Lomonosov (Oranienbaum)

Alexander Menshikov (circa 1672–1729), the first governor of St. Petersburg, began building this luxurious summer residence on the shores of the Baltic Sea in 1710. Before construction was complete, however, Menshikov was stripped of his formidable political power and exiled, leaving his half-finished summer estate in the hands of Peter III, the ill-fated husband of Catherine the Great. Lomonosov was originally called Oranienbaum after the orangery attached to the main palace then renamed for the 18th-century scientist Mikhail Lomonosov and is the only imperial residence to have survived World War II entirely intact.