Rossi Pavilion

The site now occupied by the pavilion was previously the location of one of the city's early imperial palaces, the Golden Mansion of Peter the Great's wife, Empress Catherine.

The pavilion, designed by Rossi in the Neoclassical style, was built to provide an area for pleasure and refreshment overlooking the river, with a pier where boats could moor.

Designed in the Neoclassical style, it has an open Doric colonnade connecting two square rooms, cast-iron fences, and a pier on the river accessed by two flights of granite steps.

The garden had been granted by Peter to Catherine in 1712 for her residence, which was a relatively small wooden construction, receiving its name from its golden spire, with some rooms decorated with gilded leather.

[5][6] The pavilion formed part of the general reconstruction of the garden and its surrounding areas, begun in 1817 under the orders of Emperor Alexander I.

The pavilion and its pier, designed by Rossi and completed in 1825, formed part of this ensemble, and was intended "for romantic meetings on summer evenings over a cup of tea or playing cards".