CATHERINE'S PALACE

Severely damaged during the Second World War, but superbly renovated, the Great Catherine Palace is the baroque jewel of the architect Rastrelli. It offers visitors the suite of stately rooms and private apartments, which have been perfectly restored. A Baroque staircase leads to the exhibition rooms on the first floor, dedicated to the history of the palace. Overlooking the main courtyard and the gardens, the Great Ballroom dazzles with a variety of rococo ornamental details, gilded wood carvings, inlaid parquet flooring and the Triumph of Russia on the ceiling. The reception lounges offer an abundance of Baroque mirrors, overmantels and gilded woodwork. The dining rooms are decorated with paintings with mythological themes.

The ceiling of the Portrait Room features a painting of Olympus by Tiepolo. Among the many portraits, you will notice those of the Empress Catherine I and Elizabeth; the former is the origin of the palace, the latter brought her magnificence to it.

Decorated by Rastrelli, the Painting Room brings together works from the 17th and 18th centuries, mainly from the Dutch, Flemish and Italian schools. The blue salon, with its Pompeian ceiling, crystal torches, carved armchairs, and walls decorated with portraits of Peter the Great and Catherine I, was the favourite room of the Great Catherine. Next came the private apartments of Empress Maria Fyodorovna, where blue and pastel green tones dominated.

The Blue Chinese salon, stretched with Chinese silk, has a marquetry parquet flooring that combines rare woods such as ebony, rosewood, sandalwood... The palace chapel, finally, is one of the most beautiful baroque flights of Rastrelli. Covering the walls of the narthex, the gilded tapestry with bird motifs was made in the 18th century by Russian serfs weavers.

Designed for Catherine II, the Ionic Gallery, located to the south-east, on the garden side, connects the empress's apartments, designed by the same architect in the antique style and decorated with jasper and agate.

The famous Amber Room is a 100 m² room, decorated with amber panels of all shades. A marvel, even if it is in fact only a reconstitution of the work offered in 1716 by Frederick I of Prussia to Peter the Great. The original panels were stolen by the Nazis during the Second World War and could never be recovered.