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Lefortovo Estate

VENUS DAM LISTED BUILDING, the 1720s - the 1730s

The dam was builf under the supervision of Nicolaas Bidloo and involving such architects as Ivan Zarudny, Ivan Ustinov, Petr Eropkin and Timofey Usov for celebrations of Catherine Fs coronation. In the 1730s, the dam was rebuilt supposedly by Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli. It used to be surmounted by a Venus statue (not survived).

SUMMERHOUSE LISTED BUILDING, 1904

This site was a favourite rest place of Peter I. In 1805, a "temple summerhouse", the first monument to the Emperor in Moscow, projected by architect Matvey Kazakov, was erected here. It was rebuilt after the hurricane of 1904. The inscription stamped on the stela reads as follows: "My Minnich's efforts have rendered me well. I hope to sail with him someday from Petersburg to Moscow antj to come ashore at Golovinsky Garden".

GROTTO LISTED BUILDING, the 1720s - the 1730s

The grotto was built under the supervision of Nicolaas Bidloo and involving such architects as Ivan Zarudny, Ivan Ustinov, Petr Eropkin and Timofey Usov for celebrations of Catherine I's coronation. The sculpture decoration was designed to glorify Russia's military victories. Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli rebuilt the grotto in 1731. Its first renovation in the 1770s - the 1780s was connected with the construction of Catherine the Great Palace in Lefortovo; the second one took place in the first half of the XIX century.