Emerald Ice Palace

Ice palace

An ice palace or ice castle is a castle-like structure made of blocks of ice. These blocks are usually harvested from nearby rivers or lakes when they become frozen in winter. The first known ice palace appeared in St. Petersburg, Russia, when Anna Ivanovna, Empress of Russia, commissioned an ice palace in St. Petersburg, Russia, during the winter of 1739–40. Architect Piotr Eropkin and scientist Georg Wolfgang Krafft used huge ice blocks measuring 16 m (52 ft) long by 5 m (16 ft) wide, joined together with frozen water, to build the palace. The city recreates the ice palace every winter.

Emerald

Emerald is a gemstone and a variety of the mineral beryl (Be3Al2(SiO3)6) colored green by trace amounts of chromium or sometimes vanadium. Beryl has a hardness of 7.5–8 on the Mohs scale. Most emeralds have many inclusions, so their toughness is classified as poor. Emerald is a cyclosilicate. It occurs mainly in association with quartz, muscovite, albite, mica schist, Pyrite schorl, microcline, fluorite, smoky quartz and elbaite.

Ice

Ice is water that is frozen into a solid state, typically forming at or below temperatures of 0 °C, 32 °F, or 273.15 K. It occurs naturally on Earth, on other planets, in Oort cloud objects, and as interstellar ice. As a naturally occurring crystalline inorganic solid with an ordered structure, ice is considered to be a mineral. Depending on the presence of impurities such as particles of soil or bubbles of air, it can appear transparent or a more or less opaque bluish-white color.

Palace

A palace is a large residence, often serving as a royal residence or the home for a head of state or another high-ranking dignitary, such as a bishop or archbishop. The word is derived from the Latin word palātium, for Palatine Hill in Rome, which housed the Imperial residences.

emerald

Noun

1. Any of various green gemstones, especially a green transparent form of beryl, highly valued as a precious stone.
2. Emerald green, a colour.

Adjective

1. Of a rich green colour.

ice

Symbol

1. ISO 639-2/B language code for Icelandic.

Noun

1. Water in frozen (solid) form.
2. Any frozen volatile chemical, such as ammonia or carbon dioxide.

palace

Noun

1. Official residence of a head of state or other dignitary, especially in a monarchical or imperial governmental system.
2. A large and lavishly ornate residence.

Verb

1. To decorate or ornate.