Today we went to PUSHKIN, the home of Russia's last czar and visited another famous tourist attraction in St. Petersburg, the magnificent Catherine Palace named after Catherine I, the wife of Peter the Great. It was designed by Bartolomeo Rastrelli, who is also the creator of the Winter Palace.
This gorgeous gold and blue architecture of the Catherine Palace near St. Petersburg is just a taste of this stunning testament of the Czar's weath. This palace is also known as the Summer palace. The palace sits on top of a hill overlooking an English-style landscape park with a beautiful river running through it. I was not able to take that photo ... it was raining..
The entrance hall of the Catherine Palace. Since it was raining when we arrived at the palace, we ( again ) were asked to leave our umbrellas, coats and was given shoe coverings so as not to soil the parquet floors of the palace.
The Great Hall is filled with mirrors and gilded carvings. It is a perfect remembrance of what life was like in the Russian Aristocracy of the 18th and 19th centuries.
The Catherine palace dining room and traditional Russian ceramic stove.
Another gilded dining room at Catherine Palace....
The sleeping boy at Catherine Palace.
Here are photos of the other rooms and ceiling treatments in the palace.
Please take note of the parquet flooring... each room had a different design.
Ceiling treatment in the main dining room of Catherine Palace.
The Amber Room is the most famous of the palace rooms. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take any photos of that room.
Next time you travel to St Petersburg try and ask your tour guide to bring you to PUSHKIN, to visit the Catherine Palace and see the famous AMBER room. Our tour guide told us that every first monday of each month the palace is closed.
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