The grand residence in Strelna was founded by Peter the Great.
The construction of the ensemble began with the laying of the Lower regular park in 1715. And 5 years later, in 1720, architect Nicola Michetti started the construction of a big stone palace. However the ensemble wasn’t finished until the end of the XVIII century. In the XIX century almost neglected imperial residence became the country estate of grand dukes of the House of Romanovs. After the revolution here the school was placed; and in 1950s the palace, which sustained a great damage during the occupation of Strelna by the fascists, was reconstructed into Leningrad arctic college.
In the beginning of the new century Konstantinovsky palace and park ensemble found a new high mission by getting a status of the State Complex “The National Congress Palace”. The restoration works under the authority of the Administrative department of the President of the Russian Federation were finished in 2003 for the 300 anniversary of St. Petersburg. The revived Konstantin palace combined the functions of a State residence and a modern business, museum, cultural and exhibition centre.
