2 Days in St. Petersburg – Day 1: Catherine Palace Pt. I

Our first stop was at Catherine Palace, located south of St. Petersburg proper in the town of Pushkin, in the Pushkin District. The town of Pushkin is named after playwright, poet, and novelist Alexander Pushkin. Pushkin is considered the father of modern Russian literature.

His maternal great-grandfather, Abram Petrovich Gannibal (sometimes spelled Ganibal or Hannibal) was born in Central Africa; Cameroon, scholars think. He was later kidnapped and taken to Constantinople (Istanbul). Wikipedia says he was given as a gift to the Ottoman Sultan. From there, Gannibal was taken to Russia and presented as a gift to Tsar Peter the Great. He was subsequently made a noble by the tsar. Thus, Pushkin was born into Russian nobility.

From Pushkin’s pen flowed famous poems such as The Bronze Horseman, dramas including Boris Gudenov, novels like The Captain’s Daughter and The Moor of Peter the Great, fairy tales (believe it or not), and short stories. Dramatic books he wrote were turned into plays. His influence was such that the development of modern Russian literature is accredited to him. Through his works, he had the effect of increasing the Russian vocabulary. The village of Tsarskoye Selo (later, briefly becoming Detskoye Selo) was renamed to honor Pushkin in 1937. It was originally founded as an imperial residence and became the area where the tsars and other Russian nobility spent their summers.

We walked a short distance from the bus, past the statue of Alexander Pushkin in the Lyceum Garden. After later learning everything I just told you about this eminent man, I wondered why Natasha only mentioned the statue but did not tell us anything about him, or why we did not go in the garden to get a closer look at his statue. Instead, we stopped in front of the gates of Catherine Palace.

I wondered why there were emblems with the letter ’E’ on the gates and a few other places, when the name of the place is Catherine Palace. The answer would be found when I remembered to temporarily shed my English language lens. In Russian, Catherine is spelled “Ekateрина” (Yekaterina); thus the ‘E’.

We entered through a side gate and this massive building that seemed to stretch into eternity came into view. It is painted blue (some call it robin’s egg blue) with white trim, and gold and green accents.

Catherine Palace, formerly known as Tsarskoye Selo Palace, is named for Catherine I. (Not to be confused with Catherine II, also known as Catherine the Great. She came on the scene later, as we will soon learn).

Building on the original structure started in 1717 when Catherine I commissioned a place to be built for her summer residence. Therefore, it became the imperial palace. It originally had 16 rooms.

When Catherine’s daughter, Empress Elizabeth, began her reign, she decided the palace was not modern enough nor big enough. She ordered the palace demolished, rebuilt, and expanded, becoming a series of magnificent rooms and halls. It was designed and built in what is called the Russian Baroque or Rococo style.

The project took only four years to complete. When it was finished, it stretched to about 325 meters in length. It is roughly shaped like the letter “I” laid on its side. Worker’s quarters are shaped somewhat like the Greek letter Omega and enclose a large grassy area in front of the main palace. Or, if you’re so inclined, it resembles an archer’s bow. The main gate bisects the two halves of the workers’ quarters. The immense size of the palace complex can only really be appreciated from the air.

Empress Elizabeth had a flair for opulence. One example of this lavishness can be found in the trim outside the palace; she had it all gilded. Even the fencing was ornamentally gilded. It is said that over 100 kilograms of gold were used just on the façade, domes, and other ornaments of the building. Medallions and figures were installed above nearly every window, while atlantes formed many of the columns. These, too, were originally gilded. From what I’ve read about her since we got back, today the empress would be considered a world-class party animal.

Following the death of Empress Elizabeth, Peter III, Catherine II’s husband, became emperor, making Catherine II empress consort. After a coup, which she herself organized, her husband Peter III was overthrown after just six months on the job throne, and Catherine took over. She became known as Catherine the Great due to the immense prosperity Russia enjoyed during her reign. The period is often referred to as the Golden Age of Russia.

Though Catherine the Great ruled during this period, she was not as showy as her predecessor. There were plans to further modernize the palace, but after Empress Elizabeth died, Catherine II halted those plans. She considered Elizabeth too extravagant, citing Elizabeth’s frivolous spending of 1.6 million rubles on its construction. That’s 1.6 million rubles in 1756 Russian currency. Catherine later had the gold removed from the façade and ornaments, and covered the exposed parts in olive drab paint. The domes above the church remain gilded.

That gives you a bit of background for what we are about to experience.

As we neared the palace’s front entrance, we were greeted by a uniformed Russian brass band. They had a tip jar and were selling their CDs. They played a couple of songs for us.

When the ‘concert’ ended, Natasha led us inside. Once inside, we were given booties like nurses and surgeons to wear to cover our shoes to protect the parquet flooring we’d soon see…and walk across.

Not surprising, the first stop inside was at a gift shop. I saw a display of about 100 Matryoshka Dolls, or Russian Nesting Dolls. (Occasionally you might hear them referred to as Babushka dolls, but the term ‘babushka’ has a different meaning (old woman or grandmother) and really shouldn’t be used as a synonym for Matryoshka dolls). As soon as I saw them, I knew a set of these would make the perfect gift for some family friends back home. I just had to find the right one. Some of these sets can be quite elaborate, with a price tag to match. I settled on a 5-piece set.

From the gift shop we proceeded to the Main Staircase. Here Natasha explained how guests would enter the palace, and depending on your status, which side of the staircase you were allowed to walk on, and how you were to walk up the stairs.

Natasha led us up the stairs and further into the palace. We were allowed to take photographs of what we saw, but were warned that flash photography was prohibited. The light from the flash accelerates aging of the paintings and other objects inside. To make sure the crowds followed that rule, a handful of what I call ‘flash police’ were stationed in certain rooms throughout the palace. Every so often you’d see someone getting reprimanded by the flash police. I would assume if you became a repeat offender, you’d be tossed out of the palace.

During World War II, the parks and palaces of Tsarskoye Selo found themselves in occupied territory for more than two years. Catherine Palace itself was severely damaged, leaving only a burned-out shell. Other buildings in the area were not so lucky. I learned later that 32 of the rooms that were destroyed were restored – basically what you see today.

That this magnificent building was restored to its former grandeur is nothing short of miraculous. They were fortunate in that they had drawings, etc., to work from, that had been carefully catalogued before the war. What I haven’t been able to find out is how many rooms there actually were when Empress Elizabeth finished ‘remodeling’. If you know the answer, please contact me. I’d like to know.

Catherine the Great did have a Roman bathhouse added next to the palace. Designed and built by Charles Cameron, a Scotsman who was brought to St. Petersburg at the request of Catherine the Great, it now houses a bronze statuary. It is now called the Cameron Gallery.