Built at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries, the Mikhailovsky, and now Engineering, castle was to become the main residence of Emperor Paul the First. The place was not chosen by chance: the merger of the Fontanka with the Moika was always associated with the imperial surname.
At the beginning of the eighteenth century on this territory were the Summer Gardens, broken up under Peter, and later, in the 1745th, a summer residence was erected here for Pavel's cousin - Elizaveta Petrovna, within whose walls the future Russian emperor was born.
The monarch always remembered his happy childhood spent here with warmth. And once he said that he wanted to die in the place where he was born.
The engineering castle designed by Bazhenov was built for a long twelve years, immediately after Paul ascended to the throne. The dilapidated summer residence was demolished, and in 1797 they began to build the Mikhailovsky Palace.
The emperor was in such a hurry to finish the construction that for the sake of laying the bookmark for the day, he mourned Catherine II and Peter III.
For the whole four years, Pavel personally monitored the work.
The name of the new palace - "Mikhailovsky Castle" - was associated with his fascination with chivalry and closeness to his soul of the image of the eponymous archangel. The architecture of medieval buildings has always attracted him. Therefore, Paul’s decree called his other residences “castles”, both urban and suburban: Zimny, Tsarskoye Selo, etc.
To complete the work as soon as possible, building materials from all other large construction projects were delivered to Mikhailovsky or Engineering Castle: decorative stone, columns, sculptures were brought from the Academy of Arts and Tsarskoye Selo, a frieze placed above the main gate from St. Isaac's Cathedral, parquet from the Tauride Palace.
The main entrance to the palace was radically transformed. The approaches to the building began from Italianskaya Street, passed through a semicircular triple gate, the middle passage of which was intended only for the royal family.
Outside the gates was a wide and straight alley, on the sides of which there were stables and an arena. It ended at the three-story guardrooms, after which fortifications were made.
Connetable Square ended in a wide moat, and a lifting wooden bridge was thrown across it.
On the first day of February 1801, the imperial family moved to the Mikhailovsky Palace, and only forty days later Pavel was killed. His wish came true: he was born and died in this place.
In 1819, the palace was transferred to the disposal of an engineering school. From here came its other name - "Engineering Castle" - which was officially assigned to him since 1823.
Known for his tendency to ostentatious effect, to parades and balls, Paul practically “stuffed” his palace with wealth and luxury. The engineering castle, whose photo is striking not only with the monumentality of the structure, but also with its chic interior decoration, combines a variety of interiors from malachite, marble, jasper and lapis lazuli with wooden carved elements, amazing sculpting, velvet upholstery trimmed with silver, with works of the most famous artists.
Mikhailovsky Palace has always been full of mysteries and legends. They say that on the day the castle was consecrated, the golden-haired young man came to the sentry of the imperial army, who ordered something to be transferred to the emperor. Immediately after the murder of Paul, the imperial family left the palace. However, for another year his ghost in the Engineering Castle frightened the employees of the Court Office, who moved here.