The Amber Room of the Catherine Palace

[neva]

Has anyone seen the Amber Room after it was restored?

Also, I read somewhere about the small Hermitage villa (not the museum) which Catherine built for personal use and where the dining table for 20 -30 people would dissappear at the end of dinner... Does the mechanism of the table or plates still exist?

neva

[Glebb]

I visited the Amber Room before the restoration was done.  I contributed funds and would love to see it now!

[Greg_D]

Hi Neva,
I visited the amber room just after it was completed in July 2003.
It was an amazing sight ! though quite small in comparison with the other Catherine halls, and when filled with tourists !!
The panels have a lovely golden hue to them and it is hard to believe they are all made of amber.

I really envy Antonio when he says ha had a guided tour from the curators... I would love to see/know about the restoration of Catherine 5th Apartments (lyons Hall, Silver study and Bedroom etc), and when they may be open ??

If I can figure out how, I will try and post some photos I took of the amber room... they came out quite well !

Best Wishes  to all other Tsarskoe fanatics

[londo954]

NEVA....the small palace you are referring to is the SMALL HERMITAGE (or Marly) I am not sure which and was built by Peter teh Great. The Table was lowered so that the servants would not interfere with the meal by serving. As Far as I am aware the mechanism has been removed but the kitchen and dining room still exist. You can find more info at www.peterhof.org

[Greg_King]

Actually, I think Neva is referring to the Hermitage at Tsarskoye Selo.  The building, designed and constructed by Savva Chevakinsky and later renovated by Rastrelli, is still there-I've seen a few pre-WW2 photos of the interior when it looked as if the mechanism for lowering the table was still there, but am not sure what the condition is now of the interior-last time I was there it was closed.

Greg King

[Antonio_P.Caballer]

The Hermitage pavillion is still being restored and hope it´s near completition. You can see fragments of the painted ceiling from outside the building. The mechanism was destroyed during the war.

[Joanna]

Hi Antonio !

From what I have read, the Yussupov dacha was based on the plans of the Hermitage of Tsarskoye Selo. I have seen the beautiful blue of the Hermitage. Was the Yussupov dacha red? Am I correct?

Joanna

[Forum Admin]

Joanna
If you go to the Yussupov thread, the dacha is discussed and there is a period photo of the dacha there.

[Joanna]

My apologies Rob I was reading of the Hermitage and the question popped into my head !

Joanna

[akjfin]

Hi!
Visited also the Amber Room in July! For somebody from Finland where one is used to some sort of an order and "decorum", I felt quite embarassed....we were told already in Helsinki that no "stray" visitors were admitted. However, some things never change. The Museum director - so we were tld - was also on the Board of the travel agency we used in ST. Petersburg...so  our guide had some sort of a document, large as a sheet for a double bed with stamps and signatures. She dragged us rather resolutely to the Palace gates, past a long queue.Could feel angry eyes at the back of my head...up to the gate which was opened just wide enough for us to get in. And past the next queue in the palace courtyard! More mumbling and angry looks...It didn´t help very much that the guide had told us just some moments earlier that there had been a fight betweek an Italian and a French tourist a week earlier, a fight so violent that they had had to call the police!
But the Amber Room was simply MAGNIFICENT! I have never seen anything quite like it! The luster, we were told, had been achieved by placing gold foil behind the amber....It was a dream! Too bad we never had time to see the Alexander Palace, and the drive back to "Piter" went - so we felt - over a potato field, at least in part. The Prince of Wales was in the area and many of the roads had been closed! Such is life!
I don´t have much time to spend on the forum but what little I have seen  have enjoyed.
akjfin

[Forum Admin]

Greg D. sent us these beautiful pics of the "new" Amber Room from July 2003. Many thanks for sharing them!!

[Greg_D]

Thanks for your kind words ..... Im glad the photos brought people so much joy  

They were the best I could get, as the room was filled with people, and being relatively small , you could not get too much in.

I would thoroughly recommend going (It took me about 15 years of wanting to before finally achieving it!) but I admit I was only there (at Tsarskoe Selo) for a few hours ... not nearly long enough... am already saving for the next trip !

Best wishes
Greg

[missmoldavite]

Lets discuss the Amber Room. I believe it is in the Catherine Palace!

Could we start with:

a. The history behind it. ie : For what reason, When, How and Now.
b. Where the Amber came from originally and why was it chosen?
c. What its function is for these times.

Thankyou All!

[Greg_D]

There is a thread concerning the amber room on page 2 of this board "Tsarskoe Selo Palaces" .... Also the official tsarskoe selo website www.eng.tzar.ru has a fantastically detailed history of the original room , plus the modern reconstruction. Unfortunately, the site at present does not have photos of the completed amber room, which was finished in May 2003.

Greg D  

[missmoldavite]

Oh Forum Administrator suggested I start a new thread on the topic...so...?