Tsarskoe Selo is a magnificent historical and architectural monument, as well as a pearl of the landscape design art. Many outstanding architects, sculptors, painters worked here. The dominating architectural style is baroque — the Italian architect Bartolomeo Rastrelli designed the famous Catherine palace in his favorite ornate technique. Palaces and structures that were constructed on the territory of the park later were designed in various other styles. Each monarch, beginning with Catherine I, and ending with Nicholas II, left his or her personal imprint in Tsarskoe Selo.

While St. Petersburg was built on the banks of the Neva River, in 1717 Peter the Great started construction of a stone mansion called “The Stone Chambers” for his beloved wife Catherine I in Tsarskoe Selo. But the Catherine Palace took its present shape only 50 years later, during the reign of Peter’s daughter Elizabeth. The size of the palace, its lavish decorations and ingenious architectural innovations delight and impress onlookers. The Great Hall and the Golden Suite, including the world-famous Amber Room, recently completely restored according to the old pictures, amaze visitors with their picturesque and luxurious decor. Here one can’t but feel the spirit of Elizabethan epoch. In the private rooms of Emperor Alexander I, you will see precious objects of applied art that belonged to the monarch.

The total area of the Catherine and Alexander parks exceeds 300 hectares; more than 100 architectural buildings are located on this territory — from majestic palaces and monuments to exquisite pavilions, remote bridges, marble sculptures, exotic constructions, built to imitate Gothic, Turkish, Chinese architecture, that render the parks a rather romantic atmosphere.