Peterhof Grand Palace

This guide to Peterhof Grand Palace in Saint Petersburg begins in 1944, as women with mine detectors clear three tons of unexploded ordnance from the basement after two and a half years of Nazi occupation left the building in ruins. It follows the curators who raced to save treasures before the Germans arrived, the loss of the giant bronze Samson fountain, and the restorers' gamble on which part of the palace to fix first. Listen for how craftsmen matched forgotten pigments on a trip to Venice.