The Agate Rooms of the Cold Bath pavilion in the Catherine Park re-open for visiting after restoration, offering an exhibition dedicated to their revival and a tour of the interiors created by the Scottish architect Charles Cameron for Empress Catherine II of Russia.

History was kind to Cameron’s creation by preserving the Agate Room’s original design as a unique work of art from the 1700s. Only these interiors of Tsarskoye Selo have retained their original finish despite the damages and losses inflicted by the Second World War and the inexorable course of time.
The unique décor of the Agate Rooms survived almost entirely, notwithstanding the devastations of the war. Since no restoration was carried there in the 1900s, we were luckily able to perform conservation of the original 18th-century finish nearly undistorted by renovations of later epochs. Preservation of the authentic décor elements was the basis of our restoration concept in accordance with the Venice Charter for the Conservation and Restoration of Monuments and Sites.
Postponed first due to a more pressing reviva of the Catherine Palace and then the recreation of the recreation of the legendary Amber Room, the long-awaited work on the Agate Rooms was put onthe Museum's list of target restoration projects in 2003.

In 2005 to 2011 a full range of research work was conducted, with restoration designs and methods developed and approved by the Museum and state authorities for cultural heritage preservation.
In 2010 to 2013 the restoration of the Agate Rooms was accomplished. The main designer and contractor was the Tsarskoye Selo Amber Workshop which had established an impeccable reputation for recreating the Amber Room. The Workshop developed research and planning documents and completed conservation and restoration of the object.
The overall project cost, including the adjacent Hanging Garden's renovation, exceeded EUR 9 million. 76 percent of the amount was provided by the Russian Railways and TransSoyuz Charitable Foundation.

Opening ceremony

A restoration council was established to ensure a scientific monitoring of the work by representatives of Tsarksoye Selo; the Committee on State Control, Use and Protection of Monuments of History and Culture (KGIOP); the SpetsProektRestavratsiya Institute; and the Ilya Repin Academic Institute of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. The expenditure of funds was monitored by a special working group including representatives of Tsarskoye Selo, TransSoyuz and the State Hermitage Museum.

Director of the Amber Workshop - Boris Iddalov at the opening of the Agate Rooms.

In contrast to traditions of the old school of restoration/recreation of objects lost to WWII, the work at the Agate Rooms showed the possibility of and the need for preservation of authentic objects in accordance with European practices.
The uniqueness of the Agate Rooms is unrivaled. There are no other historic interiors like these, either in Russia or anywhere else in the world. The high aesthetic quality and degree of their preservation assert a continuity of humanistic values, emphasizing St. Petersburg's unofficial status of the cultural capital of Russia and creating a global image of the city.

Text of the article taken from www.tzar.ru