The Catherine Palace is a splendid imperial estate, and former home of Russian tsars, located in Pushkin (formerly known as Tsarskoye Selo), just outside St. Petersburg in Russia. It is designed in a Rococo architecture and named after Catherine I called The Great.
It was originally commissioned by Peter The Great in 1717 for his wife, Catherine. However, it was during their daughter's reign, Empress Elizabeth, that the palace achieved its grandeur. She also chose Tsarskoye Selo (also known as Tsar's village) as her main residence.
Over the years, this imperial residence was expanded into clusters of buildings installing elaborate decorations, blue-and-white facades featuring gilded atlantes and pilasters designed by German sculptor, Johann Franz Dunker.
Palace exteriors were decorated with gold. And the interiors are breathtakingly magnificent and stunning with ornate banisters and reclining marble cupids, and the entire ceiling is covered by a monumental fresco entitled "The Triumph of Russia".
The mysterious Amber Room
One of its most popular rooms is the Amber room, a chamber decorated in amber panels backed with gold leaf and mirrors. It was considered one of the Wonders of the World due to its elaborate design.
But it remains mysterious until today due to its so-called disappearance during World War II. Many said it was stolen, other version of the story said, it was destroyed by fire but no evidence of burning was produced.
Hope faded to recover the missing treasure of Catherine Palace. But in 1979, the USSR ordered a reconstruction to replicate the Amber room, guided by two remaining original items: a single box of relics from the room, and 86 black-and-white photos of the space taken just before WW II.
It took 23 years before the reconstruction completed. And in 2003, the replica of the Amber room was put on display at Catherine Palace, attracting visitors annually.
No comments:
Post a Comment