In the 18th century, Tsarina Elizabeth commissioned Rastrelli to build a grand summer palace about 15 miles from St. Petersburg, which was called the Catherine Palace for her mother. 
The Catherine Palace, also known as Tsarskoe Selo or Tsar's Village has been significantly changed over the centuries and had to be almost completely reconstructed after World War II.
The Amber Room is the most famous of the palace rooms, and a recreation of the original room was completed in 2003. The Great Hall, filled with mirrors and gilded carvings, is a perfect remembrance of what life was like for the Russian aristocracy of the 18th and 19th centuries. These photos, accompanied by an article on a day at Catherine Palace, help show why this palace is one of the most popular cruise ship shore excursions in St. Petersburg.
Catherine Palace Near St. Petersburg - Photo Gallery
Catherine Palace Photo (c) Linda Garrison
Some other interesting facts about Catherine Palace:
- Over 100 kilograms of gold were added to the building façade and statues looking down from the roof.
- After the end of WWII the Germans had Catherine Palace intentionally destroyed.
- 90% of the world’s amber is found near Kaliningrad on the Baltic Sea.
- The Amber Room was gifted to the Russian Czar Peter the Great, in exchange for a treaty which brought together Russia and Prussia in a war against Sweden.
- At the end of WWII the original Amber Room mysteriously disappeared
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