Enough of this exterior grandeur, what's inside?
Whatever it is, it requires booties.
St. Petersburg, as well as Moscow, is very cold. Russians traditionally heated their homes with stoves that had platforms at mantle height, where the people would sleep. We doubt these were needed for sleeping, but there were many distributed throughout the palace.
This room was set up as if for a banquet. Sugar was a very expensive commodity, so those who had it showed it off in towers of candies and sweets.
Our guide pointed out that while Versailles was the epitome of style and richness at the time, the marble used in Versailles was too expensive for the Russian tsars. So they used gold instead.
An intimate dinner perhaps?
The final room on our tour was more modern, with pastels and reliefs rather than gold decorations.
But before we leave, there is one more wonder...an original floor.
We were fortunate that Superguide Violetta timed our visit perfectly, when the palace was almost deserted. Normally it is very crowded, and with the heat, it would have been quite uncomfortable as well as tiring.
We did see the replica of the lost Amber Room, that had been a gift to Peter the Great from the King of Prussia. The original was lost or stolen during WWII, and never -- or not yet -- found. No pictures were allowed of that room, however, so Wikipedia will have to do.
And as we leave the gardens by a side gate, we see the same domes we saw on the other side of the palace when we came in, domes for the private imperial chapel.
And just before we left, a bride and groom, who appeared to be negotiating their way into the gardens for their wedding photos.
But alas, time to go...
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