The Summer Palace of Peter I is considered one of the oldest buildings in St. Petersburg. The house is in a very beautiful place called Summer Garden. This park was broken in the early 18th century, when the Northern capital was just beginning to be built up. To work on his summer residence, Peter I invited eminent architects and garden artists. The king wanted to build a garden here in the Versailles style. Looking ahead, let's say that it has turned out and still the Summer Garden remains one of the favorite places for tourists and residents of the city.

The place for the Summer Palace Peter chose between the Neva and Fontanka (in those years - the Nameless Eric), right where the estate of the Swedish Major Erich von Konou was located . @ It was here that a small two-storeyed stone house was built, designed by architect Domenico Trezzini . True, the original plan of the house Peter did on his own, and Trezzini only corrected it . It is worth noting that the Summer Palace of Peter I is not very exuberant . This is very a modest building in the style of ba rocco, very unlike the royal mansion . The layout of both floors is completely identical . There are only 14 rooms, 2 cooks and 2 internal corridors . On the first floor there were rooms of the king, on the second floor his wife Ekaterina . The owners used this house only in a warm time - from May to October . That is why in the Summer Palace of Peter I thin walls and single frames in the windows . The facade of the palace is decorated with 28 bas-reliefs depicting the events of the Northern War .

Despite the external simplicity in the Summer Palace of Peter I was everything that was required for the needs of the sovereign . In the reception he read letters, examined complaints and sometimes received visitors . In the neighborhood there was a lathe and a machine, behind which Peter worked, a bedroom, a dressing room, a cook, a dining room and a large room - the assembly . For the guilty there was a punishment cell . The interior of the palace in allegorical form glorified Russia's victory over the Swedes in the Northern War . On the second floor is the master bedroom of Catherine, a children's room, the maids of honor, and a separate room for dancing .

Next to the palace is another building - the Human Chambers. It housed the famous Amber Room, a huge library and numerous collections of all sorts of things that Peter collected. For example, an anatomical collection of the Dutch scientist Ruysch was kept in the Human Chambers. In fact, this house housed a large museum: the Tsar brought here various curiosities, mechanisms, a lot of circulations, astronomical instruments, stones with inscriptions, objects of everyday life of different peoples and much more.

Its main the administration of the country residence of the king, the Summer Palace, performed until the mid-18th century . Then the officials began to use it for him . For some time the palace was even abandoned . That's what kept it from reorganizing . In 1934 there is the Museum of History and Art . The building suffered during the Great Patriotic War . But the large-scale reconstruction in the mid-50s of the 20th century helped to completely restore the palace . Today the Tsar's residence is part of the Russian Museum, anyone can go inside and find out how he lived Peter I .

critical information

Address of the Summer Garden: St. Petersburg, Kutuzov Embankment, 2. The nearest metro station is Gostiny Dvor. Entrance to the garden is free, opening hours are from 10.00 to 20.00. The day off is Tuesday. Currently, the Summer Palace of Peter I is temporarily closed for renovation.

The information is indicated in September 2013.