Peterhof (Petrodvorets)

The world famous Palace and Park ensemble is an outstanding landmark of Russian artistic culture of the 18th – 19th centuries. It was planned by Peter I to be his residence during his travels from Petersburg to the Kronshtadt Fortress and actually became not only the place of recreation and receipt of distinguished guests but as a monument to the transformed Russia symbolizing the flourishing of the Russian art.

• The Peterhof ensemble amounts over 150 fountains and four cascades
• Symbol of Peterhoff - «Samson killing a lion» fountain, an allegory of the crucial victory of Russians over the Swedish army at Poltava in 1709.
• Lawer Petergof Park. In the Lawer Petergof Park you will see another two cascades – the Chess Hill and the Golden Hill. The palaces and pavilions in the lower Park - Monplaisir, Marli and Hermitage - are charming indeed. Attached to the eastern wing from the side of the Monplaisir Garden is a single-storey building with a tent-shaped hipped roof. This is the so-called Bath House. During the tour you will see the Entrance room, Russian stream-bath and etc. A small Chinese garden in the so-called landscape style adjoins the Bath House from the east.
• The focal centre of the ensemble is the Great Palace which towers above the edge of the 16-metre-high terrace. The elegant three-storey building provided with galleries and flanking blocks, the Court Church and the Coat-of-Arms Pavilion, shining with their gilded cupolas, make up the facade extending for about 300 meters along the terrace. The Great Cascade serves as a magnificent pedestal for the palace. Have a guided tour of the Grand Palace: modest Peter’s Baroque, shining Elisabeth’s Baroque, elegant Catherine’s Classicism and exotic oriental style.

On the way to Peterhof you may turn off to Shuvalovka where the Russian village life is reproduced. There you will be taught to forge in the smithy, mould in the potter’s shop, braid in the clean part of peasant’s hut and in the end you will be treated to anise, limeleaf and berry liqueurs made following the old practice.

Tsarskoe Selo (Pushkin)

Tsarskoe selo, the former summer residence of the Imperial family, located 17 miles south of St.Petersburg. The Catherine’s palace and park ensemble of Tsarskoe Selo, established in the course of about two centuries, ranks with the world’s best examples of this kind. The famous architects Bartholomew Francesco Rastrelli, Charles Cameron, Giacomo Quarenghi, Vasily Stasov and others, together with skillful masters of landscape gardening, carvers, sculptors and decorators created an outstanding artistic complex of the 18th century. The flowering of this major summer residence, with the Catherine Palace as its focus, began in the middle of 18th century, during the reign of Elizabeth Petrovna, the daughter of Peter the Great.

• Catherine Palace
Have a guided tour of several lavish rooms, including the Grand Hall, decorated with gilded wood carving and mirrors, the Picture Gallery with 130 painting by West European artists, dining rooms with wonderful porcelain dinner services and the Study of Alexander I.
• Amber Room
The Amber Room, a work of art produced both by 18th century masters and present-day restores, who have brought is back to life, seves now as a symbol of the Catherine Palace, one of the most brilliant museums of the Saint Petersburg. Amber Room was presented to Peter the Great by the Prussian king and transferred to Tsarskoe Selo from the Winter Palace. Amber Room was stolen during the World War II. The year 2003 saw the work on the recreation of the famous Amber Room justly regarded as the “eighth wonder of the world”. Admire the magnificent Amber Room faced with natural amber of different colors!
• Catherine Park
Important part of the ensemble of Tsarskoe Selo. The park is especially notable for the elegant pavilions built in the 18th –19th centuries by the architects participating in the construction of the place: the Grotto, the Hermitage, the complex of Cameron Gallery, the Turkish Bath, the Concert Hall, etc.

Strelna Konstantinovskiy Palace

The Konstantinovsky Palace is not only the architectural centre of Strelna, but also a new symbol of Saint Petersburg. In XXI century the idea of Peter the Great to make Russian Versaliya the diplomatic door to Europe was realized. This was the place for the most important events attended by statesmen and people from all around the world during the celebration of the 300th anniversary of Saint Petersburg. Today the newly restored ceremonial halls of the Konstantinovsky Palace are regularly used to held different level events: corporate meetings, scientific and political forums, festive banquets and stand-up meals, receptions, balls and fashion shows.

Pavlovsk

Pavlovsk is one of the last among summer palaces built by the Russian tsars. The 1500-acre site presented by Catherine the Great to her son Paul, future Tsar Paul I, became a charming Estate of the royal family.

• Grand Pavlovsk Palace.
Have a guided tour of an exclusive palace with its classical interiors enabling you to see the works of some of the most influential architects of the period. Explore private apartments of Paul I: the Egyptian Vestibule, the Italian Hall and the Greek Hall, the Picture Gallery, the Throne Room, the Hall of Knights.

• Pavlovsk is one of the finest landscape parks in Europe.
Have a nice walk in the picturesque landscape park with small classical pavilions and marble statues. Enjoy a wonderful combination of Russian nature, architecture and art. The alleys of the old park have romantic names – the Young Bridegroom, the Green Dame, the White Birch, etc.

Oranienbaum

Prince Alexander Menshikov started works on the palace and park ensemble of Oranienbaum and it took almost a century to complete the palace. In 1727 Oranienbaum was passed to the State and served as the summer residence of the imperial family.
• Chinese Palace - splendid monument of Rococo architecture. Its interiors are striking for the wealth and variety of their decor. Particularly exquisite is the Buglework Study. The state rooms are adorned with stylized Chinese motifs, hence the name. The palace houses collections of paintings by artists of the Venetian School, Russian and Western European porcelain, furniture and works of Oriental decorative and applied art, which were very highly rated in the 18th century.

Gatchina

• The Gatchina Palace and park ensemble is one of the finest specimens of early Russian Neoclassicism. The palace faced with local limestone and resembling a medieval English castle, was erected between 1766 and 1781. The interior decor was created by Russian masters according to designs by Rinaldi and Vincenzo Brenna. At the same time, Russia’s first landscaped park was laid out.