Having achieved the famous victory at Poltava and established himself on the banks of the Neva, Peter the Great actively engaged in organizing the young capital – Petersburg. The idea of turning its deserted surroundings into places of public amusement modeled after foreign country estates became his favorite passion. To this end, he began distributing the nearby islands to his nobles: Krestovsky Island was gifted to Menshikov, Yelagin to Shafirov, Kamenny to Count Golovkin, and Petrovsky to Tsarevna Natalia Alexeyevna. In 1711, in memory of the first victory over the Swedes and May 6, 1703, when he personally, as captain of the bombardier company, captured two Swedish ships and, together with his favorite Menshikov, was awarded the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called, he laid the foundation of a wooden palace near the site of this important event. This palace was given by Peter to his wife for summer residence and was named Ekateringof in her honor. At the same time, near Ekateringof on a small island called Sheep Island by the Swedes, Peter built a two-story stone palace with a tower, where he especially loved to spend time in solitude, looking through a spyglass, waiting for the ships he longed for to appear from Kronstadt. For this reason, this palace was called the Spyglass Palace. Later, this palace was converted into admiralty warehouses, and the island on which it stood was named Spyglass Island. During the reign of Elizabeth Petrovna, in 1745, according to the design of Count Minikh, the Ekateringof Palace was expanded with new buildings, transformed from one story to two. But the walls built by Peter survived. The palace became much larger, with 21 rooms on both floors; the lower floor retained the furnishings of Peter’s time, characterized by simplicity. On the upper floor, splendor, luxury, and magnificence prevailed, typical of the taste of a later era.

Here is what M. I. Pylyaev describes in his essay "Ekateringof Palace": "Besides the generally luxurious furnishings of the Ekateringof Palace and the many precious items it contains, special attention of visitors is drawn to things belonging to the unforgettable Tsar Peter. Among them, on the lower floor, are: an icon of the Vladimir Mother of God, placed here during Peter the Great’s lifetime before his bedroom; a wardrobe storing a ceremonial blue kaftan with gold embroidery on the pockets, front, and sleeves, which Peter wore on festive days; a moose leather coat with gold braid on the front and sleeves, worn by Peter in battles. In the bedroom stands a bed, assembled, according to legend, by Peter himself, without any decorations, simple, made of pine wood, with silk pillowcases and a silk green quilt, now completely faded, with sewn-on gold coats of arms; on the wall, a Dutch painting depicting a maritime scene; opposite the bed, a small antique mirror in a mirrored frame and a stand with Chinese cups and carved dishes; in the dining room, a round table brought to Peter the Great from Arkhangelsk, made of larch wood, above it two compasses, and above the fireplace a large compass with a wind indicator connected to a weather vane installed on the palace roof, and a portrait of Peter the Great depicted in armor."

On the upper floor are five embossed copper images of the deeds and victories of Peter the Great. In the corner room stands a carved image of Peter the Great in a laurel wreath, surrounded by military armor and weapons, presented to him after the Poltava victory by a foreigner named Kinch; on this image is the inscription: "Ob devictos Svevos ad Poltavam MDCCZX. D. 29. I" and the verse: "Vicit tortunam atque Herculis aedem" (i.e., conquered fortune and the power of Hercules).

In some rooms, Chinese cabinets, commodes, bureaus, lacquered screens with gilding on black lacquer, and various painted images are installed. These Chinese items were brought during Peter’s lifetime from Beijing by plenipotentiary ambassador, Life Guards Captain Lev Izmaylov, who was given ten thousand rubles to purchase them. On the wall hangs a large antique mirror. Also remarkable are a bronze bas-relief image of Peter the Great and a woven monogram of his, the first attempt of Russian manufactory work of his time. Also interesting is an old printed painting depicting Empress Catherine I in imperial robes, holding a scepter, surrounded by images of Russian rulers from Rurik in the form of a genealogical tree, with the inscription below: "Catherine Alexeyevna, Empress and Autocrat of All Russia, who unconditionally pleased her husband Peter the Great with all kinds of benefactions and, testifying to his manly spirit for his generous efforts and exploits in military campaigns with him – and in extraordinary honor gloriously crowned, after his passing into eternity with great Russian sorrow, having received his scepter with their great education, the second in Russia Olga, worthy heir of such a monarch."

On the wall along the staircase from the lower to the upper floor, instead of wallpaper, hangs a canvas map of Asian Russia, obviously drawn as a joke: the positions of the cardinal points are reversed, with the Indian and Sandy Seas at the top, the North and Arctic Seas at the bottom, Kamchatka to the west, and the kingdom of Gilan on the banks of the Amur River. The inscription "Up to this place Alexander the Great reached, hid, left a bell" further confirms the humorous nature of this map. On this map, for fun, Tsar Peter tested those uncertain in their knowledge of geography." (Today we can see this map in one of the halls of the Hermitage).

During the reign of Elizabeth Petrovna, the Ekateringof Palace was completed and flourished. It housed an extensive library of up to one hundred volumes, in beautiful bindings with golden coats of arms and the inscription: "Ekateringof Palace." The contents of the books in this library concerned exclusively the life and deeds of Emperor Peter the Great.

With the death of Elizabeth Petrovna, the Ekateringof Palace was completely deserted, and only once a year was the silence of its gardens enlivened by a crowd. Every year on May 1, the arrival of spring was celebrated here.

In the 1747–1750s, under the direction of H. van Bolos and his assistant Ivan Slyadnev, the palace was expanded by adding side wings and transformed from one story to two. On both sides of the palace on the harbor shore, two new buildings were also constructed. For this, parts of the Summer Palace of Anna Ioannovna, dismantled in the Summer Garden, were used. The main palace building with these wings was connected by an open terrace with a balustrade. The garden around the buildings was improved, the canal and ponds were cleaned. The ponds were given a round shape and fenced with wooden latticework.

In 1796, Ekateringof was annexed to the city and received a special privilege: smoking tobacco was strictly prohibited on the streets within the city limits of Petersburg, but it was allowed for those walking in Ekateringof.

In 1825, a museum of the era of Peter I was opened in the palace. Thus, the first palace museum in Russia was established here. The collections included Peter’s personal belongings, furniture, household items kept in his memorial bedroom, and rare books about the emperor.

In 1848, the museum exhibits were removed from Ekateringof Palace and transferred to the Peter’s Gallery of the Winter Palace. The last exhibits were taken from the palace in 1903 to the Summer Garden, after which it was closed to visitors. The palace retained its old interiors.

After 1917, youth organizations occupied Ekateringof Palace. On June 6, 1923, the building was damaged by fire; it burned twice more in 1925 and was dismantled for firewood in 1926.

Time passed, everything around the palace fell into neglect, the ponds became covered with algae, and the centuries-old custom of Petersburgers to celebrate spring on May 1 in Ekateringof was lost. After October 1917, Ekateringof Garden was renamed May 1 Garden, and in 1948 – the 30th Anniversary of the Komsomol Park.

Sources:

http://www.spytak.ru/humanities/as_gu_365.htm

https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Екатерингофский_дворец