An outdoor market near the entrance to the park

Map of the Ekaterinsky Palace grounds

The Ekaterinsky Palace

Another view of the palace

The palace grounds

A ballroom

Charles Ganske in the ballroom

An ornate Russian pechka (stove) near the ballroom

A cherub

A dining room

Another dining room

A gold-lined clock

A painting of the Russian cavalry

Portraits of Tsar Nicholas II and the Czarina Alexandra. Nicholas II was born in Tsarskoye Selo and was a fluent English speaker. In 1917 the Czar and his family were murdered by the Bolsheviks. Today the murdered Romanovs are regarded as saints and passion bearers by the Russian Orthodox Church, and the Church of All Saints in Yekaterinberg commemorates the place where the Czar and his family were executed

Ongoing renovation and restoration work inside the palace

Tables used for restoration work

Three visitors to the palace

A Greco/Roman statue on the palace grounds

A dance hall used by the Czars

The lake at Tsarskoye Selo

A boat dock on the lake

Trees

A creek near the lake

A statue by the creek

The "Turkish Baths" near the edge of the palace grounds. Across the street is a bus stop in the town of Pushkin

A new restaurant in Pushkin

Inside the new restaurant. Most Russian restaurants don't get going until fairly late in the evening

This upstairs room is used to host parties and wedding receptions

All of these photos were taken with a Nikon Coolpix 5600 digital camera without a tripod. Link and reference to Russia Blog required when reposting these photos.

Charles Ganske is the co-founder and first fellow of the Real Russia Project and former editor in chief of Russia Blog.