Catherine's Palace: Magnificent and Merciless. our history

Coming to St. Petersburg and not visiting Tsarskoe Selo is a mess! Decent tourists don't behave like that. My Italians were decent tourists, but unlucky: they did not get a quota to visit the Catherine Palace as organized tourists. This meant: they were not destined to come to the museum at the appointed time and see the sights without long jostling in line. That's why they came with me as "wild" tourists. This doomed them to a long, at least two hours, standing at the box office to buy tickets.

Peculiarities of organizing the work of the Tsarskoye Selo Museum (Catherine Palace). This year the museum switched to new methods of work. For travel companies, at 00.00 on the 20th of the previous month, reservations open and travel companies that know the exact dates and the number of tourists destined to visit Tsarskoe Selo are trying to book places for themselves. In 5 minutes all available places for travel companies will run out. Those who did not get a place hope that three days before the scheduled visit someone will be returned - it’s no secret that large companies book places “for future use,” just in case, and in large blocks at once. And it happens to them that they overestimate the number of expected tourists. Then, within three days, free places appear, which managers watch on the Internet in the hope of snatching up. Another important point: while the museum is officially open from 10 o’clock, tickets for “wild” tourists begin to be sold from 12 o’clock. From 10 to 12 am, travel companies that have booked and purchased places enter. From 12 to 16, the ticket office is open for unorganized visitors; from 16 to 18, travel agencies and unorganized visitors again pass by if there are few travel agencies. I would like to note that this year the museum has turned its face to the “non-organizers”: the time for purchasing tickets at the box office has increased by 2 hours, because last year tickets were sold to them according to the schedule: 12.00 - 14.00 and 16.00 to 17.00.

As I already said, my tourists were not lucky in any way: they could not book a quota, there were no extra places for three days. And on June 27 we went to the Queue in Tsarskoe Selo. We arrived at 10 am. There were few people in front of the entrance:

But pay attention to the empty places in the queue. Since Blokha knows some of the peculiarities of forming a queue at museums that are in great demand, she went to clarify exactly how many people were in front of us. It turned out - about 150. As you understand, there is a queue - there is a business: standing in this queue and taking seats. The lady said that her group was walking in the park. Yeah, we know! The group will arrive at 11.50 and, without painful waiting in the sun, will enter the palace. Two strong guys also took a turn, as subsequent events will show, for our Chinese friends who are happily working in St. Petersburg without having any licenses. The tough guys, anticipating my questions, assertively say: “Where does it say in our Constitution that we cannot wait in line?” Indeed, the Constitution does not say anything about the impossibility of standing in line (either for free or for money). The guide has only one problem: how to explain to his tourists, who have stood for more than two hours in the sun, why 150 “chosen ones” arrive 10 minutes before the opening and, proudly bypassing the sweaty, tired line, come up and stand at the very beginning?

The lady who has 100 people "walking in the park."

Strong guys who know the Constitution (in red and dark T-shirts).

We waited for the people who took the places behind us, I showed them my tourists - that they exist, and they are here, got acquainted with the accomplices of standing in line, and I let my sheep into the meadows, onto the fresh grass, for a walk in the park. Flea is an experienced queue waiter, so she came to the combat position prepared (there were two bottles of water in the bag, looking ahead, I will say that they were all drunk within three hours).

An hour later, at 11.00, the line looked like this:

Half an hour later, at 11.30, this:

Finally, we are approaching the cherished milestone, guys, Moscow is not behind us! Queue:

Of course, 100 tourists walking in the park pranced past us (only they came from the direction of the gate, not the park), 20 minutes before the entrance to the palace. The Chinese generally stood at the head of the queue at 11.55. A strong man, the museum security guard, gently pushed them aside, but only so that 100 people from the “lady with an umbrella” calmly entered the palace. But the guard was not so kind to my tourist children.

I'm telling you. From the photographs you can see that we are standing in the sun. After 11.30 the queue was packed very tightly, because... those 100 people came to the “lady with an umbrella”. It was painful to stand, so we sent our two Italian children to sit in the shade on a bench next to the entrance. The beginning of the queue is fenced with barriers to give the queue an artistically straight and orderly appearance, as well as to protect against entry into the queue by elements who want to enter without queueing.

When we finally stood at the finish line, these children just had to approach us from the side, where there was a small passage. But the strict security guard did his job perfectly! Having recently let a large group of Chinese pass from the same side, he now became very principled. And he thundered in a commanding voice that he wouldn’t let anyone in here, and that the children had to make their way through the entire line to us, and it was impossible to do this given the density of traffic. I explain to him that these are our children, we are tourists, and we have a certain love for children that does not allow us to force children to stand for an hour squeezed among people and under the scorching sun. The security guard did his job very well (of course, with two children it is very easy to be principled - this is not a Chinese group accompanied by two strong guys who know the Constitution!): “And if your children come here, then everyone else in the queue will be outraged ", the guard said judiciously (i.e., he expressed exactly the thoughts that possessed me and the tourists when they saw almost 200 people go to the front of the line a little earlier). Two Italian children against 200 tourists who had passed 15 minutes earlier! The whole line standing next to us said that they knew the children, and they stood here... But the uncle-guard did not give up an inch.

Dear Directorate of Tsarskoe Selo, please express your sovereign gratitude to the guard who was on duty at the entrance from the park on June 27 at 12.00! After 200 people were allowed into the places he occupied, he carried out his duties very conscientiously and did not allow two younger schoolchildren to see their parents, who stood in a stuffy queue! His work is worthy of every encouragement!

Our children, it’s good that they are children, eventually climbed over the fence and were reunited with their families. Then everything was fine: 2 hours of purgatory in the sun in the queue were compensated by an hour spent in the paradise of the palace, the tourists left, as they write in the most banal reviews, “tired but happy.”

What is this story for? Does Flea really hope that order will be restored in the queue? No way! The business in line is well established and functioning perfectly. This is just advice for those who are going to Tsarskoe Selo: take a chair, an umbrella, a fan and sunscreen with you. Oh, don’t forget to take sedatives: Novopassit or Persen. And - have a nice visit to Tsarskoe Selo!

We invite you to visit Pushkin ("Tsarskoye Selo") - an outstanding example of world architecture and landscape art, included in the UNESCO list.

Our excursion will begin with a visit to the monument to A.S. Pushkin and the Lyceum (externally), where the poet studied. Next, accompanied by an experienced guide, you will visit the pearl of Russian Baroque and the favorite summer residence of Catherine II - Grand Catherine Palace with his world famous Amber room(*the work of recreating the room after the war took 24 years), and you will also walk along the grand staircase made of white marble and through the main halls of the palace: the Great Hall, Anti-Chambers, Portrait and Picture Halls, the White Front and Cavalier Dining Rooms. You will see tiled stoves made according to Rastrelli's sketches. At the end of the tour, you will get acquainted with unique photographs of the palace during the Great Patriotic War, as well as the progress of its restoration after the war.

In the second part of the program you will complete Pwalk through one of the first landscape parks (~ 30 min.), where you will see garden sculpture, ponds, bridges, artificial canals, famous places such as the Cold Bath with Agate Rooms, the Hanging Garden, Cameron Gallery, the Hermitage, the Grotto, the Concert Hall, the Admiralty, the Lower and Upper Baths, the Granite Terrace , Pyramid, Chinese gazebo, Turkish bath, statue of "Girl with a jug", Chesme Column.

Why choose this excursion:

Our modern tourist buses They will delight you with their comfort, and large panoramic windows will allow you to see all the beauty of the city and its suburbs.

- Professional tour guide will give you maximum interesting information. Our requirements for a guide include not only a license, but also a great love for St. Petersburg. The tour in the palace is accompanied by experienced museum guide (~1 hour 30 min.)

- Optimal route which will allow you to see the main attractions of Pushkin: palace, Amber room, park.

A great opportunity to take unforgettable photos while walking through the park.

Welcome aboard City Bus!

Your journey will take place on a comfortable, modern and safe tourist class bus with large panoramic windows, soft comfortable seats with seat belts. Availability of all necessary licenses.

Check out ourRecommendations for an excursion to Pushkin:

• Comfortable shoes and clothing appropriate for the weather. We also recommend taking an umbrella or raincoat with you. *You can buy a raincoat in Pushkin.
• There are no free or organized meal times on this excursion. We recommend bringing something with you or planning a lunch before/after your trip.
• There is a free toilet in the palace. Time will be allotted for his visit.
• Some rules of the museum that will be useful to you: - a backpack and a cane umbrella will need to be handed over to the museum cloakroom (*you can only bring a small folding umbrella and a small handbag with you into the palace); - in the palace you can take photographs in all halls (without flash), except for the Amber Room (any photographs are prohibited there); - You cannot bring water bottles into the palace.

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 challenging 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 of independent tourists and do not make 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 for the Picture 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 Cavalier’s 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.