Wednesday, September 07, 2005
Today's Trip Pic
Let us return to Catherine Palace for a second day and examine the interior of this marvelous place. As any palace, it actually consitutes several buildings and a large grounds. Here we shall examine only the main residence of the Tsars. Guesthouses, bath houses, servants quarters, detached kitchens, and other various "out buildings," any one of which is multiple times larger than most houses you will find in America, are, frankly, beneath our notice.
Remember when I said yesterday that everything that glitters really is gold? True on the inside too. This is one small portion of one very large ballroom and the whole thing, save where there is glass, is done like this -- it's a bit overwhelming. "Gaudy and ostentatious," as my father might like to say.
In a bit of pure show-off with out a speck of decorating sense, all the heaters in the place are Delpht china from the Netherlands. At the time, Delpht was the thing, even though it in no way matched any of the decor surrounding. Worthy more of Trading Spaces than palace opulance, I found this bit of decoration quite amuzing.I guess this just shows that even the monarch can be overcome with the desire to demostrate wealth over common sense.
The highlight of the palace is the "Amber Room." A gift to the Romanovs from some German noble, it is truly astounding -- virtually every inch of the room is covered in amber of some sort. The original amber was completely destroyed in "Th Great Patriotuc War," but the plans, which had been meticulously drawn when the room was originally delivered survived and what you see was completely reconstructed based on those.
This picture gives you some detail to understand what the what was realy accomplished in the room. This is the top of one of the pictures frames that are built into the walls themselves. It is truly remarkable.
