PUSHKIN
Located 25 km south of St. Petersburg, the town of Pushkin originally called Tsarskoye Selo, came into existence when Catherine I built a little surprise palace here for her husband, Peter the Great. The Empress Elizabeth had the palace (named Catherine's Palace) expanded and renovated in 1752, and work continued through Catherine the Great's reign.
The palace, a combination of white and gold, looks magnificent; a huge ballroom called the Grand Hall, ornately decorated drawing rooms, studies and dining rooms. The most famous room here is the Amber Room, the walls of which were covered with amber panels given to Peter I by Friedrich Wilhelm of Prussia and looted by the Nazis during World War II. Now the Amber room is being restored by the palace restoration workshops. Surrounding the palace is a park covering more than 570 hectares with bridges, terraces, fountains and small galleries.
Close to the Catherine's Palace on the grounds of Alexandria park there is one more palace - the Alexander Palace. The palace houses the exhibition "Nicholas & Alexandra" featuring the dramatic fate of the last Romanovs.
Catherine's Palace open 10:00 - 17:30, closed Tuesdays and the last Monday of the month.
