Catherine's Palace: The summer residence of the tsars, located in the town of Tsarskoye Selo (Pushkin), south of St. Petersburg. When the German forces retreated after the siege of Leningrad (today's St. Petersburg), they intentionally destroyed the residence leaving only the hollow shell of the palace behind. Prior to World War II, Soviet archivists managed to document a fair amount of the interior, which proved of great importance in reconstructing the palace. Most of the reconstruction was completed in time for the Tercentenary of St. Petersburg in 2003.

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