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 Amber Room.

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. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (819x614, 1123 KB) Palais de Tsarskoïe Selo, photo prise en août 2004 (c) Ratigan File links The following pages link to this file: Tsarskoye Selo ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (819x614, 1123 KB) Palais de Tsarskoïe Selo, photo prise en août 2004 (c) Ratigan File links The following pages link to this file: Tsarskoye Selo ... Catherine palace north side. ... Catherine palace north side. ... Catherine palace south side. ... Catherine palace south side. ... Personal residence of Catherine the Great on the grounds of Catherines summer palace. ... Personal residence of Catherine the Great on the grounds of Catherines summer palace. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Catherine_Palace_ballroom. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Catherine_Palace_ballroom. ... Amber Room before WWII. File links The following pages link to this file: Amber Room Categories: Pre-1973 Soviet Union images ... Amber Room before WWII. File links The following pages link to this file: Amber Room Categories: Pre-1973 Soviet Union images ... The original Amber Room (Russian Янтарная комната, German: ) in the Catherine Palace of Tsarskoye Selo near Saint Petersburg was a complete chamber decoration of amber panels backed with gold leaf and mirrors. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... North side of the Catherine Palace in Tsarskoye Selo - carriage courtyard: all the stucco details sparkled with gold until 1773, when Catherine II had gilding replaced with olive drab paint. ... Catherine Palace and Park Tsarskoye Selo (Russian: ; may be translated as Tsar’s Village) is a former Russian residence of the imperial family and visiting nobility 24 versts (km) south from the center of St. ... Pushkin is a town in Russia that is located 24 kilometres south of Saint Petersburg, at 59°44′N 30°23′E. The town was founded in the 18th century as the summer residence of the Russian tsars under the name Tsarskoye Selo (Royal Village). ... Saint Petersburg (Russian: Санкт-Петербу́рг, English transliteration: Sankt-Peterburg), colloquially known as Питер (transliterated Piter), formerly known as Leningrad (Ленингра́д, 1924–1991) and...

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. In 1743, Empress Anna commissioned Mikhail Zemtsov and Andrei Kvasov to expand the Catherine Palace. 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. Construction lasted for four years and on 30 July 1756 the architect presented the brand-new 325-metre-long palace to the Empress, her dazed courtiers and stupefied foreign ambassadors. // Events January 4 — The Netherlands, Britain & France sign Triple Alliance February 26-March 6 What is now the northeastern United States was paralyzed by a series of blizzards that buried the region. ... Catherine I (In Russian: Екатерина I Алексеевна) (April 15, 1684 – May 17, 1727), the second wife of Peter the Great, reigned as Empress of Russia from 1725 until her death. ... // Events February 14 - Henry Pelham becomes British Prime Minister February 21 - - The premiere in London of George Frideric Handels oratorio, Samson. ... H.I.M. Anna Ioannovna, Empress and Autocrat of all the Russias, Duchess of Courland Anna Ioannovna (In Russian: Анна Иоанновна) (February 7, 1693 - October 28, 1740) reigned as Duchess of Courland from 1711 to 1730 and as Empress of Russia from 1730 to 1740. ... The small church of Sts Simon and Anne (1734) is one of a few extant buildings by Zemtsov. ... Church on Hay Square in St Petersburg, attributed to Kvasov and demolished by Soviet authorities in the 1930s. ... Empress Elizaveta Petrovna (1709-62) Yelizaveta Petrovna (Елизаве́та Петро́вна) (December 29, 1709 - January 5, 1762) was an Empress of Russia (1741 - 1762) who took the country into the War of Austrian succession (1740... Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli (1700-71) was the most important baroque architect working in Russia. ... North side of the Catherine Palace in Tsarskoye Selo - carriage courtyard: all the stucco details sparkled with gold until 1773, when Catherine II had gilding replaced with olive drab paint. ... is the 211th day of the year (212th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1756 was a leap year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ...

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. 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. Proserpine by Dante Gabriel Rossetti, 1874) (Tate Gallery, London In Greek mythology, Persephone (Greek Περσεφόνη, PersephónÄ“) was the Queen of the Underworld of epic literature. ...

Although the palace is popularly associated with Catherine the Great, she actually regarded its "whipped cream" architecture as old-fashioned. 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. 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". Catherine II (Екатерина II Алексеевна: Yekaterína II Alekséyevna, April 21, 1729 - November 6, 1796), born Sophie Augusta Fredericka, known as Catherine the Great, reigned as empress of Russia from... Penelope represented as a statue in the Vatican, Rome For other uses, see Penelope (disambiguation). ...

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. 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. 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. Neoclassicism (sometimes rendered as Neo-Classicism or Neo-classicism) is the name given to quite distinct movements in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture. ... Cameron Gallery in Tsarskoe Selo Charles Cameron (1730s-1812) was a Scottish architect who introduced the Adam style into Russian architecture. ... A villa with a superimposed portico, from Book IV of Palladios I Quattro Libri dellArchitettura, in a modestly priced English translation published in London, 1736. ... Personal residence of Catherine the Great Greek Revival was a style of classical architecture which became fashionable in Europe in the 18th century, and in the United Kingdom and United States in the early 19th century. ... Polished jasper pebble, one inch (2. ... 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 Park of Tsarskoe Selo. ... The Creaking Pagoda as seen nowadays. ... Chesme Column in Tsarskoe Selo. ... The Kagul Obelisk or Rumyantsev Obelisk in Tsarskoe Selo is one of several such structures erected on behest of Catherine II of Russia in 1772 to commemorate Pyotr Rumyantsevs victory in the Battle of Kagul. ... Marble Bridge, with the Chesme Column seen in the distance. ...

Upon Catherine's death in 1796, the palace was abandoned in favour of the Pavlovsk Palace. 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. In 1817, Alexander I engaged Vasily Stasov to refurbish some interiors of his grandmother's residence in the Empire style. 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. Pavlovsk (Russian: ) is a town situated in Leningrad Oblast, Russia, 30 km from and under jurisdiction of St. ... View of the corps de logis from the cour dhonneur. ... Aleksandr I Pavlovich (Russian: Александр I Павлович) (December 23, 1777–December 1, 1825?), was Emperor of Russia from 23 March 1801-1 December 1825 and Ruler of Poland from 1815–1825, as well as the first Grand Duke of Finland. ... Stasov is a quintessential family of Russian intelligentsia. ... Empire is an early 19th century style of architecture and furniture design that and originates from Napoleons rule of France. ... Nicholas I (Russian: Николай I Павлович, Nikolai I Pavlovich), July 6 (June 25, Old Style), 1796–March 2 (18 February Old Style), 1855), was the Emperor of Russia from 1825 until 1855, known as one of the most reactionary of the Russian monarchs. ...

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. 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. Combatants Germany Spanish Blue Division Soviet Union Commanders Wilhelm von Leeb Georg von Küchler Agustín Muñoz Grandes Kliment Voroshilov Georgiy Zhukov Strength 725,000 930,000 Casualties Unknown Red Army: 332,059 KIA 24,324 non-combat dead 111,142 missing 16,470 civilians 1 million civilians... Sir Elton Hercules[1] John CBE[2] (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight on 25 March 1947) is a five-time Grammy and one-time Academy Award-winning English pop/rock singer, composer and pianist. ... William Jefferson Bill Clinton (born William Jefferson Blythe III[1] on August 19, 1946) was the 42nd President of the United States, serving from 1993 to 2001. ... Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock) November 26, 1939) is an 11 time Grammy Award-winning (sharing three), American Singer, Dancer, Record Producer, Executive Producer, Film Producer, Actress, Writer, Performer, Songwriter, Author and occasional Painter whose career has spanned from 1956 to present. ... Whitney Elizabeth Houston (born August 9, 1963) is an American pop and R&B singer, songwriter, actress, film producer, and former model. ... Naomi Campbell (born May 22, 1970) is an English supermodel, actress, singer, businesswoman, and author. ... Gordon Matthew Thomas Sumner, CBE (born 2 October 1951), universally known by his stage name Sting, is an English musician from Newcastle upon Tyne. ...

In Twentieth Century Fox's 1997 animated feature, "Anastasia", the Catherine Palace is depicted (inaccurately) as the home of the imperial family. This article or section contains a plot summary that is overly long. ...

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. 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 (Russian Янтарная комната, German: ) in the Catherine Palace of Tsarskoye Selo near Saint Petersburg was a complete chamber decoration of amber panels backed with gold leaf and mirrors. ...

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. The Great Hall was intended for more important receptions such as balls, formal dinners, and masquerades. The hall was painted in two colors and covers an area of approxiametly 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. A great hall was the main room of a royal palace, a noblemans castle or a large manor house in the Middle Ages, and in the country houses of the 16th and early 17th centuries. ... Adoration, by Peter Paul Rubens. ... A masquerade ball (or masque) is an event which the participants attend in costume, usually including a mask. ...

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 Helius (Greek Ἥλιος / ἥλιος). Homer often calls him Titan and Hyperion. ... Eos, by Evelyn De Morgan (1850 - 1919), 1895 (Columbia Museum of Art, Columbia, SC): for a Pre-Raphaelite painter, Eos was still the classical pagan equivalent of an angel Eos (dawn) was, in Greek Mythology, the Titan goddess of the dawn, who rose from her home at the edge of...

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. Autoportrait Abduction of Deianira, 1620-21 Guido Reni (November 4, 1575, Calvenzano di Vergato, near Bologna - August 18, 1642, Bologna) 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. 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. 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. 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. Catherine I (In Russian: Екатерина I Алексеевна) (April 15, 1683/1684–May 17, 1727) was the second wife of Russia from 1725 until her death. ... Empress Elizaveta Petrovna (1709-62) Yelizaveta Petrovna (Елизаве́та Петро́вна) (December 29, 1709 - January 5, 1762) was an Empress of Russia (1741 - 1762) who took the country into the War of Austrian succession (1740... Peter I Emperor and Autocrat of All Russia Peter I (Pyotr Alekseyvich) (9 June 1672–8 February 1725 [30 May 1672–28 January 1725 O.S.1]) ruled Russia from 7 May (27 April O.S.) 1682 until his death. ... Catherine II (Екатерина II Алексеевна: Yekaterína II Alekséyevna, April 21, 1729 - November 6, 1796), born Sophie Augusta Fredericka, known as Catherine the Great, reigned as empress of Russia from... Aleksandr I Pavlovich (Russian: Александр I Павлович) (December 23, 1777–December 1, 1825?), was Emperor of Russia from 23 March 1801-1 December 1825 and Ruler of Poland from 1815–1825, as well as the first Grand Duke of Finland. ... 1752 was a leap year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ... 1756 was a leap year starting on Thursday (see link for calendar). ... Silk dresses Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. ... This article is about the capital of Germany. ... “Fine China” redirects here. ...

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. The pistachio-coloured walls of the room are lined with stucco figures by Ivan Martos. During the great fire of 1820 the room was seriously damaged, thus sharing the fate of other Cameron's interiors. It was subsequently restored under Stasov's direction. Paul I of Russia Paul I of Russia (Russian: Pavel Petrovich, Павел I Петрович) (October 1, 1754 - March 23, 1801) was an Emperor (Tsar) of Russia (1796 - 1801). ... Ivan Petrovich Martos (Russian Иван Петрович Мартос; 1754-1835) - Russian sculptor, monumentalist, representative of the classicism. ... 1820 was a leap year starting on Saturday (see link for calendar). ...

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. Rosewood refers to a number of richly hued timbers, brownish with darker veining. ... Amarant redirects here. ... An example of Mahogany The name mahogany is used when referring to numerous varieties of dark-colored wood, originally the wood of the species Swietenia mahagoni, sometimes referred to as Spanish or Cuban Mahogany. ... Chippendale may refer to: Thomas Chippendale, or his furniture Chippendales dancers, a chain of clubs and troupe of performers Chippendale, New South Wales [edit] See also Chip n Dale Category: ... Carrara is a city in the Massa Carrara province of 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 (1728_ 1792) and his brothers. ... Chinese House (Potsdam) Chinoiserie refers to a European artistic style which reflects Chinese influence and is characterized through the use of fanciful imagery of an imaginary China, asymmetry and whimsical contrasts of scale, the use of lacquerlike materials and decoration. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Aleksandr I Pavlovich (Russian: Александр I Павлович) (December 23, 1777–December 1, 1825?), was Emperor of Russia from 23 March 1801-1 December 1825 and Ruler of Poland from 1815–1825, as well as the first Grand Duke of Finland. ... Pompeii is a ruined Roman city near modern Naples in the Italian region of Campania, in the territory of the comune of Pompei. ...

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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. 
• Photos of the Catherine Palace interiors

Coordinates: 59°42′57″N, 30°23′44″E Year 2006 (MMVI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link displays full 2006 calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... is the 349th day of the year (350th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Map of Earth showing lines of latitude (horizontally) and longitude (vertically), Eckert VI projection; large version (pdf, 1. ...