Catherine's Palace

  St. Petersburg, North-West Russia, Russian Federation
Monday, September 22, 2008

Catherine's Palace

Chinese tourists behind

When the gates were opened, everyone gasped. The palace seemed to stretch as far as a football field.  Within seconds, the Chinese tour group that followed at our heels started taking snapshots and videos. 
 
We almost didn't come here.  By the third day we felt our experience in St. Petersburg was complete, so we decided to visit one of the royal palaces located in the outlying areas.  Our first choice Peterhof, however, was closed.  Catherine's Palace was the next choice; I knew it had to be a winner since it was on the cover of my St. Petersburg travel guide.

At first Kathie considered taking the subway, but after listening to a woman give us directions in Russian I was not very confident about being able to get there and return without getting lost.  The Frommer's Guide listed several travel agents that offered tours so we searched for one of them.  We found the street where the office was supposed to be located but there was no building number posted.  After walking back and forth on the same block several times and venturing into an unmarked doorway, a maintenance person asked us what we were doing there and directed us to the travel agency on the fifth floor.
 
We purchased tickets for the Russian tour because the English tour was already sold out.  The travel agent sent us to Nevsky Prospekt to wait for the bus, where we found numerous kiosks offering tours for Tsarkoe Selo, "the Tsar's Village," where the palace is located.  We boarded the van with ten other people and for the next thirty minutes the tour guide spoke non-stop

Catherine's Palace

  When the bus dropped us off outside the palace grounds, I saw a residential area consisting of new homes built in exactly the same style as those eighteenth century palaces in the city.  I wondered if that is where today's Russian nouveau-riche lived.  Not far away, Catherine's Palace was nestled in a park-like setting.  We walked around the buildings and waited outside the gates to enter the palace.

Catherine's Palace

Catherine's Palace was designed as a summer residence for the tsars. It was not named after Catherine the Great but named in honor of Catherine I by her daughter Elizabeth.   The building was painted in a bright blue color and adorned with white and gold flourishes.  Seen from afar the palace seemed expansive but up close it looked heavy and imposing with behemoth golden Atlantis statues hanging from the facade.
 

Catherine's Palace

Shoe covering

  
We entered the building after we donned disposable booties to protect the floor. The main room was called the Great Hall.  The mirrors and gold carvings reminded me of the Hall of Mirrors at the Versailles near Paris, but now I can't remember which is flashier.  The next two adjacent spaces were a continuation of rooms with golden curliques hanging from the walls.  We walked from one room to the next, noticing each different theme.  There was the formal dining room, a green room, a picture room with walls completely filled with paintings.  The one room where picture-taking was not allowed was the Amber Room, which was entirely covered with amber gemstones. 

Catherine's Palace

Catherine's Palace

I enjoyed the gardens the most.  It was elaborate but not the most impressive garden I've seen.  But by now I was tired of looking at all the over-the-top old world glitz it was nice to find a charming open-air green space.  And for the first time since I arrived in Russia I experienced fresh air.