Page 35 - (DK Eyewitness) Top 10 Travel Guide - St. Petersburg

Tsarskoe Selo ❮❮ 33

The Cameron
9 AHEAD OF ITS TIME
Gallery
This Neo-Classical The Tsarskoe Selo estate
section (left) of the is part of the nearby
Catherine Palace features town, Pushkin. This town,
busts of philo sophers origi nally called Tsarskoe
and thinkers. It was a Selo, was renamed in
favourite with Catherine, 1937 in honour of Russia’s
especially during her national poet (see p40),
later years. who attended school here
in 1811–17. Founded in
the 19th century, the town
boasted the first city wide
electrical system in Europe,
as well as advanced
sewage and water
systems. It was also the
home of the first radio
station (1916) in Russia.

NEED TO KNOW
MAP H2 • 25 km (16
miles) W of St Petersburg
• 466 6669; 465 2024
Palace: Oct–Apr: 10am–
5pm; May & Sep: noon–
6pm; Jun–Aug: noon–
7pm; Closed Tue, Oct–
Apr: last Mon of month.
Adm: adults ₽580; students
₽290; under-16s free.
Park: Sep–Apr: 7am–
9pm; May–Jul: 7am–
The Blue
6 11pm; Aug: 7am–10pm.
Drawing Room
Adm: Oct–late Apr: free;
Notable for its unusual late Apr–Oct: adults
wallpaper – blue floral ₽120; stu dents ₽60;
motifs painted on silk – under-16s free.
this room contains a Train from Vitebskiy
portrait of Peter the station to Detskoe Selo,
Great by Ivan Nitkin, then bus 371 or 382; or
dating from 1720. from Moskovskaya plosh-
Small Enfilade
7 chad (next to the metro
station), take minibuses
A long, captivating
K-286, K-287, K-342, K-347
The Grotto
suite of halls, parlours 0 or K-545, or bus 187.
and reception rooms, the Construction of
Small Enfilade boasts a Rastrelli’s Grotto (above) • Avoid Tsarskoe Selo
wide collection of period began in 1749, but the on national holidays
furniture. It also contains interior, comprising over as it can get rather
some fine examples of 250,000 shells, was not crowded.
Oriental rugs. finished for 25 years. • The Imperial Palace
Restaurant at the
The Cavalier’s Dining Room
8 Catherine Palace is a
convenient place for
Elizabeth’s gentlemen-in-waiting dined here.
The table is permanently laid in this refined gold a snack or a meal.
and white room, designed by Rastrelli.
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