Friday, October 18, 2019 (continued)
After lunch was the included shore excursion to Царское Село/Selo or St Catherine's Palace in Pushkin. Another motor coach ride.
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Gate to Екатерининский дворец/Catherine's Palace, the fancy 'E'
is for the name in Russian: 'Ekaterina' (KSS) |
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| Corvus cornix/Hooded Crows (KSS) |
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| Kent captures the hooded crows |
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Half under scaffolding, Catherine's Palace, like so many other
major Russian buildings, just goes on and on! |
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Part of façade of Catherine's Palace (1752-1756, by
Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli, in Rococo style) (KSS) |
Catherine's Palace was looted and intentionally destroyed by the retreating Nazis in World War II. Restoration began in the 1980s and continues today as they faithfully try to replicate the palace as designed by Rastrelli.
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| All the atlantes were once gilded |
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| Main Staircase (1860-1863, by Ippolito Monighetti) |
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Main Staircase clock; the stucco decorations are in Rococo style
but lack gilding (KSS) |
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| Chevaliers' Dining Room (by Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli) |
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Great Hall (by Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli) where two pieces
of the original ceiling painting (which had been removed in 1790)
were found and used in the restoration |
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The columns in the ceiling painting
made the ceiling look higher |
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Mirrors and windows, and faux windows brightened the room
full of gilded wood-carved Rococo decoration |
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| Ceramic tile stoves for heating in the Third Antechamber |
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The ceiling painting in the Third Antechamber depicts Mount
Olympus (by Pietro and Aloiso Gradizzi, and Antonio Peresinotti) (KSS) |
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| Detail of the ceramic tile stove; the ceramic tiles were produced in Russia |
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We had to don protective "slippers" to tour Catherine's Palace;
the person without slippers is a palace guide |
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| Back through the Chevaliers' Dining Room (KSS) |
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| White State Dining Room (by Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli) |
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| The table is set with Meissen china |
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| Plenty of candelabra, and "snowball" Meissen vases |
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Crimson Pilaster Room; the "pilasters" are
made with clear glass backed by metallic foil |
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Chess set (18C in China) with inlaid mother-of-pearl
and carved ivory pieces(KSS) |
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| Green Pilaster Room |
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| Moorish figures in the Green Pilaster Room |
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Portrait Room with portrait of Empress Elizabeth
(18C, by Heinrich Buchholtz), who had the
palace rebuilt by Rastrelli (KSS) |
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Portrait of Catherine I (18C, by Ivan Adolsky),
for whom the palace was first built in 1717 |
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A peek into the Amber Room (no photos allowed),
a replica of the original |
In 1716, King Friedrich Wilhelm I of Prussia gave Peter the Great an Amber Study, delivering the dissembled room as panels. Empress Elizabeth had the panels installed in her Winter Palace in 1743-1746. Then in 1755, she had the panels moved to a larger room in Catherine's Palace. Catherine II had additional amber panels installed in 1763-1770.
When the Nazis invaded in 1941, they began "evacuating" treasures from Catherine's Palace, and the Amber Room was sent to Königsberg, the Prussian city that is now Kaliningrad, Russia. The Nazis claimed the Amber Room had come home. When the Nazis retreated in 1944, they allegedly packed up the Amber Room, and the trail has been lost. Where is the original Amber Room? Was it destroyed when Königsberg was bombed, or during transit because it was so fragile? Is it hidden in a forgotten Nazi hiding place, or was it transported to Argentina by the Nazis? Did the Soviets save it in Königsberg and keeep it hidden all these years? Did Steve Berry solve the mystery?!
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Picture Hall (by Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli) is a mosaic of
painted canvases, many of which are original as they were evacuated (KSS) |
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Chinese Drawing Room of Alexander I had silk
lining the walls painted in the Chinese manner,
now it is damask; the painting of Alexander I
(by George Dawe) is the original (KSS) |
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| Unique clock in the Chinese Drawing Room (KSS) |
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| The Green Dining Room (1779, by Charles Cameron) (KSS) |
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| Catherine Park linden tree allée (KSS) |
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| Wedding photo shoot in Catherine Park |
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| Catherine Park reflecting pool (KSS) |
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Cameron Gallery (1780-1794, by Charles Cameron) in response
to Catherine the Great's wish to have a Greco-Roman edifice,
and a promenade for strolling outdoors without really leaving the palace |
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| Horse-drawn carriage |
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| Catherine Park, the Great Pond |
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The Grotto (1755-1756, by Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli); but this one
is not decorated inside with tufa/porous limestone to resemble a cave |
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| Grotto portal |
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| Catherine Park; uncomfortable-looking bench |
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| Raked leaf piles |
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The Hermitage (1744-1751, initially by Mikhail Zemtsov,
embellished by Rastrelli) survived World War II |
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We left Catherine Park through the Hermitage Kitchen (c 1770,
by Vasily Neyelov in Neo-Gothic style), which was the kitchen
for the Hermitage, a retreat where nobility could rest and dine
without dealing with the servants, as often the dining table would
be set a level below and raised by pulleys to an upper level for dining |
Took the motor coach back to the Viking Truvor for dinner.
Next: St Petersburg: Fabergé Museum.
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