It was built from 1766 to 1781 by Antonio Rinaldi for Count Grigori Grigoryevich Orlov, who was a favourite of Catherine the Great, in Gatchina, a suburb of the royal capital Saint Petersburg.

Catherine presented the manor to Count Grigory Grigoryevich Orlov, who had reportedly organized the assassination of Emperor Peter III three years earlier, resulting in her becoming empress.

On 30 May 1766, construction of a new palace in the Classical architecture style began on a hill next to Lake Serebryany on the grounds of Gatchina Manor.

She presented it to her son, Grand Duke Pavel Petrovich (the future Tsar Paul I), despite already building him a home, Pavlovsk Palace, in Saint Petersburg.

Roman Ivanovich Kuzmin, the chief architect of the Ministry of the Imperial Court, led the project centred on the palace's main square, which was completely torn up, raised in height, had basement levels added underneath, and decoration remodelled.

Alexander III spent most of his time living in Gatchina Palace, where he signed decrees, held diplomatic receptions, theatrical performances, masquerades and costumed balls, and other events and entertainment.

His mother, Dowager Empress Maria Feodorovna, widow of Alexander III, was the patron of the city of Gatchina, the palace and its parks.

In 1900 an experimental 200 metres long monorail line constructed by Ippolit W. Romanow was built in the garden of Gatchina Palace.

The monorail does not exist any more (further informations are required) In the early 20th century, increasing instability in Russia led to the February Revolution of 1917, resulting in the abdication of Tsar Nicholas II and the establishment of the Provisional Government headed by Alexander Kerensky.

Following the October Revolution and the subsequent outbreak of the Russian Civil War, the Gatchina Palace served as a local headquarters for troops loyal to the White Movement.

On 9 November 1917, Alexander Kerensky and Pyotr Krasnov, commanding 700 Cossacks of the 3rd Cavalry Corps, passed through Gatchina on their way to Tsarskoye Selo in an effort to stop the October Revolution.

In 1926, Gatchina Palace was stripped of all unnecessary items, such as furniture, bronze products and carpets, to be sold to make money for the Soviet state.

In 1941, the Soviet Union's entry into World War II following the German invasion saw the museum at Gatchina Palace evacuated to protect the building and valuables from aerial bombardment.

On 15 August 1941, a bomb dropped by the Luftwaffe exploded next to the palace, and by the end of the month the city was within reach of German artillery.

The remaining property was located in the basement of the palace, part of a large sculpture was buried in the park, and the others stored in an area closed with sandbags.

When Gatchina was retaken by the Red Army, the palace's remains were protected with temporary shields until basic restoration work could begin in 1948.

In 1960, the building of the palace was removed from the account of the GIOP, the authority for historical and cultural monuments in the Leningrad area, but this status was restored in the 1970s.

In 1961, the architect Mikhail Plotnikov initiated the development of a project to restore the Gatchina Palace, including taking architectural measurements and searching archival materials.

The museum was eventually reopened in the palace alongside the All-Union Research Institute, and restoration of the building was resumed thanks to the efforts of A. S. Yolkina, the main curator from 1968 to 1998.

The architect Rinaldi, who was involved in the design and construction of the palace, synthesised the typological features of similar buildings, creating an architectural fantasy on the theme of a knightly hunting castle.

On the south side of the central block, opposite the park, is a recess with three entrance door arches and a balcony which creates a play of volumes.

The layout of the palace creates a feeling of plasticity and integrity of the building as a whole, and each of its elements in particular, is enhanced by the alternation of the extended volumes and protruding faceted towers.

The decoration of the palace's rooms, created at that time, was characterised by delicate and refined mouldings, as well as parquet flooring made of precious wood.