South side - view from the garden.

North side - carriage courtyard: all the stucco details sparkled with gold until 1773, when Catherine II had gilding replaced with olive drab paint.

South side - view from the Hermitage.

The Cameron Gallery in the 21st century.

The Cameron Gallery in the 18th century.

The Agate Rooms of Catherine II.

The ballroom.

The Palace Chapel.

The Catherine Palace (Russian: Екатерининский дворец) is the Rococo summer residence of the Russian tsars, located in the town of Tsarskoye Selo (Pushkin), 25 km south-east of St. Petersburg, Russia. Russian ( transliteration:,) is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages Rococo is a style of 18th century French art and Interior design. Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending Tsarskoye Selo (Ца́рское Село́ " Tsar 's Village" is a former Russian residence of the imperial family and visiting Pushkin (Пу́шкин is a town under jurisdiction of St Petersburg, Russia, that is located 24  Verst south from the center Saint Petersburg ( tr: Sankt-Peterburg,) is a city and a federal subject of Russia located on the Neva River Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending

History

The residence originated in 1717, when Catherine I of Russia engaged the German architect Johann-Friedrich Braunstein to construct a summer palace for her pleasure. Year 1717 ( MDCCXVII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Yekaterina (Catherine I Alexeyevna (In Russian: Екатерина I Алексеевна (born Martha Elena Scowronska, Marta Elena Skavronska later In 1733, Empress Anna commissioned Mikhail Zemtsov and Andrei Kvasov to expand the Catherine Palace. Year 1733 ( MDCCXXXIII) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Anna Ivanovna (Анна Иоанновна Anna Ioannovna) ( Moscow –) reigned as Duchess of Courland from 1711 to 1730 and as Empress of Russia Mikhail Grigorievich Zemtsov (Михаи́л Григо́рьевич Земцо́в 1688 – 1743 was a Russian architect who practiced a sober restrained Petrine For the Kyrgyz-Kazakhstani swimmer with the same name see Andrey Kvasov (swimmer Andrey Vasilievich Kvasov (1720&ndash1770 was a notable Empress Elizabeth, however, found her mother's residence outdated and incommodious and in May 1756 asked her court architect Bartolomeo Rastrelli to demolish the old structure and replace it with a much grander edifice in a flamboyant Rococo style. Yelizaveta Petrovna (Елизаве́та (Елисаве́т Петро́вна (December 29 1709 – January 5 1762 (New Style December 18 1709 – December 25 1761 ( Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli (Russian Франче́ско Бартоломе́о Растре́лли ( Rococo is a style of 18th century French art and Interior design. Construction lasted for four years and on 30 July 1756 the architect presented the brand-new 325-meter-long palace to the Empress, her dazed courtiers and stupefied foreign ambassadors. Events 1419 - First Defenestration of Prague. 1502 - Christopher Columbus lands at Guanaja in the Bay Islands off Year 1756 ( MDCCLVI) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a

During Elizabeth's lifetime, the palace was famed for its obscenely lavish exterior. More than 100 kilograms of gold were used to gild the sophisticated stucco façade and numerous statues erected on the roof. It was even rumoured that the palace's roof was constructed entirely of gold. In front of the palace a great formal garden was laid out. It centres on the azure-and-white Hermitage Pavilion near the lake, designed by Zemtsov in 1744, overhauled by Rastrelli in 1749 and formerly crowned by a grand gilded sculpture representing The Rape of Persephone. In Greek mythology, Persephone ( Kore or Cora) was the embodiment of the Earth's fertility at the same time that she was the Queen of the Underworld The interior of the pavilion featured dining tables with dumbwaiter mechanisms. The grand entrance to the palace is flanked by two massive "circumferences", also in the Rococo style. A delicate iron-cast grille separates the complex from the town of Tsarskoe Selo.

Although the palace is popularly associated with Catherine the Great, she actually regarded its "whipped cream" architecture as old-fashioned. Catherine II, called Catherine the Great (Екатерина II Великая Yekaterina II Velikaya;) reigned as Empress of Russia for 34 years When she ascended the throne, a number of statues in the park were being covered with gold, in accordance with the last wish of Empress Elizabeth, yet the new monarch had all the works suspended upon being informed about the expense. In her memoirs she censured the reckless extravagance of her predecessor: "The palace was then being built, but it was the work of Penelope: what was done today, was destroyed tomorrow. In Homer 's Odyssey, Penelópē ( Πηνελόπεια/Πηνελόπη) is the faithful wife of Odysseus, who keeps her suitors That house has been pulled down six times to the foundation, then built up again ere it was brought to its present state. The sum of a million six hundred thousand rubles was spent on the construction. Accounts exist to prove it; but besides this sum the Empress spent much money out of her own pocket on it, without ever counting".

In order to gratify her passion for antique and Neoclassical art, Catherine employed the Scottish architect Charles Cameron who not only refurbished the interior of one wing in the Neo-Palladian style then in vogue, but also constructed the personal apartments of the Empress, a rather modest Greek Revival structure known as the Agate Rooms and situated to the left from the grand palace. Neoclassicism (sometimes rendered as Neo-Classicism or Neo-classicism) is the name given to quite distinct movements in the decorative and Charles Cameron (1743-1812 was a Scottish architect who introduced the Adam style into Russian architecture. PLEASE DO NOT ADD AN INFO BOX TO THIS PAGE --> Palladian architecture is a European style of Architecture derived from the designs of the Italian The Greek Revival was an architectural movement of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries predominantly in northern Europe and the United States Noted for their elaborate jasper decor, the rooms were designed so as to be connected to the Hanging Gardens, the Cold Baths, and the Cameron Gallery (still housing a collection of bronze statuary) - three Neoclassical edifices constructed to Cameron's designs. JasPer is a project to create a reference implementation of the codec specified in the JPEG-2000 Part-1 standard (ie According to Catherine's wishes, many remarkable structures were erected for her amusement in the Catherine Park. These include the Dutch Admiralty, Creaking Pagoda, Chesme Column, Rumyantsev Obelisk, and Marble Bridge. The Dutch Admiralty is the name applied to three follies designed in the traditional Dutch style and erected in summer 1773 on the bank of the Large Pond in the Catherine The Creaking Pagoda between two ponds in the landscape park separating the Catherine Palace and Alexander Palace in Tsarskoe Selo, The picturesque Chesme Column (Чесменская колонна in Tsarskoye Selo commemorates three Russian naval victories in the Russo-Turkish War 1768-1774 The Kagul Obelisk in Tsarskoye Selo is one of several such structures erected on behest of Catherine II of Russia in 1772 to commemorate Pyotr Rumyantsev The Siberian Marble Gallery between Swan Islands — an artificial Archipelago of seven islets in the landscape park of Tsarskoe Selo — spans a rivulet flowing between

Upon Catherine's death in 1796, the palace was abandoned in favour of the Pavlovsk Palace. Pavlovsk (Па́вловск is a town situated in Russia, 30 km from and under jurisdiction of Saint Petersburg, just to the south of Tsarskoye Selo Subsequent monarchs preferred to reside in the nearby Alexander Palace and, with only two exceptions, refrained from making new additions to the Catherine Palace, regarding it as a splendid monument to Elizabeth's wealth and Catherine II's glory. The Alexander Palace (Russian Александровский дворец is primarily remembered as the favourite residence of the last Russian emperor Nicholas II, and his In 1817, Alexander I engaged Vasily Stasov to refurbish some interiors of his grandmother's residence in the Empire style. Alexander I of Russia ( Russian: Александр I Павлович / Aleksandr I Pavlovich (23 December 1777 – November 19 1825 served as Emperor of Vasily Petrovich Stasov (Russian Василий Петрович Стасов (1769&ndash1848 Russian Architect, extensively travelled in France The Empire Style, sometimes considered the second phase of Neoclassicism, is an early-19th-century Design movement in Architecture, Furniture Twenty years later, the magnificent Stasov Staircase was constructed to replace the old circular staircase leading to the Palace Chapel. Unfortunately, most of Stasov's interiors - specifically those dating from the reign of Nicholas I - have not been restored after the WWII ravages to this day.

When the German military forces retreated after the siege of Leningrad, they had the residence intentionally destroyed,^[1]leaving only the hollow shell of the palace behind. The Siege of Leningrad, also known as The Leningrad Blockade ( Russian: блокада Ленинграда ( transliteration: blokada Leningrada Prior to the WWII the Russian archivists managed to remove a fraction of its contents, which proved of great importance in reconstructing the palace. Although the largest part of the reconstruction was completed in time for the Tercentenary of St Petersburg in 2003, much work is still required to restore the palace to its former glory. In order to attract funds, the administration of the palace lately leased the Grand Hall to such high-profile events as Elton John's concert for the elite audience in 2001 and the 2005 exclusive party which featured the likes of Bill Clinton, Tina Turner, Whitney Houston, Naomi Campbell, and Sting. Sir Elton Hercules John CBE (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight on 25 March 1947 is an English pop / rock Singer, Composer William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton (born William Jefferson Blythe III, August 19 1946 served as the forty-second President of the United States Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock; November 26, 1939) is an eight time Grammy Award -winning American Whitney Elizabeth Houston' (born August 9 1963 is an American Singer-songwriter, Actress, Film producer, Arranger and former Naomi Campbell (born 22 May 1970 is an English model, Singer, Author, Actress, and Fashion designer. Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner, CBE (born October 2, 1951) better known by his Stage name Sting, is a three time Academy Award

In Twentieth Century Fox's 1997 animated feature, "Anastasia", the Catherine Palace is depicted (inaccurately) as the home of the imperial family. Anastasia is an Academy Award nominated American animated feature Musical film produced and directed by Don Bluth and

Layout

Although Stasov's and Cameron's Neoclassical interiors are superb manifestations of the late 18th-century and early 19th-century taste, the palace is best known for Rastrelli's grand suit of formal rooms known as the Golden Enfilade. An enfilade, in Architecture, is a suite of rooms formally aligned with each other It starts at the spacious airy ballroom, the "Grand Hall" or the "Hall of Lights", with a spectacular painted ceiling, and comprises numerous distinctively decorated smaller rooms, including the reproduced Amber Room. The original Amber Room (English sometimes Amber Chamber, Янтарная комната, Bernsteinzimmer Bursztynowa komnata in the Catherine Palace

The Great Hall, or the Light Gallery as it was called in the 18th century, is a formal apartment in the Russian baroque style designed by Bartolomeo Rastrelli between 1752 and 1756. A great hall was the main room of a royal Palace, a Nobleman 's Castle or a large Manor house in the Middle Ages, and Baroque art redirects here Please disambiguate such links to Baroque painting, Baroque sculpture, etc The Great Hall was intended for more important receptions such as balls, formal dinners, and masquerades. A masquerade ball (or bal masqué) is an event which the participants attend in Costume wearing a Mask. The hall was painted in two colors and covers an area of approximately 1,000 square meters. Occupying the entire width of the palace, the windows on the eastern side look out onto the park while the windows of the western side look out to the palace plaza. In the evening, 696 lamps are lit on 12-15 chandeliers located near the mirrors. The halls sculptural and gilded carvings and ornimantation were created according to sketches by Rastrelli and models by Johann Franz Dunker.

Beyond the Great Hall is the dining room for the courtiers in attendance (the Courtiers-in-Attendance Dining Room). The room was designed by Rastrelli in the mid-18th century. The small room is lit by four windows which look out into the formal courtyard. The architect placed false windows with mirrors and mirrored glass on the opposite wall, making the hall more spacious and bright. Decorated in the typical baroque interior style, the hall is filled with gilded wall-carvings, complex gilded pieces on the doors, and ornamental patterns of stylized flowers. The ceiling mural was painted by a well known student of the Russian School from the mid-18th century. It is based on the Greek myth of the sun god Helios and the goddess of the dawn, Eos. In Greek mythology the Sun was personified as Helios (ˈhiliˌɑs ( Ἥλιος Latinized as Helius) For other uses of the name Eos see Eos (disambiguation. For the Slavic goddesses called the Auroras see The Zorya.

Across from the Courtiers-in-Attendance Dining Room, on the other side of the Main Staircase, is the White Formal Dining Room. The hall was used for the empresses' formal dinners or "evening meals". The walls of the dining hall were decorated with the utmost extravagance with gilded carvings. The furnishings consist of gilded carvings on the consoles. The painted mural, The Triumph of Apollo is a copy of a painting completed in the 16th century by Italian artist, Guido Reni. Guido Reni ( 4 November 1575 &ndash 18 August 1642) was a prominent Italian painter of high- Baroque style

The Portrait Hall is a formal apartment that covers 100 square meters of space. The room's walls boast large formal portraits of Empress Catherine I, Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, as well as paintings of Natalya Alexeyevna, sister of Peter the Great, and Empress Catherine II. Yekaterina (Catherine I Alexeyevna (In Russian: Екатерина I Алексеевна (born Martha Elena Scowronska, Marta Elena Skavronska later Yelizaveta Petrovna (Елизаве́та (Елисаве́т Петро́вна (December 29 1709 – January 5 1762 (New Style December 18 1709 – December 25 1761 ( Catherine II, called Catherine the Great (Екатерина II Великая Yekaterina II Velikaya;) reigned as Empress of Russia for 34 years The inlaid floors of the hall contain precious woods. The Drawing Room of Alexander I was designed between 1752 and 1756 and belonged to the Emperor's private suite. Alexander I of Russia ( Russian: Александр I Павлович / Aleksandr I Pavlovich (23 December 1777 – November 19 1825 served as Emperor of Year 1752 ( MDCCLII) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar for European countries but not Great Britain) of Year 1756 ( MDCCLVI) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a The drawing room stood out from the rest of the formal rooms in the palace due to the fact that the walls were covered in Chinese silk. Silk is a natural Protein Fiber, some forms of which can be woven into Textiles The best-known type of silk is obtained from cocoons Other decor in the room was typical for the palace's formal rooms, a ceiling mural, gilded carvings. The elegant card-tables and inlaid wood commode display Japanese, Chinese, and Berlin porcelain. Berlin is the capital city and one of sixteen states of Germany. Porcelain is a Ceramic material made by heating raw materials generally including Clay in the form of Kaolin, in a Kiln to temperatures

The Green Dining Room, which replaced Rastrelli's "Hanging Garden" in 1773, is the first of the rooms in the northern wing of the Catherine Palace, designed by Cameron for the future Emperor Paul and his wife. Paul (Па́вел I Петро́вич Pavel Petrovich) ( &ndash) was the Emperor of Russia between 1796 and 1801 The pistachio-coloured walls of the room are lined with stucco figures by Ivan Martos. Ivan Petrovich Martos ( Russian: Иван Петрович Мартос 1754 near Poltava — 5 April, 1835, St Petersburg) was a During the great fire of 1820 the room was seriously damaged, thus sharing the fate of other Cameron's interiors. Year 1820 ( MDCCCXX) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Leap year It was subsequently restored under Stasov's direction.

Other Cameron's interiors include the Waiters' Room, with the inlaid floor of rosewood, amaranth and mahogany and stylish Chippendale card-tables; the Blue Formal Dining-Room, with white-and-blue silk wallpapers and Carrara marble chimneys; the Chinese Blue Drawing Room, a curious combination of Adam style with the Chinoiserie; the Choir Anteroom, with walls lined in apricot-colored silk; and the columned boudoir of Alexander I, executed in the Pompeian style. Amaranthus, collectively known as amaranth or pigweed, is a cosmopolitan genus of herbs The name mahogany is used when referring to numerous varieties of dark-colored wood originally the wood of the species Swietenia mahagoni, known as West Thomas Chippendale ( Otley, near Leeds baptised - November 1779 was a London Cabinet-maker and furniture designer in the mid-Georgian Carrara is a City in the Province of Massa-Carrara ( Tuscany, Italy) famous for the white or blue-gray Marble quarried there The Adam style (or Adamesque) is a style of neoclassical Architecture and design as practised by Scottish architect Robert Adam ( Chinoiserie, a French term signifying "Chinese-esque" refers to a recurring theme in European artistic styles since the seventeenth century which reflecting A boudoir is a Lady 's private Bedroom, sitting room or dressing room Alexander I of Russia ( Russian: Александр I Павлович / Aleksandr I Pavlovich (23 December 1777 – November 19 1825 served as Emperor of Pompeii is a ruined and partially buried Roman town-city near modern Naples and Caserta in the Italian region of Campania, in

References

External links

• Official website
• Detailed description and history from Tsarskoe Selo in 1910
• Photo Tour of the Cameron Gallery from the Alexander Palace Time Machine
• Charles Cameron - Imperial Architect site on his work in Tsarskoe Selo and the Catherine Palace
• Laskin, David. "History Is Perennial in the Gardens of the Great Czars", New York Times, 18 June 2006. Retrieved on 2006-12-15. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. Events 533 - Byzantine general Belisarius defeats the Vandals, commanded by King Gelimer, at the Battle of  
• Photos of the Catherine Palace interiors