A large number of palace buildings, the wealth and luxury of their decoration have been transforming the architectural appearance of St. Petersburg for many years. After all, this city is famous for its unique palaces of major officials, aristocrats and other noble persons. Worthy of attention Summer Palace Empress Elizabeth Petrovna.
With the accession of the new empress to the throne, the next stage in the formation of cultural spheres began in the state. This period of prosperity also had an impact on the capital. The city has changed significantly. In the era of cultural development of St. Petersburg, preference was given to the construction architectural monuments. The Summer Palace deserves special attention.
During the reign of Elizabeth Petrovna (1741 - 1761), the construction of palaces was of particular importance. Then the construction of real masterpieces was carried out by Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli, one of the best architects in the history of the state. His works also include the Summer Palace of Elizabeth Petrovna. It cannot but be noted as the best work of the architect.
The Summer Palace of Elizabeth Petrovna in St. Petersburg was built by B. F. Rastrelli from 1741 to 1744. According to the architect, the building included about 160 apartments, among which there was a church and galleries. The palace was decorated with numerous sculptures, fountains and a garden. Over time, the residence experienced a number of changes related to the architect's dissatisfaction with his work. Construction activities continued here for several years.
In the first half of the 18th century, the territory on which the Mikhailovsky Castle is located belonged to the Summer Garden - the royal estate of Peter I. Empress Anna Ioannovna ordered the construction of a palace to begin on this site. The construction was entrusted to the architect Rastrelli Jr. But the architect did not have time to start work during the life of the empress. In 1740, power passed to Anna Leopoldovna, who decided to implement the project founded by her predecessor. But after some time, a palace coup occurs, as a result of which imperial power passes to the youngest daughter of Peter I, Elizabeth. The Tsesarevna gives F.B. Rastrelli the order to build the Summer Palace. The Empress liked the result of the architect's work so much that she doubled his salary. The exact date of foundation of the building is still controversial. According to some historians, this event falls on July 24, 1741. Moreover, the beginning of the laying took place in the presence of Empress Anna, her husband, as well as some courtiers and members of the guard.
The Summer Palace of Elizabeth Petrovna belongs to the Russian Baroque style. This was the name of a set of architectural trends that formed on the territory of the Russian Empire and the Russian state in the 12th – 13th centuries. The buildings of this period were characterized by:
the splendor and intricacy of architectural forms;
luxurious finishes;
using modeling;
the use of painting and gilding.
Among the styles of this era, the Petrine Baroque is distinguished, which arose thanks to the buildings of not only compatriots, but also architects from Western Europe. They were invited by Peter I to ennoble the new capital, St. Petersburg. The most characteristic features of Petrine Baroque were:
rejection of the Byzantine manner;
simplicity and practicality;
facades in red and white shades;
presence of symmetry of forms;
mansard roofs;
arched window openings.
Many of the engravings and drawings that have survived from that era depict almost exactly appearance palace Stone was chosen as the basis for the first floor, wood for the second. The building was painted in light pink shades, which is remarkable for the Baroque style. The ground floor was made of granite in gray-green color. The Summer Palace of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna had two facades: the main facade overlooked the Moika River, towards the Summer Garden, and the other faced the Nevsky Prospect. Service buildings were located along the entire perimeter, which imitated a kind of isolation. A wide road was laid along the Fontanka, which was accompanied by greenhouses and fruit trees. Part of this territory was occupied by the Elephant Yard, the inhabitants of which swam in the Fontanka if they wished. The entrance to the palace was fenced with wide gates, on which gilded double-headed eagles shimmered. The gate was decorated with an openwork lattice. Behind the fence was a large front yard. The view of the main façade was blocked by large flower beds and trees, which formed a kind of park. The central building occupied the Great State Hall. It was decorated with Bohemian mirrors, marble sculptures and paintings by famous artists. At the western side of the hall stood the royal throne. The living rooms, decorated with gilded carvings, led directly to the main hall. From the outside, shaped stairs approached the room.
Within a year, a covered gallery was completed, through which one could take a walk to the Summer Garden. Paintings by famous painters were hung on the walls of such a gallery. A terrace with hanging garden, running at the mezzanine level where the Hermitage and fountain were located. The contour of the terrace was fenced with a gilded lattice. Later, a palace church was added to this site. After some time, a decorative park was planted near the palace. A huge labyrinth, bosquets and gazebos passed through it. Swings and carousels were placed in the center of the park. On the territory adjacent to the palace, a complex of water towers was built, since the previous water supply to the fountains did not have the necessary pressure. Similar water towers were ennobled with the help of palace painting.
The architect Rastrelli was not satisfied with his work. For this reason, a decade later, he brought the wooden Summer Palace of Elizabeth Petrovna to a real masterpiece. Rastrelli regularly remodeled some parts of the building. So, later the walls were transformed with the help of figured window frames and atlases. Lion masks and mascarons also served as their decoration.
The summer residence is Elizabeth’s first own home. Before the empress, no one lived in this building. The Tsesarevna occupied the eastern wing of the residence. The West Wing was reserved for courtiers. Queen Elizabeth admired the luxury of the Summer Palace. Every year in April, the Empress left the Winter Palace to temporarily live in the Summer Palace. The whole yard moved with her. This event turned into a real ceremony, accompanied by an orchestra and artillery fire. In September, Elizabeth moved back.
In 1754, the Summer Palace of Elizabeth Petrovna in St. Petersburg became the birthplace of Paul I, who soon came to power. In 1762, feasts were held here on the occasion of the peace agreement with Prussia. As soon as the new Emperor Paul I came to power, he immediately ordered the demolition of the structure. In its place, a castle was erected, known today as Mikhailovsky. It was in this residence that the life of Paul I ended. According to one of the legends, Mikhailovsky Castle was not built by chance on the site of the Summer Palace. The emperor wished to spend the rest of his life in the place where he was born. Another legend says that the Archangel Michael appeared to the guard and ordered the construction of a temple on the territory where the Summer Palace of Elizabeth Petrovna was located. After this incident, the emperor ordered the construction of a new palace and church in the name of Archangel Michael to begin. Thus, St. Michael's Castle got its name by analogy with the Temple of the Archangel Michael.
The Summer Palace of Elizabeth Petrovna is an unpreserved imperial residence in St. Petersburg, built by B. F. Rastrelli in 1741-1744 on the site where the Mikhailovsky (Engineers) Castle is now located. Demolished in 1797
History of construction
In 1712 on south coast Moika, where the pavilion of the Mikhailovsky Garden is now, a small manor house was built for Ekaterina Alekseevna, topped with a turret with a gilded spire, which bore the pretentious name “Golden Mansions”. According to him, the Big Meadow (the future Champ de Mars) on the opposite bank received the name Tsaritsyn Meadow: it was this name that would be used most often in the 18th and early 19th centuries. The area near the palace is called the 3rd Summer Garden. On July 11, 1721, the Duke of Holstein's chamberlain Berchholz, having examined the estate, wrote down: In the queen's greenhouses, the gardener Ekliben grew fruits rare for northern latitudes: pineapples, bananas, etc. Even then, the idea arose to close the alley of the Summer Garden opposite the Carpiev Pond with a palace building. This is evidenced by the project of 1716-1717, preserved in the archives. Its possible author is J.B. Leblon. It depicts a small nine-axle palace, the elevated center of which is topped with a tetrahedral dome. Wide one-story galleries cover the cour d'honneur with a lush figured parterre facing the Moika River. Behind there is a garden with numerous bosquets of various shapes. Fruit plantings have been preserved on the territory of the current Mikhailovsky Garden. However, things did not go further than plans. Under Anna Ioannovna, the 3rd Summer Garden turns into a “jagd-garten” - a garden for “chasing and shooting deer, wild boars, hares, as well as a gallery for hunters and stone walls to prevent bullets and shot from flying in.” The “vegetable garden” was moved to Liteinaya Street, where the Mariinsky Hospital would later be built. In the early 1740s. B.F. Rastrelli began the construction of one of the most remarkable buildings of the developed Russian Baroque - the Summer Palace in the 3rd Summer Garden for the ruler Anna Leopoldovna. However, while construction was underway, a revolution occurred, and Elizaveta Petrovna became the owner of the building. By 1744, the palace, made of wood on stone cellars, was roughly completed. The architect, in describing the buildings he created, spoke about it this way: Despite its location within the city limits, the building was designed according to the estate plan. The plan was created under the obvious influence of Versailles, which is especially noticeable from the side of the cour d'honneur: the successively narrowing spaces enhanced the effect of the baroque perspective of the courtyard, fenced off from the access road by a latticework of a magnificent design with state emblems. One-story service buildings along the perimeter of the cour d'honneur emphasize the traditional Baroque isolation of the ensemble. The rather flat decor of the light pink facades (mezzanine pilasters with Corinthian capitals and corresponding rusticated stone plinth blades, figured window frames) was offset by a rich play of volumes. Complex in plan, highly developed side wings included courtyards with small flower parterres. Lush driveways...
In the 18th century, women often found themselves in power in Russia, and naturally there were favorites in their lives. They were immensely endowed with titles and estates, and often had enormous political influence. Some received real palaces as gifts. Who received such an honor, and which of these palaces have survived in St. Petersburg to this day?
Anichkov Palace (Nevsky Prospekt, 39)
Anichkov Palace is the first palace to appear on Nevsky Prospekt. That’s what it was called a few years later, when the famous Anichkov Bridge appeared next to it.
Elizabeth Petrovna, daughter of Peter I, having ascended the throne in 1741 as a result of a palace coup, ordered the construction of a palace in honor of her triumph.
Although it was officially announced that the palace was being built for the new empress, everyone understood that in fact it was intended for Count Alexei Grigorievich Razumovsky, who was her favorite at that time. Razumovsky was famous for his beauty and good nature, and although he had great power at court, he never really used it.
The construction of the palace began immediately after the coronation, the architect Mikhail Zemtsov began to build it, and it was completed by Bartolomeo Rastrelli. The building was located so that its main entrance and main facade faced the Fontanka embankment, and not Nevsky Prospekt. At that time, Nevsky Prospekt was not yet the main street of the city and, in addition, many guests reached this palace along the Fontanka, which was then the border of St. Petersburg.
In 1771, Razumovsky died, and Catherine II, having bought the palace from the Razumovsky family, gave it to her new favorite, Grigory Potemkin. He decided to rebuild the palace in a more classical style, which was done. Subsequently, the palace changed its owners more than once, and was seriously rebuilt more than once.
Shuvalovsky Palace (Italyanskaya St., 25)
The mansion belonged to Elizaveta Petrovna’s young favorite, Ivan Shuvalov, a very versatile man who was interested in politics and art. Largely thanks to his efforts, Moscow University and the Academy of Arts were opened.
Instead of building new mansion“from scratch,” it was decided, taking one of the existing buildings as a basis, and thoroughly rebuilding it to suit one’s taste. The architect Savva Chevakinsky was involved in the construction of the mansion, who chose the Elizabethan Baroque style for it. The mansion was built very quickly - in just two years, and Shuvalov and his wife moved there.
However, later, under Empress Catherine II, Shuvalov was excommunicated from the court and was forced to leave Russia. By order of one of the subsequent owners of the palace, Prosecutor General Alexander Vyazemsky, the palace was rebuilt in the classical style.
Marble Palace (Millionnaya Street, 5/1)
This palace was built for another favorite of Catherine II, Count Grigory Orlov. The Empress made such a generous gift to the count for his courage and courage shown during the palace coup, thanks to which Catherine ascended the Russian throne.To decorate the facades and interiors of this palace, marble was used, and the most varied - 32 varieties. Therefore, this palace began to be called Marble. It was also called the Palace for the Favorite.
However, the construction of the palace dragged on for 17 years and, unfortunately, Count Orlov died before the work was completed. Now the Marble Palace has been transferred to the Russian Museum.
Gatchina Palace
The Gatchina Palace also belonged to Grigory Orlov. It was built in an unusual style for Russia - an English hunting castle. The project was carried out by Italian Antonio Rinaldi. This palace also took a very long time to build - 15 years, and Orlov only had a chance to live in it for a very short time - only two years.
Tavrichesky Palace (Shpalernaya street, building 47)
This palace, one of the largest in Europe, was built by Catherine the Great for Prince Potemkin. It was under his leadership that the Russian army, having won the Russian-Turkish war, annexed Crimean peninsula, then called "Tavrida". After this, Potemkin began to be called Tauride. But Potemkin a year later sold this palace as unnecessary and left for the south on business. Catherine bought this palace and gave it to him again - this time for the capture of the Turkish fortress of Izmail.
In May 2009, I already wrote about this palace. I then had a series of posts about Pokrovskoye-Rubtsovo.
Yesterday late in the evening Zina and Lesha and I were driving past and I realized that they didn’t remember about him.
So I repeat the post.
The palace is located on the street. Gastello 44 http://maps.yandex.ru/-/CZHEbkC
And in the time of the beautiful Elizabeth and before, this was the royal village of Pokrovskoye-Rubtsovo.
In her youth, the daughter of Peter 1, Elizaveta, lived in Pokrovskoye. Removed from the court by Anna Ioannovna, she built a newfangled palace on the estate, indulged in carefree amusements here, organizing holidays with friends, forcing the Pokrov peasants to dance at them. Moscow historian, writer I.K. Kondratyev writes that “being of a naturally cheerful character, the princess participated here in festive round dances composed of Pokrovsky maidens and young women, dressing in their beautiful costume: a colored satin sundress and kokoshnik, or a brocade kiku with pearl beads and braid, or just like a girl, weaving their Yaroslavl ribbon into a tubular braid... Since then, one must think, they sang the song:
In the village, the village of Pokrovskoye,
In the middle of the big street,
Played out, danced
Beautiful maiden soul."
Although after her accession to the throne, Elizaveta Petrovna did not forget Pokrovskoe, dear to her heart, she ordered the architect Bartolomeo Rastrelli to make the palace even more magnificent - but still she does not go there so often.
The village is quiet, but sometimes holidays were still held here: visitors had fun on the carousels and swings, and sleighs or strollers rolled down the huge, almost 400-meter-long sled hill. This mountain was purposely made for the arrival of Catherine II in 1763, but even in her absence she allowed “the nobility and the merchants and all ranks of people, except the vile ones,” to pass in summer and winter. Visitors were also treated to “a tavern and food in it, tea, chek-lad, coffee, Gdansk and French vodka, grape drinks, half-beer and meads.” From about the second half of the 18th century. the village becomes an ordinary suburb of the city, and then a part of it, in which intensive construction of factories and factories begins.
Well, now, in order.
St. Gastello 44. The former Pokrovsky Palace of the “beautiful Elizabeth” has a long and largely unknown history. It is known that here on the shore of a large pond there were wooden mansions intended for staying royal family. So, in 1713, Tsarevna Maria Alekseevna, later the future Empress Elizaveta Petrovna, lived there along with her relatives Skavronsky and Gendrikov. It is possible that in the mid-1730s, instead of wooden mansions, stone chambers were built, architect. M.G. Zemtsov.
During the great Moscow fire in May 1737, the palace burned down completely.
In 1742 - 1743 it was rebuilt into an elegant baroque palace designed by the architect F.B. Rastrelli.
This is according to S.K. Romanyuk.
And I. Kondratiev wrote in 1893 in his “Hoary Antiquity of Moscow” that in 1742 a wooden palace was built here, which is listed in all the old Moscow guidebooks. It burned down and in 1753 a stone one was built in its place.
On the mezzanine of the central part there was a house church; today we take its head, which still stands without a cross, for a belvedere.
The palace stands on a hillock, in front of it there was a small courtyard, which went down to a pond, which was formed from the dammed Rybinka River, which flowed into the Yauza not far from the palace. A beautiful wooden bridge was built from the palace to the middle of the pond, where there was an island and the wooden Church of the Resurrection.
Now, in place of the pond and all this beauty, a residential building in the Stalinist Empire style has been built, Rybinka has been enclosed in a pipe... and the palace is shaking from the trains that pass right in front of it along the Kurskaya line railway, which was built by the industrialist P. von Derviz.
But the next post will be about him, or rather about his traces in Pokrovskaya-Rubtsov.
With the coming to power of Emperor Peter I in Russia, a grandiose era of transformation began in the state, which became the impetus for changes in urban planning and architecture.
“Golden Mansions” by Catherine
In 1703, the emperor founded a new city - St. Petersburg, and 9 years later, construction began on a small house for Empress Ekaterina Alekseevna, the monarch’s wife. It was located on the southern bank of the Moika and was a small house with a turret that ended with a gilded spire. The structure was named “Golden Mansions”. Subsequently, this area received the name Tsaritsyn Meadow and became part of the Summer Garden - a large royal estate. On its territory, exotic fruits were grown for the empress: pineapples and bananas.
A few years after construction, it was decided to build a grandiose palace, which would be crowned with a tetrahedral dome, but the plan was not realized.
Failed construction
In 1730-1740 Empress Anna Ioannovna was in power, and several years before her death she instructed the architect Bartolomeo Rastrelli to build a palace on Tsaritsyn Meadow, and this should be done as soon as possible. However, the death of the empress did not allow the architect to begin executing her order. Her successor, Anna Leopoldovna, also wanted to build her own palace on this site; the construction was entrusted to the same Rastrelli. The architect prepared the necessary drawings in February 1741, but it was not possible to present them to the empress: in March a coup d'état was carried out, and Empress Elizabeth Petrovna came to power.
Bartolomeo Francesco Rastrelli
The Summer Palace of Elizabeth Petrovna was created by Bartolomeo Francesco Rastrelli, the greatest architect of the 18th century. He came from an Italian aristocratic family and held the title of count. His father was the sculptor Carlo Rastrelli, who worked for a long time at the court of the French Sun King Louis, and after the death of the latter was invited by the Russian Emperor to Russia.
Bartolomeo with early years was involved by his father in working on various projects, and went to Europe to study. Rastrelli's first documented work in Russia was the three-story palace of Dmitry Cantemir, built in the Peter the Great Baroque style.
In the 1730s, Rastrelli was engaged in the construction of the Rundāle Palace and the Palace in Mitau, which he built on the orders of the Duke of Courland. It was on the recommendation of Biron of Courland that Rastrelli became the court architect.
Architectural style of Rastrelli
Bartolomeo created a unique style in architecture. Thus, he began to use semi-circular window ends on the facades, and usually assembled half-columns in pairs and bundles. External columns usually did not play a constructive role, but were intended only for decoration. His palaces were characterized by huge state halls, covering the entire depth of the floor, and when decorating the interiors, he tried to avoid curved lines. All his buildings are characterized by flashy power, grandeur and solemnity, even pomp. Rastrelli abandoned the traditional strip foundations of that time, preferring platforms made of brick and stone based on piles, which, in turn, made it possible to partially redistribute loads, and this was very important for the soft soils of St. Petersburg.
Creations of the great architect
The great architect, in addition to the Rundāle and Mitavsky palaces, built the following structures that became landmarks:
- Great Peterhof Palace.
- St. Andrew's Church in Kyiv.
- Smolny Cathedral in St. Petersburg.
- Vorontsov Palace.
- Hermitage Museum.
- Winter Palace.
- Royal Palace in Kyiv, etc.
Lost buildings of the architect
Some of his buildings this moment lost:
- Kantemirovsky Palace.
- Throne room on the Yauza.
- Winter Palace of Anna Ioannovna.
- Winter Kremlin Palace.
- Summer Palace of Elizabeth Petrovna.
- Traveling Srednerogatsky Palace.
History of the construction of the Summer Palace of Elizabeth Petrovna
The exact date of laying the foundation of the palace has not been preserved. According to one version, Anna Leopoldovna and her husband Prince Anton Ulrich were present during the laying of the foundation in July 1941; according to another, the laying took place a month earlier. However, the spouses were not destined to live in the new palace.
Rastrelli received an order to finish the palace he had begun from Tsarevna Elizaveta Petrovna, who became the empress. Construction was completed in 1743 - this was the first palace of the Empress, built personally for her, and the Empress liked it so much that she doubled the architect's salary - to 2,500 rubles a year.
The Empress used the summer residence from May to September every year; she devoted this time to her relaxation, almost not engaging in important state affairs. In 1754, it was here that Grand Duke Pavel, the son of Ekaterina Alekseevna, was born, and here Elizaveta Petrovna staged celebrations to mark the end of the seven-year war and the conclusion of peace with Prussia. Then the empress began to visit the palace less and less, spending more time in Tsarskoe Selo, and the palace gradually began to deteriorate.
Summer Palace of Elizabeth Petrovna: description
The architecture of the Summer Palace is such that it is simply impossible not to notice that the author of the project was impressed by the French Versailles. The building is characterized by the traditional Baroque closed ensemble of the front courtyard in front of the palace. Detailed description Rastrelli's brainchild was no longer there, but some memories of the imperial estate were found.
Thus, the summer residence of Elizabeth Petrovna consisted of 160 apartments, there were both the queen’s personal chambers and numerous halls, galleries and even a church. In order to enter the palace territory, one had to pass through wide openwork gates made of bars, crowned with gilded eagles. According to the architect, “everything was decorated with mirrors and rich sculpture, as well as new garden, decorated with beautiful fountains, with the Hermitage built on the ground floor level, surrounded by rich trellises, all the decorations of which were gilded.”
The room had two facades. The main one was facing the Moika River; flower beds and neat trees were placed in front of it, turning this area into a park. The second façade faced Nevsky Prospekt, where, by order of Bartolomeo, a wide road was laid along which were located numerous greenhouses with flowers and trees.
The first floor of the Summer Palace of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna was made of stone, but the second was entirely wooden. The building is designed in pink tones, and the basement rooms are in gray. The ground floor was tiled with green granite. Inside the palace, all rooms were decorated with Bohemian mirrors, marble sculptures and paintings by famous artists. At the ground floor level, the Hermitage was built, where paintings of religious and biblical content were kept, some of which have survived to this day.
In the main building there was a Great Ceremonial Hall, against the western wall of which the royal throne was located. In order to get to the Throne Room, it was necessary to pass a series of living rooms and a huge grand staircase decorated with gilded carvings. The throne room amazed with its grandeur, which was further emphasized by the clever arrangement of candelabra and chandeliers, which created the impression of a two-light volume. Several curly staircases also led to the Throne Room from the garden side, each of which was complemented by ramps. The imperial chambers were located in the eastern wing of the palace, and the courtiers lived in the western wing. Each of the palace premises was lavishly decorated with a variety of statues and vases. The façade of the building was crowned with numerous balustrades.
Palace Park
The entire territory of the palace complex was surrounded by a decorative park. The garden also contained magnificent fountains, and the park itself was a complex labyrinth of green spaces. On the territory of the complex, Rastrelli created three unusual fountain pools of complex outlines. There were small gazebos and benches throughout the park, and in the center there were carousels, swings and slides. Also, according to the architect’s idea, two artificial trapezoidal semicircular ponds were created, which, by the way, have survived to this day.
Subsequent changes
Francesco Rastrelli continued to work on the Empress's summer residence for many years. So, he decorated the walls with figured platbands, atlases and lion masks; 9 years after the completion of construction, he added a new gallery hall to the north-eastern side of the palace. The Empress was only pleased with such constant changes, while the owner the architectural integrity of the building was of little interest. The main thing is that new buildings should be as luxurious as possible.
In 1745, by order of the Empress, a covered gallery was built for the passage from the palace to the Summer Garden; its walls were lavishly decorated with artistic canvases. In 1747, the architect created a terrace with a fountain in the center, located on the same level as the Hermitage pavilion. It was fenced along the entire perimeter with gilded bars.
A little later, a church appears on the territory of the summer palace, which expands the palace complex from the Fontanka side, and bay windows appear on the western side of the façade.
On the territory of the palace, Rastrelli also built water towers with aqueducts, which were also lavishly decorated with paintings.
Catherine's period
The Summer Palace of Elizabeth Petrovna in St. Petersburg became the site of the triumph of Catherine II. It was here that she arranged an official reception for foreign diplomats after her accession to the throne, and here she learned about the death of Peter III. Without living in the residence, Catherine granted it first to Grigory Orlov, then to Grigory Potemkin.
In 1777 there was a flood, which greatly damaged the already dilapidated palace. No one began to restore the damaged water cannon, and the aqueduct was dismantled.
The summer palace of Elizabeth Petrovna was demolished in 1797 by order of Emperor Paul I. A few weeks after his accession to the throne, he gave the order to build a new impregnable castle-fortress on the site of an already dilapidated building, since living in Winter Palace the emperor did not want to at all. There is a legend according to which the Archangel Michael appeared to one of the guard soldiers and ordered that the Tsar be told about the need to build a church on the site of the palace, which became part of the Mikhailovsky Castle complex. This is exactly how Mikhailovsky Castle grew up on the site of Elizabeth’s summer residence in 1800. The decorations of Elizabeth's summer residence were neatly folded and taken to other royal estates.
How to get to the Summer Palace of Elizabeth Petrovna? Unfortunately, it has not survived. On the site of the Summer Palace of Elizaveta Petrovna (address: St. Petersburg, Sadovaya Street, 2) the Mikhailovsky, or Engineering Castle, is currently located. To get to the castle, you just need to use the metro and get off at the Nevsky Prospekt or Gostiny Dvor stations.
