Imperial Porcelain Factory

The factory founded by Empress Elisabeth in 1744 sits twenty-minutes outside of St. Petersburg and still produces exquisite porcelain as it did for Catherine the Great and many other royals. Its best known pieces incorporate cobalt blue and 22-karat gold in such patterns as Cobalt Net, Golden Garden and Bluebells. When it was founded the factory was the first in Europe to manufacture porcelain in the Asian method. Since then, it has been in continuous operation with the State managing it under Communism, though it was privatized in the 1990s and now even sells online. There are many boutiques around the city but Indagare members can arrange for visits to the factory which has the largest shop in the area as well as a museum.