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
Tsarevna Catherine Ivanovna of Russia Russia in 1722 with her surviving daughter. The couple never divorced, but they never saw each other again. On the death of Peter II in 1730, the Supreme Privy Council considered Catherine as a candidate for the tsardom as the eldest daughter of Ivan V, but the fear that her spouse would gain influence in Russia and her own independent and capricious nature led to her widowed younger sister Anna, Duchess of Courland, being chosen instead, because she was considered more docile. Catherine was involved in the events of 7 March 1730, when a group of nobles (between 150 and