GATCHINA

Forty-five kilometers southwest of St. Petersburg, Gatchina was first built by Count Grigory Orlov, one of Catherine the Great's lovers. After his death it became an imperial residence and the favorite of Paul I, who lived most of his life here. Western tourists were not allowed to visit Gatchina for a long time as there was an institute for nuclear physics here and military installations nearby.

The huge park ensemble, originally designed in the English style, is less formal than Pushkin and Petrodvorets - meaning you can walk on the grass without having people yell at you - and is dotted with little gazebos, pavilions, and other small structures like the Pushkin park. Much less touristy than Pushkin and Petrodvorets, the main feature, Gatchina Palace, somewhat resembles a medieval British castle and has a more masculine feel than the frilly feminine Catherine's Palace.

The palace structure and all its furnishings were thoroughly devastated in World War II; about half of the Palace is open for viewing. Inside is a special exhibit (with separate tickets) of firearms and side- weapons of the 17th to 19th centuries. Behind the palace, visible from the second-floor windows, is a garden of vined arbors where the tsars' children buried their pets. Legend has it that on full moons the ghosts of borzoi dogs can be seen relieving themselves on the arbors. The estate is a serious ice fishing spot during the frozen months.