Catherine Palace | Compare Tours from Different Websites and See the Imperial Palace and Amber Room

The Amber Room is a unique and elaborate chamber in the Catherine Palace, made of gold leaf and mirrors, topped with amber panels. The original Amber Room was built in the Berlin City Palace, then given to Tsar Peter the Great in 1716, who brought it to the Catherine Palace where it was painstakingly rebuilt and expanded to include over 13,000lb (6 tonnes) of amber. During World War II efforts were made to hide the Amber Room, but in the end it was discovered behind wallpaper by German soldiers, who disassembled it and had it taken to Königsberg, where it stayed until 1945. In January 1945, Hitler ordered the looted items in Königsberg to be moved, but in the confusion, the Amber Room was lost. Though sightings have been reported since the end of the war, none of them have proved reliable, and only one set of small fragments was recovered from the family of a German soldier who claimed to have been involved in the theft. It’s now believed by many that the room was destroyed in the 1940s. In 1979 the Russian government decided to build a replica at the Catherine Palace, a project that took 24 years, 350 different shades of amber, and the collaboration of 40 Russian and German experts in the rare skill of amber craftsmanship. The room is as close as possible to the original, which would be priceless if it were ever valued. The present room in Catherine Palace has been estimated to be worth over $500 million.

Read more.