Summer Palace of Peter the Great jail where Peter personally prosecuted, locked up, and released prisoners; and Peter’s favorite room, his workshop. The construction of the Summer Palace was completed in 1714. When the Summer Palace was completed in 1714, it became the residence of Peter the Great and his second wife Catherine I of Russia and many of their 12 children—with Peter occupying the first floor and Catherine, along with the children, occupying the second one, until Peter’s death in 1725. After Peter the Great’s death, the Summer Palace was occupied for several years by members of the Imperial family and their courtiers. During part
Ivan V of Russia supreme ruler and Tsar of all of Russia. The struggle for power within the family had finally ended, and Peter was left to bring Russia into a new age of westernization. In 1730, more than 30 years after Ivan's death, his second surviving daughter Anna, Duchess of Courland was invited to the throne of Russia by the country's privy council. She ruled for more than 10 years, and was succeeded by Ivan's infant great-grandson Ivan VI, but a palace coup engineered in 1741, by Ivan's niece Elizabeth, resulted in the throne passing finally to the progeny of Peter the Great.