Amber Chamber Re-opens Today

The Amber Chamber is a great historic monument and Russia's pride
Leaders of foreign countries participating in the festivities dedicated to the 300th anniversary of Russia's northern capital, St.Petersburg will visit the revived Amber Chamber. A Rosbalt correspondent reports that as soon as a Russia-EU summit and a ceremony dedicated to opening of a Congress Hall in Strelnya are over, the leaders will leave to Tsarskoye Selo, one of St.Petersburg's suburbs. They will visit an exquisite monument of Catherine Palace and participate in an opening ceremony in the Amber Chamber.

The Amber Chamber was presented by the Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm I to the Russian tsar Peter the Great in 1716. The Chamber became a decoration for a hall in the Big Palace of Tsarskoye Selo. During WWII, Tsarskoye Selo was occupied by Germans, and the Amber Chamber disappeared completely. In 1979, the Soviet Cabinet of Ministers decided to reconstruct the Amber Chamber. According to an agreement concluded in 1999, the German company Ruhrgas AG invested about $3.5 million in reconstruction of the Amber Chamber. WWII veterans (about 400 people) were the first to admire the Amber Chamber after the reconstruction on the Victory Day (May 8-10) this year. However, even before the Victory Day, when Russia President Vladimir Putin and US President George W. Bush had an official meeting, their wives had a chance to see the partially restored Amber Chamber and were told about the restoration process.