Konstantin Palace
Konstantin Palace, in baroque style, is located in the town of Strelna. Situated on the road to Peterhof Palace, it is about 19km from Saint Petersburg.
In 1715, Peter I decided to have a palace built on this part of Finland Golf that could compete with Versailles.After the death of architect Jean-Baptiste Le Blond in 1719, the project was interrupted. It started again in 1730. It was Elizabeth I who gave a new momentum to the work. She put Bartolomeo Rastrelli in charge of the poject in 1741. The architect, who was interested in larger projects, did not complete it.
Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich, son of Paul I, received this palace in 1797. But it was destroyed in a fire five years later. It was restored and finally completed in 1807. It undertook modifications between 1847 and 1851.
Unfortunately, after World War II only ruins were left of the palace. Rebuilt, it was occupied by various public organizations and then by private ones after 1990. Badly damaged, the Palace was entirely renovated in the early 2000s. Since 2003, it is part of the national complex “Congress Palace”. It became a presidential residence, a museum and a congress centre.