The magnificent views of the museum-reserve "Tsarskoye Selo" in Pushkin, St. Petersburg, often appear in tourist brochures. However, the parks, palaces, temples, and monuments of the former imperial residence are so numerous that it is impossible to visit them all in a month. To begin with, one should immerse themselves in the atmosphere of this place, beloved by kings and poets. Even picturesque ruins can tell as much about history as restored monuments.

The name "Tsarskoye Selo" is associated with kings, but originally it did not have a royal connotation. It originated from the Swedish "Saris hoff," meaning "elevated place." This was the name of the Swedish estate from which the summer residence of Russian tsars began. According to legend, this estate was managed by an Ingermanland woman named Sarra, whose milk Peter I loved to drink. In the 18th century, the area was called "Sarskaya Myza," but Tsarskoye Selo turned out to be more familiar and fitting.

The history began on June 24, 1710, when Peter I gifted this place to his beloved Marta Skavronskaya, who would become Catherine I. The tsar loved to spend time here in an informal setting, and Marta enjoyed the rural idyll. In 1718, Catherine Alexeyevna decided to build a stone house with a park here. According to legend, she built it not for herself, but as a pleasant surprise for her husband. In Tsarskoye Selo, legends and reality are so intertwined that they cannot be separated.

In the mid-18th century, Rastrelli, commissioned by Peter's daughter, Elizabeth, created a masterpiece in the Baroque style from the Catherine Palace. More than six poods of gold were spent on its decoration. Catherine II, who received the palace, ordered the gilding to be painted over or replaced with bronze. Folk folklore explained this not as frugality, but as false alarms due to the glare of the golden roof, which was sometimes mistaken for a fire. The Catherine Palace burned three times, but during the war, it was completely destroyed. Attempts by the Germans to remove the gold from the roof were thwarted by Russian snipers.

Under Catherine II, Tsarskoye Selo reached its peak and was called the Palace City. She commissioned Giacomo Quarenghi to build a new Alexander Palace for her grandson Alexander. The residence grew with parks, pavilions, mansions, and barracks. Catherine II forbade anyone but the imperial family from settling in the Catherine Park and allocated a special settlement for the service staff.

Catherine's son, Paul I, did not like Tsarskoye Selo and ordered the dismantling of several pavilions. But under his sons Alexander I and Nicholas I, construction continued. In 1811, the Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum opened. Under Nicholas I, the first railway in Russia was built to Tsarskoye Selo. During Alexander III's reign, it became an exemplary European city with plumbing, sewage, and other civilizational benefits.

There is a legend about the construction of an underground tunnel between the Alexander Palace and the station, but nothing of the sort has been found so far. There was indeed a tunnel for transporting food between the Kitchen Corps and the Alexander Palace.

By the early 20th century, the imperial splendor had slightly faded, but this added a poetic charm to the city. Mansions, parks, and barracks became an ideal refuge for the muses, inspiring creativity.

In 1918, at Lunacharsky's initiative, Tsarskoye Selo was renamed Detskoe. In 1937, it was renamed in honor of Pushkin. After the occupation during the war, the city turned into ruins. Restoration work began immediately after the war, but not everything could be restored. The Babolovsky Palace with its park remains in ruins to this day.

The Catherine Park began to take shape around the Catherine Palace during Catherine I's time. Catherine II loved order, which was reflected in the park's layout. According to legend, a guard post stood in the park for several decades, guarding a rose for her grandson Alexander. The park's pavilions are made in different styles, but Catherine II especially loved the Ancient World. She created a hanging garden and an Egyptian pyramid, where she buried her dogs.

The lesser-known Babolovsky Palace resembled a bath pavilion. It was built for Potemkin, and its fame came from the granite "Tsar-Bath." The war severely damaged the palace, but the bath survived. In 2014, the palace was transferred to the museum-reserve, but restoration has not yet begun.

Tsarskoye Selo is famous for its poets. Akhmatova wrote about the "tormenting boredom" of Tsarskoye Selo, but called it "a captivating city of mysteries." Mandelstam, Tolstoy, Shishkov, and Yesenin also drew inspiration here. It all began with Pushkin, for whom Tsarskoye Selo remained a "magical place."

The Tsarskoye Selo Lyceum was conceived for the education of the younger brothers of Alexander I. Pushkin, who studied there, was not suited for the state elite but excelled in literature and fencing. A journal with his grades is displayed at the Lyceum.

Pushkin's dacha has hardly changed and is now a museum. He lived there after his marriage and wrote many works. Akhmatova spent her childhood and youth in Tsarskoye Selo, writing her first poems.

The first Russian railway began at the old Tsarskoye Selo station. The imperial pavilion has survived in ruins. The station was called Detskoe Selo until 2013.

The only museum of World War I in Russia is located in the War Chamber, built at Nicholas II's initiative. The museum houses materials on the history of Russian wars and military trophies.

Tsarskoye Selo hides many secrets and tragedies of the Romanov family, who refused dynastic marriages. The palace of Olga Paley, the wife of Nicholas II's uncle, became a hospital during the war. After the revolution, her husband and son died, and she fled to Finland with her daughters.

The English dacha of Grand Duke Boris Vladimirovich, gifted by Queen Victoria, became a place of romantic drama. After the revolution, Boris escaped execution and married Zinaida Rashevskaya.

The Vladimir Palace, owned by Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich, was nationalized after the revolution. In the 1990s, it became part of the museum-reserve and by the city's 300th anniversary became the Wedding Palace.

The Guards' Economic Society shop became famous thanks to the police dog Lyra, who helped solve thefts. Tsarskoye Selo (now Pushkin) remains a place where one can discover the grand residence from a new perspective.