Fall Comes to St. Petersburg

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A couple weeks ago, I spent a day with our International Women's Club touring Catherine's Palace gardens while the trees were in full color. The day was windy and dreary - which is very typical for our location - but the garden and buildings were beautiful. I'll share some scenes with you this week.


This palace, built in the early 1700's, was the residence of Catherine the Great. She didn't like living in the city of St. Petersburg so built this great mansion out in the country. The gardens around the palace were built around the same time. Today it is a state-owned museum.



The breathtaking blue palace was surrounded by acres of gardens including several ponds.






Great Pond



Our guide told us that Catherine enjoyed walking in her gardens. She built several pavilions in the large area so she's have places to take her rest after walking so far.







Marble Bridge 


The lovely paths wound between the ponds and crossed rivers with stately bridges. The picture on the right is the view from Marble Bridge toward the Turkish Bath, a building in the form of a Muslim mosque.





On the left is the Creaking Summer House. This Chinese-like pavilion has a weathervane on the roof in the form of a Chinese banner that creaks loudly as it turns in the wind. That is how it acquired its name.


 One of the pavilions is even in the shape of an Egyptian pyramid. They wanted to cover all their bases way back then.




Sea Grotto

I thoroughly enjoyed seeing this palace in the town of Pushkin. Now, I'll have to plan a time to take my husband with me to explore the inside of the palace, as well as the grounds. Maybe next spring when the warm weather returns.




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