Anichkov Palace

Built on the site of the Preobrazhensky Regimental Courtyard near the Anichkov Bridge designed by Mikhail Zemtsov and continued by Grigory Dmitriyev and Bartolomeo Francesco Rastrelli (1741–54). A canal with a harbour linked the main facade to the River Fontanka. The first owner was Count Alexei Razumovsky. After his death, it was acquired by the crown. Catherine the Great awarded the palace to Prince Grigory Potemkin (1776). Ivan Starov reconstructed the facades (1778–79). Adjoined by a regular garden tended by William Hould with pavilions, summerhouses and statues. Bought back by the crown (1793). Redesigned by Yegor Sokolov for His Imperial Majesty’s Cabinet. Giacomo Quarenghi built the Cabinet Wing along Nevsky Prospekt (1803–06). Tsar Alexander I presented the Anichkov Palace to his sister, Grand Duchess Ekaterina Pavlovna (1809). Luigi Rusca redesigned the state apartments and added auxiliary premises and stables. Acquired by the future Tsar Nicholas I on the occasion of his marriage to Princess Charlotte of Prussia (1817). Carlo Rossi redesigned the building and added garden pavilions and an iron railing. Owned by Empress Alexandra Fyodorovna (until 1860) and the future Tsar Alexander III (from 1865). Home of Dowager Empress Maria Fyodorovna (1894–1917).