Zubov Wing
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The Zubov Wing of the Catherine Palace is the light beige-coloured extension, which once housed the private apartments of Catherine the Great. It overlooks the Private Garden.
Catherine the Great's private suite of rooms in the Zubov Wing of the Catherine Palace has recently been recreated anew – comprising everything from her bed-chamber and her toilette through to her snuff. Catherine's favourite, Platon Zubov, lived in this wing, and it still carries his name. The secretive Favourite's Staircase – affording access to Her Royal Highness's chambers – still survives, and it's not hard to imagine how Zubov put it to use to reach the “forbidden quarters”.
Platon Zubov was among the last of Catherine the Great's admirers or “favourites” – it's estimated that in all there were more than 20. After becoming Catherine's lover Lieutenant Zubov was rapidly promoted through the ranks, being made a Count with extensive wealth. After Prince Potemkin died (with whose help Zubov had made his glittering career) Zubov inherited Potemkin's rank of Grand Duke, and the Principal Favourite of Her Serene Highness.
Although indifferent intellectually, Zubov offered his Empress the same traits she admired in her other favourites – strength, loyalty and determination. One of his most notorious final exploits was complicity in the murder of Paul I, Catherine's charmless son and heir – after which he was excluded from the Royal Court.
Catherine the Great's private suite of rooms in the Zubov Wing of the Catherine Palace has recently been recreated anew – comprising everything from her bed-chamber and her toilette through to her snuff. Catherine's favourite, Platon Zubov, lived in this wing, and it still carries his name. The secretive Favourite's Staircase – affording access to Her Royal Highness's chambers – still survives, and it's not hard to imagine how Zubov put it to use to reach the “forbidden quarters”.
Platon Zubov was among the last of Catherine the Great's admirers or “favourites” – it's estimated that in all there were more than 20. After becoming Catherine's lover Lieutenant Zubov was rapidly promoted through the ranks, being made a Count with extensive wealth. After Prince Potemkin died (with whose help Zubov had made his glittering career) Zubov inherited Potemkin's rank of Grand Duke, and the Principal Favourite of Her Serene Highness.
Although indifferent intellectually, Zubov offered his Empress the same traits she admired in her other favourites – strength, loyalty and determination. One of his most notorious final exploits was complicity in the murder of Paul I, Catherine's charmless son and heir – after which he was excluded from the Royal Court.
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