Wednesday, June 6 I took the train to Pushkin, a beautiful town about 6 miles south of Kupchino station. It is the home of Catherine the Great's summer palace, known as Tsarskoe Selo, or Tsar's Village.

Click on a photo for a larger version.

The famous sculpture of Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin in the park near Tsarskoe Selo. I had a nice conversation with a pensioner selling books in the park here.

The back gate to Tsarskoe Selo. Notice the "E" in the gate, which stands for Tsarina Elizabeth, who commissioned the building of the palace.

This photo shows the formal French garden in the foreground and the palace chapel in the background.

A view of Catherine's Palace from the garden. What is missing from this photo is a sense of the size of the palace. This photo only captures about 1/5 of Elizabeth's original baroque portion.

All along the palace facade, between each window, are identical sculptures of Atlantis.

A portion of Catherine's neoclassical addition to the main palace.

The interior of the palace was intricately detailed. This photo comes from the main stairwell, where these seminude women flank each doorway.

At the top of the stairs I found this cute little cherub in a birdbath.

I was amazed by the lifelike quality of his expression.

There were actors in the ballroom dressed in period costumes.

On the other side of the stairway I found another cherub, this one still sleeping.

This fresco decorated the ceiling of one of the rooms in the palace.

The grotto.

One of the sculptures from the garden. I particularly enjoyed the fish.

Peter III (Catherine's husband) had this Admiralty built in order to stage mock naval battles on his lake.