The famous "Amber Room" was in Czarina Catherine's palace, which I
believe was outside St. Petersburg (was Leningrad).  I visited it
several years ago.  The Germans gutted the place during World War II and
didn't seem to leave much outside the bare walls, without roof. The
Russians have been for decades reconstrcuting all the many intricate
decorations within the rooms.  It looks magnificant, although still far
from finished.  They are planning to redo the Amber room, although they
have very little pictorial evidence of the original.  This is palace is
well worth a visit.  There was an article about the room in
_Smithsonian_ about a year or two ago.

Kevin McCartney, Ph.D.
Associate Prof., Geology
Director, Northern Maine Museum
  of Science
University of Maine at Presque Isle
Presque Isle, ME  04769  (207) 768-9482