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| Kate outside Catherine Palace. |
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| To protect the beautiful flooring, booties are used to cover shoes. |
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| Staircase at Catherine Palace. |
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| One of many ballrooms. |
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| Heating element based on Delft design Peter the Great loved. |
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| Reception room - note the beautiful flooring. |
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| Recreated period eating arrangement - in here all that glitters is gold! |
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| Dress of Empress Elizabeth. |
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| Each doorway carefully adorned - next room is famous Amber Room. |
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| The rooms get changed to adjust to changing fashion. |
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| Outside the palace the grounds are works of art - one can only imagine them in the summer. |
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| Even on a cloudy day, the Palace shines. |
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| Palace gates give you an idea of what the inside will look like. |
Like most Russian places, Catherine Palace has a long history dating back to 1717 when Catherine I built a palace on the current grounds. In 1733, Empress Anna expanded the palace. Finding the Palace outdated and not to her liking, Empress Elizabeth ordered it raised and rebuilt. Bartolomeo Rastrelli was given the job and he designed the current palace in the Rococo style. Construction lasted almost 4 years. The end result was magnificent - over 100 kg of gold was used in gilding the 1,000 ft long exterior, more inside. The structure was almost entirely destroyed by Nazi forces during Second World War, however careful documentation and removal of most of the items enabled Russia to restore the building to its prior beauty, including The Amber room, which was only recently opened again. We are grateful this was able to be done for Catherine Palace is certainly a wonder to be seen.
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