Catherine's Palace (Tsarskoye Selo)

Tsarskoye Selo became the property of Alexander Menshikov, and from 1708 to 1724 it was the summer residence of Peter the Great's wife, Yekaterina Alexeyevna (future Catherine I). In 1711, after she was declared "the true Sovereign,” the building of a large-scale residence began on the site.

Catherine I bequeathed the property to her daughter, Tsarevna Elizabeth Petrovna. On becom­ing the Empress in 1741, she did not spare funds for turning the old mansion into a luxurious palace, for building various pavilions and for laying-out gardens. In 1743-51 the Empress's projects for the exten­sion of the suburban residence were carried out.

During the reign of Catherine the Great, Tsarskoye Selo was further enriched and the Alexander Palace was built as a gift to her first and favorite grandson, Alexander Pavlovich (the future Alexander I). Catherine the Great personally oversaw the education of Alexander I, Paul's eldest son, and patronized him in a number of ways. The Empress wanted to make him her heir in order to deprive Paul, whom she disliked, of his right to the throne. When Alexander I became Emperor after the assassination of his father, which was committed with Alexander's mute consent, the palace was given to the future tsar, Grand Duke Nicholas. The Alexander Palace became the last refuge of the royal family after Nicholas II was deposed in 1917.

The Amber Room - A veritable gem of the Catherine Palace was the Amber Study which is justly ranked by connoisseurs among "treasures of the world.”  In 1717, the inlaid amber panels were sent by the Prussian king, Frederick William I, to Peter the Great as a gift for the decoration of the Study in his Winter Palace at St Petersburg. In 1755 Rastrelli designed the Amber Room in the Catherine Palace enriching the panels with Florentine mosaics and sculpture. The unparalleled area of the walls was skillfully decorated with mirrors, murals, and gilded wood-carving.

During the Second World War, almost all amber objects were removed to Novosibirsk, but the panels of the Amber Room were looted by the Nazi soldiers. The current exhibition is comprised of the works that were saved or restored. Fortunately, the room has nowadays completely regained its former splendor.

Hermitage Art                                    Peterhof