Moscow and St. Petersburg, Russia

R U S S I A

M O S C O W & S T . P E T E R S B U R G

CONTENTS

MOSCOW 4Red Square 10St. Basil’s 18GUM 23The Metro 27Tretyakov Gallery 31Tsereteli Gallery 34Park of the Fallen Idols 39Around Town 46

ST. PETERSBURG 54Peterhof 56Around Town 59Peter and Paul’s Fortress and Cathedral 70The Romanov Dynasty 74St. Isaac’s 76The Russian Museum 81The Hermitage 86Catherine’s Palace 108

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M O S C O WF R O M T H E A I R P O R T

MOCKBA is the spelling of Moscow in the Russian cyrillic alphabet. Also seen greeting visitors is the image of St. George slaying the dragon.

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M O S C O WF R O M T H E A I R P O R T

We were told that half of Russians have a summer home or dacha.

Some signs are in English, while otherslike the McDonalds sign are obviousbecause of familiar logos...

...but in most cases, you’d better get a local guide.

M O S C O WA R O U N D T O W N

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Moscow’s origins as a symbol of Russianspiritual and political power date from 1147, so it’s no surprise that today the city of morethan 10 million people (“12 million if youcount the illegal immigrants”) is Russia’s majorpolitical, economic, religious, financial,cultural, educational, scientific, industrial andtransportation center. “The most expensivecity in the world” is home the largest numberof billionaires in the world (more than 30).And to the world’s highest divorce rate.

At 24.4 rubels per liter—about $3.70 pergallon—Muscovites were paying a little less for gas than San Franciscans.


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This gigantic billboard featured three lifesized BMWs.

M O S C O WT H E K R E M L I N M U S E U M S

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Faberge eggs from the Imperial collection

A diamond-studded crown (far left)and a carved ivory throne are just a few of the extravagant imperialacoutrements housed in the Armory.

The ostentatious Orlov Palace in St. Petersburg was a gift fromCatherine the Great to her lover,Grigory Orlov. He returned the favorwith the gift of what is now calledthe Orlov diamond (left), said to beequal in value to the palace. Seenhere in the Imperial Scepter, the190-carat marvel is about the size of a hen’s egg.

We enjoyed a private viewing of theArmory Museum: nine rooms offantastically over-the-top treasures. We were not allowed to photograph, but found a few royalty-free images toremind us of the museum’s seeminglyendless collection of opulence. Afterseeing it, we understood why thepeasants revolted!

• Elaborate thrones• Cinderella-worthy carriages• Intricately detailed Faberge eggs • 13th century chain mail and battle

helmets • A shield made of rhinoceros skin

and decorated with gold and pearls• Ceremonial csar’s vestments• Coronation dresses• Shoes with 5-inch high heels• Elaborate “amusement goblets” • A pair of huge silver wine jars in the

shape of snow leopards • A horse’s headdress studded with

999 diamonds and a brilliantBrazilian topaz

• Jewel-encrusted chalices andscepters

This carriage, built in1746 of beechwood,bronze, silver, iron,glass, velvet, andgilding, was a gift toEmpress Elizabeth.

M O S C O WR E D S Q U A R E

View of Historical Museum and Red Square from our hotel window.

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Resurrection Gate and chapel (with blue star-studded roof) at the entrance to Red Square.


Lenin’s tomb

Historical MuseumA "kremlin" is a walled citadel;all major Russian cities have one.The Kremlin is the one inMoscow’s Red Square, which iseven more impressive than I hadanticipated. Some of the RedSquare’s walls—which are up to20 feet thick and 55 feet high—date from the late 1400s.

The five most importantbuildings in the Kremlin aremarked with a 5-pointed star ontop. Each star is 3–3.5 metersacross and weighs 1–1.5 tons.They are lighted from the insideat night.

Nikolskaya Tower

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The Spasskaya Tower, built in 1491, is the main tower on the eastern wall of the Kremlin.

Tsar’s Tower,named afterIvan the Terrible,is the smallestand newestof the Kremlintowers.

Inside the Kremlin walls are churches, palaces, parks, museums, and government offices.

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Changing of the guard at the Tomb of the UnknownSoldier in Alexandrovsky Garden.

An inscription on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldierreads, “Your name is unknown. Your deed is immortal.”

The Borovitskaya Tower is the entrance for government officials and other VIPs.

M O S C O WA R O U N D R E D S Q U A R E

The 40-ton Imperial Cannon “Tzar Pushka” was meant to fire round stones, before iron cannon balls were widely used.

The “Czar Bell,” cast in 1735, weighs 200 tons; thepiece that cracked off weighs 11.5 tons. The bell wassitting on a wooden pallet when a terrible firestarted; water poured on the bell to fight the blazecaused a section to crack off. The bell never rang.

Cannons used in the war against Napoleon are nowtrophies stacked around the Arsenal building.

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M O S C O WR E D S Q U A R E G A R D E N S

After the war with Napoleon these artificial ruinswere created to decorate Alexander Gardens (sinceno real Roman ruins could be found in the area).

This building, once used for training military horses, is now an exhibition hall.

Moscow’s Coat of Arms

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M O S C O WA R O U N D R E D S Q U A R E

You never know who you will see in the Kremlin.

The 17th-century Amusement Palace 9

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M O S C O WR E D S Q U A R E — S T . B A S I L ’ S

Saint Basil’s, Moscow’s 16th-century“stone flower,” is located at thesoutheast end of Red Square, justacross from the Spasskaya Tower.

The Cathedral of the Intercession ofthe Virgin on the Moat—commonlyknown as the Cathedral of St. Basil theBlessed or simply St. Basil’s Cathedral—was commissioned by Ivan theTerrible and consists of nine chapelsbuilt on a single foundation.

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After seeing the stunning St. Basil and its beautiful domes, Ivan the Terrible asked the architect, Postnik Yakovlev, if he could build another structure rivaling its magnificence.

When the architect answered, “Yes,” Ivan the Terrible supposedly ordered his eyes to be gouged out.

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Even inside the Kremlin youcan see the effects of freeenterprise and capitalism.

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There is lots ofrestoration activity inMoscow; buildingsbeing renovated areoften covered withillustrations of the final architecture.

We saw many Porta–Potty style toilets, with the attendent using one unit as her office.


M O S C O WG U M I N R E D S Q U A R E

Built in the 1890s, GUMcontained some 1,200 storesby the time of the RussianRevoluton of 1917. After theRevolution it was nationalizedas a department store. Today, it houses about 200 shops.

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M O S C O WG U M

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M O S C O WG U M

We had heard that the average Russiancan’t afford to shop in GUM. However,we saw plenty of Russian shoppers, withmarkets full of produce and other items.No shortages here.

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M O S C O WG U M

M O S C O WT H E M E T R O

The Moscow Metro—well knownfor the Soviet Realist art in manyof its stations—is the world’ssecond most heavily used rapid-transit system (after Tokyo).

The decision was made in 1931 to build the metro system, and itopened only four years later, in1935. The metro now covers morethan 260 kilometers and includes177 stations.

The escalators are known for beingvery steep, fast, and long.

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This WWII relief of white marble is in the Spolienska station.


• A metro ticket costs 20rubels (about 80¢).

• The trains run every 2–3minutes during rush hour,and every 5–6 minuteslater in the day, carrying anaverage of seven millionpassengers each day.

• Train doors are open foronly 25 to 30 seconds,but people didn’t seem tohave any trouble gettingon and off in that shortamount of time.

• The stations we saw werespotless—not a singlepiece of litter.

• Air is recirculated threetimes/hour.

Moscow’s Kievskaya metrostation displays frescoes ofcontented Soviet workers,lighted with crystal chandeliers.

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The best sovietartists, sculptors, and designers wereinvited to decoratethe RevolutionSquare station, which opened in 1938.


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M O S C O WT R E T Y A K O V G A L L E R Y

Andrei Rublyov (1360–1430) is considered by manyto be Russia’s greatest icon painter. His icon of The Holy Trinity (1420) is the masterpiece of the

Tretyakov Gallery. This is said to be the f irst use ofblue in icon painting.

This early 15th century icon portrays St. George and the Dragon.

The Tretyakov’s collection containspaintings and sculpture created byRussian artists from the 11th to 20th centuries.

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The State Tretyakov Gallery was established in 1856 withtwo paintings from thecollection of Moscow merchant and art collector Pavel Mikhailovich Tretyakov, and nationalized after theRevolution. It now consists of more than 130,000 pieces.

Although not allowed to takephotos inside, we were able toget the photos on these pagesfrom a royalty–free source.

The painting to the right is ofEmpress Anna Ioannovnawearing the same crown wesaw in the Kremlin’s museum.

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Portrait of actress Eleonora Duse.

Swan Princess by Mikhail Vrubell,renowned Russian Symbolist painter.

The Aristocrat’s Breakfast by Pavel Fedotov (1849)—Fedotov’s detailed and comical style looked just like

Norman Rockwell’s

They did not Expect Himby Ilya Repin (1884)

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M O S C O WT S E R E T E L I A R T G A L L E R Y

The Tsereteli Art Gallery wasconceived by the extremelyprolific and often controversialRussian-Georgian painter, sculptorand architect Zurab Tsereteli. Setup as part of his reform programas President of the RussianAcademy of Arts, the galleryopened to the public in 2001 andincludes a restaurant, meetingrooms, and a permanentexhibition of Tsereteli’s work. Wewere surprised and delighted atthe inside of “Adam’s Apple,” agigantic bronze sculpture insidewhich viewers can admire goldenbas reliefs of erotic encounters.

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M O S C O WP A R K O F T H E F A L L E N I D O L S

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Many monuments toRussia’s communist-eraleaders were toppled—but not destroyed—during the early 1990s. A group ofindependent artistscreated a new homefor the statues (and fornew ones, too) inthe Park of the FallenIdols, across the streetfrom Gorky Park.

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M O S C O WG O D U N O V R E S T A U R A N T

M O S C O WK I T E Z H R E S T A U R A N T

Frommer’s Guide to Moscow and St. Petersburgsays, “If you have just one real Russian meal inMoscow, make it here.”

It was an adventure to find the Kitezh, but themenu featuring hot bear meat and other Russianspecialties made the trek worthwhile.

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Much of Moscow’s residential areawas built up during the 70s and 80s.These buildings are generally 9–14stories high, and have beenconverted into free municipal f lats, for which there is a 5-year waiting list.

Catherine the Great had this canal built to drain the nearby swamps and stop flooding.

Moscow suffers from the same traffic jams as other cities.

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Newlyweds traditionally attach padlocks to these“trees” and throw the keys into the river below tosignify that they are locked together forever.

The ubiquitous coat check room.

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This is one of seven skyscrapers called theSeven Sisters. The coveted “Stalin House”apartments were built with large kitchensand high ceilings, and are quite expensive.

Buildings in unusualshapes are popular inMoscow. The Houseon the Embankment(with Mercedes logo) is in the shape of atractor, when viewedfrom above.

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From Gore•tex to KFC to Sbarro Restaurants,international influence was evident in the city.

Modern buildings echo earlierarchitectural styles.


52Everything in Russia is big. Even the billboards.


This monument to Peter the Greatby Zurab Tsereteli (see page 34) isthe 6th tallest statue in the world.Our guide said it was rumored tohave been conceived as a statue of Christopher Columbus, but wasrejected by both the U.S. andSpanish governments. Russiapurchased the monument after the head was replaced with alikeness of Peter the Great.

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S T . P E T E R S B U R GA R R I V I N G B Y H Y D R O F O I L

St. Petersburg is an exquisite city of grandpalaces and innumerable canals, founded in 1703by Czar Peter the Great as his “Window on theWest.” Canals were dug to drain the marshy southbank and in 1712 Peter made the city his capital,forcing administrators, nobles and merchants tomove to this northern outback and build new

Before the October Revolution, St. Petersburg was graced with 365 palaces.

homes there. Architects and artisans came fromall over Europe, and the result is a city thatremains one of Europe’s most beautiful. With apopulation of approximately five million, it is alsoRussia’s biggest transport hub, and a leadingindustrial, scientific and cultural center.

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S T . P E T E R S B U R G

St. Petersburg’s best-known statue, theBronze Horseman, was cast in 1782 andbears the simple inscription: To Peter I fromCatherine II. Peter is depicted as a Romanhero, with a crown of laurels. His horsecrushes a serpent representing “evil forceson the way to victory.”

S T . P E T E R S B U R GP E T E R H O F

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Peterhof houses the monumental, Versailles-inspired Great Palace, built in 1715. Filled withgilding, mirrors, extravagant ornamentation, and flickering candlelight, the palace was famous for its grand summer balls.

S T . P E T E R S B U R GA R O U N D T O W N


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St. Petersburg’s redrostrum columns are a nod to the ancientRoman tradition ofdecorating columnswith the prows ofcaptured ships. (The“prows” on thesecolumns are replicas.)

Wedding photos are popular along the riverfront.

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At times like this, we appreciated the toilet attendants.

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This 1937 Stalin-style building was intended to be used as a seat of government, but houses business of fices today.“...we still keep Lenin statues—but not ones of Stalin—in St. Petersburg.”

t This monument is the “Gate to the City.”


Surprisingly, many signs were in English.

S T . P E T E R S B U R GC H U R C H o f t h e S A V I O R o n t h e S P I L T B L O O D

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S T . P E T E R S B U R GC H U R C H o f t h e S A V I O R o n t h e S P I L T B L O O D

The neo-Russian style Church on SpiltBlood marks the place where Alexander IIwas mortally wounded by assassins in1881. The church is covered inside andout with more than 75,000 square feet ofmosaics made of smalt—glass with mineralpigments added.

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These ads apparently say something about local newscasters.Note the Clear Channel logo at the top.

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This modern monument to Peter the Great wascreated by sculptor MichaelShemiakin in 1990. The face was based on Peter’sdeath mask.

The statue’s fingers areshiny because so manypeople wanted to touch the figure; Laurie chose a bolder approach.

S T . P E T E R S B U R GP E T E R A N D P A U L F O R T R E S S

The St. Peter and Paul Fortress, built in 1703, neversaw battle, but it became well known as a politicalprison, housing Peter the Great’s son Alexi (whoplotted against his father) and later Dostoyevsky,Trotsky, Gorky, and Lenin’s older brother, Alexander.

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S T . P E T E R S B U R GP E T E R A N D P A U L C A T H E D R A L

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Now a museum, St. Peter and Paul’s Cathedral is the resting place of Russian czars, from Peter the Great to Nicholas II.


Peter the Great’s crypt is coveredwith medals (they look like coins)he was awarded for winning the“Northern War,” and institutingmany great reforms.

The remains of Czar Nicholas II and his familywere laid to rest here in 1998, eighty years tothe day after their execution by the Bolsheviks(under Lenin’s orders) in 1918. e

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S T . P E T E R S B U R GT H E R O M A N O V D Y N A S T Y

Mikhail Romanov: related by marriage to Ivan theTerrible. Crowned czar in 1613. Instituted serfdom.Catherine I: 2nd wife of Peter the Great(Lithuanian orphan, military concubine, eventuallyended up with Peter). An unruff led, dependableconfidante to Peter.

Elizabeth: Daughter of Peter the Great,popular with the military men who servedher father. Uninterested in governing, but didhand-pick the woman who would becomeCatherine the Great as a marriage partner forher son. Said to have owned 15,000 ballgowns and thousands of pairs of shoes.Peter III: son of Elizabeth, childish anddimwitted, hated Russia. Deposed by his wifeCatherine, who became Catherine the Great.

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S T . P E T E R S B U R GT H E R O M A N O V D Y N A S T Y

Catherine II the Great

Alexander II Nicholas II

Peter I the Great

Peter the Great: ambitious,courageous, curious, strong-willed, self-assured,sometimes despotic andcruel. Knowledgeable inshipbuilding, diplomacy,artillery, fortifications,mechanics, military tactics,medicine, astronomy, andother crafts and sciences.

Catherine the Great: bright,well-educated, with goodmanners and a forcefulpersonality, she benefitedRussia tremendously. Alsospent enormous sums ofmoney—much of it on herlovers—and left the treasury in shambles.

Alexander II: inherited bothreforms and problems;emancipated the serfs with a bold, unworkablemanifesto. Liberalization ofpublic life under Alexander IIinspired terrorists, whoeventually assassinated him.

Nicholas II: The last czar. Not a statesman, uninterested andunsuccessful at governing.Abdicated during the 1917revolution, and, along with his family, was assassinated the following year.

S T . P E T E R S B U R GS T . I S A A C ’ S

St. Isaac’s is constructed of a stone so soft itis claylike when mined. After exposure to air,the stone hardens, and will last hundreds ofyears. Below its gilded dome—which, at 333feet in height, dominates St. Petersburg’sskyline—this magnificent church was nearlyblack (critics referred to the somber structureas “the inkwell”) until its exterior was cleanedin 2003.

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Monolithic as it is from the outside,St. Isaac’s Cathedral looks evenbigger from the inside, which isadorned with unending frescoes andincredibly detailed mosaic icons andpaintings. Huge columns made ofmalachite, lapis lazuli, and marble ofred, pink, green, gold, gray, black,and white dominate the interior; itslargest chandeliers are the size of a VW bug.

St. Isaac’s was originally little morethan a house-sized chapel. Over thecourse of history it was rebuilt severaltimes, most recently under thedirection of French-born architectAuguste Montferrand, who designedit to accommodate 14,000 standingworshippers and to be one of themost impressive landmarks of theRussian Imperial capital. But thecathedral is as much the work ofRussian serfs as of great architects and engineers.

Thousands of serfs worked long, hard hours—nearly 24 hours a day during the White Nights—were provided with poor-qualityropes and housed in cold, damp barracks, and suffered manyaccidents during construction.

The dome was covered with copper sheets capped with a thin film of gold and mercury, which, when heated from the inside,produced a thin, strong layer of gold. Unfortunately, it alsoproduced mercury poisoning among the workers.

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During the 30s, St. Isaac’s wasconverted into an “anti-religionmuseum” and the white dove(representing the Holy Spirit)at the top of the domewas replaced with apendulum. DuringWWII thestructure wasbadly damagedbut enduredNazi shelling,and its groundswere famouslyplanted withcabbages tohelp residentssurvive the 900-day Naziblockade.

S T . P E T E R S B U R GH O T E L A S T O R I A

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Tea time at the great hotels is a time-honoredtradition. At the Astoria it costs $40 per person.

The Astoria opened in 1912. Hitler was so certain he would take thecity that he sent out invitations to a victory party at the hotel.

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S T . P E T E R S B U R GS A D K O R E S T A U R A N T

Sadko’s gray walls and huge redchandeliers, unpredictable singingwaiters, gigantic Alice-in-Wonderland-like plates and teapots, and spaciouschildren’s playroom created anotherworldly effect.

S T . P E T E R S B U R GT H E R U S S I A N M U S E U M

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Photography is not allowed in many areas of themuseum (note small sign to the right), but if onestrikes up a conversation with the grandmother likeguards, one might get lucky in being allowed totake a snap or two.


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These paintings are by Ilya Repin, Laurie’s favorite Russian portrait artist


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Founded by Peter the Great, theKunstkamera is St. Petersburg’soldest—and strangest—museum, withanthropological collections ofclothing, musical instruments, cookingutensils, tools, fishing and farmingimplements, costumes, toys, puppets,jewelry, headdresses, saddles, kayaks,fabrics, and other articles representingmany of the world’s cultures.

An extensive anatomical collectionfeaturing malformed human fetuseswas one of Peter’s pet projects. Anexhibit explained: “striving to educatepeople, [Peter] combatted prejudice...Peter’s bill, issued in 1718, encouragedpeople to collect human, animal, andbird malformations ... [and] censuredignoramuses, who ‘believe that suchmonsters are caused by diabolicalspells, through sorcery and evil, whichis impossible, because the Creatoralone is the God of a ll creatures ...’whereas the true reason is ‘internaldamage as well as fear and themother’s beliefs during pregnancy.’”

S T . P E T E R S B U R GM U S E U M O F C U R I O S I T I E S

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S T . P E T E R S B U R GP O D V O R Y E — P U T I N A T E H E R E

The Podvorye is frequented by cultural figuresand politicians. The food and entertainmentwere great, and the homemade vodka from the village of Verkhniye Mandrogy was free.

The Podvorye restaurant was designed in the style of Russianwooden architecture from the 16th and 17th centuries. An iceskating rink and slide are also on the grounds for winter fun.

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S T . P E T E R S B U R GT H E H E R M I T A G E

During the 18th century, a “hermitage”was a small garden pavilion where art wasexhibited. Today, the museum’s contentsare housed in f ive magnificent palacesdesigned by celebrated architects.Amassed over two and a half centuries,the Hermitage’s collection presents thedevelopment of the world art from theStone Age to the 20th century.


The collection is so large that,according to a guard, it wouldtake several years for a visitor toview each item just once.


The Winter Palace, commissioned by ElizabethI and designed by Bartolomeo Rastrelli, wasconstructed between 1754 and 1762 and servedas the official residence of the czars until the1917 revolution. It has 117 staircases and morethan 1,000 rooms. The original exteriorsurvives, and, although the interior wasextensively renovated, its ballrooms, throneroom and concert hall are preserved in theiroriginal opulent state.

In the June of 1941 the Hermitage began toevacuate its collections. Exhibits were carefullypacked and put into special boxes. For most ofthe items, which had come to the museum twohundred years before, it was a dangerousjourney. Many masterieces, including the worksof Rembrandt, were dispatched to the city ofSverdlovsk (now Yedaterinburg). Paintings wereevacuated separately from their frames, andlarge canvases were rolled. Only empty framesremained hanging in the Rembrandt Room(page 93) in 1941.

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The parquet f loors were made from more than 20 varieties of wood.

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S T . P E T E R S B U R GT H E H E R M I T A G E — T H E R E M B R A N D T R O O M

We were treated to a private tour of the Hermitage, which hosts, on average, 20,000 visitors a day.We will probably never again see it so uncrowded.

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This gallery took 34 years to paint. It’s a recreation of works in the Vatican by Raphael and members of the

Raphael school.


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Boy with Dolphin—attributed to Lorenzetto

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Doesn’t this look like a naked Mona Lisa? It’s attributed to

“the da Vinci school.”

Leonardo da Vinci:Madonna and the Child

(the Litta Madonna)

Rafael: Madonna and Child (the Madonna Conestible)

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9 Raphael: Holy Family

9 Pieter de Hooch: A Mistress and her Maid

This room contains 360 portraits of the Russian generals who fought Napoleon.


This is a huge f loor mosaic, at least 25 feet across.

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Oddly enough, the Soviets expanded theHermitage’s collection to include worksby Impressionist and Post-Impressionistartists Gauguin, Picasso, van Gogh,Renoir, Matisse, Cezanne, and Rodin.

Renoir: Child with a Whip

Matisse: Family PortraitVan Gogh: Memory of the Garden at Etten (Ladies of Arles)

Matisse: The DanceMatisse: Musique

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Renoir: Young Woman with Fan

Renoir: Lady in Black

Renoir: Head of a Woman

Renoir: Portrait of the Actress Jeanne Samary

Matisse: The Red Room (Harmony in Red)

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S T . P E T E R S B U R GP A L A C E S Q U A R E

Over the past 300 years the Palace Square, or Dvortsovaya Ploshchad, has been the site ofhuge demonstrations and riots, cruel executions, and magnificent czarist processions.

S T . P E T E R S B U R GC A T H E R I N E ’ S P A L A C E

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Electric blue with elaborategilding and white frosting,Catherine’s Palace claims thedistinction of being the world’slongest palace (984 feet). It was built by Catherine I—Peter the Great’s second wife—and their daughter Elizabeth.

Elizabeth’s court architectBartolomeo Rastrelli (who alsodesigned the Winter Palace inSt. Petersburg) is responsible for the baroque interiors.

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Evacuation of Catherine’s Palace began as soon as Germany declared war against the USSR. Morethan 70,000 exhibits needed to be protected. Thepersonnel packed wooden boxes, loaded, andshipped priceless collections deep into the countryfor safekeeping. Many items were also shipped toLeningrad (now St. Petersburg) where they werekept in the basements of St. Isaac’s Cathedral. What could not be shipped was carefully packedand moved to the palace cellars. More than 30marble sculptures were buried in the park.

In September, 1941, the town of Pushkin was taken; it was occupied for nearly three years. When Soviettroops liberated nearby Leningrad in 1944, theyfound in Pushkin masses of ruins, rocks and ashes,burned walls, and complete devastation insidebuildings. Only 10 of the palace’s 55 unique hallspartially escaped damage.

Museum personnel had also preserved archivesof the ensemble history, drafts, designs,photograph collections, watercolors of the palace interiors, and sketches of the park sceneryand monuments. These proved invaluable in the restoration.

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Tall fireplaces built with hand-painted, one-of-a-kind Dutch tiles warmed the roomsthroughout Catherine’s palace. A wood fireinside heated up the tiles, which radiatedwarmth into the room.

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S T . P E T E R S B U R GC A T H E R I N E ’ S P A L A C E —T H E A M B E R R O O M

The Amber Room’s inlaidpanels were produced in the early 1700s and sent by Prussian King FrederickWilliam I as a gift to Peter the Great in 1717. In 1755Empress Elizabeth had themmoved to Catherine’s Palace,where they enchantedvisitors for nearly 200 years.

Most of the treasures fromCatherine’s Palace wereremoved for safekeepingbefore WWII, but the amberpanels were too fragile tomove, so the room waspreserved on site with glue,gauze, and padding. Theexterior windows werecased with two layers ofboards filled up with sand.Unfortunately, the AmberRoom was eventually lootedby Nazi soldiers.

The current spectacularexhibition is a restoration—requiring nearly a ton ofpetrified sap—of the originalAmber Room.

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S T . P E T E R S B U R GC A T H E R I N E ’ S P A L A C E —T H E A M B E R R O O M

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Empress Elizabeth’s green dress. The beautiful and vivaciousdaughter of Peter the Great reportedly owned 15,000 ballgowns and thousands of pairs of shoes. e

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Restoration is always in progress.Note the person working above.

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S T . P E T E R S B U R GC A T H E R I N E ’ S P A L A C E — G A R D E N S

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S T . P E T E R S B U R GC A T H E R I N E ’ S P A L A C E — G A R D E N S

This private wing of the summer palace was Catherine the Great’s personal residence. Compared with thebaroque opulence of the main palace—which Catherine disliked, calling it “whipped cream style”—thisarchitecture was considered to be quite modest by her contemporaries and courtiers.

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“One’s destination is never a place, but rather a new way of looking at things.”

—Henry Miller

This trip journal does not necessarily represent our personal opinions, nor can I confirm historicalaccuracy. Photographs are by Jim Shubin or L aurie McAndish King.

For additional copies, please email Laurie at: [email protected]

Laurie McAndish King—writer/photographerwww.LaurieKing.com I www.TravelWritersNews.com

Jim Shubin—designer/photographerwww.shubindesign.com I [email protected]

©2010 Laurie McAndish King/Jim Shubin

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Moscow and St. Petersburg, Russia

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Transcript of Moscow and St. Petersburg, Russia