Catherine Palace and Historic St. Petersburg Center

Tuesday, May 9, 2017 -- Victory Day in Russia

We were out early today to travel the short distance out of St. Petersburg to the town of Tsarkoe Selo, also known as Pushkin, in honor of the fact that the author attended school here for six years.  Our destination was not a literary monument, but one of the two royal palaces in the town.

The original Catherine Palace was built by Peter I (the Great) for his wife, Catherine I.  Over the years, it grew into a blue, white and gold Baroque confection far beyond its humble origins.  The Great Hall -- all gold leaf, mirrors, candles, painted ceiling and parquet floor -- certainly rivals Versailles' Hall of Mirrors.  The series of flanking reception and dining rooms were all designed to impress, and furnished with elaborate table settings and inlaid wooden secretaries and other furniture.  Most rooms also contained floor to (high) ceiling stoves constructed with blue and white delft tiles. The magnificent Amber Room, whose original decoration was lost during the war, has been stunningly restored; it's like being inside an enormous jewel.  Unfortunately, no photographs are allowed there, so you'll have to go see it for yourself, or pay a virtual visit online.

Though this has been a long and cold winter, the palace and gardens, lakes and pavilions are well maintained, if not at the peak beauty spring and summer blossoms bring.  Catherine II (the Great) made this her summer palace and greatly expanded its grandeur.  One of the pavilions, the glass-enclosed Cameron gallery, enabled her to enjoy the grounds without being exposed to the elements.

Photographs document the extensive damage the palace sustained during the German occupation in World War II.  Restoration work is ongoing, and the rooms we viewed are evidence of the painstaking work being done.

It is obvious that the 900-day siege of Leningrad (as St. Petersburg was then known) still looms large in the local consciousness, and not just because today is the national holiday, Victory Day, which commemorates the defeat of the Germans in what is known here as the Great Patriotic War.  On our short ride to Pushkin, we passed several monuments to those lost during the war and our guide tried to give us a sense of the enduring effects of the losses suffered during the 1940s.

It was impossible to escape the significance of today's holiday as we walked around St. Petersburg this afternoon.  The Metro (150 meters underground!) was crowded and streets were jammed with families in the city to attend memorial events.  Street banners and posters were adorned with photographs of war veterans and other remembrances, and while we missed this morning's military parade, this afternoon tens of thousands marched in a people's parade down the city's main thoroughfare,  Nevsky Prospekt.  Ordinary citizens carried placards with photographs of ancestors -- both military and civilian -- lost during the war.  Young and old alike carried flowers and wore the orange and black striped ribbons of the Military Order of St. George.  While the crowds may have slowed our passage, they also added great interest to our experience.

While in the city center, we enjoyed a look around the Eliseyev Emporium, a gorgeous Art Nouveau food hall and restaurant dating from 1902 on Nevsky Prospekt.  We got our exercise as we walked along the great boulevard, through the Art Square, past the highly decorated Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood, and along the Neva River embankment in front of the Winter Palace, now part of the Hermitage Museum.  We had views across the river to the city's original structure, the Peter and Paul Fortress, and to many other state buildings and museums.  Peter the Great's original shipyard, the current Naval Academy, government buildings, and the city's largest church (now a museum), the Cathedral of St Isaac, also line the riverfront.  By the time we reached the bus to return to the ship, the skies were cloudy, the wind had picked up, and there were a few snowflakes swirling!

And to think it was 108 degrees at home last week!