Summer Palace of Elizabeth Petrovna

Bartolomeo Francesco Rastrelli began laying the foundations of a new wooden palace for the regent of Ivan VI, Anna Leopoldovna, in the Third Summer Garden on the bank of the River Fontanka (1741). Construction continued after the palace coup in favour of Elizabeth Petrovna (1741). The sumptuous exterior was more or less finished and only the decor remained (1744). Rastrelli wrote of the palace: “This building has over 160 apartments, including a chapel, hall and galleries. Everything was decorated with mirrors and rich sculpture, just like the new garden, which was adorned with handsome fountains and a Hermitage, built on the level of the ground floor, surrounded by rich trellises, all embellishments of which were gilded.” After the accession of Paul I (1796), the dilapidated palace was dismantled and St Michael’s Castle was built in its place.