The palace received its name in memory of Peter I’s visit in 1717 to the residence of the French kings in Marly-le-Roi near Paris (the palace was dismantled in 1806). The Peterhof Marly and the surrounding ponds and gardens do not replicate the French prototype; they borrow general compositional solutions and the idea of combining decorative and utilitarian purposes of the park. In Peterhof, Peter I ordered the creation of “cascades opposite the pond… all in proportion to the Marly cascade, which is opposite the royal chambers…”.

Constructed simultaneously with the laying of the Marly ponds according to the design of Johann Braunstein in 1720–1723. Initially, it was planned as a single-story building. During construction, by Peter’s order, changes were made to the project, and the palace acquired a second floor, which gave the palace’s proportions balance and completeness (in volume, the palace is a clearly defined cube). Sculptor Nicolas Pino, stone masters Yakov Neupokoev and Antoine Cardasie participated in the construction and decoration of the Marly palace. The palace is noted for its particular modesty compared to other buildings of the Peterhof ensemble, characteristic also of other small palaces created for Peter. The facades are decorated with laconic details — rusticated pilasters with Doric capitals, balconies with wrought-iron grilles, and window frames with small square glazing. The palace has a total of 12 rooms, excluding the staircase and two corridors. Unusually, the palace lacks a traditional ceremonial hall. Peter I assigned this role to the vestibule (“Front Hall”).

The elegant silhouette of the palace seems to float in the air, reflected in the mirror-like surface of the ponds. Its beauty lies not in wealth and splendor, but in extraordinarily successful architectural proportions and simple yet exquisite decoration. Initially, it was assumed that the palace would be single-story, but when the building was already roofed, Peter I ordered the addition of a second floor, as it became clear that its proportions did not correspond to the size of the Large Pond.

A new planning technique was used in the construction of "Marly": for the first time, a corridor system appeared, where various rooms adjoined the central axis of the corridor. The first floor houses the Kitchen, Buffet, large Front Hall, Duty Room, Bedroom, and a small Plane Tree Cabinet distinguished by its special beauty of decoration. All its walls are lined with plane tree wood, and as pictorial inserts, three portraits of Peter I’s children are used: paired portraits of Elizabeth and Anna, and portraits of Peter and Alexei. A staircase with openwork railings leads to the second floor, where the Dressing Room, Toilet Room, Living Room with a Small Corner Room, Dining Room, Oak Cabinet, and Library are located. The library contained books on mathematics, park construction, fortification, naval affairs, and more. Today, the Marly library exhibition holds 69 books.

The palace is located right at the border of the western part of the Lower Park. It stands on an artificial isthmus between the Sectoral and Large Marly ponds, where fish have been bred since Peter’s times. The "Marly" palace plays an important role in the overall layout of the Lower Park. From the eastern shore of the Marly pond, three radial alleys spread out — Marly, Birch, and Maliban alleys. They cross the entire park from west to east and connect the palace with the main structures of the Peterhof ensemble.

Since its construction, the "Marly" palace was used as a guest house for the residence of noble persons and members of the imperial family. Catherine I stayed at "Marly," and her eldest daughter Anna Petrovna lived here for some time with her husband, the Duke of Holstein. The French ambassador J. Chetardi stayed at "Marly," Nicholas I with Alexandra Feodorovna and other members of the Romanov family, as well as their high-ranking guests, rested and drank tea here. However, by the mid-18th century, it acquired a memorial character.

In 1899, the palace was completely dismantled to be placed on a new foundation. The need for radical work arose because cracks appeared in the palace walls. The restoration work was supervised by engineer Semyonov; all original decorative details were preserved, and the accuracy of the reconstruction was excellent.

The westernmost part of the Lower Park is occupied by the Marly Garden, divided by the Large Pond into the Bacchus Garden (located south of the pond) and the Venus Garden (located on the northern side, closer to the sea). The gardens were laid out simultaneously with the construction of the palace and had a utilitarian purpose. Fruits for court meals were grown in the Venus Garden. The name Bacchus Garden is transparent: under Peter I, attempts were made to grow grapes here, but unsuccessfully. The Venus Garden is protected from winds from the Baltic by an earthen rampart, built during the laying of the ponds. To the east of the Marly palace lies the Marly Pond, and to the west — the Sectoral ponds. Their purpose was not only decorative: fish for the royal table, brought from various parts of Russia, were kept in the ponds, and since 1724, fish breeding began here. The Marly ponds are a kind of living monument. The tradition of fish breeding has been revived in modern times, and fishing enthusiasts can spend leisure time at Marly enjoying their favorite pastime.

The layout of the Marly Garden follows the canons of a regular park; the successful combination of picturesque grandeur and utilitarian purpose led to Marly becoming a model for the arrangement of Russian estates in the 18th century.

The palace suffered severe damage during the Great Patriotic War from a delayed-action mine hit (collections were evacuated in 1941). The facades were restored after 1955, and since 1982 Marly has been reopened to visitors as a museum.

The current exhibition of the Marly palace features unique exhibits: Emperor Peter I’s naval coat and a caftan embroidered with the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called, books from his library, a table with an “aspid” board made by the tsar’s own hands, and his personal dishes. Also presented is a collection of paintings gathered by the emperor, which forms the basis of the palace’s painting exhibition. It includes works by little-known Dutch, Flemish, and Italian masters of the 17th–18th centuries. Some furniture items are authentic, others carefully selected by analogy, in accordance with preserved documents.

Sources:

https://peterhofmuseum.ru/objects/peterhof/dvorets_marli

https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marli_(palace,_Peterhof)