Another ‘oh so expensive’, but ‘oh so worth it’, tour. We started an hour later due to the World Economic Forum being in town. Lots of road closures and security personnel…..

We made good time though and yay!, skipped the queues. Had a good period of time in each room before having to move on for the next group. Roman the guide (Get Your Guide.com) was knowledgeable and had really good English, to appreciate some jokes even. And Alexander, the minibus driver did a great job wending his way in and out of motorway traffic, oy!

The Catherine Place is a Rococo palace located in the town of Tsarskoye Selo (Pushkin), 30 km south of  St Petersburg. It was the summer residence of the Russian Tsars ands their vast entourage. Catherine 1 initally hired German architect Johann-Friedrich Braunstein in 1717 to construct the summer palace for her pleasure.

Her daughter Empress Elizabeth, organised a Palace extension. In 1756 the architect presented the brand-new 325-meter-long palace to the Empress, her dazed courtiers, and stupefied foreign ambassadors.

More than 100 kilograms of gold were used to gild the sophisticated stucco façade and numerous statues erected on the roof.

When the German forces retreated after the siege of Leningrad, they intentionally destroyed the residence, leaving only the hollow shell of the palace behind. Prior to World War II, Soviet archivists managed to document a fair amount of the interior, which proved of great importance in reconstructing the palace.

Although the largest part of the reconstruction was completed in time for the Tercentenary of St. Petersburg in 2003, much work is still required to restore the palace to its former glory.

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4 hours later and time for a late lunch. Went looking for a nail place in a mall and discovered the delightful Barashki Restaurant on the 5th floor – lovely panoramic outlook and reasonably priced meals (just over the road from where I am staying in Sennaya Square).

Contents

• 1History
• 2Layout
• 3See also
• 4References
• 5External links