The display of the Catherine Palace (known until 1910 as the Great Palace of Tsarskoye Selo) museum covers the almost 300-year history of this outstanding edifice and presents the work of architects involved in its construction and decoration in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and also with the achievements of the restorers who returned the palace to life after the Second World War. Of the 58 halls destroyed during the war years, 32 have been recreated.

The Catherine Palace is a historical and compositional center of the palace-and-park ensemble. It is a remarkable edifice in the Russian Baroque style, with richly decorated interiors including the world-famous Amber Room, which was restored by the Tercentenary of St. Petersburg in 2003.

In these halls you will feel the spirit of Empress Elizabeth’s and Catherine the Great’s ages. You will admire the luxury and variety of interior trims and unique furnishings. You will see the Great Hall and Golden Enfilade, the brilliant embodiments of the unmatched talent of the architect Bartolomeo Francesco Rastrelli.

The jewel of the palace is the Amber Room, rightly called a wonder of the world. Several classical interiors of an exquisite delicacy were created by the architect  Charles Cameron  for Empress Catherine II, her heir Grand Duke Paul and his spouse Maria. The State Study of Alexander I by the architect Vasily Stasov is one of the best Empire-style halls in Russian architecture.

The Catherine Palace is open for individual and group tours, with audio guides available.

The palace has the Children’s Creative Center that offers programs designed for our young visitors of school and pre-school age, with classes and excursions in the palace rooms, temporary exhibitions, parks and summer pavilions.