Tsarskoe Selo

Tsarskoe Selo – the very name of this palace-and-park ensemble provokes a number of happy recollections.In addition to its beautiful parks and architecture, it is also associated with the great age of Russian poetry and ceremonial glamour of the past autocratic life. Work on the palace and park in Tsarskoye Selo was started in the early 8th. The place was eventually transformed into the Russian tsarskoye), or "Tsar's village". Between 1752 and 1756, by order of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna,  the architect Bartolomeo Francesco Rastrelli united all the separate parts of the palace to create a single ensemble. Tsarskoye Selo, which Pushkin associated in his verses with the idea of homeland, became the holy land of Russian poetry for subsequent generations.  There are many buildings in Tsarskoe selo connected with Pushkin’s life.  It is the Catherine palace, however, the fronts of which extend for 740 meters that dominates the entire complex of Tsarskoye Selo. Its powerful decorative forms determine the plastic expressiveness of the palace endowing it with truly legal majesty. This impression is enhanced by interiors of the palace the décor of which reflects the swiftly changing tastes of the crowned owners. They are recorded in the decorative styles of the rooms and halls where Baroque luxury can be met side by side with Classical elegance. The Great (Catherine) Palace, with its majestic and sumptuous 306-m long facade, main staircase and suite of halls, which abound with gilded woodwork, mirrors and amber, ranks among the masterpieces of Russian Baroque. You will walk through the Great Hall (or the ball room), the Picture hall (18 century décor), the Blue Drawing room, the Chinese Blue Drawing room, the bedroom of Maria Fiodorovna and the Green Dining room. (Decorated after the drawings of Cameron). The landscaped section of the Catherine’s park is situated around great Pond. You will visit a number of unique park pavilions connected with it. The architecture of the palaces blends harmoniously into the surrounding landscaped parks and gardens. It also boasts a variety of fanciful bridges, pergolas and sculptures. The landscapes of the Alexander Park with their romantic structures, such as the Chinese Village, the Arsenal and the White Tower, are no less picturesque. The museums house remarkable collections of paintings, porcelain, furniture and fabrics. In terms, of its artistic workmanship, it is in no way inferior to and perhaps, in some respects, even superior to the original. An exhibition, devoted to the last Russian emperor Nicholas II and his family, occupies the Alexander Palace.