Situated just south of St. Petersburg, the Russian imperial residence ofTsarskoye Selo is now more than three hundred years old. TsarskoyeSelo ("Tsar's Village") was once a modest estate housing a summerresidence for Catherine I, second wife of Peter the Great. The buildingnow known as the Catherine Palace was extensively rebuilt by EmpressElizabeth and then lavishly refurbished by Catherine the Great. Thisempress's love of art and decoration is evident in the sumptuous interiorsand in the extensive park, filled with fanciful pavilions, bridges, andmonuments. Catherine also commissioned the neoclassical AlexanderPalace for her favorite grandson, the future Alexander I; this laterbecame home to the last tsar, Nicholas II, and his family until theirexile to Siberia.The palace is a glorious showcase for Russian art and craftsmanshipin a huge variety of materials and techniques, from the mirrors and lavishgilding of the Great Hall to the blood-red beauty of the Agate Rooms,their walls lined with Siberian jasper. Tsarskoye Selo is not only a pieceof art history but a living testimony to the tastes and private passionsof the Romanov family. Their clothes and porcelain, their desks and bookshelvesbuild an intimate and involving portrait of life in imperial Russia.