Catherine the Great Palace

TOUR CATHERINE'S PALACE WITH US: Tour of Catherine's palace for cruise passengers, Tour of Catherine's palace for independent travellers

Catherine Palace is often mistakenly called Catherine the Great palace. The true name comes from Catherine I, who had originally received a small 2-storey palace as a gift from her spouse Peter the Great. It later became a grand baroque summer palace and one of the decendant owners was Catherine the Great (Empress Catherine II) who turned the palace into the most grandiose summer residence of St.Petersburg and whole Russia. 

Catherine palace reconstruction lasted for 4 years. In 1756 the architect Bartolomeo Francesco Rastrelli presented the brand-new 325-meter-long palace to Empress Elizabeth. The French diplomat noted then, the palace still missed one detail: "a glass case for extra protection". More than 100 kilograms (200 pounds) of gold were used to gild the sophisticated stucco façade and numerous statues erected on the Catherine palace roof. It was even rumored that the palace's roof was constructed entirely of gold. On a bright sunny day the palace seemed sparking. The English traveler called it "the completest triumph of barbarous taste".

Until WWII Catherine palace boasted of its legendary Amber Room. Original amber panels were made in 1713 for Frederick William I's “tobacco club“ in Berlin palace and 3 years later presented to Russian tsar Peter the Great. The amber panels were never installed until Peter's daughter Elizabeth commissioned Rastrelli to design the Amber room for her Catherine palace.

After Elizabeth's death many changes were made in the interior design. Empress Catherine the Great regarded the "whipped cream" palace architecture as old-fashioned and blamed her predecessor of the reckless extravagance. Gilded parts were painted yellow, some old interiors remodeled in Classicism, palace area enlarged with the Bath house and Cameron gallery.

Upon Catherine's death in 1796, the palace was abandoned in favor of Pavlovsk palace, residence of Emperor Paul. Catherine palace was later used just for official receptions.

Following the Bolshevik Revolution, Catherine Palace and Park were taken over by the state and nationalized. The Palace became an art history museum while the Park became an area of rest and recreation for the public.

In 1937, the town of Tsarskoye Selo, was renamed Pushkin to honor the famous Russian poet, Alexander Pushkin who had graduated from the Imperial Lyceum right next to Catherine Palace.

In 1941 the palace was taken over by Nazi forces, ransacked and used as army barracks. When Nazis finally retreated in January 1944, the palace was blown up and burnt. The Amber room was taken to Germany and traces of it disappeared. After many years of futile seeking, the Soviet government ordered to start the Amber room recreation. In 2003 it was publicly opened by President Putin and German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder.

Today 29 of the 52 palace rooms have been restored.

Catherine the Great palace is open: 10.00 - 17.00 (in summer prior tour reservation is required)

Closed: Tuesdays, last Monday of the month