Янтарная комната Yantarnaya komnata

Or otherwise known as the Amber Room. This is very fascinating to me. It is a room built in the 17th century, taking a decade to complete (+/-), made entirely of amber and gold. Yowza. Huge panels of amber inlay were the walls, the floor, over 6 tons of amber. This is incredible. Amber is a very interesting stone because it its actually a resin from the sap of ancient trees. Therefore, not really a stone but a fossil, if you will. (see on amber below). It was built in Russia and that makes sense they needed a sunny sun room to brighten up their serious faces. But lo! Here comes ze Germans.... during WWII the Germans looted this room and tried to relocate it back to headquarters. In the meantime, the castle they were storing it in got blown up. No more amber room. It was called the 8th wonder of the world. But good on the Russians- they rebuilt it in 2003. So its there, but its not from the 17th century. This is truly the stuff of legend.