How to visit the Catherine Palace on your own. Visit the Catherine Palace on your own. Catherine Palace on the map

And now we return again to the Catherine Palace in Pushkino, where the famous amber room is located. You can read about how we got to Tsarskoye Selo on our own.

When we walked past the Palace for the first time (it was around 11 am), we were scared by the queue that was waiting to open to get inside. Therefore, it was decided to start by walking around the wonderful

However, when we got here 2 hours later, the queue had not decreased at all. But going to Tsarskoe Selo and not visiting Catherine’s palace seemed impossible to us. Therefore, it was decided to definitely get inside.

For those who are planning to visit for the first time Catherine Palace, I will describe how this can be done in practice. The Palace ticket office is located inside the building. But in order to get inside, there is a long line outside. The “throughput” of the palace is very low. Therefore, how often and how many people get inside, no one can say in advance.

At the same time, numerous tourist groups pass without a queue. Therefore, those who want to visit the palace on their own have to skip them.

The tail of our line ended near the front porch. Here.

As a result, we had to stand for about 40 minutes. As we were told, this is not long at all. “For example, on Monday this week the line stretched all the way to the entrance to the park. And people had to stand for more than two hours,” a security guard near the museum told us in confidence. Therefore, you need to keep this in mind and allow extra time for the queue.

Once inside, we had to spend more 30 minutes for various organizational events. We spent this time solving many problems.

1. Purchasing tickets. There are several cash register windows inside. But when about 100 people are launched, a queue forms for each of them. At the same time, they are required to present entrance tickets to the Park. If you don’t have them or they are lost, you will have to pay extra. You can find out the cost of tickets at the end of the article.

2. Ticket verification and individual search. Almost like being at an airport. Someone even left water bottles here. But no one warned us about this and we were not required to post them.

3. Group Formation. There is no other way to enter the palace. In a small room, special headphones and a radio are distributed in order to listen to the guide’s story. The guide himself, the excursion and shoe covers for each visitor are included in the ticket price.

All these actions, of course, did not add joy. It was very hectic and cramped. There is very little space near the entrance. Plus, there are also souvenir shops here and there are also a lot of people who are just getting ready or have already finished visiting the museum.

It’s very good that we were “positive” and well relaxed after a 2-hour walk around. Therefore, they were calm about everything that was happening. And they understood perfectly well that Catherine could not count on welcoming so many visitors to her Palace! 🙂

Well, perhaps that’s enough technical details, it’s time to start exploring Catherine’s palace.

Excursion to the Catherine Palace

The Catherine Palace was built in the 18th century.

The external blue façade amazingly combines with the color of the sky, and the golden decoration shimmers festively in the sun, which makes the Catherine Palace unexpectedly light and airy. And this despite its enormous size!

The façade of the building is decorated with numerous figures of Atlanteans, caryatids and lions.

In the time of Catherine, all this was covered with gold. As the guide said, about 100 kilograms of gold were spent on gilding the external and internal decorations of the palace.

It must be said that the interior decoration is no less impressive than the external splendor.

And here we are standing near the marble staircase. The guide begins his story, and we gradually move to a completely different era and begin to feel a different rhythm of life.

Climbing the wide main staircase, we find ourselves in a large hall with luxurious paintings on the walls and ceiling.

Huge windows and mirrors, elegant lamps, light oak parquet floors, gilded trim - all this together creates a stunning impression.

The ceiling height is 8 meters, and total area This main hall is 800 square meters. There are huge windows on two opposite sides, which makes the room unusually light and airy.

And you can admire and look at the painted ceiling for hours.

And in this huge space you feel completely different: somehow more majestic and free.

There are numerous carved compositions in the corners of the room.

The Front Enfilade is amazing. This is a long through passage through numerous rooms. Due to the abundance of gilded carvings, it received the name “Golden Enfilade”.

Uniqueness golden Front suite in the Catherine Palace is that for the first time the length of the front rooms was equal to the length of the entire building.

The concept of adjacent rooms is well known to us even now. But how different this is from how they began in the Catherine Palace and how they ended in the Russian Khrushchev buildings. 🙁

Together with our guide we move from room to room. Everywhere has its own style, its own colors. Each room has a minimum of furniture, which adds even more free space.

Each room has multi-tiered tiled stoves with cobalt painting. If you look at it more closely, you can see various ledges, niches and columns on it. Can I install such a battery in my apartment? 🙂

We pass several dining rooms. The ceremonial tables are set, as if they are waiting for guests. Luxurious porcelain sets, crystal glasses and silverware.

And, of course, one of the wonders of the world (as the museum modestly declares it) is the famous Amber Room. The splendor of this room cannot be described. This is a colossal piece of jewelry!

You can enlarge these secret photos by clicking on them with your mouse. Don't tell anyone what you saw! The filming was carried out with a hidden camera, as photography is prohibited here. 🙄

The many shades of amber and how they are selected according to color are surprising. As well as amazing sculptures carved from this stone.

The scale of the work is impressive. To recreate all this beauty, restorers worked for 24 years! And since 2003, the Amber Room of the Catherine Palace amazes and delights all visitors. This is where you want to stay longer and not take your eyes off this amazing man-made MIRACLE!

Having passed through all these wonderful rooms, we again find ourselves on the marble staircase. There are amazing vases and jugs on the walls.

Our excursion is coming to an end. But we are also waiting for an exhibition of photographs, which allows us to appreciate the scale of the tragedy of the Catherine Palace during the Great Patriotic War, and the colossal work that restorers had to do over the years so that we can now again touch our Russian history.

The sad history of Catherine's Palace

Here are just a few photos of how in an instant you can destroy something that has been created over centuries.

The building was almost completely destroyed,

more than 80% of the interior and exterior decoration was lost. Even many trees in the park were cut down.

By 2014, 32 of the 58 halls had been restored.

Part of the façade is still closed and restoration work is underway. Of course, this contrast is impressive. Especially after the luxury we just saw.

The excursion lasted about 40 minutes. After that, we handed over our microphones and headphones, which were then packed into bags to be handed over to the next group. It’s good that the shoe covers were disposable. 🙂

This is almost the end of our wonderful walk. On the street we again saw a queue standing in the Catherine Palace. Its length even increased a little.

Opening hours and ticket prices

Entrance opens at 12 o'clock. Day off is Tuesday.

Ticket price is 400 rubles. (preferential 200 rub.). Prices are for summer 2014.

I have an idea! On the website of the Museum of the Catherine Palace and Park it is possible to purchase tickets online: tkt.tzar.ru/ru/billboard/1

Cost 670 rub. includes entrance to both the park and the palace. As a result, it turns out to be a little more expensive (this kit cost us 520 rubles). But there is a possibility that with these tickets it will be possible to get everywhere without queuing, since a limited number of them are sold per day: only 100 pieces. If anyone tries this option on themselves, write in the comments how it works!

I suggest once again taking a virtual video walk through the Catherine Palace and Park to feel the atmosphere of this historical place.

Well, we had to get to the city of St. Petersburg. There were no problems with the bus. After interviewing several passers-by, we easily found the stop. And, having paid 35 rubles, we were in the city within 35 minutes. The bus dropped us off near the Moskovskaya metro station.

Then it was quite easy to get to our temporary home. But The cultural program We haven't finished yet for this day. In the evening there was a visit to. And it was necessary to prepare for this event, because someone had been waiting for it all their lives!

Our visit to the Catherine Palace in Tsarskoe Selo (Pushkin) took place on June 27, 2014. On the map of places in St. Petersburg and Leningrad region, where I have already been able to visit.

Write in the comments which palaces you visited and which of them made the strongest impression.

“COMPARED TO TSROYA VILLAGE, EVERYTHING ELSE IS FLOWERS!”

The Amber Room is a tourist “Mecca”. With the start of the high season, millions of guests flock to Tsarskoe Selo to see with their own eyes the miracle of restoration with mysterious story. The originals of the precious panels disappeared without a trace after the Great Patriotic War, and since then have been shrouded in secrets and mysteries. But tourists are satisfied with the restored version.

Kilometer-long queues stand at the ticket office of the museum-reserve from morning until late evening. And travel agencies call the Catherine Palace their main headache.

Tsarskoe Selo entered into an agreement with a limited number of travel agencies for the passage of organized groups. Those who are not on the list of lucky winners are forced to repurchase tickets. At the same time, the price increases one and a half times: from 700 to 1,300 rubles at best,” says Olga, an employee of a city travel agency. – But that’s not so bad. If we have a group of one hundred people, no one can give so many tickets - we have to get them from different places. Literally collecting bit by bit!

When the long-awaited tickets are finally found, the second test period begins. It's called "waiting in line."

Queue at the Catherine Palace in Tsarskoe Selo! Queue

Lately, in Tsarskoye Selo they are not allowing you to queue in advance. They say: you have tickets for 15:00, so come at 15:00,” Olga sighs. - And our tourists have trains at six or seven in the evening. It turns out to be a comical situation: they stand in line for two hours in order to walk around the entire museum in twenty minutes and run to the station. Some refuse. They say they don't need beauty at that price. Compared to Tsarskoye Selo, everything else is just flowers.

QUOTAS ARE OUTLAW, BUT “SAVED THE SITUATION”

Back in April, Smolny admitted that the museum administration had established quotas outside the law. They do not have the right to restrict visits to cultural property. Vice-Governor Igor Albin instructed the Committee on State Control, Use and Protection of Monuments (KGIOP) to force the leadership to abandon such measures. But all summer, travel agencies continued to be divided into the “chosen few” who were lucky, and everyone else who had to organize a “rat race” for tickets to the Catherine Palace.

We have no right to give any warnings regarding the organization of tourist flows. We decide for ourselves how to receive tourists,” says Olga Taratynova, director of the Tsarskoye Selo State Museum.

According to her, quotas were “a good thing” and saved the situation in the face of a huge tourist flow, which the palace was simply unable to cope with.

Olga Taratynova about quotas in the Catherine Palace

Their goal was to somehow distribute the visit. Small travel agencies had small quotas, large ones – large ones,” Taratynova noted.

However, they promised to lift the restrictions starting next year. True, the management of Tsarskoe Selo predicts that this will only worsen the situation.

We will cancel the quota next year out of a sense of self-preservation. It is a reason for controversy and reproaches in our direction. We decided that it would be better to give tourism business self-regulate. But this will lead to severe speculation and the buying of our tickets,” the director warns.

“SORRY FOR GRANDMOTHER FROM SAMARA”

Now the Catherine Palace can only accommodate 900 people per hour - and this is the main problem, for which, alas, there is no solution. If even more guests are allowed in, it could be a tragedy for the exhibits.

We monitor the humidity in the rooms, and every year we note an increase. After the end of the high season, grease deposits appear on porcelain and furniture, and they have to be cleaned. Despite the double protection slippers, the floors suffer greatly. Not all rooms have ventilation, and in summer the temperature on the upper floors rises to +29 degrees, Taratynova lists.

In European museums, in such situations, electronic recording is introduced via the Internet, but in Russian reality, such a system will hit hard, first of all, on compatriot tourists who come not with companies, but on their own.

Imagine, a grandmother came to us from Samara. She didn’t know about electronic recording; she doesn’t even have the Internet. “I feel sorry for her,” the manager admits.

In general, whatever one may say, there are only two ways out of the situation: if you want to see the Amber Room, you will have to be patient. Or visit Tsarskoe Selo late autumn, in winter, or spring - when there are not so many tourists.

Our founders ask us to constantly increase attendance, and we will do this, but not at the expense of the Catherine Palace, Olga Taratynova is firmly convinced.

NUMBER

1.3 million tourists visited Tsarskoye Selo from May to October. This is 68 thousand more visitors than last year.

Non-local passenger: “Tell me, is Tsarskoye Selo to get off here?”
Local passenger: “Yes, get out quickly, this is Pushkin!”
Information stand on the platform: “Children’s Village”.
(Overheard conversation on a St. Petersburg train)

“We wanted to see the amber room,
and for some reason he takes us to the Catherine Palace..."
(Whisperings of intelligent grandmothers on an excursion to Tsarskoe Selo)

Tsarskoe Selo is one of the most visited and at the same time difficult excursion sites in St. Petersburg. Visited because the famous Amber Room is located here. Complex - because Tsarskoe Selo is associated in the minds of the average person with many myths of both a historical, cultural and everyday nature. Therefore, I strongly recommend visiting Tsarskoye Selo accompanied by a professional guide (i.e. me). But if you decide to go to Tsarskoe Selo yourself, get acquainted with the main mistakes independent tourists and do not commit them.

“Let's go to Tsarskoe Selo today! Now we’ll see on the map where it is...” You won't find Tsarskoye Selo on the map. Since 1937 it has been called “Pushkin” (in 1937 they celebrated the centenary of the death of Pushkin, who studied at the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum). If you go by train, the railway station will be called “Detskoye Selo” (that’s what Tsarskoye Selo was called in the Soviet period until 1937)

“Let's go and see the Amber Room. And then, maybe, we’ll go to the royal palace...” The Amber Room is one of the rooms of the Catherine Palace (in honor of Catherine I, the first owner). In addition to this room, about two dozen halls are now open in the palace. Therefore, it is impossible to get to the Amber Room without passing the Catherine Palace. However, since last year it has become possible to get into the Catherine Palace and not visit the Amber Room (you will simply be led through another part of the palace - the rooms of Pavel Petrovich), so be careful.

“The guidebook says that the palace is open from 10:00 to 17:00. Let's go to the opening so as not to stand in line..." Individual visitors during the summer season and holidays are allowed from 12:00 to 14:00 and from 16:00 to 17:00. The rest of the time, entry is only open to reserved groups from the opposite side of the palace.

“Here is the palace. Everything is empty, there is no one. And they said there would be a line..." This is the Alexander Palace (yellow and white). You can also go here, but you won’t see any luxurious interiors. There is an exhibition dedicated to the life of Nicholas II and his family. The Catherine Palace with the Amber Room is further away, it is white and blue (they say it is painted the color of the eyes of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna).

“Here is the blue and white Catherine Palace. But here is the ticket office for the park. But we don’t need to go to the park, we need to go to the palace.” The palace can only be accessed through the park. Don't lose your park tickets! They will again need to be presented upon entering the palace.

“Yeah, here we are in the park. Where is this huge line going?” Your vague unpleasant suspicion did not let you down - this is the queue at the Catherine Palace. Get up and wait. You will have to wait an hour and a half. At this time, you can send your wife and children for a walk in the park.

“Well, we entered the palace. I hate everyone ( sweating profusely)! Now what?" Now buy tickets to the palace by showing the park tickets. This can be done at three cash registers, and not just at the one where everyone is crowded. If you have outerwear, a bottle of water and a large bag, they must be checked into the cloakroom. Take your camera and camera with you - included in the ticket price.

“What nonsense? Queue again? I was already standing!” Yes, you need to stand again. But not for long (10-20 minutes) and indoors. This is the queue to the entrance turnstiles.

“I went through the turnstiles. Damn this palace! Now we quickly look for the Amber Room, take a photo of it and go to the restaurant. I want to eat!” Not so simple. Visiting the museum is only possible as part of a group with a guide. You can't walk around the museum yourself. You can’t take photographs in the Amber Room either, but you can in all the other rooms.

“Well, the excursion, thank God, is over. But now I know in what luxury the Russian tsars lived. It’s clear why the revolution happened...” Not a single Russian tsar lived in the palace that was shown to you, because:

All this has been done over the past 50-odd years. After the war, almost nothing remained of the palace. The Amber Room is a post-war reconstruction, the location of the real amber panels is unknown.
Different interiors of the palace have been restored for different periods. The main staircase is from the era of Alexander II, the Great (Throne) Hall is from the era of Elizabeth Petrovna, the Green Dining Room is from the era of Catherine II. Most of the paintings on the walls (except Art gallery) did not hang there. They were written for other pavilions. And it is completely absurd to imagine that all the order’s services could be displayed in the Cavalry Dining Room on one day.
The interiors that will be shown to you are the main rooms. They were intended for ceremonial events (dinners, balls, theatrical performances, receptions). The personal rooms of the emperors have not been restored to date.

The Tsarskoye Selo Museum Reserve is probably one of the most famous attractions of St. Petersburg. I think almost every tourist who visited Northern capital, was here.

Tsarskoe Selo has beautiful parks, luxurious palaces- a huge territory permeated with the history of pre-revolutionary Russia.

Why I love Tsarskoe Selo

I've been here many times. It's a pleasure to visit this place again and again. Most of all I like to walk through Catherine Park. I talked about it in more detail in. It is divided into regular and landscape parks. For me, its last part is more interesting, but for beautiful photos Of course, Regular Park is also more popular among tourists. Its strict symmetry and abundance of all kinds of decorations makes the most vivid impression on the guests of the Village.

But Tsarskoe Selo is most famous for its palaces. Of course, first of all – the Catherine Palace. Its luxury and beauty are difficult to convey in words. This is a must see! The wealth and chic of that era is perfectly conveyed by the decoration and appearance of the palace.

Of course, the Alexander Palace is less pompous. But it attracts guests in a completely different way. If the Catherine Palace is more formal, its halls and rooms do not give the impression that people once lived here (I talked about the Catherine Palace in more detail), then the interior decoration of the Alexander Palace, the preserved interior items make you believe and plunge into the home life of the imperial family.

I was lucky enough to visit the palace before it closed. The office of Nicholas II made the greatest impression on me.

A very cozy and truly homely atmosphere reigns in all rooms. It is easy to imagine that all the things that have survived to this day (and there are a lot of them) were used in everyday life by members of the Romanov family. Read separately about the palace.

Now let's plunge into history, I will tell you about how Tsarskoe Selo appeared. And then I will list all the most interesting places.

A little history

Tsarskoe Selo appeared thanks to Tsar Peter I. It was he who presented the lands of the Sarskaya Manor to his wife Ekaterina Alekseevna (the future Catherine I). The generous gift was greatly appreciated. The history of Tsarskoye Selo as a royal country residence began in 1710. Almost all subsequent Russian emperors loved this place. Ekaterina Alekseevna ordered the construction of a small two-story building on the territory of the Village summer palace, and also create a park around it.

Later Tsarskoe Selo was given the status of a nature reserve. And since 1990, it received its modern name - the State Museum-Reserve "Tsarskoye Selo".

How to get there

The museum-reserve is located at: , Pushkin, st. Sadovaya, 7.

You can get there in the following ways:

WITH Vitebsky railway station The electric train goes to the city of Pushkin to the Tsarskoe Selo station:

Ticket price is 40 rubles.
Travel time – 30 minutes.
You can get from the station to the museum using minibus taxis No. 371, 377, 382, buses No. 371, 382 or walk.
The journey on foot will take about 30 minutes.

From metro station "Moskovskaya" Minibuses go directly to the park:

Taxi numbers 286, 287, 342, 347, 545.
The stop is located behind the House of Soviets.
Usually there are many minibuses with large signs “Tsarskoe Selo”, “Parks of Tsarskoe Selo”, “Palaces”.
A minibus will take you there in 40 minutes, provided there are no traffic jams.
The fare will be about 40 rubles.

You can get to Tsarskoe Selo from Moskovsky Prospekt:

Bus number 187 stops opposite McDonald's.
Here you can also catch minibuses from the ring from the House of Soviets.
The bus goes to the station (Pushkin).
The fare is 30 rubles.

From metro station "Kupchino" can be reached by minibus:

Taxi No. 545, 286, 287, bus No. 186.
Travel time is 30 minutes if there are no traffic jams.
The minibus ring is located on Vitebsky Prospekt on the metro side.

You can get to Tsarskoye Selo by taxi:

The trip will cost approximately 500–600 rubles one way.
Travel time is approximately 30 minutes if there are no traffic jams.

I like to get to Tsarskoye Selo by minibus from the Moskovskaya metro station. Due to the fact that there are always a lot of minibuses there, you can slowly walk up, take a seat and quickly and comfortably get directly to the museum. Along the way you can admire the city landscapes.

Opening hours and ticket prices

Catherine Park

Working hours:

from September to April from 7:00 to 21:00;
from May to July from 7:00 to 23:00;
in August – from 7:00 to 22:00.

Ticket:

from April 25 to October 20 – 120 rubles. At other times, admission is free.

Catherine Palace

This excursion is the most popular. The lines are the longest here. Therefore, when planning your day, first visit the palace. When purchasing a ticket, keep in mind that it is valid for an hour.

Working hours:

from June to August – from 12:00 to 20:00;
in May and September – from 12:00 to 19:00;
Please remember that the ticket office closes an hour earlier.
The day off is Tuesday, and from October to April - Tuesday and the last Monday of the month.

The museum offers two types of excursions:

The route passes through: the Great Hall, the Dining Rooms, the Crimson and Green Pillar Rooms, the Picture and Portrait Rooms, the Amber Room, the Chinese Living Room, the Pantry, and the Waiter's Room.
Ticket prices:
1. adults – 580 rubles;
2. pensioners – 290 rubles;
3. cadets, members of artist unions, conscripts, members of Russian unions of architects and designers - 290 rubles;
4. pupils over 16 years old and students – 290 rubles;
5. visitors under 16 years of age – admission is free;
The route passes through: the Great and Arabesque Halls, the Anti-Chambers, the Amber Room, the Picture Hall and the exhibition “The Romanovs in Tsarskoe Selo”.
Ticket prices:
1. adults – 400 rubles;
2. pensioners – 200 rubles;
3. cadets, members of the unions of artists, architects, designers of Russia, military personnel - 200 rubles;
4. pupils over 16 years old and students – 200 rubles;
5. Visitors under 16 years of age – admission is free.

Alexander Palace

IN this moment closed for reconstruction until 2018.

Museum-Lyceum of A. S. Pushkin

Located in the wing of the Catherine Palace. The entrance to the museum is separate.

Operating mode:

from 10.30 to 18.00. The ticket office is open until 17.00.

Cost of tickets with excursion:

adults – 200 rubles;
pensioners – 100 rubles;
students – 100 rubles;
visitors under 16 years old – 80 rubles.

Ticket prices without excursion:

adults – 120 rubles;
pensioners – 40 rubles;
students – 40 rubles;
Visitors under 16 years of age are free.

What to see

A visit to Tsarskoye Selo will take you the whole day. There are so many places to go!

Catherine Palace

First of all, head to the Catherine Palace. Groups of 20 people are allowed into the palace every 20 minutes. Having purchased a ticket, you must remember that you need to visit the museum within an hour.

The palace is incredibly beautiful! I would advise you to take a walk without a tour, because the guide very quickly leads guests through the halls, and there is no opportunity or time to examine all the beauty more carefully and in detail, to admire and admire everything. For myself, I choose to go to museums like a “savage.” Moreover, you can always join the group and listen, and then continue to wander in your own way. There are many beautiful halls in the palace, each of them is magnificent in its own way. The most famous - Big hall and the Amber Room.

Big hall

He's simply amazing! The whole room is simply buried in gold! Every detail of the interior is thought out to the smallest detail, elegant and unique in its beauty. As you know, official receptions and luxurious balls were held here.

For this purpose it was lit in the evening great amount candles, and the walls began to burn, shimmering with gold! The hall produced indelible impression for all guests.

the Amber Room

Incredibly beautiful room. It is rightly called one of the wonders of the world. We must not forget that the original amber panels that decorated the room were irretrievably lost during the Great Patriotic War.

Museum-Lyceum of A. S. Pushkin

After visiting the Catherine Palace, you can walk to the A. S. Pushkin Lyceum Museum. It is located in the wing of the Catherine Palace, which is adjacent to the park fence.

Very interesting excursion in the place where the famous Russian poet studied. You will be shown classrooms and halls, as well as personal rooms of lyceum students. It's amazing how modest the conditions were!

Catherine and Alexandrovsky parks

And many more interesting things can be seen here.

At the moment, the Alexander Palace is closed for reconstruction until 2018, but you can just admire the building itself. It is truly very beautiful and majestic. In Alexander Park there are also many interesting monuments and structures that can be viewed. Entrance to the park is free, so it is very popular among local residents. Here you can go hiking, skiing, or spend time with your family on a picnic.

Big and Small whims unite Alexander and Catherine parks. They are artificial bridges under which the road to the palaces passes. This photo clearly shows both the Big Caprice and the Small Caprice in the distance.

Big Chinese Bridge is located in front of the front parade ground of the Catherine Palace and leads to Alexander Park.

The White Tower is a complex of buildings in medieval style. It was built specifically for the children of Emperor Nicholas I. Here the children studied military affairs, fencing and many other disciplines.

And that's far from all that can be seen here!

I hope my review was interesting.I wish you the most pleasant impressions from visiting Tsarskoe Selo!

It might be useful to read: