Count Mikhail Illarionovich Vorontsov commissioned the palace, and Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli built it. Construction began in 1749 and took eight years. The article describes the style as Baroque. The palace has 50 rooms and an elaborate cast iron grille that screens it from Sadovaya Street, with a large garden between it and the Fontanka Embankment.
Vorontsov was effectively exiled from court after his niece fell from grace, and he sold the residence to the crown. Paul I later gave the palace to the Knights Hospitaller. Giacomo Quarenghi added a Catholic chapel from 1798 to 1800, built to serve exiled French aristocrats.
The Page Corps occupied the palace from 1810 to 1918, and the Suvorov Military School has been there since 1955. The chapel is used for organ recitals.
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