History

During Paul's time the title "St.Michael's Castle" comprised not only the building itself but the whole Emperor's residence.

The ensemble comprised

• the mighty Connetable Square (from French connetable – the commander in chief of the army) in front of the southern facade where the bronze monument to Peter I produced by Carlo Bartolomeo Rastrelli was set up in 1800. Until 1823 the square was surrounded by a ditch with the drawbridge.

• two three-storey similar pavilions of palace type – western and eastern (now belong to the Russian Museum) that open onto Klenovaya alley

• Exerzierhaus (drill hall)

• Stables

• Kitchen and gendarme buildings, cellar.

The pavilions serves as a joining link between the castle and the city building and makes a mighty impression. The lower floors are decorated with bas-reliefs on subjects of antique myths about the travels of Dionysus (Sculptor – Fyodor Gordeev). The bas-reliefs probably contained a programme allegorically related to Emperor Paul I. The pavilions were completed in 1800 and meant for dwelling of ladies in waiting and maids of honour of the imperial court. After Paul's death the state apartments of the Court Administration were located here.

The new life of the pavilions started from the moment when Emperor Alexander I on the initiative of Grand Duke Nicolas Pavlovich decided to transfer the buildings to the newly created Engineering Department. On the 1st July of 1817 Alexander I appointed Nicolas Pavlovich the patron of the battalion and the general and inspector on Engineering. One of the first steps of the new general and inspector was establishment of the Engineering College in 1819 on the base of the special Engineering School at the Draughts' Expedition. St. Michael's Castle together with the pavilions was handed to the Engineering Department for the Main (afterwards – the Nicolas) Engineering College.

Later there were a company of draughtsmen (officers of low rank) of the Engineering College, models, a library and classes in the Western Pavilion. Then the building housed a Training field engineer battalion, the court's chemist's shop with a laboratory, a school of musicians and bandmasters of the Guards corps, the Headquarters of the Guards reserve of Infantry Corps and the Galvanic Museum.

After Paul's death the Eastern Pavilion housed "the Chapter of Russian Orders", the Engineering School and a school of horsebreakers. The Fencing room on the ground floor of this pavilion was located there in the beginning of the 20th century.

In 1905-1907 the architectural community was actively discussing the intention of the Engineering Department to build a new building at the square in front of the Engineers' Castle . This would have led to rebuilding of pavilions. The architect Leonty Benois spoke in against that project. As a result of it the decision was made to transfer the construction to a vacant area. In the Soviet time the buildings belonged to the Leningrad Military District and were used for administrative purposes.

The pavilions of St. Michael's Castle were handed over for operational management to the Russian Museum. At present the Eastern Pavilion houses the department of the Russian Museum – The Russian Centre of museum's pedagogy and children's creative work. The Multimedia Centre is located in the Western Pavilion.