The Inclusive Route project, a new programme for the blind and visually impaired is introduced at the Zubov Wing of the Catherine Palace where the Gazprom-supported reconstruction of the Private Rooms of Catherine the Great is expected to finish by the end of this year.
The project's presentation in the Domed Hall was held during Gazprom's 3rd SPB Friends Festival of 27-29 September. As a special tour of the palace with tactile models, the project was developed by our museum's inclusivity sector together with fourteen students of St Petersburg higher education institutions taking part in the Mentorship interdisciplinary course within Gazprom's project Friends of Peterburg.
Such accessible guided tours with audio description (AD) and professionally designed tools provide unique tactile-audio experience for visually impaired visitors who wish to enjoy heritage and appreciate the work of restorers. The AD tour of Catherine's Private Rooms will include tactile models and original decoration fragments, as well as decorative material samples provided free of charge by the Tsarskoselskaya Amber Workshop and the Imperial Porcelain Manufactory.
Tsarskoe Selo offers special programmes for blind and visually impaired visitors since 2015, when tactile models of the Catherine Palace and the Martial Chamber became available together with other tactile materials. Our interactive project Catherine Park by Touch was launched in 2022.
