Cameron Baths - a complex of buildings adjacent to the Catherine's Palace on its south-eastern side.
The complex is located in the Catherine Park of the palace of the same name, on the border between the regular and landscape parts of the park.
It is located in the former Tsarskoye Selo (now the Pushkin city of St. Petersburg).
The Cameron Baths are an architectural monument, and represent an architectural ensemble consisting of: a Cold bath with Agate rooms, a Cameron Gallery with an adjacent Maid of Honor Garden, a hanging garden and a ramp.
The complex was built under the Empress Catherine II by the Scottish architect Charles Cameron, hence the common name of the complex.
Cold bath with Agate rooms and Hanging Garden
The cold bath is a pavilion that occupies a central place in the ensemble.
Construction of a small two-story pavilion began in the spring of 1780. On the lower floor there were rooms for water treatments, and on the upper floor there were six richly decorated rooms for recreation and entertainment, called "Agate Rooms".
The architectural design of the facades of the Cold Bath, as well as the entire complex, is based on the contrast of the finishing of the floors. The lower, ground floor, is separated from the second by a cornice and is lined with massive blocks of roughly processed, porous Pudost stone, creating the illusion of"antiquity". The second floor, "contrary to the first", is light and bright; it has a soft yellow tone of the walls, in which niches painted in terracotta color stand out and in which sculptures of various allegorical and mythological characters are installed. On the top of the walls of the second floor there are round stucco medallions-bas-reliefs with mythological compositions.
The main, south-western facade of the Cold Bath, opens onto a terrace on vaults supported by massive pylons. The terrace serves as the basis for the Hanging Garden and is a link between the buildings of the Cameron ensemble and the Zubovsky wing of the Catherine Palace, where the private chambers of Catherine II were located.
In the 18th century, apple trees, lilacs, jasmine and roses grew in the Hanging Garden; tulips, peonies, and daffodils were planted around the bushes.
From the side of the Hanging Garden, the upper floor of the Cold Bath is perceived as an independent one-story park pavilion.
View of the Hanging Garden and Cold Baths
View of the arch under the Hanging Garden, which is connected to the Zubovsky wing of the Catherine Palace
The interior of the Cold Bath
According to Cameron, the pavilion's facilities included: apoditeria-a room for undressing; unctuarium - for storing oils; sphericerium - a large exercise room; caldarium-a hot bath; laconic-a steam room; tepidarium - a warm room with heated water and frigidarium-a cold bath, where there was a Bathing room with a tin pool in the center, "warm" and " hot "baths, " rest room".
The decoration of the main rooms of the second floor of the Cold Bath is particularly distinguished, the interiors of which are decorated with marble, paintings, gilded bronze, parquet floors, colored Ural and Altai jasper in the technique of "Russian mosaic". Since the Urazovsky jasper used in the decoration was called "meat agate", the name "Agate Rooms" was eventually assigned to the entire pavilion, although the lower floor continued to be called a Cold Bath.
In the Agate Rooms, the Empress Catherine II in the morning hours read, looked through state papers and answered letters.
Despite the heavy losses during the Great Patriotic War, the decoration of the Agate Rooms has mostly been preserved since the 18th century.
Currently, the rooms on the first floor of the Cold Bath are used for temporary exhibitions.
Ramp
In order to be able to descend from the Hanging Garden to the garden of the palace, by decree of the Empress Catherine II, from the beginning of 1792 to April 1794, a gentle descent ramp was built.
The ramp is formed by seven descending arches-vaults and three archless pylons. In the keystones of the arches on both sides are carved masks of ancient gods-Jupiter, Juno, Mars, Minerva, Mercury - and other mythological characters.
Above the columns that delimit the ledges on both sides of the ramp, bronze statues of the Muses were originally installed, which is why in the 18th century the richly sculptured ramp was called the "Staircase of the Gods".
In 1799, by the decree of Emperor Paul I, the statues were moved to Pavlovsk, where they were installed on a round platform in Staraya Silvia (this is how the site of the Muses was created), and in their place on the Ramp in 1826, cast-iron altars with flower bowls were installed, cast at the St. Petersburg state Iron Foundry according to the drawings of the architect V. P. Stasov.
Cameron's Gallery
The Cameron Gallery was created for walking and philosophical conversations. Construction took place from 1784 to March 1787, the work was supervised by the architect of the Tsarskoye Selo Office of buildings I. V. Neelov.
The gallery runs at the level of the Hanging Gardens and stands on a plinth made of hewn blocks of the Syas plate.
The walls of the first floor of the gallery are cut through by three-part window openings, the piers between which are lined with roughly processed Pudost stone.
The second floor of the Cameron Gallery is a colonnade consisting of 44 white fluted columns with Ionic capitals. In the central part of the second floor there is a glazed hall. The colonnade of the second floor is completed by a roof with six gables.
In 1780-1790, bronze busts made in the foundry workshop of the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts were installed in the gallery.
The upper tier of the gallery still remains the same as it was two centuries ago. Only the rooms on the first floor, which were used as living rooms for court ladies and ladies-in-waiting, were redeveloped (they currently house temporary exhibitions).
On the west side, the second floor of the gallery opens to the Hanging Garden, and on the east - a staircase leads to the Catherine Park. Under the stairs of the Cameron Gallery is a small grotto.
From the stairs and the colonnade, you can enjoy views of part of the Catherine Park.
Maid of Honor's Garden
On the north side of the Cameron Gallery adjoins a small Maid of Honor Garden, which is surrounded by a light openwork fence and is a picturesque composition.
The garden was planted with fragrant flowers and, unlike the Hanging Garden, this garden was more suitable for solitary walks and thoughts.
At the Cold Baths, the monumental Lady-in-Waiting (New Pudost) Gate, which was built in 1819 by the architect Vasily Petrovich Stasov, leads to the garden.
The gate is flanked by two pylons, each consisting of four Doric columns carved from Pudost stone. Sculptural groups of griffins are placed on the entablatures of the pylons.
Practical information
Catherine Park together with the palace of the same name belong to the State Museum-Reserve "Tsarskoe Selo" and are located in Pushkin (St. Petersburg).
Entrance to the Catherine Park is paid.
In the Catherine Palace, you can visit the restored halls.
Tickets to the park and the halls of the palace can be purchased at the ticket offices located directly near the entrances to the park or in advance-online on the official website.
The working hours of the park and the palace, as well as the time of holding temporary exhibitions, the conditions of visiting and the cost of tickets, we recommend that you check on the website of the State Museum-Reserve "Tsarskoe Selo": tzar.
You can visit Tsarskoye Selo with one of the excursions
In Pushkin, near the Catherine Park and the palace, you can stay
The 5-star Pevcheskaya Tower Hotel features restaurants, a bar, a rooftop observation deck, free Wi-Fi and parking.
Breakfast is included in the room rate. Link to the hotel
The 5-star luxury spa hotel "Tsar Palace Luxury Hotel & SPA"is located in a historic building.
The hotelfeatures a spa area with a swimming pool, a hammam, a salt sauna, a snow fountain, steam baths and a gym; free Wi-Fi, a 24-hour front desk, 2 restaurants, a lobby bar, private parking and meeting and conference rooms.
The rooms are equipped with climate control, a minibar, a safe and a private bathroom.
A buffet breakfast is included in the room rate. Link to the hotel
3-star hotel Ekaterina, located on the territory of the Catherine Palace and Park Ensemble.
At the hotel: 24-hour front desk, cafe, free Wi-Fi and parking.
Each room here will provide you with air conditioning, a TV, a work desk and free toiletries.
Breakfast is included in the room rate. Link to the hotel
All accommodation facilities in St. Petersburg, including in the city center and in Pushkin, can be viewed and booked here
