In the famous Catherine Palace in Tsarskoye Selo part of the decoration of the Lyons hall of the Catherine II epoch was restored. We are talking about the lazurite portal, consisting of 150 kg of lazurite (a semiprecious stone, the Russian deposits are located in the southern Baikal region). The cost of 7 months of work provided by “Tsarskoye Selo amber workshop” in the amount of 5 million rubles was paid by the Fund Transsoyuz. The main difficulty of restoration work, according to the restorers, was the “mating plates of lazurite in the “Russian mosaic” technique.
Room related to personal areas of Catherine II, was built in the late XVIII century by the architect Charles Cameron and trimmed with silk, produced in France (Lyon), that is why it has its name. In the XIX century it was modified by the architect I. Monighetti for the wife of Alexander II Maria Alexandrovna.
Lapis in “Russian mosaic” technique welted cornice, frieze, panels, doors and Windows (totally there were used 3.5 tons of stone). It was stolen by the Germans during the great Patriotic war and returned to the Royal village in 1947. Reconstruction, a draft of which was ready in 1984, is being implemented in phases due to its complexity and cost.
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