The Bodacious Rooms

Most of the noteworthy rooms are located in the Winter Palace where the fun begins with the Main Staircase (a.k.a. the Jordan Staircase), a menagerie of marble, alabaster statues, gilt, mirrors, and tourists assuming bizarre positions in a quest to find the perfect camera angle. From the staircase you can either go straight ahead to the three State Rooms (the Antechamber, the Great Hall [or Ballroom], and the Concert Hall), or left into the Field Marshal Hall that holds a recently restored carriage bought by Peter I in Paris in 1716. The Peter I Memorial Room lies adjacent to the Field Marshal Hall but is closed for renovation for an unknown period.

The Armorial Hall, a huge gold-and-mirrors affair, is filled with very ornate silver work of almost nauseating splendor. Next to this is the 1812 Gallery with walls covered with portraits of generals who fought in the war of the same name. The empty frames are reserved for those who had the nerve to die in battle before someone had a chance to paint them. The gallery opens into the St. George Hall (a.k.a. the Large Throne Hall), a palatial chamber lined with vases and amphorae of semi-precious stones, and parquet floors that mirror the bronze ceiling.

Beyond the State Rooms lies the Malachite Hall, so named because over two tons of malachite were used in its decoration. Be sure not to miss the Raphael Loggia (room 227), a replica of Raphael's Loggia in the Vatican Palace. Catherine the Great, upon seeing an engraving of the loggia, decided she wanted one too. She sent artists there, who with the pope's permission, made copies of Raphael's interior on canvases which were then brought back and mounted. The room has been closed for nearly twelve years but recently reopened, hopefully for good.

In the Small Hermitage, the bright and cheery Pavilion Hall is noteworthy for its collection of Italian mosaics, including a copy of an ancient Roman mosaic, and for the Peacock Clock, a huge and bizarre creation which marks the hour by setting into motion a built-in peacock, owl, and cockerel (the squirrels, lizards, and snails stay put). It was built by an Englishman, James Cox, who later went bust after introducing a line of pocket watches with built-in mariachi bands.