The Royal Cats of Russia
Friday, October 5th, 2007 09:35 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rolanniThe Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg, Russia, is famous as the palace of Empress Catherine the Great.
The greatness of its cats is the less well-known side of its astonishing story.
They have been here since the 18th Century. Fed up with rodents running through the palace, Empress Elizabeth sent out a decree that the best ratters in Russia should be sent to St Petersburg. The first to respond are thought to have come from the city of Kazan - then apparently famous for the rat-catching skills of its cats.
The rest of the story is here
The greatness of its cats is the less well-known side of its astonishing story.
They have been here since the 18th Century. Fed up with rodents running through the palace, Empress Elizabeth sent out a decree that the best ratters in Russia should be sent to St Petersburg. The first to respond are thought to have come from the city of Kazan - then apparently famous for the rat-catching skills of its cats.
The rest of the story is here
