also until 21.00.

Before being renamed Königsberg, the city was called Krulevets, and until 1255 it was called Tvangste.
The area is famous for amber mining, marzipan production, fresh fish, as well as German and Polish products in shops and markets. Beer, cheeses.
In Kaliningrad they know a lot about beer. There are several breweries in the city, and there are wine and beer stores at every turn.
You can bring home local beer “Königsberg” and Altstadt, German and Czech beer, and the products of your neighbors – Lithuanian beer of the Butautu brand. You can eat delicious food, listen to folk music (the performers are dressed in national clothes) and drink beer in Bavarian and Czech beer restaurants.
Lots of Belarusian products.
Compensation for my inability to travel to Finland (I mean my favorite milk and cheeses)).

From Kaliningrad you can easily and quickly get to Zelenogradsk, Svetlogorsk, Baltiysk and the Curonian Spit.
I managed to visit Zelenogradsk and the spit.

I dedicated the entire first day to Kaliningrad: a walk around the city in the morning, and a jazz concert at the Philharmonic in the evening.

I started getting acquainted with the attraction closest to home – Kant Island.
I show)

In the photo above is Grandfather-homlin from the Honey Bridge, along which I walked to Kant Island..

An unusual tiny family lives on the streets of Kaliningrad. According to legend, homlins are brownies who hide during the day and make amber products at night. Grandfather the homlin sits on the railing of the Honey Bridge, grandmother hid in the loophole of the gate near the Amber Museum. Homlin Dad climbed onto the railing outside the Museum of Fine Arts. A baby sailor can be seen near the ship “Vityaz”, and a baby homlin riding a snail can be seen near the zoo. The figures are very small, compare with the size of the castles!

I was at the zoo, and at “Vityaz”, and at the museum, but I didn’t notice the kids, alas.. They hid from me). Or they went to warm up somewhere in a cafe.

On Kant Island there is a park with sculptures, a Cathedral with the largest organ complex in Russia and a museum of the philosopher Kant, who was born and lived in Konigsberg.
Tours of the museum of the German philosopher cost 400 rubles, to see the organ hall without a tour costs 100 or 150 rubles, I don’t remember exactly, and very short concerts cost 450 rubles.
But the organ that has the best sound is in another cathedral. Now it houses the city philharmonic. Then I’ll show it.

In the cathedral on the left at the entrance there is a small Orthodox church shop; you can buy interesting icons in amber frames.

Kant’s grave is adjacent to the wall of the cathedral.

At the Cathedral there is a monument to Peter the Great.
Peter I was here during his diplomatic mission to Europe in 1697-1698, as part of the Moscow Grand Embassy. This was Russia’s first serious diplomatic mission to Western Europe.
The Tsar arrived incognito, under the name of the nobleman Pyotr Mikhailov, but he was recognized. In Königsberg, Peter I met with Frederick III.

In total, the Tsar was in Königsberg six times: in 1697, 1711, 1712, 1713, 1716 and 1717.
A few years after the first stay in Prussia, at the direction of Peter, the construction of forts began in the Gulf of Finland that resembled the Friedrichsburg fortress: Citadel, Schanz and Kronshlot.
In the future, the island city of Kronstadt grew in their place.

The sculptures in the park are not marked in any way. No authors, no titles. There are many different ones. I’ll show you a few.

I liked this one: the little man threw off the outer shell that constrained him (follows the contours of the body) and became free from. From anything.

Young people strolled around the island

Behind the river is the Museum of Fine Arts. Here it is in the daytime:

Near the island of Kant – Fishing Village – a city quarter built up with modern buildings in the style of pre-war East Prussian Königsberg. Almost all the premises are occupied by cafes: for example, in the lighthouse there is a restaurant “Madame Boucher”, and at the top there is an observation deck.

On the back side

If you go a little further, you can reach the Museum of the World Ocean. It was opened in 1990.

The Museum of the World Ocean is a center for scientific research and scientific and methodological work in the field of studying the history of exploration and the nature of the ocean. The museum was open, but I didn’t have time to get there.
An additional spherical building is being built nearby, and fishing, research and other museum vessels are also moored. They were closed due to the virus.
River excursion boats also depart from here.

An interesting building will appear. In the meantime, there are construction fences all around.

Below in the photo, large and white, is “Vityaz”.

Next to the museum is a monument to the pioneers of ocean fishing in the form of two white sails and a monument to Nicholas the Wonderworker, the patron saint of all seafarers.

I got hungry while walking. I decided to go to the city center and explore it.