2-587-882 - © Fine Art Images/Heritage Images

View of the Michael Palace and the Connetable Square, St Petersburg, c1800. St Michael's Castle is a former imperial palace built for Tsar Paul I in 1797-1801. The architects were Vincenzo Brenna and Vasili Bazhenov. Paul I was assassinated by conspirators in his bedroom in the palace on 12 March 1801, just 40 days after moving in. After his death the Imperial Family did not use the palace and it was handed over to the Russian Army's Main Engineering School. Since the 1990s it has housed part of the collection of the Russian Museum. The statue in front of the building depicts Peter the Great. Found in the collection of the State Russian Museum, St Petersburg.