On March 12, 1796, Emperor Paul I issued a decree obliging his wife, Empress Maria Feodorovna, to "preside over the educational society of noble maidens." The following year, by a personal decree to the Senate dated May 2, the emperor transferred the educational homes "with all their associated institutions" under the empress's management. Following Paul I’s orders, Prince A. Kurakin, in a highest report, called upon the ladies of the Order of Saint Catherine to establish "refuges for noble maidens without family, property, or support." The purpose of the educational institution was to provide girls from poor families with "proper upbringing, which should later constitute their wealth and dowry." Initially, 50 noblewomen and 50 commoner girls were accepted for education in the Society of Noble Maidens; then, by the emperor’s order, the number of pupils was doubled, and later the Saint Catherine Institute was opened with 60 places, additionally allowing the admission of pensioners.

Prince Kurakin proposed that all ladies who received the insignia of the Order of Saint Catherine under Emperor Paul, as well as those who would receive them in the future, make a one-time contribution for the establishment of refuges, and for their ongoing maintenance, that knights of all Russian orders owning order estates annually contribute a sum of money at their own discretion.

A few days after the report, Empress Maria Feodorovna wrote a letter to Prince A. B. Kurakin stating that she considered it her duty, "as the Grand Mistress of the Order of Saint Catherine, to set an example in such commendable and patriotic endeavors," and allocated 4,500 rubles from her own income for the newly established school. The Saint Catherine Order School in Saint Petersburg, thus founded on May 25, 1798, was intended for daughters of hereditary nobles who held officer ranks or equivalent ranks according to the Table of Ranks. The educational institution was under the jurisdiction of the Chancellery of Empress Maria Feodorovna.

The solemn opening of the institution took place on June 12, 1798. Initially, the school was housed in a wooden building opposite the Tauride Palace, from where it was moved to a stone house on Vladimirskaya Street, purchased from merchant Loginov. Later, Emperor Alexander I granted a land plot with the dilapidated Italian Palace on the Fontanka River embankment for the construction of the school building. In May 1802, the school moved into a one-story house on the designated site. The old palace was dismantled, and between 1804 and 1807, according to the design of architect Giacomo Quarenghi, a grand building in classical style was erected, with its façade facing the Fontanka River embankment.

In 1828, after the death of Empress Maria Feodorovna, Emperor Nicholas I signed a decree by which he took responsibility for the institution, continuing his mother’s work. For this purpose, the IV Department of His Imperial Majesty’s Own Chancellery was created. In 1840, composer M. I. Glinka wrote the vocal-symphonic work "Farewell Song of the Pupils of the Catherine Institute" to words by Obodovsky. This piece was traditionally performed as a hymn at the final celebrations of each graduating class of former pupils.

In 1844, the Saint Catherine Order School was officially classified as a first-class (highest) female institute, providing elite, "respectable education befitting the noble estate." The curriculum included instruction in the Law of God, Russian language, literature, French, German, history, geography, natural science, hygiene, physics, cosmography, mathematics, drawing, penmanship, needlework, choral singing, gymnastics, dancing, music (solo singing, ensemble singing, playing musical instruments, including in ensembles), social etiquette, and various types of household management.

In 1845, the church dedicated to Saint Catherine the Great Martyr, located in the building of the noble maidens’ institute, acquired the status of a chapter church. In 1854, the institute became part of the Department of Institutions of Empress Maria. From 1895, the Saint Catherine School began annually graduating pupils who completed two-year classes and passed exams to qualify as private tutors. During their studies, the "pedagogues" wore a red sash as an honorary distinction (matching the color of the ribbon of the Order of Saint Catherine).

Throughout the history of the Catherine Institute, the best graduates were awarded 270 highest-level distinctions, among which were 269 ciphers of large, medium, and small sizes, and 1 gold bracelet with the empress’s monogram. Second-degree awards included gold and silver medals "For Success in Sciences to Noble Maidens" with inscriptions on the reverse: "Visit this vineyard. For distinction." Each medal was engraved with the date of graduation from the noble maidens’ institute. The number of all awards was strictly regulated. When there were many excellent students in the graduating class, the best according to points accumulated over the last two years of study received awards, while others with slightly fewer points (but sufficient for receiving a monogram, medal, or bracelet) were only granted the "right" to these awards.

By decree of the Provisional Government on May 26, 1917, the Petrograd School of the Order of Saint Catherine was transferred to the jurisdiction of the Ministry of State Welfare, and in December 1917, to the People's Commissariat of State Welfare. Based on the decree of the Council of People's Commissars dated June 5, 1918, the institution was transferred to the jurisdiction of the People's Commissariat of Education. In the same year, the school was liquidated.

During the Soviet era, the former institute building successively housed a child and adolescent protection center, a furniture warehouse (in the former church premises), Children's Polyclinic No. 2, Children's Preventive and Treatment Polyclinic No. 24, and Printing House No. 2 of the Leningrad City Executive Committee’s Press Department. During the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945, the building served as Evacuation Hospital No. 2012, with a bomb shelter equipped in the basement.

In 1949, the building was transferred to the Saltykov-Shchedrin State Public Library to accommodate student reading rooms. In the 1970s, the building fell into disrepair and was closed for repairs, which lasted until the late 1980s. As of 2017, the building houses the RSL concert hall, the department of sheet music and sound recordings, the newspaper department, the youth reading room, and a phonotheque.

By the decree of the Government of the Russian Federation No. 527 dated July 10, 2001, the building and garden of the former Catherine Institute were included in the list of historical and cultural heritage sites of federal (all-Russian) significance located in Saint Petersburg.

Sources:

https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/Екатерининский_институт_(Санкт-Петербург)