Pushkin

Situated 25 km south of St Petersburg is the Imperial esatte of Pushkin, formerly known as Tsarskoye Selo (Tsar's Village). In 1710, Peter the Great presented the land of the country estate to his wife, the future Catherine I.

The estate boasts a large landscaped park, dotted with dazzling architectural buildings and centred on the magnificent turquoise, white and gold Catherine Palace.

The original palace was built between 1717 and 1723 by the architect Braunstein and expanded later in the 18th century by the architect Francesco Bartholomeo Rastrelli to inlcude the highly decorated Baroque facade. The palace house some of the most beautiful Russian Baroque interiors, including the world-famous Amber Hall, the Grand Hall, a long, gold mirrored ballroom, the Blue Drawing Room and the Maple Bedroom. During World War II the palace was ransacked, with many of the museum's treasures stolen. This included the Amber Hall, whose priceless amber panels were stolen by the Nazi troops, but which has been rebuilt from scratch by local craftsmen.

In front of the Catherine Palace are the formal gardes with its finely trimmed trees and bushes, geometrically designed flower beds and fine marble statues.

To the south of the Catherine Palace lies the more natural section of the estate's park with its large lake, where during the summer months visitors can hire boats.

Alexander Palace, built between 1792 and 1976 by the architect Giacomo Quarenghi is one of the estates best hidden secrets. This had become the favourite residence of the last Russian Tsar, Nicholas II and his family, and it was from here that the family were taken to Siberia to be executed.

Located on the edge of the estate, and founded at the beginning of the 19th century is the Lyceum. Specially created to educate members of the Russian ruling elite, it was also the boarding school of the most celbrated of all Russian poets, Alexander Pushkin.

Pushkin can be reached by suburban train from the Vitebsk Railways Station to Detskoye Selo station (30 minutes) and then by bus to the parks. Or you can take the No. 20 mini-bus or No. 287 bus from Moskovskaya Metro Station to Detskoye Selo railways station.