Vorontsov Palace (Saint Petersburg)

The palace of 50 rooms was built at enormous expense by Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli for Count Mikhail Illarionovich Vorontsov, Empress Elizabeth's chancellor and maternal relative by marriage.

After his niece Elizaveta Vorontsova fell from grace, Vorontsov was effectively exiled from the court and sold his main residence to the crown.

Another Italian architect working in Russia, Giacomo Quarenghi, was then asked to modernise the palace.

The palace is screened from Sadovaya Street by an elaborate cast iron grille, and it is separated from the Fontanka Embankment by a large garden.

In 2013, a Monument to graduates of Suvorov schools and cadet corps by sculptor Karen Sarkisov was erected next to the palace.