Page 104 - (DK Eyewitness) Top 10 Travel Guide - St. Petersburg

102 ❯❯ St Petersburg Area by Area

Baroque interior of Catherine Palace, Tsarskoe Selo
Tsarskoe Selo
6 than the palaces at nearby Tsarskoe
Developed into an imperial
Selo, Pavlovsk is well worth visiting
country residence by Peter the to view the palace interior and the
Great’s wife, Catherine I, Tsarskoe delightful English-style landscaped
Selo comprises vast areas of gardens (see pp34–5).
parkland and two stunning palaces.
Alexander Nevskiy
The striking Baroque Catherine 8
Palace, designed by Bartolomeo Monastery
Rastrelli, is the centrepiece of the MAP G5 • Ploshchad Aleksandra
estate. It is best known for its replica Nevskovo • 274 1702
of the opulent Amber Room, which • Open 9:30am–6pm daily
was looted by Nazis during World This sprawling monastery complex
War II. The Neo-Classical Alexander was founded in 1710 by Peter the
Palace is currently closed for Great on the supposed site of the 1240
restoration (see pp32–3). battle between Russia and Sweden.
It contains the early 18th-century
Cathedral of the Annunciation, as
well as the twin-towered and domed
Neo-Classical Holy Trinity Cathedral,
which houses the remains of Nevskiy,
a revered 16th-century saint of
Russia. The monas tery is also home
to two ceme t eries, Lazarus and
THE AMBER ROOM
Completed in 1770, the magnificent
Façade of Pavlovsk Amber Room in Tsarskoe Selo was
created by designer Rastrelli using
Pavlovsk
7 amber mosaic panels gifted by the King
of Prussia, surrounded by gilded carving,
Presented to Pavel I by his
mother Catherine the Great in 1777, mirrors and gemstones. The Nazis took
the contents of the room in 1941; the
this royal estate contains over 1,000 originals were never recovered. Work
acres of parkland and a fine palace began in 1982 to re-create the Amber
designed by Scottish architect Charles Room, and it was reopened in 2003.
Cameron. Though less extravagant

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