GALLERY

Inside the Gallery (c) Mahramzadeh

Built between 1694 and 1698, hardly anything of the Gallery has changed since the times of Electress Sophie. As a lover of the fine arts Sophie had this long building with its large banqueting hall and splendid retiring rooms built because the palace had no adequately opulent rooms for festivities. At the age of 83 she opened a masked ball in the Gallery on the arm of Tsar Peter the Great of Russia.

 The most fascinating part of this historic building is the banqueting hall, where the gaze is transfixed by the ornamental ceiling with its endless serpentine grey-blue knot patterns and ochre edges. The frescoes on the walls, by Venetian artist Tommaso Giusti, depict a cycle of tales from the Trojan wars. Today as ever the banqueting hall is the setting for concerts, theatre performances, exhibitions and civic and state receptions.